Maturi's Grand Slam

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Handsome Pete

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Maturi knocked the ball so far out of the park on alignment that it is rolling down 6th Street. No team made out better than the Gophers. Keep in mind that who is good and who is mediocre is relatively transient (with the exception of Ohio St.) so opportunity, geography, and history are the important considerations. We are the only team that kept all of its rivalries and even added the Little Brown Jug as a once-more annual battle.

Today we learned from Andy Katz that "Iowa and Minnesota had to be together," that Nebraska insisted upon being with Minnesota, and, from Michigan's AD, that they were pumped to establish the Little Brown Jug as an annual game. I just read the letter from Barry Alvarez to Wisconsin's demoralized fans and one of the only high points he had to offer was to boast of delivering Minnesota as their annual protected rivalry.

Yesterday at this time I was certain Maturi had been punked by Alvarez et al., and instead he delivered the best alignment scenario Gopher fans could have possible dreamed for. Who knew he had it in him.
 

Handsome Pete said:
Maturi knocked the ball so far out of the park on alignment that it is rolling down 6th Street. No team made out better than the Gophers. Keep in mind that who is good and who is mediocre is relatively transient (with the exception of Ohio St.) so opportunity, geography, and history are the important considerations. We are the only team that kept all of its rivalries and even added the Little Brown Jug as a once-more annual battle.

Today we learned from Andy Katz that "Iowa and Minnesota had to be together," that Nebraska insisted upon being with Minnesota, and, from Michigan's AD, that they were pumped to establish the Little Brown Jug as an annual game. I just read the letter from Barry Alvarez to Wisconsin's demoralized fans and one of the only high points he had to offer was to boast of delivering Minnesota as their annual protected rivalry.

Yesterday at this time I was certain Maturi had been punked by Alvarez et al., and instead he delivered the best alignment scenario Gopher fans could have possible dreamed for. Who knew he had it in him.
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+1

I saw the crawl on ESPN with the division setup and was already writing the nasty letters in my head calling for Maturi's job, wife, and right to live in Minnesota for losing us the Wisconsin game. The more I look at this setup, the more obvious it is that this is about the best possible outcome we could have asked for. And the fact that Wisconsin ended up with so little is both surprising and incredibly welcome. I would have bet dollars to doughnuts it was going to be us on the outside looking in.
 

Wish I Was Convinced That Maturi Really Pulled Any Strings

Rather, why does this image pop into my head?

being_there_1979_580x890_912462.jpg
 

spermophilus said:
Rather, why does this image pop into my head?
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If Minnesota switched spots with Wisconsin, the people on this board would've walked to Maturi's house and burned it down. He would've gotten 100 percent of the blame.

When it works out, Maturi's influence is always minimized. Just like with the Tubby hire, football stadium, balanced budget, etc.
 

Correct

Maximus said:
If Minnesota switched spots with Wisconsin, the people on this board would've walked to Maturi's house and burned it down. He would've gotten 100 percent of the blame.

When it works out, Maturi's influence is always minimized. Just like with the Tubby hire, football stadium, balanced budget, etc.
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+1 I'm no Maturi apologist but you must give credit where credit is due, you can't have it both ways. I think it's apparent now that we heard more from Alvarez publicly because things were looking bad for Wisky.
 


Perhaps Maturi had pictures of Alvarez with that cheerleader he allegedly was sleeping with back in the day. What ever happened, its pretty clear Minnesota had the upper hand on Wisconsin on this day.

Well done Mr. Maturi, and thanks to Tom Osbourne of Nebraska for having the vision and respect for the historical context an annual Nebraska and Minnesota game has, and now will have again.
 

Yeah it's funny. When it's a situation Joel has no direct control over and it goes bad he gets all the blame. When it's a situation he does have direct control over and it goes well he get's lucky.

All I know is we've got a great stadium, a great new conference alignment, and the most talented Roster of great student athletes that I can remember. I'm willing to give a little credit to Mr. Maturi.
 

Maximus said:
If Minnesota switched spots with Wisconsin, the people on this board would've walked to Maturi's house and burned it down. He would've gotten 100 percent of the blame.

When it works out, Maturi's influence is always minimized. Just like with the Tubby hire, football stadium, balanced budget, etc.
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Already I've seen someone claiming this only happened because Nebraska insisted on being in the same division as us. Utterly amazing how none of us really knows how Maturi operates, and yet so many are totally convinced that they know a hell of a lot more than an honest, hard-working guy who has spent his whole career in college athletics.
 




Agreed on all counts.

There are a lot of things to rip Maturi for, but for whatever role he played in positioning MN in this alignment he earns an A+.
 

You can give your thanks to me. I gave Joel the pictures of Alvarez and the cheerleader but I never thought he'd use them.

I kinda feel bad for Barry now. Especially since Jim the cheerleader was pretty ugly.
 


Please read my thread. I'm all in for the rivalry's.... great job.

But unless things change dramatically, we'll never see the light of day in this division. One of the B10 network guys had it right when he stated we got the hardest draw.

I just can't see a year where we beat Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, MSU, Northwestern and whomever falls on our lap.

My mom always told me be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I'm starting to feel that may come back to haunt us.
 



Jdogg0821 said:
Please read my thread. I'm all in for the rivalry's.... great job.

But unless things change dramatically, we'll never see the light of day in this division. One of the B10 network guys had it right when he stated we got the hardest draw.

I just can't see a year where we beat Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, MSU, Northwestern and whomever falls on our lap.

My mom always told me be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I'm starting to feel that may come back to haunt us.
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Really? You have 6 posts on this site and you needed to post the same thing in two of them...including starting your own thread?
 

Jdogg0821 said:
Please read my thread. I'm all in for the rivalry's.... great job.

But unless things change dramatically, we'll never see the light of day in this division. One of the B10 network guys had it right when he stated we got the hardest draw.

I just can't see a year where we beat Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, MSU, Northwestern and whomever falls on our lap.

My mom always told me be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I'm starting to feel that may come back to haunt us.
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Frankly, as it stands right now we probably wouldn't 'see the light of day' in either division. But who knows how things will evolve in terms of competitive balance on down the line?

Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska have all had down years in this last decade. And MSU and NU? Forgive me if I don't sweat them particularly right now.
 

Nebraska joining the Big 10 in all probability means that the Gophers may never win another Big 10 Championship when any of us are still alive. From that standpoint it really didn't matter what division the Gopher ended up in.

The only thing left for Gopher fans is the opportunity to watch as many rivalry games as possible. Getting to play Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska every year is the best possible scenario we could have ended up with. Joel Maturi deserves the credit. End of story.
 


Amen. Really we needed Akron and NDSU (rivalry game) instead of PSU and Nebraska.

If we do win the conference we will have earned it.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Nebraska joining the Big 10 in all probability means that the Gophers may never win another Big 10 Championship when any of us are still alive. From that standpoint it really didn't matter what division the Gopher ended up in.
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That's hilarious. High comedy. well played!

There's only one truly top shelf, top 5 dominant powerhouse in the Big Ten.

It ain't Nebraska (which has been scarcely better than the Gophers for most of the past decade, and most of that can be attributed to being in the Big 12 North)

It's Ohio State. I can't wait to see Nebraska against Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and the rest of our side of the divide next year. It's gonna be a rude awakening for a team used to such a top heavy conference.
 

AhliBobwa said:
That's hilarious. High comedy. well played!

There's only one truly top shelf, top 5 dominant powerhouse in the Big Ten.

It ain't Nebraska (which has been scarcely better than the Gophers for most of the past decade, and most of that can be attributed to being in the Big 12 North)

It's Ohio State. I can't wait to see Nebraska against Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and the rest of our side of the divide next year. It's gonna be a rude awakening for a team used to such a top heavy conference.
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You also said that the gophers would beat Nebraska next year, just as an offer to you then would you like to put your money where your mouth is? Even in the worst period of Nebraska football they were still better than Minnesota over that time period. That down period largely due to Kevin cosgrove as well but they appear to be looking up now for them.
 

I'm sure that I am in the minority here but I think Maturi has done a great job so far as AD. He took an athletic department that was completely divided when he showed up (separate Men's and Women's departments) and combined them. Took a department that was losing a lot of money and has turned that around. Built a brand new football stadium and did it the right way(not a concrete erector set). I credit him with using our history/traditions/rivalries to get the division alignment that was best for us. He may have handled the firings of Mason and Monson poorly but at least he pulled the trigger and took a chance on a bigger and better future with Brewster and Tubby. We're at a point now where the football team has a chance to take the next step (the 2011 and 2012 schedules may be the easiest we see for a long time in conference) and hopefully get over the hump to where they compete for championships.

Everyone likes to blame him for all the little things that go wrong but sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due. I'm a Gopher fan through and through and applaud Maturi for what he's done.
 

If said it more than a few times on the BB Board where he gets ripped unmercifully. And some people might think this is small praise. Joel is the best AD at the U since the 1960's. Whomever is in 2nd place is not even close to him. People tend to forget what a huge mess Joel had to deal with when he was first hired. I think he has done a first rate job since then.
 

It was a mess. It no longer is. Next, greatness. I believe that task will be passed on to his successor whomever that might be.
 

Schnoodler said:
It was a mess. It no longer is. Next, greatness. I believe that task will be passed on to his successor whomever that might be.
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Yep.
Our big-name athletics programs were a mess when Maturi showed up. He's got big capital investments for football and basketball (including a stadium), straightened out our finances, brought in some appropriate building-block coaches (Tubby for a much more established bball program, Brew for the still-building football program), got a great placement for the football program (at least as far as tradition/exposure go) and basically brought the great potential the U has to bear on these sports.
Now we're set up to make a move. It's just a matter of finding the right people to move us.
 

"If Minnesota switched spots with Wisconsin, the people on this board would've walked to Maturi's house and burned it down. He would've gotten 100 percent of the blame.

"When it works out, Maturi's influence is always minimized. Just like with the Tubby hire, football stadium, balanced budget, etc."

Amen to that. Nice work, Joel.

(1) Minnesota gets Iowa, Michigan & Wisconsin (it's true rivalry games) every year, as well as Nebraska. (2) The Gophers are placed in the opposite division of OSU. (3) Ohio State and Penn State BOTH will be off the schedule in 2011 and 2012. Maturi certainly would have been roasted if the Gophers' division alignment had gone the Wisconsin route.

No need to sweat, however, for Maturi's detractors. I'm sure he'll get blasted again if one of the divisions isn't named the Nagurski Division.
 

GopherGod said:
You also said that the gophers would beat Nebraska next year, just as an offer to you then would you like to put your money where your mouth is? Even in the worst period of Nebraska football they were still better than Minnesota over that time period. That down period largely due to Kevin cosgrove as well but they appear to be looking up now for them.
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No way 2002 gophers whould have moped up the 2002 huskers!

Minnesota came out great in this deal we play all the high profile "tough scheduel" games that will do nothing but make us better in the long run.

If you say that Minnesota cant beat these teams unless they are in a down year your not a fan and you have no idea how college football works.
 


I give props where props are due, it's clear Maturi had a say in this, and he managed to keep our rivalries in tact, plus Michigan's yearly, and we get Nebraska. Let's face it, the rivalries are what we're about. If we had lost most of them and say, only had Wisconsin still, that would have royally sucked, cause without the rivalries, what is our program? Rivalries are what makes Gopher football relevant at all RIGHT NOW, as we have not exactly had a whole lot of success in recent memory. I believe that will change shortly, but at this present juncture, I'm more concerned with preserving the great rivalries we got. The winning will happen no matter what division we're in, if we're good enough.
 

Handsome Pete, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once. Even though I would have far preferred the geographical split, this is pretty much the next best thing we could ask for.
 

I realize I'm in the minority, but I think this is way better than an East/West split. This is the only way to re-establish the LBJ game.
 

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