Lets hope the "rags" are right this year too

[ruppertflywheel]

Probably like most you, I pickup all the college football rags usually starting in early June. Favorite one is Phil Steele's Big Ten Report which is the most in depth report. Athelon's and Lindy's Big Ten
Reports are also pretty good.There are others too. The Sporting News, CBS College Football, etc. I know in the past I've looked at these reports with rose colored galsses on wondering how they could be so hard on my beloved Gophers and I would poo-poo them. If you go through the magazines like I do you found they were dead nuts on regarding the Gophers last year. So before I drink multiple gallons of Kill's Kool Aid I will wait and see what the scribes say. Incidentally,if you check Phil Steele's Big Ten Report over the past several years he has done a good job of predicting the Gophers fate.

 

[imthewalrus]

Kill just needs to "keep it real..." coach up his players all his staff and he can, and play the players he feels give him the best chance to win Big Ten games. There are many things out of his control. Depth issues may be difficult if there are academic problems, injuries or any kinds of negative surprises. The Big Ten schedule will not be an easy schedule. It is entirely possible that we may be looking at a 1-2 win Big Ten season and a 4 to 5 total win season. All things considered, that might be as good as it will get in 2011. That would not be an entirely negative first season for Coach Kill and his staff. This IS a tough gig and is going to take CONSTANT striving on the parts of the players and the coaches to "get better" in any and in every way.

And the fans around here need to be just as realistic as the coach needs to be realistic. I have been watching our fan base and have been a part of the Golden Gopher Faithful for over fifty years now. We have some of the GREATEST FANS in the Big Ten. We just don't have enough of them. We also have some for the worst fans in the Big Ten...not as many as some places and more than some other places.

Our student section is pretty much bottom 1/4 of the Big Ten student sections. Pretty fair-weather bunch. They are no where to be seen the final few home games of the Big Ten season. When the weather gets cold and when the team needs them the most...they are awol. They always have excuses...but...excuses don't cut it.

So, you are correct Ruppert: the jury is still out on Coach Kill, the team, the fan base AND the student section. We need improvement in EVERY area.

But, that is ok. It gives us ALL a chance to participate in the building of Golden Gopher Football. I've got to do better. You have to do better. The students have to do better, the players have to do better. Coach Kill and his staff need to strive to constantly do better. The administration needs to flat-out do a better job than they have been doing for most of the past fifty years.

To start: the coach and his staff; the players; the fan base; the student section; you and I ALL need to really show up for EVERY home game in 2011. If we all do our parts, where ever we end up in 2011 will have been more successful than 2010 was. That is the goal: get better EVERY year. Even a little better is better than no better or worse than the season before.

We don't have to rely on what the writers of those rags say about Gopher Football: we can ALL start influencing what they write about Gopher Football. Its' up to you, me, Coach Kill, his staff, the players, the fan base and the student section. Oh yes, the administration can have a great impact on the whole picture. Ditch badger joel macturi NOW!

 

[JoeDirt]

Phil Steele is great, I have nearly every one of his B1G reports and College football previews. He is so good with his stats and predictions. If I had the money I would put $100 on every BCS game and bet according to his rankings and ratings, without a doubt you would come out ahead. He provides so frickin' much info I don't even know what the heck some of it means. I really hope he see's us as a .500 team, it would mean that we have some real talent and capable coaching.

 

[corcoran1]

Kill just needs to "keep it real..." coach up his players all his staff and he can, and play the players he feels give him the best chance to win Big Ten games. There are many things out of his control. Depth issues may be difficult if there are academic problems, injuries or any kinds of negative surprises. The Big Ten schedule will not be an easy schedule. It is entirely possible that we may be looking at a 1-2 win Big Ten season and a 4 to 5 total win season. All things considered, that might be as good as it will get in 2011. That would not be an entirely negative first season for Coach Kill and his staff. This IS a tough gig and is going to take CONSTANT striving on the parts of the players and the coaches to "get better" in any and in every way.

And the fans around here need to be just as realistic as the coach needs to be realistic. I have been watching our fan base and have been a part of the Golden Gopher Faithful for over fifty years now. We have some of the GREATEST FANS in the Big Ten. We just don't have enough of them. We also have some for the worst fans in the Big Ten...not as many as some places and more than some other places.

Our student section is pretty much bottom 1/4 of the Big Ten student sections. Pretty fair-weather bunch. They are no where to be seen the final few home games of the Big Ten season. When the weather gets cold and when the team needs them the most...they are awol. They always have excuses...but...excuses don't cut it.

So, you are correct Ruppert: the jury is still out on Coach Kill, the team, the fan base AND the student section. We need improvement in EVERY area.

But, that is ok. It gives us ALL a chance to participate in the building of Golden Gopher Football. I've got to do better. You have to do better. The students have to do better, the players have to do better. Coach Kill and his staff need to strive to constantly do better. The administration needs to flat-out do a better job than they have been doing for most of the past fifty years.

To start: the coach and his staff; the players; the fan base; the student section; you and I ALL need to really show up for EVERY home game in 2011. If we all do our parts, where ever we end up in 2011 will have been more successful than 2010 was. That is the goal: get better EVERY year. Even a little better is better than no better or worse than the season before.

We don't have to rely on what the writers of those rags say about Gopher Football: we can ALL start influencing what they write about Gopher Football. Its' up to you, me, Coach Kill, his staff, the players, the fan base and the student section. Oh yes, the administration can have a great impact on the whole picture. Ditch badger joel macturi NOW!

Can't disagree with anything in this response, especially the last part. As far as other teams having lots of graduation losses goes, many of them may be missing last year's starters at multiple positions, but most do not have 2nd team backups that are walk-ons at multiple positions, or basically most of the spring game receiving corps be walk-ons. The teams in the upper half of the conference may lose starters, but the guys filling in the holes are generally as highly recruited as our starters, or more highly recruited. If a walk-on starts at an upper half team, they have to beat recuits with multiple BCS offers. That is the difference.

 

[Killjoy]

Babbling Again, Wren

Kill just needs to "keep it real..." coach up his players all his staff and he can, and play the players he feels give him the best chance to win Big Ten games. There are many things out of his control.

Same old themes again wren. I particularly like your last line above that "There are many things out of his control." You sound just like Mason. Thank god Kill understand that he is accountable and figures out away to get the job done instead whining like Mason.

I better get back to the NFL draft. Time is running out on your nephew if he is going to be drafted.

 

[Unregistered User]

Same old themes again wren. I particularly like your last line above that "There are many things out of his control." You sound just like Mason. Thank god Kill understand that he is accountable and figures out away to get the job done instead whining like Mason.

I better get back to the NFL draft. Time is running out on your nephew if he is going to get drafted.

People actually read what wren writes? Sometimes I try to get past the first sentence, but pretty soon it's just white noise.

 

[imthewalrus]

Same old themes again wren. I particularly like your last line above that "There are many things out of his control." You sound just like Mason. Thank god Kill understand that he is accountable and figures out away to get the job done instead whining like Mason.


Let's see killjoy: what did you call yourself when badger joel macturi forced brewster and brewball down the throats of us all???????? Now you are here talking about Kill as though he had even coached any games here. Prove that Kill understands that he is accountable and will figure out a way to get the job done...

Believe me killjoy ( or what ever your name used to be when you were pitching that brewball crap and telling us how great brewster was before he got his tail run out of town) I hope that Kill is wildly successful here. BUT, he is going to have to show me with actual Big Ten wins before I would ever let you get by with bestowing honors on Coach Kill before he EARNS those honors.

Coach Kill's record at Minnesota will be what Coach Kills record at Minnesota actually is. Right now it is 0-0. Never assume anything killjoy, or what ever your name used to be during the brewball disaster. Coach Kill will have to prove himself here at Minnesota one game at a time. I like what I see so far. But, we haven't played any football games yet, have we killjoy. It's the oucome of those damn games that sometimes gets in the way isn't it?????

Throw badger joel macturi under the bus NOW!!!!! ; 0 )

 

[short ornery norwegian]

True Story:

I used to live in Platteville, Wisconsin back when the NFL's Chicago Bears held their training camp at UW-Platteville. I was over watching practice one day, and had a chance to talk to then-coach Mike Ditka. I happened to mention that I was reading Street and Smith's NFL preview issue, and they had called the NFL Central division the worst division in pro football. I asked Ditka what he thought, and his reply was: (direct quote)

"If you have to read a god-damn magazine to find out who the best teams in the league are, then you don't know a god-damn thing about football."

I've never looked at preview magazines the same way since - I still have flashbacks of Ditka yelling at me.

 

[Killjoy]

There You Go Again wren....

Let's see killjoy: what did you call yourself when badger joel macturi forced brewster and brewball down the throats of us all???????? Now you are here talking about Kill as though he had even coached any games here. Prove that Kill understands that he is accountable and will figure out a way to get the job done...

Believe me killjoy ( or what ever your name used to be when you were pitching that brewball crap and telling us how great brewster was before he got his tail run out of town) I hope that Kill is wildly successful here. BUT, he is going to have to show me with actual Big Ten wins before I would ever let you get by with bestowing honors on Coach Kill before he EARNS those honors.

......babbling as usual. Never mind what the facts are.

The facts are that I have never promoted Brewster/Maturi here or elsewhere. They are your obsessions not mine. You seem to believe that if somebody disagrees with you that make them an apologist for Brewster and Maturi. But if somebody questions Adam Weber quarterback skills you then call that person a “basher”. Wren, Adam may have been a good person but whether you like it or not he was just an average quarterback. If you still don't believe this, the NFL has spoken about Adam’s skill by not drafting him.

Your problem is that you are a person of inconsistent extremes who goes ballistic when somebody disagrees with you. This is compounded further by the fact that you don’t even bother to take the time to understand what people are saying to you. Instead you respond by repeating the same old simplistic thoughts over and over.

 

[GophersInIowa]

True Story:

I used to live in Platteville, Wisconsin back when the NFL's Chicago Bears held their training camp at UW-Platteville. I was over watching practice one day, and had a chance to talk to then-coach Mike Ditka. I happened to mention that I was reading Street and Smith's NFL preview issue, and they had called the NFL Central division the worst division in pro football. I asked Ditka what he thought, and his reply was: (direct quote)

"If you have to read a god-damn magazine to find out who the best teams in the league are, then you don't know a god-damn thing about football."

I've never looked at preview magazines the same way since - I still have flashbacks of Ditka yelling at me.

If it was just about anyone else, most people would probably be offended, but since it came from Ditka, I'd feel honored.

 

[tjgopher]

Lets hope the "rags" are right this year too.

Don't we want to wait to see what the rags actually say about the Gophers before we hope that they are right this year, too? I mean if they all say we're going to finish 10th in the league, we better hope they are wrong, right?

 

[ruppertflywheel]

I'm smelling the Kool Aid...

Don't we want to wait to see what the rags actually say about the Gophers before we hope that they are right this year, too? I mean if they all say we're going to finish 10th in the league, we better hope they are wrong, right?

not drinking it. The consensus on the hole is 5-6 wins, so I guess that is what I hope to see from the rags. I would accept 5 wins, 6 wins or more would put me in the Land of Oz

 

[Golden Elephant]

You guys really trust the rags predictions?

I realize this thread is old now, and mostly a spat between a couple posters, but seriously, to the OP's general point - you guys really take stock of what these magazines say?

I mean, I flip through them if I'm at B&N or the supermarket or whatever, because they do have some interesting information about what players are coming back for the different teams and how that affects things. But, and it's a big but, these guys don't have much of a clue how teams are going to do from year to year. Their "predictions" are basically done by taking last year's record and slightly adjusting it based on how many starters return and any schedule changes. Any idiot poster on this board could do this.

As much as I'd like things to dramatically change from year to year in college football (being a Gophers fan), the truth is that teams generally do about as good as they've done the year before give or take a few wins/losses. It's not hard to predict how teams will do the next year, and when teams do make dramatic improvements or declines, the rags almost never see it coming.

To the last poster's point about the Gophers, I highly doubt that we'll be predicted to win more than 3 or 4 games. They'll have us over NM St, and NDSU, and maybe Miami(OH), but which B1G games will they predict us to win? Maybe Illinois at home or Purdue and/or NW on the road they'll rate as tossups, but on paper are we really favorites for any B1G games at this point? I don't think so - and that's nothing against Kill or the players on the squad, but this is a team that won just 2 B1G games last year, and lost the starting QB and is introducing a whole new scheme. I expect we've got decent chances in at least the 3 B1G games I mentioned, plus several others, so I expect us to win 1-2 or maybe even more B1G games. But these magazines generally predict game-by-game and I don't think we're favorites on paper in any specific game at this point.

 

[Too Long in the Wasteland]

I realize this thread is old now, and mostly a spat between a couple posters, but seriously, to the OP's general point - you guys really take stock of what these magazines say?

I mean, I flip through them if I'm at B&N or the supermarket or whatever, because they do have some interesting information about what players are coming back for the different teams and how that affects things. But, and it's a big but, these guys don't have much of a clue how teams are going to do from year to year. Their "predictions" are basically done by taking last year's record and slightly adjusting it based on how many starters return and any schedule changes. Any idiot poster on this board could do this.

As much as I'd like things to dramatically change from year to year in college football (being a Gophers fan), the truth is that teams generally do about as good as they've done the year before give or take a few wins/losses. It's not hard to predict how teams will do the next year, and when teams do make dramatic improvements or declines, the rags almost never see it coming.

To the last poster's point about the Gophers, I highly doubt that we'll be predicted to win more than 3 or 4 games. They'll have us over NM St, and NDSU, and maybe Miami(OH), but which B1G games will they predict us to win? Maybe Illinois at home or Purdue and/or NW on the road they'll rate as tossups, but on paper are we really favorites for any B1G games at this point? I don't think so - and that's nothing against Kill or the players on the squad, but this is a team that won just 2 B1G games last year, and lost the starting QB and is introducing a whole new scheme. I expect we've got decent chances in at least the 3 B1G games I mentioned, plus several others, so I expect us to win 1-2 or maybe even more B1G games. But these magazines generally predict game-by-game and I don't think we're favorites on paper in any specific game at this point.

Well stated. The only reason I buy these mags is to research for my BT fantasy league team. And frankly, there's usually better info online. LOL at the Ditka story. I agree that it would be an honor to have gotten your azz chewed out by him.

As for the mag predictions, a lot of it is supply and demand. Steele et al know that a disproportionate number of OSU, SCum, & PSU fans buy his magazines compared to Minnesota fans. And noone likes to read that their team is gonna suck. So those teams are always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes ridiculously so. And in Steele's defense, noone wants to be wrong, particularly in print. In most cases his predictions are going to be conservative. He'll go with the teams that are proven winners. Which is someone other than us. Until Kill demonstrates success on the field, don't expect the pundits to predict otherwise.

 

[Kuato Lives!]

I buy the rags because I like to cram my dome piece with as much knowledge about every team in FBS as I possibly can. Athlon, Sporting News, and especially Phil Steele's national report are key to me obsessing over every minor detail of almost every team.