Michael Rand Podcast: A listener wonders if Ben Johnson is getting a fair shake with Gophers

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Per Rand:

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with a listener question about Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson and the challenges he has faced.

www.startribune.com

Podcast: A listener wonders if Ben Johnson is getting a fair shake with Gophers

Host Michael Rand starts with a listener question about Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson and the challenges he has faced. Rand also notes a tough ending for the Frost and another signing for the Twins.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 



MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Life isn't fair. It's all about timing and CBJ's couldn't have been worse.
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Or better, depending on how you view things. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he gets a P4 head coaching job with his resume in any other environment than what existed around George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2021.
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Life isn't fair. It's all about timing and CBJ's couldn't have been worse.
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Yeah, tough to say how he would have fared if he had gotten the gig during a time when rosters were much more stable. But that isn't the reality of college basketball now and for the foreseeable future so it really doesn't matter. He clearly is not well suited for this current environment.
 


Poor Ben.

He could sure be doing himself some favors by not being the lamest public-relations coach I have ever seen at this level. If he doesn't seem to care about the program's place in the community and its sports landscape, why would any donor or NIL-organizing entity go out of their way to boost the program?
 


He will end up on a staff somewhere and possibly land a mid major head job in five years if he’s lucky and have millions in the bank.
 






A guy with no business getting the job in the first place gets 4 years and some are wondering if he's gotten a "fair shake"? Just getting the job in the first place equates to him standing on third after bunting down the first base line. He received the most "unfair shake" in his favor, not against it. People were all over PJ after going 6-7 last year even with all the equity he's built up, yet CBJ deserves no criticism. The double standard is beyond insane.

edit: I'm not clicking on that link to give him credit, so I'm venting based solely on the headline
 




forever a gopher said:
yet CBJ deserves no criticism. The double standard is beyond insane.

edit: I'm not clicking on that link to give him credit, so I'm venting based solely on the headline
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Why do you care so much about what some media sports person says or writes? Isn't there enough criticism of Ben Johnson around here to satisfy you?

Here's a suggestion: don't read sports media. I rarely do because it isn't all that interesting, informative, or entertaining.
 



forever a gopher said:
A guy with no business getting the job in the first place gets 4 years and some are wondering if he's gotten a "fair shake"? Just getting the job in the first place equates to him standing on third after bunting down the first base line. He received the most "unfair shake" in his favor, not against it. People were all over PJ after going 6-7 last year even with all the equity he's built up, yet CBJ deserves no criticism. The double standard is beyond insane.

edit: I'm not clicking on that link to give him credit, so I'm venting based solely on the headline
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This. It's somehow the cultural conventional wisdom/sentiment to hate Fleck and pity Johnson. How and why has this come to be what the sports intelligentsia has imposed on this community? That's what I want to know. Did they get together and decide on this? Was there a vote? Or did they all line up like lemmings behind some fucking asshole moron?
 

Bad Gopher said:
This. It's somehow the cultural conventional wisdom/sentiment to hate Fleck and pity Johnson. How and why has this come to be what the sports intelligentsia has imposed on this community? That's what I want to know. Did they get together and decide on this? Was there a vote? Or did they all line up like lemmings behind some fucking asshole moron?
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Ben is one of us. Fleck isn’t.
 



WindyCityGopher said:
Or better, depending on how you view things. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he gets a P4 head coaching job with his resume in any other environment than what existed around George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2021.
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Are you saying the George Floyd and the BLM movement chased qualified coaches away? I would think the Socialist Utopia of Minneapolis with its Somali style government needs a great deal of reform to the center, But Wayzata and Anoka are short drives away.
 


The question is why does Ben take "No" as an answer from his boss and administration. You have to fight for your program and players. I agree that the timing was bad and he was basically a fill gap while the department got its ducks in a row around NIL and transfers.
 

ShushPush said:
Are you saying the George Floyd and the BLM movement chased qualified coaches away? I would think the Socialist Utopia of Minneapolis with its Somali style government needs a great deal of reform to the center, But Wayzata and Anoka are short drives away.
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Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
 

ShushPush said:
Are you saying the George Floyd and the BLM movement chased qualified coaches away? I would think the Socialist Utopia of Minneapolis with its Somali style government needs a great deal of reform to the center, But Wayzata and Anoka are short drives away.
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I don’t think it’s nearly as political as that. The community was in chaos, the U doesn’t have a great history in basketball, and doesn’t have a good track record of administrative support. All good reasons qualified candidates were not interested and not political per se. I heard through good sources that they wanted Gates to interview and he turned them down.
 

ShushPush said:
Are you saying the George Floyd and the BLM movement chased qualified coaches away? I would think the Socialist Utopia of Minneapolis with its Somali style government needs a great deal of reform to the center, But Wayzata and Anoka are short drives away.
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Take your ignorant ass to the politics board.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
The question is why does Ben take "No" as an answer from his boss and administration. You have to fight for your program and players. I agree that the timing was bad and he was basically a fill gap while the department got its ducks in a row around NIL and transfers.
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I don't think it's that nefarious (ie. the U is syphoning off NIL). You can direct your NIL to where you want it to go. I don't particularly like NIL, but it is a democratization tool to some degree. I contribute to the football NIL, but don't send a dime to basketball. I go to the games and cheer them on, but sending NIL money there is throwing it into a black hole.

I can all but guarantee that once the U moves on from CBJ and hires a legitimate, qualified B1G coach, the NIL funds will come like they have in football. People aren't stupid and generally don't like wasting their money.
 


WindyCityGopher said:
Or better, depending on how you view things. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he gets a P4 head coaching job with his resume in any other environment than what existed around George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2021.
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Such bullshit but also very true
 


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