Mason: “It’s a travesty what New Mexico State is doing. …To play a game on Saturday and then go on the road and play a Big Ten team on Thursday"

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Shama:

By contrast, Minnesota will be playing its first game of the season and is a 38 point favorite. The circumstances of this game concern Glen Mason who coached the Gophers from 1997-2006. He told Sports Headliners the Aggies are jeopardizing the welfare of their players with a game so soon after their Saturday opener.

Football is a violent sport causing frequent injuries on the college level. But the Aggies are playing the game Thursday on a short turnaround because the athletic program needs the money that comes from payday games against Power Five teams like Minnesota.

Mason understands the economics but is critical. “It’s a travesty what New Mexico State is doing. …To play a game on Saturday and then go on the road and play a Big Ten team on Thursday, I think that’s wrong for those kids at New Mexico State.”

Aggies coach Jerry Kill knows how demanding the schedule is this week. “We’ll see how tough we are,” he said after his game Saturday night.

Mason, though, believes the Aggies should have found a way to cancel the trip to Minneapolis. “Everybody talks a good game about the safety and welfare of the players. You can’t tell me that that’s not an issue here. When you’re not a very good team to begin with (it’s even more of a problem). …They weren’t even equal to Nevada. They got beat handily. Now they’re gonna go play a Big Ten team? Ah, come on.”


Go Gophers!!
 


The Big Ten super conference should end these games entirely once it grows to 20 teams.
 





salzie said:
I don't disagree with Mason

Not a good scheduling decision to have a game on Thursday when open season prior Sunday
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The game was on Saturday, not Sunday.

I don't disagree that it's crazy to play just 5 days after a game, which to me begs the question, why did they schedule a Week Zero game? Nobody forced them to do that either.
 

I'm sure that cosplay-Sid heard all of this on Mase in your Face with Barrerio, since he's not a real journalist.
 
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Wait! I thought Kill was throwing his AD (who was actually the previous AD that retired 8 years prior to Kill's arrival) under the bus? (side note, Nevada did not win that game handily)
 



BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

By contrast, Minnesota will be playing its first game of the season and is a 38 point favorite. The circumstances of this game concern Glen Mason who coached the Gophers from 1997-2006. He told Sports Headliners the Aggies are jeopardizing the welfare of their players with a game so soon after their Saturday opener.

Football is a violent sport causing frequent injuries on the college level. But the Aggies are playing the game Thursday on a short turnaround because the athletic program needs the money that comes from payday games against Power Five teams like Minnesota.

Mason understands the economics but is critical. “It’s a travesty what New Mexico State is doing. …To play a game on Saturday and then go on the road and play a Big Ten team on Thursday, I think that’s wrong for those kids at New Mexico State.”

Aggies coach Jerry Kill knows how demanding the schedule is this week. “We’ll see how tough we are,” he said after his game Saturday night.

Mason, though, believes the Aggies should have found a way to cancel the trip to Minneapolis. “Everybody talks a good game about the safety and welfare of the players. You can’t tell me that that’s not an issue here. When you’re not a very good team to begin with (it’s even more of a problem). …They weren’t even equal to Nevada. They got beat handily. Now they’re gonna go play a Big Ten team? Ah, come on.”


Go Gophers!!
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I don't think Mason actually watched this game. NMSU outgained Nevada, had five turnovers and still only lost by 11. I don't think that is getting beat handily -- Nevada was terrible.
 

Ope3 said:
The game was on Saturday, not Sunday.

I don't disagree that it's crazy to play just 5 days after a game, which to me begs the question, why did they schedule a Week Zero game? Nobody forced them to do that either.
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I am sure it was a typo, but the game was in a weather delay Saturday night when I went to bed which was about 10:30 central.
 

One drawback of the on-campus stadium. Gophers used to play Saturday home games during the State Fair - of course, that's when the games were played at the Metrodome.

I know this will never happen, but one solution would be for the Gophs to play their first game at the Vikings Stadium.
 




NFL teams pretty regularly play Sunday then Thursday without a significant change in win/loss percentage.

These are elite Division 1 FBS athletes, not washed up arthritic old and middle-aged men like most of us. Hopefully anyone that is truly functionally injured rather than just with bumps and bruises is held out. With the state of NMSUs conference table lord knows what their training facilities look like...
 

Pompous Elitist said:
NFL teams pretty regularly play Sunday then Thursday without a significant change in win/loss percentage.

These are elite Division 1 FBS athletes, not washed up arthritic old and middle-aged men like most of us. Hopefully anyone that is truly functionally injured rather than just with bumps and bruises is held out. With the state of NMSUs conference table lord knows what their training facilities look like...
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The one difference is most of the time both teams are playing Sunday-Thursday. Here the Gophers have a traditional game practice week to prepare. New Mexico State has basically a Monday/Tuesday to prepare.

I'd assume that Sunday was your traditional lift/film, Monday - install, Tuesday - Practice, Wednesday - Walkthrough/Travel... Big difference between their preparations for the game and the U's preparation.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
One drawback of the on-campus stadium. Gophers used to play Saturday home games during the State Fair - of course, that's when the games were played at the Metrodome.

I know this will never happen, but one solution would be for the Gophs to play their first game at the Vikings Stadium.
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Wait, what? The gophers choose to play the opening Thursday. The stadium isn't in use Saturday by the state fair...what is this even about?
 

MNfootballfan said:
The one difference is most of the time both teams are playing Sunday-Thursday. Here the Gophers have a traditional game practice week to prepare. New Mexico State has basically a Monday/Tuesday to prepare.

I'd assume that Sunday was your traditional lift/film, Monday - install, Tuesday - Practice, Wednesday - Walkthrough/Travel... Big difference between their preparations for the game and the U's preparation.
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I agree with you the preparation time difference is very significant I was more commenting Mase’s statement it’s dangerous for the NMSU players. I suppose that’s possible if soreness/inflammation is masking a more significant injury.
 

I suspect these games are good chunks of their budget for the year so ... yeah they play'm.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Wait, what? The gophers choose to play the opening Thursday. The stadium isn't in use Saturday by the state fair...what is this even about?
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I was under the impression that we started having the season opener on Thursday to help facilitate traffic/parking at the Fair on Saturday (as well as better national TV opportunities).
 

SixBySix said:
I was under the impression that we started having the season opener on Thursday to help facilitate traffic/parking at the Fair on Saturday (as well as better national TV opportunities).
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Yes. I have no desire to be within 10 miles of Falcon Heights on a Saturday or Sunday of the State Fair.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
One drawback of the on-campus stadium. Gophers used to play Saturday home games during the State Fair - of course, that's when the games were played at the Metrodome.

I know this will never happen, but one solution would be for the Gophs to play their first game at the Vikings Stadium.
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I hope that never happens.
 


Las Cruces has nice spots for tourists, and some nice housing developments and the campus is pretty but in general, is somewhat economically a poor city.
It could be a fun road trip.
 

Plato said:
Las Cruces has nice spots for tourists, and some nice housing developments and the campus is pretty but in general, is somewhat economically a poor city.
It could be a fun road trip.
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White Sands NP is just about one hour to the east over the mountain pass as well as USA White Sands Missle Testing base/museum. Interesting area. El Paso about an hour south. Its definitely typical southwest desert. Not familiar with Las Cruces other than driving thru it a few times on the way to AZ.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
I agree with you the preparation time difference is very significant I was more commenting Mase’s statement it’s dangerous for the NMSU players. I suppose that’s possible if soreness/inflammation is masking a more significant injury.
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Agree 100% with you in that. Maybe, just maybe someone could make an argument that it is more of a risk, but I would assume the players right now after one game are the best they will feel until December.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
White Sands NP is just about one hour to the east over the mountain pass as well as USA White Sands Missle Testing base/museum. Interesting area. El Paso about an hour south. Its definitely typical southwest desert. Not familiar with Las Cruces other than driving thru it a few times on the way to AZ.
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We had some friends who moved there for a contract job a few years ago (moved back when it ended). They really liked it, especially in the winter. New Mexico is a beautiful state. I'd love to visit that area.
 

discochris said:
We had some friends who moved there for a contract job a few years ago (moved back when it ended). They really liked it, especially in the winter. New Mexico is a beautiful state. I'd love to visit that area.
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I just had friends move to NM as well and they love it too. Perhaps they are the same people. Say "hi" to them for me. Seriously though, they do love it and are not looking back or regretting their move from Austin TX to NM.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Wait, what? The gophers choose to play the opening Thursday. The stadium isn't in use Saturday by the state fair...what is this even about?
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as others have noted, the issue is with State Fair parking. for a regular Gopher home football game, many fans park at the State Fair lots and take a shuttle bus to the game. Can't do that during the Fair, so those fans need to find other places to park and/or tailgate.

on the flip side, the Fair uses the parking lots next to the Gophers' stadium for its park-and-ride program. so those are not available on a Gopher game day.

the Thursday game is essentially a compromise. Fair attendance is not as high as it would be on a Saturday, so that somewhat minimizes the parking and traffic issues.

the alternative would be for the Gophers to play road games during the State Fair or move games to a neutral site, such as the Vikings' stadium.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
as others have noted, the issue is with State Fair parking. for a regular Gopher home football game, many fans park at the State Fair lots and take a shuttle bus to the game. Can't do that during the Fair, so those fans need to find other places to park and/or tailgate.

on the flip side, the Fair uses the parking lots next to the Gophers' stadium for its park-and-ride program. so those are not available on a Gopher game day.

the Thursday game is essentially a compromise. Fair attendance is not as high as it would be on a Saturday, so that somewhat minimizes the parking and traffic issues.

the alternative would be for the Gophers to play road games during the State Fair or move games to a neutral site, such as the Vikings' stadium.
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They aren't going to play at the Vikings stadium.

I don't think the parking situation dictates the day of the game. i think its 100% the exposure for the team. Being one of the few major programs on Thursday night is an advantage. Its also an advantage to have two extra days to prepare for your week 2 opponent. You're not beat up and tired before your first game. 48 hours may be why they do well in the non-conference. I'm sure Peej knows
 

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