A Gopher wins Reusse's 2020 Turkey of the Year award

[fmlizard]

Let's face it, the Gophers have turned out some pretty crappy sports teams over the past 20-odd years. Mostly grinding mediocrity for my entire life. There's some turkeys involved.

To be honest, I think it's high time we had a men's hockey callout from this column. That program is simply unacceptable given the extreme bounty of resources it has and how far it has sunk. Gophers are maybe the 3rd-4th best hockey program in the state, and that used to be the U's sporting crown jewel. Lucia certainly could have gotten it a few times, and the new guy hasn't done much better yet.

It is surprising there's only one Wolves entry in his past winners, considering that franchise is by far the worst of the area's 6-7 most followed sports teams.

 

[Taji34]

Let's face it, the Gophers have turned out some pretty crappy sports teams over the past 20-odd years. Mostly grinding mediocrity for my entire life. There's some turkeys involved.

To be honest, I think it's high time we had a men's hockey callout from this column. That program is simply unacceptable given the extreme bounty of resources it has and how far it has sunk. Gophers are maybe the 3rd-4th best hockey program in the state, and that used to be the U's sporting crown jewel. Lucia certainly could have gotten it a few times, and the new guy hasn't done much better yet.

It is surprising there's only one Wolves entry in his past winners, considering that franchise is by far the worst of the area's 6-7 most followed sports teams.

Have you watched them at all so far this year?

 

[upnorthkid]

Have you watched them at all so far this year?

yeah this would not be the year to throw them in the column. they look like a national title contender again (finally) who was likely peaking at the right time when the season got canceled last year. now they're head and shoulders better than that team which has looked highly impressive this year

 

[GopherRock]

Reusse is a POS. Considering the wealth of sports in the state....he seems to specifically target the University of Minnesota. Let's take a look back at his TotYs since 2003.

2003: Glen Mason, Gophers

2004: Red McCombs, Vikings

2005: Bob Naegele, Wild

2006: Pam Borton, Gophers

2007: Charlie Weis, Notre Dame

2008: Marian Gaborik, Wild

2009: Tim Brewster, Gophers

2010: Brett Favre, Vikings

2011: Zygi Wilf, Vikings

2012: Tubby Smith, Gophers

2013: Terry Ryan, Twins

2014: 25 Years of the Wolves

2015: The Grim Reaper

2016: Men’s Athletics at the University of Minnesota

2017: Patrick Reusse, Turkey Chairman

2018: P.J. Fleck, Gophers

2019: Nobody

2020: Mark Coyle, Gophers

If you go further back than that, the U of M has accounted for 12 of the 41 awarded TotY.

1999: Clem Haskins, Gophers

1998: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1997: Dennis Green, Vikings

1996: Kerri Strug, Olympian

1995: Warren Moon, Vikings

1994: Jack McCloskey, Wolves

1993: Norm Green, North Stars

1992: 25 Years of Gophers football

1991: Chris Doleman, Vikings

1990: Kent Hrbek, Twins

1989: Mike Lynn, Vikings

1988: Lou Nanne, North Stars

1987: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1986: Dr. Kenneth Keller, U of M president

1985: Lou Holtz, Gophers

1984: Les Steckel, Vikings

1983: Paul Giel, Gophers

1982: Billy Martin, A’s/Yankees

1981: George Steinbrenner, Yankees

1980: Bobby Knight, Indiana

1979: NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle; MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn

1978: Woody Hayes, Ohio State

 

[mplsbadger]

If you go further back than that, the U of M has accounted for 12 of the 41 awarded TotY.

1999: Clem Haskins, Gophers

1998: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1997: Dennis Green, Vikings

1996: Kerri Strug, Olympian

1995: Warren Moon, Vikings

1994: Jack McCloskey, Wolves

1993: Norm Green, North Stars

1992: 25 Years of Gophers football

1991: Chris Doleman, Vikings

1990: Kent Hrbek, Twins

1989: Mike Lynn, Vikings

1988: Lou Nanne, North Stars

1987: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1986: Dr. Kenneth Keller, U of M president

1985: Lou Holtz, Gophers

1984: Les Steckel, Vikings

1983: Paul Giel, Gophers

1982: Billy Martin, A’s/Yankees

1981: George Steinbrenner, Yankees

1980: Bobby Knight, Indiana

1979: NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle; MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn

1978: Woody Hayes, Ohio State

In ‘92 he picked on the kicker, a student athlete. IIRC.

 

[stocker08]

If you go further back than that, the U of M has accounted for 12 of the 41 awarded TotY.

1999: Clem Haskins, Gophers

1998: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1997: Dennis Green, Vikings

1996: Kerri Strug, Olympian

1995: Warren Moon, Vikings

1994: Jack McCloskey, Wolves

1993: Norm Green, North Stars

1992: 25 Years of Gophers football

1991: Chris Doleman, Vikings

1990: Kent Hrbek, Twins

1989: Mike Lynn, Vikings

1988: Lou Nanne, North Stars

1987: Carl Pohlad, Twins

1986: Dr. Kenneth Keller, U of M president

1985: Lou Holtz, Gophers

1984: Les Steckel, Vikings

1983: Paul Giel, Gophers

1982: Billy Martin, A’s/Yankees

1981: George Steinbrenner, Yankees

1980: Bobby Knight, Indiana

1979: NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle; MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn

1978: Woody Hayes, Ohio State

Worth mentioning that he even sprinkles in national persons. I don't even think you count those.

 

[dlw4gophers]

The only turkey award this year should go to the author. Look into the mirror (it will take two mirrors), fat pat. You are the turkey. Google, gooble

 

[fmlizard]

Have you watched them at all so far this year?

not directly. I’m mostly referencing the overall recent past. Gophers have been decent against Big Ten hockey teams but seem to have their woes with the Bemidji States and St Cloud States of the world. The teams the Gophers should be better than every year, because they have far less resources and brand

 

[Wcfan56]

My working theory is that SON is Ruesse because he A) discusses every Ruesse post, with clarifications, B) gets offended when people make fun of him, and C) SON got a callout in Ruesse's column a couple years back when he said that the Gophers were gonna suck and then they sucked.

You don't cut the budget of the only sport that makes real money. Killing the Golden Goose does not keep the rest of the farm alive. It's like companies that respond to down sales years by firing their sales staff. It never works. If anything they should have cut women's basketball. That sport costs like $300K per athlete, absolutely ridiculous amount of money.

Ruesse is basically a Gopherhole poster with a state-wide column. I don't get why the Strib keeps him around.

SON has always been a Ruesse backer and a non business mentality .

 

[Taji34]

not directly. I’m mostly referencing the overall recent past. Gophers have been decent against Big Ten hockey teams but seem to have their woes with the Bemidji States and St Cloud States of the world. The teams the Gophers should be better than every year, because they have far less resources and brand

The team actually beat both last year in the Mariucci classic, but I understand.

 

[kix4kix]

Who cares? This guy is a terrible writer, even worse on radio and continues to hate on local teams.....what are the positives

 

[MaroonShaft]

Great writing

 

[MplsGopher]

The team actually beat both last year in the Mariucci classic, but I understand.

But generally speaking, the NCHC has been the most nationally competitive conference since it was created? Honest question. I guess I could just look it up...

 

[upnorthkid]

But generally speaking, the NCHC has been the most nationally competitive conference since it was created? Honest question. I guess I could just look it up...

yes the NCHC has been. Consistently multiple teams in the top 5 PWR and getting 1 seeds in the NCAA tourney and has had the last 4 champions (UND, Denver, UMD x2)

 

[Nokomis]

2020 is an apt year to revive TOTY and the Turkey Revived Under Mandate by Public was funny. But picking Coyle is just boring and lazy. Commissioner Warren would have been a better choice.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Fat Pat, wtf dude just flounder into retirement already

Would you like to make a comment on his opinion piece or just point out his weight and that you don’t like him. If you have a valid argument for why Coyle should be above reproach when it’s not like things are roses and rainbows at the U.

 

[MplsGopher]

yes the NCHC has been. Consistently multiple teams in the top 5 PWR and getting 1 seeds in the NCAA tourney and has had the last 4 champions (UND, Denver, UMD x2)

The few schools around the country where DI college hockey is legitimately the #1 sport on campus.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Who cares? This guy is a terrible writer, even worse on radio and continues to hate on local teams.....what are the positives

What exactly is there to like about local teams. They have been horribly inept for years and years. The worst is salary cap and draft sports where you should be competitive every few years. The gophers have been a shit show for the major sports since the 1998 season which the NCAA says you can’t remember. If pointing out the obvious makes you a bad writer and radio personality so it goes. Hell Pat picked the gophers to breath the Hawkeyes in football this year and the gophers got destroyed.
I love how people say I don’t care what this person writes or says but let me post something on here and comment on what that I don’t care about said or wrote.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

The few schools around the country where DI college hockey is legitimately the #1 sport on campus.

They also feature much older players...North Dakota is usually full of 20 year old freshmen from Canada. The gopher have usually gone with 18 year old freshmen from Minnesota, which has been a detriment when they leave after a couple of years.
The fact the gopher didn’t win a National title and lost to union in 2014 was a let down. Again though union had a bunch of older players since they all played in the various junior hockey leagues.

 

[PMWinSTP]

yeah this would not be the year to throw them in the column. they look like a national title contender again (finally) who was likely peaking at the right time when the season got canceled last year. now they're head and shoulders better than that team which has looked highly impressive this year

They definitely look great so far. Gophs were in Frozen Four in 2012 and 2014, Nat'l Championship game 2014, so to me it has not been very long at all since they were title contenders.

 

[kix4kix]

What exactly is there to like about local teams. They have been horribly inept for years and years. The worst is salary cap and draft sports where you should be competitive every few years. The gophers have been a shit show for the major sports since the 1998 season which the NCAA says you can’t remember. If pointing out the obvious makes you a bad writer and radio personality so it goes. Hell Pat picked the gophers to breath the Hawkeyes in football this year and the gophers got destroyed.
I love how people say I don’t care what this person writes or says but let me post something on here and comment on what that I don’t care about said or wrote.

I am not here to defend local teams I am here to hate on Reusse , but there is a difference between hate and criticism.

I haven't read or listened to him in 8-9 years aside from thing posted on this site, I just honestly don't get the hype. National platforms such as the athletic and ringer have much better pieces on mn sports teams.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

I am not here to defend local teams I am here to hate on Reusse , but there is a difference between hate and criticism.

I haven't read or listened to him in 8-9 years aside from thing posted on this site, I just honestly don't get the hype. National platforms such as the athletic and ringer have much better pieces on mn sports teams.

He’s a columnist not a beat writer. I dont go to him for the day to day of teams but he’s right on coyle being a joke.
Pro teams now basically only provide information to favorable news people who will cover them in a favorable light. The local beat writer may very well die with Covid. They will never be allowed in the locker room again. All interviews will be done via Skype with only select people attending not the entire team. All stories are leaked to national Gus not the local guys. It’s a sad time in sport journalism for the traditional people.

Your criticism was he’s a terrible writer and even worse on the radio. Do you care to point out something specific or you going to stick with the generalities.

 

[EG#9]

So Reusse gives the award to Fleck, takes a year of from the award in embarasment as Fleck has the first top 10 team Gopher team in my lifetime, and then comes back to give the award to...the guy that hired Fleck?

My problem with Reusse is he has a ridiculous view of college sports. If you want to hold the Gophers to standards of winning ( I do!) it's perfectly acceptable to give the Turkey of the Year to Brewster or Mason in the past or hell even to Coyle for failing to fire Pitino by now. If you want to believe that B1G sports are the equivalent of little league then give the awrd to Coyle this year for not finding a way to add yet another womens sport or two so the Gophers could keep indoor track and tennis. Maybe that means having a 2 mil/yr max for a football coach and pinching pennies on assistants and recruiting/travel budgets. That's reasonable to do too, just don't expect to compete in the revenue sports. You cannot do both. The U has more sports that Wisconsin, it has more sports than Iowa (which also cut sports this Spring), they arguably are still not putting as many resources towards football as necessary to truly compete...Yet Reusse is also on Twitter/SkorNorth delighting in failures on the field as if everyone is playing by the same rules.

 

[fmlizard]

I hear there's a vaccine coming for the real turkey of 2020

 

[From the Parkinglot]

So Reusse gives the award to Fleck, takes a year of from the award in embarasment as Fleck has the first top 10 team Gopher team in my lifetime, and then comes back to give the award to...the guy that hired Fleck?

My problem with Reusse is he has a ridiculous view of college sports. If you want to hold the Gophers to standards of winning ( I do!) it's perfectly acceptable to give the Turkey of the Year to Brewster or Mason in the past or hell even to Coyle for failing to fire Pitino by now. If you want to believe that B1G sports are the equivalent of little league then give the awrd to Coyle this year for not finding a way to add yet another womens sport or two so the Gophers could keep indoor track and tennis. Maybe that means having a 2 mil/yr max for a football coach and pinching pennies on assistants and recruiting/travel budgets. That's reasonable to do too, just don't expect to compete in the revenue sports. You cannot do both. The U has more sports that Wisconsin, it has more sports than Iowa (which also cut sports this Spring), they arguably are still not putting as many resources towards football as necessary to truly compete...Yet Reusse is also on Twitter/SkorNorth delighting in failures on the field as if everyone is playing by the same rules.

They could spend a billion dollars a year on football and not compete. The best athletes for football are in the south and there are a lot of schools between Minnesota and Georgia and Texas. Both states the gophers get some talent from.

 

[fmlizard]

They could spend a billion dollars a year on football and not compete. The best athletes for football are in the south and there are a lot of schools between Minnesota and Georgia and Texas. Both states the gophers get some talent from.

Tell this to Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Michigan State (couple years back), Nebraska (few more years back), Utah, Boise State, Oregon...now even Iowa State.

It doesn’t help that Minnesota isn’t loaded with high school football talent, but it’s far from impossible. Oregon tried throwing stupendous money at a program with less in state resources than Minnesota has, and it went pretty OK.

 

[kix4kix]

He’s a columnist not a beat writer. I dont go to him for the day to day of teams but he’s right on coyle being a joke.
Pro teams now basically only provide information to favorable news people who will cover them in a favorable light. The local beat writer may very well die with Covid. They will never be allowed in the locker room again. All interviews will be done via Skype with only select people attending not the entire team. All stories are leaked to national Gus not the local guys. It’s a sad time in sport journalism for the traditional people.

Your criticism was he’s a terrible writer and even worse on the radio. Do you care to point out something specific or you going to stick with the generalities.

Not really, do you care to point out his brilliant writing? Or do you prefer to stick to generalities....

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Not really, do you care to point out his brilliant writing? Or do you prefer to stick to generalities....

Well he’s been writing for a twin cities newspaper for around 50 years and been on the radio for 40 years. He must be doing something right. If not I would think he would have been fired as he’s in the publicity game.
Plus no one in the cities media spends more time playing promoting the non revenue sports like Pat does. He devotes many columns to volleyball, baseball, softball, and gymnastics.

 

[Go4Broke]

Not really, do you care to point out his brilliant writing? Or do you prefer to stick to generalities...

The following Reusse column is just a small example of the brilliant writing he has been doing for the last 50 years. Of course, if you are a typical Minnesota sports fan who only cares about the four major sports you wouldn't even bother to read it, much less enjoy it.

As for me, I have been enjoying Reusse's writing for most of the last five decades even when he pisses me off by going after my favorite teams, athletes, and coaches. I love the Minnesota Gopher sports teams above all others and Reusse's regular and sometimes unwarranted criticism of them often frustrates me. But that doesn't change the views of me and his many thousands of long time readers who enjoy and look forward to Reusse's columns.


Gophers leaders, Mark Coyle get it wrong: men's track and field program too good to cut

The University of Minnesota hosted the NCAA track and field meet at Memorial Stadium in June 1948. Southern Cal, led by the great sprinter Mel Patton, was considered a cinch to take away the team title.

Fortune Gordien was a muscular young man from Minneapolis Roosevelt and a future world record-holder in the discus throw for 10 years. He won the discus and finished second in the shot put for the Gophers, and other points were found here and there, and late on the second day, it came down to the last event.

Now a staple as the triple jump, it was known as the “hop, step and jump” and was contested at the NCAAs only in Olympic years. It was so novel to Minnesotans that track expert Sid Hartman offered a two-paragraph primer on its components in the next day’s Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. This was necessary because Loyd LaMois, from Akeley, Minn., pointed toward the event by coach Jim Kelly, hopped, stepped and jumped 43 feet, 10 inches, to win the event and the NCAA championship for the Gophers. “This was the first time I jumped from a board,” LaMois said. “I tried the hop, step and jump for the first time in practice last week.”

The acreage occupied by the University of Minnesota’s track and field facility behind the Bierman Building was sacrificed for the massive Athletes Village that would cost $170 million, primarily to boost the football program. Athletic director Norwood Teague seized the land with no plan for replacing the track and field facility. Those athletes were shipped over to Hamline’s track facility and that resulted in a federal Title IX complaint from the women’s program.

Mark Coyle became the AD in May 2016 and, four months later, announced a plan to build a track and field stadium and facility — east of Siebert Field — that eventually would cost $19 million. “It is important for us to have an NCAA-level track and field facility on campus,” Coyle said to university officials in early September 2016.

Two years later, in July 2018, the university’s recreation department and its facilities management office announced that a $7.4 million renovation would take place to vastly upgrade the ancient U of M Field House on University Ave. The Field House receives much general usage and has been the primary home to indoor track and field. There are three large meets scheduled for the Field House this winter, starting with the Minnesota Open on Jan. 11.

This aggressive approach to track and field facilities seemed to indicate a solid future for both genders of the former Hamline orphans. With the men in 2019-20, there were 71 athletes splitting 12.6 scholarships. Solid deal for the U, it seems, when you also consider track athletes as a whole are outstanding academic achievers, and the men’s program is a true link to the East African community that has been a growing part of the Twin Cities metro area.

This started with the great Hassan Mead, born in Somalia, who came here with his family, and ran at Minneapolis South as a high school senior, and there were other Gophers distance runner of renown, including Garry Bjorklund, Steve Plasencia, Buddy Edelen, Don Timm and on through the decades.

The Gophers’ last NCAA champion in men’s track was Obsa Ali in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2018. He was raised in Ethiopia by a grandmother and moved to Richfield in 2007. I interviewed him for an hour a couple of weeks before that steeplechase triumph in Eugene, Ore. Bright, committed, successful, grateful to the university and the Gophers coaches for their belief in him.

Coyle took a look at the costly new facilities and renovations, and the legacy of recent athletes such as Ali and Mead, and a week ago he announced that men’s track and field was being dropped, along with men’s tennis and gymnastics, starting in 2021-22.

Plasencia was a spectacular distance runner for Gophers coaching legend Roy Griak in the late ’70s. He ran for Nike in Oregon and for the United States in two Olympics (1988, ’92) and four world championships. Then, he came back to Minnesota in 1996 to replace Griak as the cross-country coach.

He has been coaching at Minnesota for 24 years, and for now, his men’s cross-country team — with 17 current athletes and five planned scholarships — has survived the 2021-22 shutdown. We talked for a few minutes this week, with the understanding no negative remarks would be made toward his bosses. Yet, the emotion of what’s taking place was evident, as Plasencia took a brief break to compose himself.

I had asked about academics and later he texted this: “Our men’s team for the 2020 indoor season led the nation with 16 individual All-Academic awards from the [U.S. Track and Field and CrossCountry] Coaches Association. There were only five other programs with more than 10.”

OK, that’s dandy, but we need 10 more walk-ons, and five more assistants to the assistant coaches, and three more trainers, and anything else football can find on which to waste its profits, so sorry track guys … we can’t have you cluttering up the study areas at the Athletes Village.

There are video games to be played in there.

https://www.startribune.com/reusse-wrong-call-coyle-men-s-track-program-too-good-to-cut/572442292/

 

[MaxyJR1]

Tell this to Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Michigan State (couple years back), Nebraska (few more years back), Utah, Boise State, Oregon...now even Iowa State.

It doesn’t help that Minnesota isn’t loaded with high school football talent, but it’s far from impossible. Oregon tried throwing stupendous money at a program with less in state resources than Minnesota has, and it went pretty OK.

They could spend a billion dollars a year on football and not compete. The best athletes for football are in the south and there are a lot of schools between Minnesota and Georgia and Texas. Both states the gophers get some talent from.

What is the definition of compete? Only 11 teams have made the Playoff in 6 years. That is not going to change this year unless Texas A&M or Florida gets in. That would be 28 playoff spots and only 11 or 12 teams have filled the spots over 7 years. So really everyone is in the Gophers boat especially in the Big Ten.

Compete in the B1G is absolutely possible and they have done that being 1 win from the West Title 3 times in the last 7 years. Northwestern will make the Title game for the 2nd time in 3 years. Stability is needed from Admin down through the program.


The Goal is to get to Indy a couple times every five years. That is absolutely doable. Northwestern will do it 2 out of the last 3 years.