Joel Maturi Spoke at a class

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GopherInPittsburgh

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of mine today and focused a lot on the negativity of the Twin Cities media. He said how we're the only school in the Big Ten who has to deal with reporters lashing out at coaches and players. He also mentioned that 2 players were nominated for turkey of the year by a media outlet. He was extremely appalled by that, as am I. Negativity is contagious and it seems like some are only happy when they take down others. Anyone agree with Maturi on this?
 

That our media is negative? Absolutely.

That our coaches and players are the only ones dealing with it? Laughable.
 

1)He's right.
2)He's part of the problem
!%$!$@!&%!**!&#^(!*#(*#(!*^#(^(*!^(*^(!*^(*!^(*^.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



3)Can't remember, Maturi rage caused me to pass out for a second
4)He's right
5)He's a huge part of the problem
 

Ole said:
1)He's right.
2)He's part of the problem
!%$!$@!&%!**!&#^(!*#(*#(!*^#(^(*!^(*^(!*^(*!^(*^.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



3)Can't remember, Maturi rage caused me to pass out for a second
4)He's right
5)He's a huge part of the problem
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Nice LOL..

Yes, I do believe our media goes overboard on the cynicism and all of that regarding our programs. That said, win and they'll have little material, though of course they will find ways, but still, the less material you give them to work with, the less you'll see that stuff perpetrated.

I can only hope Kill will be the solvent for the football program.
 

Probably agree with Maturi, but he comes off as a whiny little girl for speaking about to a class. He/We exist in a major market, which comes with benefits and detriments. If he's doing his job the benefit should be the only thing he notices.
 


Maturi talked up Coach Kill a lot too. He said he has done a great job of making sure the scene stays positive
 

GopherHomer said:
Probably agree with Maturi, but he comes off as a whiny little girl for speaking about to a class. He/We exist in a major market, which comes with benefits and detriments. If he's doing his job the benefit should be the only thing he notices.
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He spoke more matter of factly than whiny. It's just the truth. He got pretty pissed about student-athletes being called out. He said he accepts criticism because he deserves it, but not a student-athlete.
 

While I do agree that the TC media is disappointingly negative, and sometimes downright hostile towards the Gophers, its become somewhat of a built in excuse for some (Maturi, Brewster, etc.). I don't believe it really impacts recruiting at all, but I do think it has a net affect on morale for existing players on the team. Some of the press that released the 'Tubby gone' breaking news on the eve of their tourney game need to be questioned on their motivation for not waiting to break their (as it turns out) completely incorrect story, when it was nothing but hearsay. Would I love for the TC press to get more positive with Gopher coverage? You bet. Would I like Reusse and Soupcan to be banned from writing any editorials about U of M athletics? Yes, please. But for whatever reason, there is a market for their pattened brand of hackneyed and poorly researched negativity. And I don't see it changing anytime soon.

My rebuttle to Maturi's commentary would be why should the press give more favorable coverage? When half the state doesn't get behind the U in support of athletics they way they do in other places (Wisconsin and Nebraska for example), there's no overwhelming cry for positive coverage. We're the flagship University of the state of Minnesota, and yet the average UMD, St. Thomas, or Carlson alum doesn't give a rip about our teams, all while UW-Whitewater student X and UW-Oshkosh sorority girl Y gets behind the Badgers like they were actually smart enough to go there. Meanwhile, the U's fanbase has to come largely from alum and diehard legacy-type fans.
 

I certainly hope it wasn't a business course. Joel has failed at perception, expectations, and management of the athletic department. Perhaps he's being used as a what not to do example?

I did a little research and found one player: 2009 Kevin Whaley. We all remember Kevin "bouncer" Whaley. Reusse did not pick on him while he was playing for the University. Kevin Whaley was given every chance to succeed and diecided he'd rather party and work on his gangster image.

Reusse was consistent in his chiding both he and Brewster. I guess you could expect sour grapes.

Maturi is probably a decent man, but he is paid to represent the University. That opens him up for criticism. You need to have thick skin to be in his position.
 




Two of our players were nominated for turkey of the year? I don't remember that. Anyone?
 


Maturi rage aside,
It's actually probably easy to solve this.
1)Hire coaching personalities that either are self deprecating, down to earth, and humble, or win.
2)Make smart common sense decisions with the athletic department.
3)Win or be consistent gritty in losses and win 99% of the games you're supposed to.
4)Win big and the bandwagon fans of the TC and MN will start to follow
 




gophergrad said:
Oh ya. How quickly I forgot about Kevin Whaley and Brooke Dieter (or ever knew about her...).
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If I remember correctly, Brooke was an all-everything volleyball player who left the team and school part way through the season.
 

Joel is a lot like the rec league umpire or referee who constantly gets yelled at because he is incompetent.

The bad rec league refs think all refs get yelled at and that it is just the culture in rec league sports.

Joel thinks the Gophers are being unfairly critized by a negative press when in fact they are being critized because the AD, Joel, is in fact running a very mediocre (if that) athletic department. The rest of the Big Ten schools have had some success in some sports (I am speaking of revenue sports) at sometime in the past 8 years. Joel has not.
 


I agree with Ole's first post, not with his second. It doesn't matter what the coaches personality is, enough of this understands Minnesota B.S., anyone who wins will be accepted. The media is negative, but the fans (and the media who have covered the team) have been served a steaming pile of crap during the Maturi era. I'd rather see the media be negative than lower expectations further to the point that we pat the University on the back for 7 win football seasons or NIT basketball seasons.
 

Do people actually think that the media will warm up to the U after Maturi leaves?
 


IMO, the issue Mr. Maturi raises is whether or not the TC media is negative toward the University, the coaches, the players and the answer is absolutely YES. Do yourself some research....look at Adam Rittenburg's B10 Blog daily "Lunchtime Links" for a week or two. The first thing you notice is that we have less print coverage than any B10 team. The second thing you notice is that the coverage of other teams is either supportive or observational. I would bet a great deal of money that no other B10 city has anyone close to the two clowns Reusse and Souhan. These guys are just negative, they are hostile to the U. (Yeah I know, it's all Joel's fault, they'll be on the bandwagon once he's gone....and if you believe that, I've got some land to sell you). Until we get more coverage of actual news and less negative "editorializing" by columnists, we're going to be hurt by this negativitiy, particularly in recruiting. At least that's the way I see it.
 

I was also in the class today listening to Maturi speak and reading many of the responses in this thread just reinforces what he talked about. A lot of people have just used it as another opportunity to take a shot at him. I'm not about to say Maturi has been a great AD because he certainly has made plenty of mistakes, but during his tenure we did build a brand new football stadium and he brought in a top-tier basketball coach with a national championship on his resume. Not as important, but we have also won multiple national championships in other sports (hockey, golf, wrestling). It certainly hasn't been all bad under his tenure, but everyone hates him and he constantly gets ripped in the press.

These are college players, not professionals. They don't get paid (most never will) and we shouldn't be judging them like they are, major media market or not. That is all Maturi was saying in the class today. It was not whiny, apologetic, or self serving in any way. He said flat out he deserves blame for many of the decisions he's made. But the main point was that the media here isn't the same as other big ten schools and he is absolutely correct.
 


Hats Off To Thee! said:
I was also in the class today listening to Maturi speak and reading many of the responses in this thread just reinforces what he talked about. A lot of people have just used it as another opportunity to take a shot at him. I'm not about to say Maturi has been a great AD because he certainly has made plenty of mistakes, but during his tenure we did build a brand new football stadium and he brought in a top-tier basketball coach with a national championship on his resume. Not as important, but we have also won multiple national championships in other sports (hockey, golf, wrestling). It certainly hasn't been all bad under his tenure, but everyone hates him and he constantly gets ripped in the press.

These are college players, not professionals. They don't get paid (most never will) and we shouldn't be judging them like they are, major media market or not. That is all Maturi was saying in the class today. It was not whiny, apologetic, or self serving in any way. He said flat out he deserves blame for many of the decisions he's made. But the main point was that the media here isn't the same as other big ten schools and he is absolutely correct.
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+1
 

I've been following Gopher sports closely for 40+ years and, without doing research, can't remember a time when neither the football, men's basketball, or men's hockey teams have collectively been so inept. None of them are even close to sniffing a championship and none are even sniffing upper division finishes in their respective leagues. Thanks Joel.
 

Firejumper said:
I've been following Gopher sports closely for 40+ years and, without doing research, can't remember a time when neither the football, men's basketball, or men's hockey teams have collectively been so inept. None of them are even close to sniffing a championship and none are even sniffing upper division finishes in their respective leagues. Thanks Joel.
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Help me here, I'm slow. Are you saying that there is no concern to us as Gopher supporters about the scarce and mostly negative reporting in the Twin Cities media? You see the only real concern as Joel Maturi?

If you're going to start a new thread on that topic...go ahead, don't hi-jack this one!
 


GRGOPHER said:
IMO, the issue Mr. Maturi raises is whether or not the TC media is negative toward the University, the coaches, the players and the answer is absolutely YES. Do yourself some research....look at Adam Rittenburg's B10 Blog daily "Lunchtime Links" for a week or two. The first thing you notice is that we have less print coverage than any B10 team. The second thing you notice is that the coverage of other teams is either supportive or observational. I would bet a great deal of money that no other B10 city has anyone close to the two clowns Reusse and Souhan. These guys are just negative, they are hostile to the U. (Yeah I know, it's all Joel's fault, they'll be on the bandwagon once he's gone....and if you believe that, I've got some land to sell you). Until we get more coverage of actual news and less negative "editorializing" by columnists, we're going to be hurt by this negativitiy, particularly in recruiting. At least that's the way I see it.
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The problem is that only the negative pieces get legs on boards and radio. Majority of people post and call in on controversial items. It is hard to argue positive writings.

Example: Bleed posts a link. Most people thank him for the link and say it was good writing. Some say we need more writings like it and then the thread dies.
 



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