As promised, here's the email I fired off to Jim Souhan in response to his rather lazy and hindsight is 20/20 column. My hope is to generate a personal discussion with him to gain some insight on his intent/motives, a la my talk with Chip Scoggins after his hit piece on Ralph Sampson earlier this year. Hoping I at least get an email back from him.
Mr. Souhan,
I’ll be completely honest with you, in the hopes you’ll return the favor. I’ve held your columns in fairly low standing for several years now, particularly when they cover anything related to University of Minnesota football or basketball. I typically find them to be full of throwaway statements and weak on research. They also seem to take a strange level of glee when criticizing Gopher coaches, administrators, and fans. I’m uncertain as to where this sadism comes from, but I suspect you’ll tell me that this is simply my perception and not reality. But maybe I’m being unfair. Perhaps I’m simply too naïve to expect even a modicum of positive or at least even-handed coverage of the U.
Your latest column, titled ‘Nelson’s Quarterbacking Tools Didn’t Merit a Long Shelf Life’ backhandedly compliments Jerry Kill’s improved recruiting stature for landing Nelson. Only to immediately thereafter toss him under the bus for not having the foresight to have started true Freshman QB Philip Nelson from day 1. Exploring any rationale for Kill to have initially redshirting Nelson is absent. Instead you describe how he failed as an assessor of talent of his own squad. Assessment the very same talent he deemed worthy of recruiting hard for, less than a year earlier. Had your post-supposition come, say after Week 1 or 2 of the season, you might have looked the part of football expert and would have every right to throw out an article with this level of criticism now. Heck, I’d be reconsidering my opinion of you right now. But unfortunately, you had no deeper insight to share on the Gopher football depth chart then, than you do right now.
Of course, it’s very easy to second guess Kill’s assessment to have not started the season off with Nelson under center, you fail to make any legitimate explanation as to why Kill might just have thought it initially best to keep Nelson under wraps for a season. Perhaps it was intended to protect Nelson from having to play behind an offensive line that has been dinged up since Week 1 and is not particularly deep or experienced. Perhaps Gray and Shortell simply knew the offense better at the time camp broke. Perhaps it was a chance for a young man to get his feet under him as he started college for the first time, before throwing him to the wolves (Big Ten defenders and hack journalists alike). Perhaps the Senior Gray simply had a significant edge in leadership, and Shortell had more collegiate experience. Situations change. Injuries happen. Needs evolve. All factors you lazily ignored and which make this article just another exhibit of your lack of any real insight into the workings of Jerry Kill regime at the University of Minnesota.
To close your column, state that with Nelson at QB and Gray at WR gives the Gophers their best possible lineup and you “…wonder why it wasn’t easy to say 2 months ago.” I think you know the answer to this even while writing it, but decided it was simply easier to attack Kill than explore the nuances of this situation. If true, that’s just flat out disingenuous. And if you really didn’t know, then why not explore rather than attack. So which is it? Slanted writing, or simple lack of effort.
Would love to hear your response on this. Feel free to contact me with any format you feel comfortable using. I’m an educated and reasonable person, who happens to be a Gopher football fan and athletic booster (yes, we exist and we are passionate about our team). I’m not looking for a fight, but rather a reasoned explanation and perhaps a better understanding of where you are coming from when writing about the Gophers. And I’ll admit it, I’m one of the folks who wasn’t exactly pleased when I learned the morning of October 20 that Nelson’s redshirt was going to be burned. I wanted to swallow more bile for a season, in the hopes that the program would be better off long term with him waiting in the wings and getting a year of education under Kill’s system before being put on the field. I’m not an instant gratification kind of guy.
When I took issue with an article Chip Scoggins wrote earlier this year, he had the decency to call me in person and discuss his position. We had a brief and productive conversation and he was even willing to admit he was probably being unfair and the timing of the article poor. And while I don’t expect the same level of courtesy from you, I’m hoping you’ll surprise me. Perhaps my perception is all out of whack, and I’m simply another of many overly sensitive Gopher alums who want desperately for his alma mater to succeed.
Thanks for your time,
Jon Tortomasi
