Post Game Thread: Gophers Blow Horrendous Game to a HORRIBLE Northwestern Team

[PeoplesFront]

 

[WindyCityGopher]

My dad always told me to be careful about spending other people's money. He was a wise man.

 

[Dano564]

My dad always told me to be careful about spending other people's money. He was a wise man.

Sounds good.

Do whatever you need to do to keep projecting future doom and gloom of the Gophers so the school, the AD, and most of all, other fans are ready yell "fire the coach" when the time is right.

By fans doing a great job of projecting negativity, we avoid spending each others money having to pay subscription fees to read Pat Reusse or Jim Souhan.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

I don't understand the need some posters have to start an irrelevant thread just because they have a thought. Seems like there were 100 new threads this week when we could have gotten away with about 10.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Thought it was a good week for self-reflection.

After watching decades of Gophers football, it was really good for us to have this loss to help reset the expectations of those optimistic Gopher fans all over social media just constantly over-selling how good the Gophers are along with the other Minnesota sports teams.

So tired of all of these fans arrogantly bragging how we'll win the next Super Bowl. Win the next World Series, dominate in the NHL playoffs, and how Minnesota football is going to win a Big Ten Championship again. How tired are all of you of this fandom where it's spread nationally, where anytime our team is even half-way decent, we are voted in the AP poll because of the voters being concerned of overlooking the Gophers and upsetting those optimistic Gopher fans.

I'm glad everyone here spoke up and found things to criticize this week. It's just what the Minnesota sports landscape needed with the Twins entering the playoffs this week.

The over-abundance of potential joy is something we need to make sure we keep in check, and Gopherhole members really did their share this week.

Bravo. Pat yourselves on the back.
Impressive. Didn't think our fanbase had it in us, be we did in the most crucial time.

I think the expectation is the chance to win the division this year, and I don't think that's remotely unattainable for the program and a HC seven years in having won nine or more games a season over the last four. Like many out here, the U and Gopher sports runs deep in my family...three generations and seven degrees.

The hundreds of millions of dollars I have seen the U put into athletics, and in particular, this football program, over the last dozen years is pretty astonishing. 1% of the earning population in the US makes over $1 million a year, Fleck makes $6 million a year...let that sink in.

 

[Dano564]

I think the expectation is the chance to win the division this year, and I don't think that's remotely unattainable for the program and a HC seven years in having won nine or more games a season over the last four. Like many out here, the U and Gopher sports runs deep in my family...three generations and seven degrees.

The hundreds of millions of dollars I have seen the U put into athletics, and in particular, this football program, over the last dozen years is pretty astonishing. 1% of the earning population in the US makes over $1 million a year, Fleck makes $6 million a year...let that sink in.

Why do we even discuss his pay? Would his replacement be less?

If he paid more than Matt Rhule or Luke Fickell who each have less than 10 Big Ten wins combined?

Do we think if we paid him less he would win more?

This makes zero sense to me, and it appears to just be another reason to complain in which any alternative is worse.

Can you provide one alternative that would be less expensive if a decision was made today or in the future?

Are you mad that we have a football team? If you want a team, you need a coach. If you are a Big Ten team, you are going to pay that coach Big Ten coach wages.

 

[BilldGopher]

I feel better.

 

[Dano564]

I don't understand the need some posters have to start an irrelevant thread just because they have a thought. Seems like there were 100 new threads this week when we could have gotten away with about 10.

Our negatives really stepped up their game this week.
We got bumps from old threads made in August as well.
It was a remarkable week.

Many people who have no investment into this team except evidently paying taxes in this state who have been wronged and have spend minutes if not hours of their life this week voicing their disappointment that more needs to be done. Some took such strong accountability this week that they called for PJ to be fired!

No messing around there. We're not going to be a minute late in holding PJ accountable! We're great fans and we're going to call out the BS when we see it quicker than anyone.

Sure, one could say "That sucked. Let's hope we turn things around," or talk about the nuances of how our defense broke down trying to cover a Northwestern WR, but if the right people didn't speak up this week, we wouldn't know PJ is highly compensated and thus as fans we are owed victories because we are fans.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Why do we even discuss his pay? Would his replacement be less?

If he paid more than Matt Rhule or Luke Fickell who each have less than 10 Big Ten wins combined?

Do we think if we paid him less he would win more?

This makes zero sense to me, and it appears to just be another reason to complain in which any alternative is worse.

Can you provide one alternative that would be less expensive if a decision was made today or in the future?

Are you mad that we have a football team? If you want a team, you need a coach. If you are a Big Ten team, you are going to pay that coach Big Ten coach wages.

Good grief, what an overreaction and focus on that one thing from my post. You think winning the West is unattainable and too lofty of an expectation for this program and the 15th highest paid HC in college football?

 

[FredCoxRocks]

Wow. Makes me wonder what you posted after the Bowling Green game?

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

Our negatives really stepped up their game this week.
We got bumps from old threads made in August as well.
It was a remarkable week.

Many people who have no investment into this team except evidently paying taxes in this state who have been wronged and have spend minutes if not hours of their life this week voicing their disappointment that more needs to be done. Some took such strong accountability this week that they called for PJ to be fired!

No messing around there. We're not going to be a minute late in holding PJ accountable! We're great fans and we're going to call out the BS when we see it quicker than anyone.

Sure, one could say "That sucked. Let's hope we turn things around," or talk about the nuances of how our defense broke down trying to cover a Northwestern WR, but if the right people didn't speak up this week, we wouldn't know PJ is highly compensated and thus as fans we are owed victories because we are fans.

I agree some posters love to beat a dead horse, but a lot of the criticism last week was warranted.

 

[upnorthkid]

We get it. You like PJ. I also do. I also think he needs to change his best, hopefully the same way he expects the players to do so. I don't think you'll find a single player or coach in that locker room who thinks they've played to their expectations this year. I'm sure PJ has read the board and is on the verge of tears and is questioning his existence and Coyle has read the board and is considering ending the entire football program. We all know that what we write here has real tangible effects on the trajectory of the program and will make or break things for the next 50 years.

It's a fan board built up of some of the most diehard fans of this team. That group of people is going to be hyperbolic, the same way every single fan base ever in existence has been.

 

[Dano564]

Good grief, what an overreaction and focus on that one thing from my post. You think winning the West is unattainable and too lofty of an expectation for this program and the 15th highest paid HC in college football?

To complain about is pay is just being a nuisance. Write a letter to the AD if you have a better coach for a lower price, but complaining about it on a forum as if that's a valid point on why a team isn't performing well makes no sense. The team does not care how much PJ is being paid, and he's being paid less than what the next head football coach at the U of M will get.

 

[Dano564]

I agree some posters love to beat a dead horse, but a lot of the criticism last week was warranted.

It could be warranted, but what's it helping?
Is it growing the fanbase to provide more revenue?
Is it encouraging others to come play here?

"We are holding the coach to a higher standard!"
How has that worked at the Nebraska's of the world.

We just have a lot of fans who simply want to moan as if we are owed something greater than a coach who has won more here recently than any other coach.

It's the year 2023, and fans have more ability to actually try and make change if they want, but we decide to log into message boards and be keyboard warriors because our time to complain to the masses is worth less than tossing a few bucks a month at a kid who is on the team.

 

[golfing18now]

When a fan reacts this way to other fans' overreactions, it generally says one of two things.

1. He/she doesn't really understand how sports fandom works. For most of us, it is a release from the daily grind that (by definition) elicits disproportionate reactions to any single result. After all, the NW loss didn't change any of our lives in any tangible way. Or

2. Sports fandom and GH in particular are probably not the right release for you.

 

[Dano564]

We get it. You like PJ. I also do. I also think he needs to change his best, hopefully the same way he expects the players to do so. I don't think you'll find a single player or coach in that locker room who thinks they've played to their expectations this year. I'm sure PJ has read the board and is on the verge of tears and is questioning his existence and Coyle has read the board and is considering ending the entire football program. We all know that what we write here has real tangible effects on the trajectory of the program and will make or break things for the next 50 years.

It's a fan board built up of some of the most diehard fans of this team. That group of people is going to be hyperbolic, the same way every single fan base ever in existence has been.

This message board has been around for a while. It's not short on people complaining.

Let's just 10x it and see if it moves the needle because after all, the AD and the University President might really suck at their jobs and keep a coach too long and I may be the only person who complains loud enough to make the change when it's needed.

You know what the Minnesota Gopher Football team doesn't have enough of? People who complain on social media whenever something goes wrong. Way too many people who keep it in perspective and way to many people who would rather step up and volunteer ideas on how to solve the NIL gap that exists.

If only we could find more angry Vikings fans who will tell us PJ's boat is sinking and that he's a snake-oil salesman...

Coming up with ideas around partnerships, increasing donations, increasing membership.... nah... that's not for me. My time and money are too valuable.
But give me time to post 20 times a day 7 days a week after a loss.... that's going to help.

That's a void that needs to be filled in the Minnesota sports fan market. One thousand forum pages isn't enough yet.

 

[Dano564]

When a fan reacts this way to other fans' overreactions, it generally says one of two things.

1. He/she doesn't really understand how sports fandom works. For most of us, it is a release from the daily grind that (by definition) elicits disproportionate reactions to any single result. After all, the NW loss didn't change any of our lives in any tangible way. Or

2. Sports fandom and GH in particular are probably not the right release for you.

I understand how sports fandom works. The Minnesota market top heavy with fans who want to complain

I don't post a lot here because as you've seen this week, it's mostly toxic negativity with projections of doom. Not much constructive here.

I'm just pointing out that as a fan you have the ability to invest in ways you never had a chance to before, but people would sooner lament than take action in any way.

It's almost as if people don't want to actually do anything to fix the problem. Instead let's just blame someone.

Well, if that's what you want to do, start two threads.

One "Fire PJ"
One "Fire Mark Coyle" and just bump the hell out of those threads or copy and paste it hourly until change comes!
If we can get a thousand angry fans to do that and post it on facebook, we'll be a true success.

Let's get more efficient with our negativity. Maybe we aren't efficient enough.

 

[PMWinSTP]

To complain about is pay is just being a nuisance. Write a letter to the AD if you have a better coach for a lower price, but complaining about it on a forum as if that's a valid point on why a team isn't performing well makes no sense. The team does not care how much PJ is being paid, and he's being paid less than what the next head football coach at the U of M will get.

Of course, you again avoided actually answering my question.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

When a fan reacts this way to other fans' overreactions, it generally says one of two things.

1. He/she doesn't really understand how sports fandom works. For most of us, it is a release from the daily grind that (by definition) elicits disproportionate reactions to any single result. After all, the NW loss didn't change any of our lives in any tangible way. Or

2. Sports fandom and GH in particular are probably not the right release for you.

I agree. This would probably be a more affective outlet...

 

[Dano564]

Good grief, what an overreaction and focus on that one thing from my post. You think winning the West is unattainable and too lofty of an expectation for this program and the 15th highest paid HC in college football?

It's proven to not be attainable at Minnesota for any coach since 1961.
Paying less to a coach doesn't solve that.

 

[Dano564]

You know what would probably also help us out.

Maybe we could live in a metro area that has a lot of jobs for Husker, Badger, and Hawkeye fans. Maybe if we get an influx of people from out of state, they can also chime in that PJ is a snake-oil salesman and that we'll never win at Minnesota.
Maybe they can come up with clever gifs or sayings about our boat sinking.

If we can 2x or 3x our negativity with the help of out of state fans, we can really do well with our own negativity.

If we can get those people to also chime in with our brilliant ideas of no action, we'll achieve our goal that much quicker.

Who knows, maybe we can have our local news publications offer a few of them jobs so they can rip our team as well in our own newspapers.

We just need an exponential level of negativity to really make this team win.

 

[DanvilleGopher]

the vultures are descending to pick the remaining flesh off the bones.

Dan Barreiro just declared this the worst blown lead in Gopher history - more so than the Michigan game, the Mason Bowl game, or a game I had forgotten where the Gophers blew a big lead and lost to Ohio State in 1989. (Gophers led 31-0 in the 2nd quarter and lost 41-37).

This one (like so many of their incredible losses) is etched in my memory. I had a party that day as I had just moved into a new house we built in East Bethel in '89 and we were watching this game and were stunned when they were crushing OS.

We also were laughing knowing it was too early to get too confident BUT we were all still shocked when they gave it away... little did I know this was my beginning of watching SO MANY failures to close the deal!

I do not recall a memorable come back... ever!! Can anyone else think of when the script has been flipped? I'm talking about MAJOR comebacks, not the ones in 2019 when we did have a couple amazing finishes where we came out on top..

 

[PMWinSTP]

It's proven to not be attainable at Minnesota for any coach since 1961.
Paying less to a coach doesn't solve that.

The B1G West has only been in existence Since 2014. Not sure the idea of "paying less", not something I mentioned.

 

[Dano564]

The B1G West has only been in existence Since 2014. Not sure the idea of "paying less", not something I mentioned.

Well, they didn't win the Big Ten Legends either.
Nor did they win the Big Ten before that.

You are the one pointing out the pay of PJ Fleck as if it's a point of contention with you.

If you haven't been clear on that, than I'm not sure why you keep referencing it as if you are owed more because of his pay.

You have a clever way of pointing out things as if it's an issue then disagreeing that you were even trying to make a point regarding it.

Are you at the point where you are just spewing factoids without an underlying point?

 

[formerlybis]

This one (like so many of their incredible losses) is etched in my memory. I had a party that day as I had just moved into a new house we built in East Bethel in '89 and we were watching this game and were stunned when they were crushing OS.

We also were laughing knowing it was too early to get too confident BUT we were all still shocked when they gave it away... little did I know this was my beginning of watching SO MANY failures to close the deal!

I do not recall a memorable come back... ever!! Can anyone else think of when the script has been flipped? I'm talking about MAJOR comebacks, not the ones in 2019 when we did have a couple amazing finishes where we came out on top..

This goes to show you that losses hurt more than wins buoy. The opener against Nebraska this year was an improbable comeback that needed a timely turnover and 4th down conversion for TD. It may not have been major but it did snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

 

[btowngopher]

the vultures are descending to pick the remaining flesh off the bones.

Dan Barreiro just declared this the worst blown lead in Gopher history - more so than the Michigan game, the Mason Bowl game, or a game I had forgotten where the Gophers blew a big lead and lost to Ohio State in 1989. (Gophers led 31-0 in the 2nd quarter and lost 41-37).

Dan Barreiro is just taking a dump on the local sports team as usual. How is this game worse than the Michigan game or any of the bowl collapses? This wasn’t a super high expectation season and the impact of the loss isn’t that meaningful.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Well, they didn't win the Big Ten Legends either.
Nor did they win the Big Ten before that.

You are the one pointing out the pay of PJ Fleck as if it's a point of contention with you.

If you haven't been clear on that, than I'm not sure why you keep referencing it as if you are owed more because of his pay.

You have a clever way of pointing out things as if it's an issue then disagreeing that you were even trying to make a point regarding it.

Are you at the point where you are just spewing factoids without an underlying point?

Northwestern has won the West twice...Northwestern.

 

[tikited]

Does someone want to tell the one guy that Mn fans are 100% more forgiving after a loss than almost every other fanbase? Michigan, OSU, etc. would have melted down after a loss to NW. This here is nothing.

 

[Dano564]

Northwestern has won the West twice...Northwestern.

Various teams have won the West. And what do they have in common? They don't play their home games in Minnesota nor are they affiliated with the U of M.

 

[upnorthkid]

Various teams have won the West. And what do they have in common? They don't play their home games in Minnesota nor are they affiliated with the U of M.

this is literally one of the dumbest things written here. congratulations on your success.

Exact same poster says, be more involved and try give feedback on how to improve and improvement is impossible as we are Minnesota and the U of M.