BleedGopher
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per the Omaha World Herald:
During the first weekend in April, brutal weather threatened to cancel the University of Minnesota’s first Big Ten home series. So coach John Anderson got busy.
He moved the series to West Lafayette, Indiana, where Purdue was away for the weekend. He loaded up his Gophers and they drove eight hours to play Penn State on Purdue’s home field.
They swept Penn State. But so much for good ideas.
“On the way home, the bus broke down,” Anderson said.
If you’re looking for a team to root for to get to Omaha these next two weeks, hug a Gopher.
Big Ten baseball needs the boost. The southern-fried sport of college baseball needs the variety.
Mostly, Anderson needs the proof.
The sun is shining in Minnesota. The Gophers have had their best season in decades, sweeping the Big Ten and hosting their first NCAA regional since 2000. In their first regional game on Friday night, they drew a record crowd of 2,291.
It’s the kind of season that makes an old coach dream again. But Anderson keeps seeing the clouds.
I had a conversation with the 63-year-old veteran coach of the Gophers during the recent Big Ten tournament in Omaha. I was expecting optimism. But the cold, harsh realities of coaching 37 years in the Great White North came out.
Start with the idea of the change of the college baseball season. A lot of northern coaches, including most in the Big Ten, support the famous Gene Stephenson plan to move the season to the summer and play the CWS in August.
Anderson takes it a step further.
“I loved that plan,” he said. “I made that proposal to the (Big Ten) coaches over the years and talked to (commissioner) Jim Delany about it. We’re never going to get the southern people to agree to play in the summer. They have the weather and they can plan when they want.
“I think we’re going to have to create another league.”
Another league?
“Have a northern league and a southern league in baseball,” Anderson said. “We’re going to start at this time and you guys (in the south) can start whenever you want.”
But what about the CWS?
“You have two championships,” Anderson said. “You could have two championships right here (Omaha) if you wanted to. What league do you want to play in? Play in the summer or play now?”
How many schools would be interested in playing in a summertime Northern League?
“We’ve had those conversations,” Anderson said. “There’s interest, but someone’s got to take it and run with it. Oregon, Oregon State, Washington. East schools, the MAC, the Missouri Valley.
“We’d keep more of our kids in the north. The third-hole hitter for North Carolina is from Minnesota. The Friday night pitcher for Oklahoma is from here. They come and raid our states because they sell weather and beautiful facilities. ‘If you want to go to Omaha, you got to come here.’ ”
http://www.omaha.com/sports/cws/sha...cle_4d252136-c753-52dc-b9b7-790df556d846.html
Go Gophers!!
During the first weekend in April, brutal weather threatened to cancel the University of Minnesota’s first Big Ten home series. So coach John Anderson got busy.
He moved the series to West Lafayette, Indiana, where Purdue was away for the weekend. He loaded up his Gophers and they drove eight hours to play Penn State on Purdue’s home field.
They swept Penn State. But so much for good ideas.
“On the way home, the bus broke down,” Anderson said.
If you’re looking for a team to root for to get to Omaha these next two weeks, hug a Gopher.
Big Ten baseball needs the boost. The southern-fried sport of college baseball needs the variety.
Mostly, Anderson needs the proof.
The sun is shining in Minnesota. The Gophers have had their best season in decades, sweeping the Big Ten and hosting their first NCAA regional since 2000. In their first regional game on Friday night, they drew a record crowd of 2,291.
It’s the kind of season that makes an old coach dream again. But Anderson keeps seeing the clouds.
I had a conversation with the 63-year-old veteran coach of the Gophers during the recent Big Ten tournament in Omaha. I was expecting optimism. But the cold, harsh realities of coaching 37 years in the Great White North came out.
Start with the idea of the change of the college baseball season. A lot of northern coaches, including most in the Big Ten, support the famous Gene Stephenson plan to move the season to the summer and play the CWS in August.
Anderson takes it a step further.
“I loved that plan,” he said. “I made that proposal to the (Big Ten) coaches over the years and talked to (commissioner) Jim Delany about it. We’re never going to get the southern people to agree to play in the summer. They have the weather and they can plan when they want.
“I think we’re going to have to create another league.”
Another league?
“Have a northern league and a southern league in baseball,” Anderson said. “We’re going to start at this time and you guys (in the south) can start whenever you want.”
But what about the CWS?
“You have two championships,” Anderson said. “You could have two championships right here (Omaha) if you wanted to. What league do you want to play in? Play in the summer or play now?”
How many schools would be interested in playing in a summertime Northern League?
“We’ve had those conversations,” Anderson said. “There’s interest, but someone’s got to take it and run with it. Oregon, Oregon State, Washington. East schools, the MAC, the Missouri Valley.
“We’d keep more of our kids in the north. The third-hole hitter for North Carolina is from Minnesota. The Friday night pitcher for Oklahoma is from here. They come and raid our states because they sell weather and beautiful facilities. ‘If you want to go to Omaha, you got to come here.’ ”
http://www.omaha.com/sports/cws/sha...cle_4d252136-c753-52dc-b9b7-790df556d846.html
Go Gophers!!
