Coaches on Vacay...Nic McKissic-Luke in FL

GopherinPhilly

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Ran into Nic McKissic-Luke at my restaurant in Florida. I had my Gopher gear on and he came up and asked if I was from MN...we had a nice talk about the Gophers this year, the great RB room he has and the excitement among the fans (even if the pundits don't like us). Really nice guy...huge arms. Interestingly, the only thing he said other than they are excited for the season was "hope we stay healthy." Hope so too!
 


Cool! Wow, he spent 5 years at Benedict College. I assume that its the Benedict College in Columbia, SC. I was a grad student at the U of South Carolina from '84-'87 and again from '90-'94. Benedict was a very small school about a mile from USC. I could look it up, but they did not have football in '84 and I don;t think that they had it in '94. So my guess is that coach Mikissick-Luke was one of those guys who was willing to start very small, and I would guess that his salary was minimal at the start. I like to see those guys who work their way up to D-1. His hard work has paid off and I'm sure that he has proven his coaching chops every step of the way. Go Gophers!
 

Ran into Nic McKissic-Luke at my restaurant in Florida. I had my Gopher gear on and he came up and asked if I was from MN...we had a nice talk about the Gophers this year, the great RB room he has and the excitement among the fans (even if the pundits don't like us). Really nice guy...huge arms. Interestingly, the only thing he said other than they are excited for the season was "hope we stay healthy." Hope so too!
What part of Florida is your restaurant in?

I'm in Tampa. ...I'd stop by some time if you're within a halfway reasonable range.
 



I'm in St Pete (Tierra Verde). Looks like we have a few Tampa Bay Gophers. There's a game watch at Ferg's but nobody was there when I went last year.
 



There's a game watch at Ferg's but nobody was there when I went last year.
Was this an event organized by someone? I knew nothing about it.

As a side note, I’m kind of surprised by the number of people down here that confuse the block m on my shirt for Michigan. We’re not even the same colors, bros.
 




Was this an event organized by someone? I knew nothing about it.

As a side note, I’m kind of surprised by the number of people down here that confuse the block m on my shirt for Michigan. We’re not even the same colors, bros.
There was a game watch listed by the UMAA. This one is from 2022 but as of last year the website sounded like they were still active. When I went for the Iowa game last season I found nobody in M&G (well, lots of FSU fans) and Ferg's management had never heard of the watch party. It's a ginormous St. Pete sports bar with lots of watch groups.

There was once a Tampa Bay alumni chapter page but it now redirects to the "South Florida Geographic Network" which also looks stone dead.

We already seem to have a small quorum of 5-6 Gophers in Tampa Bay just from GH...
 

A bit off topic here, but speaking of coaching, Fleck consistently says that he does not believe in momentum. Do you think that he means that one play can change the trajectory of a game? So that what happened the previous play or previous 15 plays has nothing to do what happens the next play?
 

A bit off topic here, but speaking of coaching, Fleck consistently says that he does not believe in momentum. Do you think that he means that one play can change the trajectory of a game? So that what happened the previous play or previous 15 plays has nothing to do what happens the next play?

I thought he was talking about game to game momentum. That's where the "We have to win the (fill in opposing team here) season" comes from.

Most coaches have that philosophy.
 



Was this an event organized by someone? I knew nothing about it.

As a side note, I’m kind of surprised by the number of people down here that confuse the block m on my shirt for Michigan. We’re not even the same colors, bros.
Happens regularly in the large 🍎as well

I give ‘em a growl and politely explain their malfeasance
 
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Palm Harbor represented, too. Outback Bowl was the impetus to relocating.
 

Maybe get a group together for Rhode Island game on September 7th. Tampa/Brandon area?
 

A bit off topic here, but speaking of coaching, Fleck consistently says that he does not believe in momentum. Do you think that he means that one play can change the trajectory of a game? So that what happened the previous play or previous 15 plays has nothing to do what happens the next play?
I am with Fleck on this one.

Momentum would dictate that if a shooter in basketball made three 3-pointers in a row, that the next attempt must be successful, since the shooter has "momentum". Or in football, if there are 3 successful plays in a row, the next play will also be successful due to "momentum". In behavioral finance, this is called the "hot-hand fallacy".

We all know that to be not true. Momentum, is a physical property.

However, there are studies out there that indicate that if a player or team has repeated success, that the emotional state may make is easier for the next play to be successful. This may be due to "stress hormones" being lessened, and some believe that there is a testosterone boost with continued success. What is comes down to is not really momentum, but "streakiness".

So, to me, what it really comes down to is a debate of the word momentum. I don't think people want to associate success with just being on a streak, that indicates luck is an important part of the equation, rather than skill. So people use momentum as a replacement.
 

I'm in St Pete (Tierra Verde). Looks like we have a few Tampa Bay Gophers. There's a game watch at Ferg's but nobody was there when I went last year.
Every Gopher game?
 





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