Got to love Mauer sporting a big "M" Gopher hat on ESPN!

[began11]

Nice to see that Mauer is a Gopher fan. Is there anything wrong with this guy? I have never actually witnessed Mauer at a Gopher sporting event but maybe with all of that money coming his way.....he can pay for a new Gopher baseball stadium! Go Gophers!

 

[BleedGopher]

Mauer has been on the Gopher football sidelines (along with a few other Twins) in the past for a few games, and has sat behind the Gopher bench for a number of Gopher hoops games over the years.

Go Gophers!!

 

[CWCWCW]

No Seminoles hat?

Joe Mauer is definitely a darling of Minnesota. Great baseball player, no doubt. He's an "aw shucks" kind of guy who shows a great deal of respect and humility. So far, he's earned the respect he has received.
I've often wondered why he chose to announce that he would play for Florida State? If he truly knew that baseball was his game, why didn't he give a token commitment to the U of M? Even 10 years ago, most locals didn't get upset with that decision. Heck, I'm a big fan of Joe Mauer. But, there's that tiny thing that sticks in my craw. Yes, I know.....get over it!

 

[wait!what?]

don't know him but he seems like good people.

 

[Shores Esq]

Joe Mauer is definitely a darling of Minnesota. Great baseball player, no doubt. He's an "aw shucks" kind of guy who shows a great deal of respect and humility. So far, he's earned the respect he has received.
I've often wondered why he chose to announce that he would play for Florida State? If he truly knew that baseball was his game, why didn't he give a token commitment to the U of M? Even 10 years ago, most locals didn't get upset with that decision. Heck, I'm a big fan of Joe Mauer. But, there's that tiny thing that sticks in my craw. Yes, I know.....get over it!

If it was a token commitment and baseball organizations knew that, then he would have had zero leverage in contract negotiations. Not only that, but at the time he committed, I'm assuming he believed that football was still a real possibility.

 

[station19]

Joe Mauer is definitely a darling of Minnesota. Great baseball player, no doubt. He's an "aw shucks" kind of guy who shows a great deal of respect and humility. So far, he's earned the respect he has received.
I've often wondered why he chose to announce that he would play for Florida State? If he truly knew that baseball was his game, why didn't he give a token commitment to the U of M? Even 10 years ago, most locals didn't get upset with that decision. Heck, I'm a big fan of Joe Mauer. But, there's that tiny thing that sticks in my craw. Yes, I know.....get over it!

Maybe he didn't truly know that baseball was his game. If he wasn't sure maybe he was honest and thought if he did play football it would be FSU.

 

[Maximus]

Joe Mauer is definitely a darling of Minnesota. Great baseball player, no doubt. He's an "aw shucks" kind of guy who shows a great deal of respect and humility. So far, he's earned the respect he has received.
I've often wondered why he chose to announce that he would play for Florida State? If he truly knew that baseball was his game, why didn't he give a token commitment to the U of M? Even 10 years ago, most locals didn't get upset with that decision. Heck, I'm a big fan of Joe Mauer. But, there's that tiny thing that sticks in my craw. Yes, I know.....get over it!

Really? What if he fell in the draft? What if the Twins lowballed him and he didn't sign? What if he had an epiphany and decided college football was him? What if he wanted to experience college life and play football and baseball at FSU?

Seems you think he's a pretty straight forward, no BS kind of guy....which seems to be the opposite of giving a BS committment to Minnesota.

 

[Ron Johnson Super Fan]

I remember hearing somewhere that Joe Mauer was considering making a sizable donation towards the new Gopher baseball stadium. Has anyone heard anything else about this?

 

[MrGopher]

Joe Mauer is awesome.

 

[MRJ]

Nice to see that Mauer is a Gopher fan. Is there anything wrong with this guy? I have never actually witnessed Mauer at a Gopher sporting event but maybe with all of that money coming his way.....he can pay for a new Gopher baseball stadium! Go Gophers!

I'll admit that I was a little surprised when Mauer showed up wearing a Gophers hat. But it certainly did look good on him. Just another thing to like about Joe.

 

[MN Gopher Fan]

That was a pretty sweet hat he was sporting...and yeah, got to love the kid for giving the gophs some love on ESPN...I'm just patiently waiting for him to sign the 10 year contract so I can officially put him down as the greatest sports star ever...(for me since Tiger opened the door for the #1 spot, haha)

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

If it was a token commitment and baseball organizations knew that, then he would have had zero leverage in contract negotiations. Not only that, but at the time he committed, I'm assuming he believed that football was still a real possibility.

I also think that Bowden's treatment of Chris Weinke (holding his scholarship for 4 years while he played minor league baseball) had an effect on Mauer's choice.