DoubleAlum
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...with a Ripple mentality. One thing that I've learned on Gopherhole, there are many smart people on this board. These folks have been saying this for years, but I never quite understood it until now. The University of Minnesota will continue to have a difficult time building and maintaining a "Top 4" in the B1G football program until all the constituencies involved agree that this is what we want and are willing to PAY for it in every respect.
For the first time in a long time, important events are converging to bring us to a crossroads. We have a pretty successful coach who may be approaching "underpaid" status, he's turning a program around and showing results on and off the field, we have more positive publicity than ever, we lack the necessary facilities to compete with recruits, we have a fabulous stadium, we have too many donors that struggle to open their pocket books sufficiently to support the team in the way a premier team needs, and we have season ticket holders (who have been waiting forever for a marquee team) who are complaining loudly about the significant price increases.
It seems to me that we have arrived at the "hour of decision" where all the constituencies need to decide once and for all whether we want a champion caliber team or a .500-type team. It probably seems like black and white thinking to some, but we either build the facilities now, pay the coach and assistants what it would take to keep them for 10 years, cough up the donations now and pay the higher ticket prices and keep quiet, or FOREVER hold our peace about supporting a mediocre Gopher football team for the next 5 to 10 years.
We can't have it both ways. We can't have one foot in and one out. We probably won't be in this position again where things are all converging at the same time. If we commit now, we will give ourselves the best chance of seeing a champion in the next 5 years. If we don't, we're probably looking at waiting quite a bit longer. Just look at all the so-so or bad teams in the nation. Most of them will be there for years and years to come. We have a chance right now to bust out and become something special. It will be very interesting to see what happens.
And by the way, I am the wrong guy to be giving this speech. I'm an unemployed bum, with only enough money to support my family, can't afford season tickets, can't afford donations to the University or the football program, can't afford to attend a bowl game and have a wife and kids who couldn't care less about Gopher football even though they know how passionate I am about the team. I wish President Kaler would give my speech to the citizens of the State of Minnesota.
For the first time in a long time, important events are converging to bring us to a crossroads. We have a pretty successful coach who may be approaching "underpaid" status, he's turning a program around and showing results on and off the field, we have more positive publicity than ever, we lack the necessary facilities to compete with recruits, we have a fabulous stadium, we have too many donors that struggle to open their pocket books sufficiently to support the team in the way a premier team needs, and we have season ticket holders (who have been waiting forever for a marquee team) who are complaining loudly about the significant price increases.
It seems to me that we have arrived at the "hour of decision" where all the constituencies need to decide once and for all whether we want a champion caliber team or a .500-type team. It probably seems like black and white thinking to some, but we either build the facilities now, pay the coach and assistants what it would take to keep them for 10 years, cough up the donations now and pay the higher ticket prices and keep quiet, or FOREVER hold our peace about supporting a mediocre Gopher football team for the next 5 to 10 years.
We can't have it both ways. We can't have one foot in and one out. We probably won't be in this position again where things are all converging at the same time. If we commit now, we will give ourselves the best chance of seeing a champion in the next 5 years. If we don't, we're probably looking at waiting quite a bit longer. Just look at all the so-so or bad teams in the nation. Most of them will be there for years and years to come. We have a chance right now to bust out and become something special. It will be very interesting to see what happens.
And by the way, I am the wrong guy to be giving this speech. I'm an unemployed bum, with only enough money to support my family, can't afford season tickets, can't afford donations to the University or the football program, can't afford to attend a bowl game and have a wife and kids who couldn't care less about Gopher football even though they know how passionate I am about the team. I wish President Kaler would give my speech to the citizens of the State of Minnesota.