Fun read: A Reusse column from the last time the Gophers beat a No. 1-ranked team '89

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BleedGopher

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per the column:

Through the efforts of Willie Burton and Melvin Newbern, a couple of recruits signed by Jim Dutcher, and Richard Coffey, a paratrooper Haskins found at Fort Bragg, N.C., Clem the Gem has found what it can be like when the Old Barn is rocking.

Twice in 12 days, Big Ten teams with Final Four potential entered Williams Arena on the upswing. The Iowa Hawkeyes, ranked No. 5, had been able to leave the Dean E. Smith Athletic Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. with a victory. They couldn't get out of Williams in the same condition, falling 80-78, overcome by the phenomenal performances of Burton and Newbern.

Thursday night, Illinois came to town, ranked No. 1 and, at 17-0, the only unbeaten Division I team in the country. The Illini went down more easily than did Iowa. They were beaten by Burton, beaten by Newbern, beaten by Coffey, beaten by the most appreciative crowd of the Haskins era.

They were beaten 69-62, and the Gophers deserved that margin of victory, if not a few points more. When a loose ball hit the floor, a Gopher was there first. When a ball came off the glass, a Gopher - usually Burton or Coffey - had boxed off his opponent and controlled the rebound.

Maybe the Old Barn, when it gets rocking, only seems twice as loud as the new arenas with the theater seats. Still, I swear that it was so loud in there a few times in the second half that Henson had to put his hand on top of his head to keep the toupee from blowing away.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/193143001.html

Go Gophers!!
 

That's exactly what a number of us were talking about in a post last week. It was a competitive Big Ten - #1 and #5 in the country - and we beat them both. When those teams came to Williams, from '89 on under Clem, we expected to see our teams play hard, play well, and people expected to win. That was fun!

I thought, maybe, we had reestablished that earlier in the year again, even if only for a brief time. I'd love to see that tomorrow night. I would love to get to the point again where our fan base expected the team to not only compete, but win, our home games at Williams. That doesn't mean we will win them all, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
 

The atmosphere for Wisconsin was great but the type of night described in this article are rare now and have been for a while. Back then that type of atmosphere was common place because the team more times than not protected home court.
 

Man it would be great to beat Indy tomorrow. Fun read. I believe that was the Clem team that was 0-8 on the road in conference and managed to beat Ohio State on the road in the final game of the season to get to 9-9 in conference and a birth in the tourney.
 

That Illinois game is my favorite game of all time. It was absolutely nuts. My favorite memory was Newbern slapping the floor as Illinois was bringing it up court as if to say, "Bring it on!"
 


brucekaupa said:
That Illinois game is my favorite game of all time. It was absolutely nuts. My favorite memory was Newbern slapping the floor as Illinois was bringing it up court as if to say, "Bring it on!"
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I was at that Illinois game, one of the earliest games that I can remember attending. I do remember how that building rocked and I would like nothing better than to see it happen again tomorrow night.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
That's exactly what a number of us were talking about in a post last week. It was a competitive Big Ten - #1 and #5 in the country - and we beat them both. When those teams came to Williams, from '89 on under Clem, we expected to see our teams play hard, play well, and people expected to win. That was fun!

I thought, maybe, we had reestablished that earlier in the year again, even if only for a brief time. I'd love to see that tomorrow night. I would love to get to the point again where our fan base expected the team to not only compete, but win, our home games at Williams. That doesn't mean we will win them all, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
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And that didn't even count Michigan, who won the national title. This year's Big Ten reminds me of those days.
 

Did Newbern have his sports psychologist there to help him know that slapping the floor was beneficial to a victory? Maybe it will happen if it's in the cards, lucky dice, and stars.
 

C'mon though Bad. The Big Ten was never what it is now. The fact we played and beat #1, #5, and nat'l champ in 1989 is a reflection of the lack of quality in the Big Ten then compared to now. None of those teams were as good as this years 5th place team.

Sarcasm intended.
 



Well, Ozzy&Ray --

Since I get the feeling your sarcasm is intended for me for the most part, I was quite specific and have said PRE-Clem years. In the Pre-Clem years, the Big Ten was nothing like it is today.

As for 1989, I've stated MANY times that this year reminds me of that year. And if we did end up beating Indiana tomorrow, how little difference there would be to 1989. With wins over Mich St, Wisconsin and Indiana at home.

One difference is that there were only 4 Big Ten teams that finished in the rankings that year, we've had 7 Big Ten teams ranked at the same time this year. So in all honesty, 1989 does NOT match up to this season.


The Sagarin Ratings right now have FIVE Big Ten teams rated in its Top Ten. 1989, as much as it reminds me of this year, just wasn't quite the same.
 

Clem would really jackup players for games at the Barn. I remember ass't coach Al Brown saying at one of the backcourt lunches, you wouldn't want women and children around in the locker
room when Clem gave his pre-game talk. It got pretty dicey.
 


ruppertflywheel said:
Clem would really jackup players for games at the Barn. I remember ass't coach Al Brown saying at one of the backcourt lunches, you wouldn't want women and children around in the locker
room when Clem gave his pre-game talk. It got pretty dicey.
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Reusse used to refer to those games as a "Clem Special." Haskins felt he could get the team up for two or three games in the course of a year where they WOULD NOT LOSE.

I don't know if it's archived anywhere, but if you can get a hold of the column Reusse wrote the week leading up to the Gophers' NCAA win over Syracuse in 1990, it's well worth reading.
 



#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat said:
So in all honesty, 1989 does NOT match up to this season.
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The NCAA Tournament will determine whether this year's Big Ten is better than 1989. Hard to argue with half your conference (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota) qualifying for and then winning at least one NCAA game; four of those five (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota) reaching the Sweet 16; and two of those four (Illinois, Michigan) reaching the Final Four, including the eventual national champion (Michigan).

The B1G has chance to match that this year with probably three teams (Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State) capable of reaching Atlanta, but for it to be considered stronger than 1989 it needs to get a couple teams to Atlanta followed by one of 'em winning the big prize. Only Michigan (1989) and Michigan State (2000) have won national titles in the last 24 years. If the B1G wants to be compared favorably to 1989, that needs to change this March/April.
 

brucekaupa said:
Rupert, did you go to Jaxx also?
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Yep brucekaupa. Usually had a player or two as guests. I started going back in the Mussleman era.
Afterwards, we would stop at "Standup Franks" for the notorious one ice cube cocktail. I can pride myself and say I never fell down at Standup Franks. If you got a scotch and water it looked like ice
tea. Great place! The standard line was: "Are you going to buy a round or stand around"
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Yep brucekaupa. Usually had a player or two as guests. I started going back in the Mussleman era.
Afterwards, we would stop at "Standup Franks" for the notorious one ice cube cocktail. I can pride myself and say I never fell down at Standup Franks. If you got a scotch and water it looked like ice
tea. Great place! The standard line was: "Are you going to buy a round or stand around"
Click to expand...

So, do you have the resumes of Kolander, Lenard and Orr sitting around somewhere?

I miss those Jaxx luncheons. Great green beans. Monson didn't need 'em.
 

I was at this game too (my freshmen year) and it was the best sporting event I've ever been to in person (wasn't fortunate to attend any of the Twins playoff games in 87 and 91). We yelled as loud as we could for ~40 minutes!
 

I wonder what 2013 Reusse would say to 1989 Reusse if he could time travel back to warn him of the impending doom of Clem's later years.

Whatever neo-Reusse might say, paleo-Reusse would probably snark back about how terrible he looked.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
I wonder what 2013 Reusse would say to 1989 Reusse if he could time travel back to warn him of the impending doom of Clem's later years.

Whatever neo-Reusse might say, paleo-Reusse would probably snark back about how terrible he looked.
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Which reminds me of another Gopher-related Reusse column, this one from (I think it was) 1993. In that one, Clem was quoted as saying, "We're doing things the right way at Minnesota." Alluding, of course, to the un-right way other programs were doing things.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Which reminds me of another Gopher-related Reusse column, this one from (I think it was) 1993. In that one, Clem was quoted as saying, "We're doing things the right way at Minnesota." Alluding, of course, to the un-right way other programs were doing things.
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I hope you aren't suggesting that was the only time Clem was quoted as saying that. It was more like a broken record.

For those of you that don't know what a record is; it's a round black disc with a hole in the middle.
 




#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat said:
Well, Ozzy&Ray --

the Big Ten was nothing like it is today.
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Really? Tell me how many times you see the Big Ten in the final four on this list. I'll cut it off at the year 1989.

Here are the years and number of Big 10 teams that made the final four.

One team: 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 49, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 69, 73, 79, 81, 87

Two teams: 76, 80, 89

Sorry, but I don't see how you can say that the Big 10 was nothing like it is today. In 76 the championship was between Indiana and Michigan and the Big 10 was dominant. Perhaps I'm missing something, but to me the data wouldn't support your comment.
 

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