Pete smith
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Saw my first Gopher game in 1968. Been a fan since. Lots of disappointment in those years., Perhaps none as disappointing as this year.
You have me beat. My first game was November 1976 when I froze my ass off watching tOSU win at Memorial.Saw my first Gopher game in 1968. Been a fan since. Lots of disappointment in those years., Perhaps none as disappointing as this year.
This is exactly why we want our coach to go for the win and go for it on 4th and goal from our opponents 2 when we are down 0-3 against our rival, who is a rival due to proximity, not recent history on the gridiron.Saw my first Gopher game in 1968. Been a fan since. Lots of disappointment in those years., Perhaps none as disappointing as this year.
Good for you! I didn't make it past 1999.Hang in there OP. Disappointing year but I haven’t given up on PJF. I have given up on a few of his assistants. Maybe he just needs to step away from it for a moment or literally or figuratively go for a walk in the wilderness seeking visions to make the necessary changes. Maybe he needs an offensive consultant he trusts. Failure is the best teacher and he’s failed a lot the last several years. With the right people around him this team can be really good. Time will tell.
Each of us has our threshold. I also quit the NFL as a serious fan after 2009 and it has been a good decision. It is probably harder to avoid Vikings and NFL talk if still living in MN.
Good for you! I didn't make it past 1999.
I remember Cris Carter weeping on the field. How could that team lose, and lose like that?
I can actually deal “ok” with teams losing in bizarre and sometimes depressingly comical ways. What broke me was my perception the NFL plays favorites, officials are corrupted or even worse directed to call games a certain way, and whiny players. It all came to a head that night vs the Saints.
Must’ve been ‘81 then because I remember Hohensee and the Gophers beating the Buckeyes at Memorial stadium. Agree he was as good a Gopher QB as I’ve seen. Could run AND throw both at a high level.WHEW -- I can not disagree with ANY of your points - your frustrations echo mine. This season could still be salvaged though and if they were to win out and finish 9-4, I would still call that a fairly successful year. I think you and others are losing confidence in Fleck and his staff and I get that. I really wish they hadn't signed him to the extension right before the 2 losses - that was poor timing.
MY most disappointing Gopher year was 1982. I was a freshman and had season tickets. Ray Christensen said before the season "My prediction is 8-3 with Ho hen see." Gophers were led by a very promising QB Mike Hohensee and had a great RB named Tony Hunter who could fly. They won their first 3 games beating Ohio U 57-3, beat Purdue 36-10, then drilled Washington St. 41-11. This got them a #19 rating. We were really looking good!! But then unfortunately in the next game a harmless little swing pass against Illinois turned into about an 80 yard TD pass and then the wheels fell off the cart. I have never seen so many injuries to one team - ever. And as they added up, so did the losses. Each week gave new hope to winning -- but they would lose their last 8 and end up 3-8.
I did not get seasons tickets the next year -- the debacle of 1983 -- because I knew what was coming. But 1982 really was a tough one to take. Mike Hohensee is still one of my all time favorite Gopher QB's though!
I'm sorry, I know not of which game you are referring to here...Do you remember the Michigan comeback win in 2003? We were up 28-7 in the 4th Q. Nothing will ever top for me the level of disappointment I felt after that game. I think things would have been vastly different for us if we held on to win - but we are Minnesota. So, when the Texas Tech bowl game collapse happened later for Mason, it didn't even sting because I had been conditioned. Or how about the dropped punt vs. WI to lose in 2005? For that game, the quote from Barry Alvarez was "When you think you've seen it all, you haven't seen it all,"...
So, I am no longer shocked when we Gopher up a game - I stop myself from believing too much because I have seen too much at this point.
‘82 was disappointing largely because of the optimism created by the successes of ‘81 (beating Ohio State and Rose Bowl-bound Iowa). Hohensee was QB both years.Must’ve been ‘81 then because I remember Hohensee and the Gophers beating the Buckeyes at Memorial stadium. Agree he was as good a Gopher QB as I’ve seen. Could run AND throw both at a high level.
That was my first Gooher game, and my brother took me for my birthday. The electricity in the Metrodome was really high and then got very low.WHEW -- I can not disagree with ANY of your points - your frustrations echo mine. This season could still be salvaged though and if they were to win out and finish 9-4, I would still call that a fairly successful year. I think you and others are losing confidence in Fleck and his staff and I get that. I really wish they hadn't signed him to the extension right before the 2 losses - that was poor timing.
MY most disappointing Gopher year was 1982. I was a freshman and had season tickets. Ray Christensen said before the season "My prediction is 8-3 with Ho hen see." Gophers were led by a very promising QB Mike Hohensee and had a great RB named Tony Hunter who could fly. They won their first 3 games beating Ohio U 57-3, beat Purdue 36-10, then drilled Washington St. 41-11. This got them a #19 rating. We were really looking good!! But then unfortunately in the next game a harmless little swing pass against Illinois turned into about an 80 yard TD pass and then the wheels fell off the cart. I have never seen so many injuries to one team - ever. And as they added up, so did the losses. Each week gave new hope to winning -- but they would lose their last 8 and end up 3-8.
I did not get seasons tickets the next year -- the debacle of 1983 -- because I knew what was coming. But 1982 really was a tough one to take. Mike Hohensee is still one of my all time favorite Gopher QB's though!
I wish I had the Men in Black mind eraser pen for this memory.I'm sorry, I know not of which game you are referring to here...
and those two flagrant roughing the passer calls the Vikings did not get, for which the NFL apologized the next week. Plus, Greg Williams, the disgraced DC of the Saints, came out the week before and said that the Saints wanted to "get" Brett Favre, not just "get after" him. The NFL had nothing to say. One of the missed calls resulted in a damaging turnover. Of course, the other 5 turnovers didn't help, like the fumble by Peterson at the goal line. I have hated the Saints ever since. When Payton and Saints Nation whined endlessly about how that missed PI call vs. the Rams cost them a Super Bowl trip, they forgot that they didn't deserve to go in 2010.I remember Cris Carter weeping on the field. How could that team lose, and lose like that?
I can actually deal “ok” with teams losing in bizarre and sometimes depressingly comical ways. What broke me was my perception the NFL plays favorites, officials are corrupted or even worse directed to call games a certain way, and whiny players. It all came to a head that night vs the Saints.
Do you remember the Michigan comeback win in 2003? We were up 28-7 in the 4th Q. Nothing will ever top for me the level of disappointment I felt after that game. I think things would have been vastly different for us if we held on to win - but we are Minnesota. So, when the Texas Tech bowl game collapse happened later for Mason, it didn't even sting because I had been conditioned. Or how about the dropped punt vs. WI to lose in 2005? For that game, the quote from Barry Alvarez was "When you think you've seen it all, you haven't seen it all,"...
So, I am no longer shocked when we Gopher up a game - I stop myself from believing too much because I have seen too much at this point.
Yes, it is a good publication on Gopher football history. Another good one is the University of Minnesota Football Vault - huge, in a box-like sleeve, with fancy stuff like faux tickets, various other inserts as in a photo album, and a small sleeve with examples of game program covers. Loaded with photos of historic seasons, going way back.Got this from Mrs. Billd this evening...
View attachment 15327
It's a very nice collection of articles and Gophers content for the team from 1881-1981. In very good condition with some great stuff. It may have been in hardcopy but this was a bound, magazine-style publication. It was published by the UM Athletic Department with the proceeds to the Williams Fund.
She was saving it for Christmas but decided it would make a better birthday gift today. She was right.
Certainly lifted my spirits. Anyone else recognize it from the day?
You have a terrific memory - painful to recall all that. Late in the season, as a teen, I sat in a drizzle with my girlfriend watching the Gophers lose to Michigan that year. Along with 1949, one of the most disappointing Gopher football seasons ever, because so much was expected, as you say.I was only 7 years old in 1957 but got my introduction to Gopher heartbreak in 1956 when practically every adult I knew was crestfallen by a 7-0 loss to Iowa that cost Minnesota a Rose Bowl trip. In 1957, they opened the season 3-0, reached #3 in the rankings and had Bobby Cox on the cover of Sports Illustrated. My dad and uncles dared to hope again. The team went on to lose 5 of their last 6 and two dismal seasons followed in 1958 and 1959.
Yep, have The Vault too. Actually 2 of them. Probably should gift one to Post of the Year when that comes around...Yes, it is a good publication on Gopher football history. Another good one is the University of Minnesota Football Vault - huge, in a box-like sleeve, with fancy stuff like faux tickets, various other inserts as in a photo album, and a small sleeve with examples of game program covers. Loaded with photos of historic seasons, going way back.
I hear you and I feel your pain.A veteran QB two years removed from one of, if not the best, season a Gopher QB has had in the last 50 years. The most experienced O-line we will likely ever have. A veteran D-Line going 8 deep. Talented transfers at WR and LB positions and what looks to be a future game-changer at CB. One of the best RBs we’ve had, with a ton of depth behind him where we can send in highly recruited players when he goes down.
Additionally, we dodge Michigan, PSU, MSU and play OSU the best time to play them – first game of the year and the first start for their QB. Also down years for our biggest rivals – we play Iowa while they have a QB making his first start ever, Wisky is experiencing in-season transfers and some QB issues, and Nebraska is a hot mess. NW is one of their down swings. Everything is set up for us to win the West.
We also have a coach who I believe wants to be here. He cares about the school, community, and our traditions. This isn’t Mason, who never really wanted to be here, and it showed when it came to his recruiting, his indifference towards the “trinket” games (his words, not mine), or the other teams fans tearing down our goalposts. To his credit, our coach has raised expectations and allowed us to get our hopes up about the Gophers in ways many of us haven’t done before.
Then we lose at home to 31 and 14.5 underdogs. We also refuse to win a game Iowa begs us to take.
Why? Not because we aren’t talented. Not because we are playing in an off-campus stadium devoid of any excitement. Rather our coach is maddeningly conservative and simply refuses to learn from previous gaffes.
The biggest game in his coaching career, with a chance to make a statement against WI, and he chooses to punt on 4th and 2 from the WI 37. He watches WI convert multiple 4th downs and go on to win the game. Did he learn from that? We have not had a lead against Iowa for 250+ consecutive minutes. We have a chance to break that streak early in the game on a 4th and goal from the 2. We elect to kick a FG to tie the game 3-3. Later, Iowa goes for it on 4-1 in their territory to extend a drive and kill more clock.
In a game against Maryland this year, we refuse to try to score a TD before the half and our coach admits to playing for a FG. He uses the same strategy against Iowa and those four points change the game. He admits in his post-game presser he was afraid of taking a sack and making it a longer FG attempt. Mind you, we were at the IA 15. A sack still leaves us well within FG range. The 32-yard drive took over 4 minutes before the half expired.
Against Bowling Green our best WR goes out of the game early, and our coach decides to “really simplify the game plan , really quick”, as if the difference in talent between the worst team in the MAC and the Gophers comes down to that one player.
While losing in the fourth quarter, we continue to bleed the clock to the point where we get a delay of game penalty. On 3rd and 2. On a must-have two-point conversion, we call a pass to a receiver short of the end-zone, giving us three trips into the red zone and a two-point attempt where we fail to even try to throw into the end zone. We consistently refuse to catch or field punts or return kickoffs, again fitting into an overall conservative mindset that permeates everything we do.
Even more maddening is this isn’t who our coach appears to be outside of gameday. He is energetic, creative, and isn’t afraid to put himself out there. Coming up with Row the Boat opens himself up to all kinds of criticism and pot-shots, but he isn’t afraid and steers into it.
Everything is there, with the exception of the easiest thing to have: the most basic in-game decision making. Problem is, it doesn’t appear as though it is ever going to change. PJ talks about his ACT score of 18, and how, while one of his players is going to be an actuary, he doesn’t know what an actuary is, or how another is planning to specialize in a specific branch of medicine, and he has no idea what it is and barely got by biology. I believe him. I have watched him refuse to learn lessons over and over and over again.
My wife, friends, girlfriends, regulars at the bar, etc. don’t want to hear me talk about this irrelevant team anymore. That leaves me with this message board and the fact I feel compelled to type this has me thinking I need to divest my investment in Gopher football. I did the same with the Vikings after 2009 and I am a free man at 4:00 EST today. I have already cancelled the family trip to Bloomington next week and am no longer holding off on travel plans to see where the team might be playing a bowl game. I am afraid we may have reached our ceiling with PJ. Bielema or Ferentz would have won these past two games with either team. It doesn’t appear having more talent and catching some luck (we caught some of that yesterday) is enough to overcome the decisions and mindset and nothing is going to change our coach’s ways. I have tickets for the WI game. Give me more proof you have taken us as far as you are capable of and I’ll have to find an EPL team to go in on. Soccer looks fun – well at least watching the game at the bar on Saturday morning looks fun.
Was that the bountygate game?I remember Cris Carter weeping on the field. How could that team lose, and lose like that?
I can actually deal “ok” with teams losing in bizarre and sometimes depressingly comical ways. What broke me was my perception the NFL plays favorites, officials are corrupted or even worse directed to call games a certain way, and whiny players. It all came to a head that night vs the Saints.
Was that the bountygate game?
Ha! I did something. Similar. Just sat in my chair at the dome for like 15 minutes after the game. Was up for another dose, but after 2009 had enough. Occasionally watch the games, but not much more.Cris? No, 1998 team. While some people probably went for long walks, punched walls, pounded drinks, turned the tv off I stared at the TV and watched the whole aftermath in a state of semi-shock. Not that I’d like to relive it but I wonder if anyone has the original telecast.
Vikings could have just played better in that game, and it wouldn't have mattered.and those two flagrant roughing the passer calls the Vikings did not get, for which the NFL apologized the next week. Plus, Greg Williams, the disgraced DC of the Saints, came out the week before and said that the Saints wanted to "get" Brett Favre, not just "get after" him. The NFL had nothing to say. One of the missed calls resulted in a damaging turnover. Of course, the other 5 turnovers didn't help, like the fumble by Peterson at the goal line. I have hated the Saints ever since. When Payton and Saints Nation whined endlessly about how that missed PI call vs. the Rams cost them a Super Bowl trip, they forgot that they didn't deserve to go in 2010.
Ha! I did something. Similar. Just sat in my chair at the dome for like 15 minutes after the game. Was up for another dose, but after 2009 had enough. Occasionally watch the games, but not much more.
Aren't all UMich fans uber-annoying? Kind of like Duke fans?UMich fan and uber-annoying
90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017Most disappointing season in my time being a fan
Nah...The 90s were pretty brutal.
Even a close loss can be accepted by fans if you are not playing prevent offense all day.Exactly. Win and folks will come. Bottom line. But slogans won't sell the public without wins to back it up.
Sorry 2009. Not the 1998/99 team.Cris? No, 1998 team. While some people probably went for long walks, punched walls, pounded drinks, turned the tv off I stared at the TV and watched the whole aftermath in a state of semi-shock. Not that I’d like to relive it but I wonder if anyone has the original telecast.
We had a 3 TD lead on Michigan at the Dome well into the 4th quarter. They ran about 15 straight screen passes and kept scoring. Mason had no answer. A packed Dome and everybody knew what was coming. Gopher D could not stop it.I'm sorry, I know not of which game you are referring to here...