Adam Rittenberg: Can you wake me when Minnesota finally starts playing someone?

[Gopherpride13]

Unless you can provide links to what was written in 1960 or 1961 or 1967, that is patently false. If Minnesota had a 1995 Northwestern football season, the coverage would be circa 1997 Final Four x infinity.

Someone always complains. Someone will always try to disparage what the Gophers do even in successes. Doesn't matter how well they do. That is why I could care less what these clowns write. Even though it is mildly entertaining.

 

[Gopherpride13]

Unless you can provide links to what was written in 1960 or 1961 or 1967, that is patently false. If Minnesota had a 1995 Northwestern football season, the coverage would be circa 1997 Final Four x infinity.

And I think you missed the point. I am talking about future performances. Not the 1960s. Different world we live in. There will always be someone who writes stuff like this in the future. Just my opinion. Always be and always was are two different things.

 

[positively4thstreet]

I don't really see why anyone would get so indignant about this. It's a pretty harmless, as well as accurate, comment.

 

[stocker08]

Once we hit the Big Ten season.......we won't be playing teams like UNLV and NMSU. The comments are correct. I think that more of the outrage should be directed at the fact that this is simply lazy work. Rittenberg isn't saying anything that we don't already know. How about some analysis......or is it too much work for a team like the Gophers?

 

[MNVCGUY]

Once we hit the Big Ten season.......we won't be playing teams like UNLV and NMSU. The comments are correct. I think that more of the outrage should be directed at the fact that this is simply lazy work. Rittenberg isn't saying anything that we don't already know. How about some analysis......or is it too much work for a team like the Gophers?

Rittenberg: Can you wake me when Minnesota finally starts playing someone? Quarterback Philip Nelson adds two more rushing scores as the Gophers pull away early in the third quarter following a Ra'Shede Hageman forced fumble. Then we can look ahead to San Jose State. ... Minnesota 37, Western Illinois 17

Did you read it? These are quick blurbs about upcoming games not in-depth game analysis pieces.

 

[stocker08]

Rittenberg: Can you wake me when Minnesota finally starts playing someone? Quarterback Philip Nelson adds two more rushing scores as the Gophers pull away early in the third quarter following a Ra'Shede Hageman forced fumble. Then we can look ahead to San Jose State. ... Minnesota 37, Western Illinois 17

Did you read it? These are quick blurbs about upcoming games not in-depth game analysis pieces.

A fantastic 'blurb' to say the least. I didn't see the same schedule defecation for the other Big Ten teams playing lame ducks.

 

[MinnyGopherfan]

It's not like this is the first shot they have taken at the Gophers. I just don't see the same angst toward other schools.

Rittenberg/Bennett ‏@ESPN_BigTen 7 Sep

Almost time for game of the night, in an unbelievable atmosphere: Minnesota at New Mexico State! (It's unbelievable that Gophers are there).
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[bleedsmaroonandgold]

It's not like this is the first shot they have taken at the Gophers. I just don't see the same angst toward other schools.

Rittenberg/Bennett ‏@ESPN_BigTen 7 Sep

Almost time for game of the night, in an unbelievable atmosphere: Minnesota at New Mexico State! (It's unbelievable that Gophers are there).
Expand

Plenty of loyal Gopher fans on this board have questioned why we went to NMSU. I'm not trying to kick up that argument, but Rittenberg was hardly the first person to have that thought.

 

[imthewalrus]

For my Golden Gopher Football Team the ONLY thing that will matter and help the program will be winning an invitation to a bowl game again this season... IF the Gophers can be 4-0 going into Conference play, the battle for a bowl invitation will begin. Two more Conference wins are a MUST if the Gophers are to win a bowl invitation IF they have gone 4-0 in ooc play. THREE Conference wins or more would be incredible! THAT is how this program will improve. THAT is how this program will begin to get a little "recognaition" that some of you people crave. As for me, IF my Golden Gopher Football Team wins itself a bowl invitation with a 6-6 mark: that is when my levels of recognition start perking up. Winning a bowl invitation with a 7-5 mark would DEMAND a lot of recognition. Anything more than that would create over the top recognition for my Golden Gophers!

Personally, I don't give a rip about what bloggers have to say...or some media-types. What matters to me is what I KNOW and what I SEE going on with my Golden Gopher Football Team and Program. local media types...regional media types...national media types are NOT people I consult with or speak with. They are not REAL. They are out to lunch and have too many dead lines to meet and little pieces to write. What I can see with my own eyes is REAL. When I hear which bowl game my team has been invited to...where it is...when it is and then when I start putting together arrangements so that I can go to that game...at that place...at that time THAT is realization and recognition that means something to me.

Just win the game Saturday, Gophers! Put this next ooc game in the bank with the other two ooc games that you have put in the W column. And...that will be pretty damn impressive and I will recognize just what that means 3 games into the 2013 season!

 

[Maximus]

A fantastic 'blurb' to say the least. I didn't see the same schedule defecation for the other Big Ten teams playing lame ducks.

Because no other Big Ten team is opening 2013 with three pathetic opponents like Minnesota. Luckily San Jose State evolved into a quality opponent since the time they were scheduled.

 

[Rescooter]

For my Golden Gopher Football Team the ONLY things that will matter are that the final 2 ooc games need to be wins...AND then the REAL season starts. Conference time! IF the Gophers can be 4-0 going into Conference play, the battle for a bowl invitation will begin. Two more Conference wins are a MUST if the Gophers are to win a bowl invitation IF they have gone 4-0 in ooc play. THREE Conference wins or more would be incredible! THAT is how this program will improve. THAT is how this program will begin to get a little "recognaition" that some of you people crave. As for me, IF my Golden Gopher Football Team wins itself a bowl invitation with a 6-6 mark: that is when my levels of recognition start perking up. Winning a bowl invitation with a 7-5 mark would DEMAND a lot of recognition. Anything more than that would create over the top recognition for my Golden Gophers!

Personally, I don't give a rip about what bloggers have to say...or some media-types. What matters to me is what I KNOW and about what I SEE going on with my Golden Gopher Football Team and Program. local media types...regional media types...national media types are NOT people I consult with or speak with. They are not REAL. They are out to lunch and have too many dead lines to meet and little pieces to write. What I can see with my own eyes is REAL. When I hear which bowl game my team has been invited to...where it is...when it is and then when I start putting together arrangements so that I can go to that game...at that place...at that time THAT is realization and recognition that means something to me.

Just win the game Saturday, Gophers! Put this next ooc game in the bank with the other two ooc games that you have put in the W column. And...that will be pretty damn impressive and I will recognize just what that means 3 games into the 2013 season!

Summation of what Walrus wrote:

He wants the Gophers to win
The media is not real
Somebody claiming to be Killjoy is playing in his yard

 

[Ski U Master]

Honestly, this non-conf schedule is terrible. Little interest from a fan perspective in any of these first 4 games aside from just wanting to see the Gophers play after the long off-season. I understand scheduling creampuffs for the easy wins to help you get bowl eligible, but even one BCS school (doesn't even need to be a good one, something along the lines of North Carolina maybe) would be nice to offer some intrigue.

 

[e.bigelow]

You can bet if we rolled up 80 points on the Leathernecks he would be all over it like a cheap suit.

Nah. He'd only do that if Indiana did it. Then, Bennett and Rittenberg would be slobbering all over it.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Because no other Big Ten team is opening 2013 with three pathetic opponents like Minnesota. Luckily San Jose State evolved into a quality opponent since the time they were scheduled.

Like I mentioned earlier, would our non-conference schedule all of a sudden be better if we had scheduled San Jose St. earlier in the season?

Ohio St.'s non conference schedule isn't any better and they are a much better program than we are. They played a Buffalo team that won four games last year, San Diego St. who was crushed by 21 by FCS E. Illinois, California who only beat FCS Portland St. by 7 last week, and an FCS Florida A&M team who won four games last year. How is that much different than what the Gophers are playing?

The fact is most programs play three pathetic opponents. We just happen to play our toughest one in week 4 instead of in the first three weeks.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Because no other Big Ten team is opening 2013 with three pathetic opponents like Minnesota. Luckily San Jose State evolved into a quality opponent since the time they were scheduled.

This. The reason our non-conf schedule gets mocked isn't because we schedule creampuffs (everyone does) it gets mocked because we attempted to schedule only creampuffs. Everyone else in the conference has at least one game against a BCS conference opponent (or Notre Dame). If San Jose State had not evolved into a decent team the past year or so our schedule would have been mocked even more than it has been.

Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

It is what it is, but fans need to stop getting upset when our schedule gets made of. In the end it doesn't really matter what the bloggers think but I will guarantee this if North Carolina was still on the schedule we would not get mocked for scheduling creampuffs because at that point we would be right in line with what the rest of the conference is doing.

 

[Maximus]

Ohio St.'s non conference schedule isn't any better and they are a much better program than we are. They played a Buffalo team that won four games last year, San Diego St. who was crushed by 21 by FCS E. Illinois, California who only beat FCS Portland St. by 7 last week, and an FCS Florida A&M team who won four games last year. How is that much different than what the Gophers are playing?

The difference is Minnesota purposely weakened its non conference schedule while Ohio State had the misfortune of Cal's program tanking since the series was scheduled in 2006.

OSU's weak non-conference schedule has been talked about a lot nationally and is often referenced when the experts make their BCS picks (such as...Does an undefeated OSU team with those opponents deserve a bid over a one loss SEC team?)

 

[Winnipegopher]

Fact: We should be made fun of because of our non-conference schedule.
Second fact: Our best years under Mason had very similar non-conference schedules. Kill is doing this deliberately and if we end up with 8 wins and go to a decent bowl, we will all be happy and the Rittenbergs of the world will be congratualting Jerry on being Big Ten coach of the year.

 

[Ski U Master]

Fact: We should be made fun of because of our non-conference schedule.
Second fact: Our best years under Mason had very similar non-conference schedules. Kill is doing this deliberately and if we end up with 8 wins and go to a decent bowl, we will all be happy and the Rittenbergs of the world will be congratualting Jerry on being Big Ten coach of the year.

The real reason to be happy with 8 wins is that it means we have beaten 4 conference opponents.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

This. The reason our non-conf schedule gets mocked isn't because we schedule creampuffs (everyone does) it gets mocked because we attempted to schedule only creampuffs. Everyone else in the conference has at least one game against a BCS conference opponent (or Notre Dame). If San Jose State had not evolved into a decent team the past year or so our schedule would have been mocked even more than it has been.

Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

It is what it is, but fans need to stop getting upset when our schedule gets made of. In the end it doesn't really matter what the bloggers think but I will guarantee this if North Carolina was still on the schedule we would not get mocked for scheduling creampuffs because at that point we would be right in line with what the rest of the conference is doing.

It wouldn't be difficult to play this game all day long. If you want to go the other way with some of those games, ASU was barely a .500 team when Wisky scheduled them. So they get credit now for scheduling a "quality opponent"? ISU is absolutely miserable this year, and could probably be beaten by UNLV. But they won't get creampuff consideration because they're a "BCS-caliber" opponent. As bad as Iowa is this year, they better roll ISU in this one.

Similarly, UCLA was a crappy opponent when this home-and-home was scheduled with Nebraska. I couldn't care less what the difficulty of these games were expected to be when they were scheduled. Bottom line, San Jose State will be a fairly tough out next week; maybe not as tough as we thought at the beginning of the season, but they'll be a quality opponent, and it's a game that I think will actually be a good tune-up for Iowa.

 

[IDFM]

Where am I wrong in saying we have played two of the worst teams in D1 to this point? When they rank FBS teams UNLV and New Mexico State are going to show up close to the back end of those rankings.

Not a shot at Kill or even the scheduling in general as everyone schedules creeampuffs for the majority of their non-conf schedule.

Agreed but most schools schedule at least tough opponent in the four. This is a problem I had during Mason years except when they scheduled Cal. You don't know who you are. I was not happy with taking unc off the schedule but what do you about it after the fact.

Until we play San Jose state we will have a better understanding of our team but it will not really be a fair comparison since there defense last year did not do well against the run and now they run a 3 4 with undersized dlineman.

 

[thailleagle]

Sensitivity...

 

[jaymil]

Honestly, this non-conf schedule is terrible. Little interest from a fan perspective in any of these first 4 games aside from just wanting to see the Gophers play after the long off-season. I understand scheduling creampuffs for the easy wins to help you get bowl eligible, but even one BCS school (doesn't even need to be a good one, something along the lines of North Carolina maybe) would be nice to offer some intrigue.

San Jose State is a decent opponent. We should beat them, but they'll provide a challenge at least. But you're right, besides wanting to watch the team play this week, this Western Illinois game is disappointing. I won't be complaining if it meant the difference between making a bowl game though.

 

[Killjoy]

Summation of what Walrus wrote:

He wants the Gophers to win
The media is not real
Somebody claiming to be Killjoy is playing in his yard

I wonder if wren will be able to say Kill, Kill, Kill tomorrow without saying joy when we do our third down yell. These kind of things can be tough for wren.

 

[GopherGod]

I wonder if wren will be able to say Kill, Kill, Kill tomorrow without saying joy when we do our third down yell. These kind of things can be tough for wren.

I think you are more infatuated with Wren then he is with you by a wide margin. Do you have a poster of him above your bed?

 

[station19]

Honestly, this non-conf schedule is terrible. Little interest from a fan perspective in any of these first 4 games aside from just wanting to see the Gophers play after the long off-season. I understand scheduling creampuffs for the easy wins to help you get bowl eligible, but even one BCS school (doesn't even need to be a good one, something along the lines of North Carolina maybe) would be nice to offer some intrigue.

Future schedules:

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/future-schedules.html

 

[Killjoy]

I think you are more infatuated with Wren then he is with you by a wide margin. Do you have a poster of him above your bed?

LOL - Infatuated with wren? Really! I am just thanking him for teaming up with Patherhawk and destroying the nice group discussion we used to have at the Strib. I could go on with the many other things he has done here and at other blogs. There is reason he has been thrown off so many blogs so many times. Infatuated? Hardly! Wren claims to be nice guy but he is anything but that. But you seem to like him which is your right. God knows why?

 

[Dr.Don]

LOL - Infatuated with wren? Really! I am just thanking him for teaming up with Patherhawk and destroying the nice group discussion we used to have at the Strib. I could go on with the many other things he has done here and at other blogs. There is reason he has been thrown off so many blogs so many times. Infatuated? Hardly! Wren claims to be nice guy but he is anything but that. But you seem to like him which is your right. God knows why?[/QUOTE]

God loves everyone.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

Such comments are insulting to the competition. Writers need to develop a little more class.

 

[Killjoy]

God loves everyone.

Don that is a nice thought. Too bad wren couldn't feel a little of that when he and Pantherhawk teamed up to destroy the Strib blog so nobody could discuss football there. He even once posted several very long manifestos in a row in attempt to stop all conversations. Therefore, I wasn't feeling a lot of love from either of them but I sure felt the presence of the devil. What I find so amusing is that wren likes to tell everybody he is really a good guy. Good guys don't do what he has done. Anyway, I will be out the leaving country for a week starting on Sunday so wren can go out and play in his yard and do his mischief.

 

[ArchibaldMThrockmortonIII]

When has he ever made this comment about Wisconsin and their horrific non-conference scheduling?

Well, that took all of 5 minutes.

"Wisconsin has posted back-to-back shutouts to open a season for the first time since 1958, and the run game looks as strong as ever with James White, Melvin Gordon and even Corey Clement, each of whom has rushed for more than 100 yards in the first two games. But few teams have faced weaker competition (Massachusetts, Tennessee Tech)."

"Yawn. Are we done with the FCS games yet?" [regarding Tenn Tech @ Wisconsin

"Fortunately, Wisconsin's next three openers (LSU twice, Alabama) will provide a lot more clues about the Badgers than Saturday's laugher against FBS bottom-feeder UMass."

"Madison, Wis. (Massachusetts at No. 23 Wisconsin, noon ET): Partly cloudy, 73-78 degrees, winds at 7-8 mph" [OK, that's a weather forecast, but it vertainly isn't complimentary to Wisconsin]

"Wisconsin might not be dominant on offense this season, but it will look the part against the overmatched Minutemen at Camp Randall Stadium."

In other news:


C'mon guys, act like a 7-time national champion. I mean the whining, it's unseemly. By the way, I put $1,300 on you guys to cover this weekend, so don't let me down, okey-dokey?

Cheers,
Archie