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Jike Spingleton

Jike Spingleton

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I never put too much stock in the college football preview magazines, but they're always fun to look at. Lindy's was the first one to hit the stands this week, here's their Big Ten predicted standings:

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Iowa
7. Michigan
8. Northwestern
9. Minnesota
10. Purdue
11. Indiana
 

Ouch!! No respect!! :)

These things dont bother me anymore. We do have a rough schedule this year, that's always a big part of Lindy's predictions... who can blame them?

Wasnt there a tv analyst who put us at #2 in the bigten? Big range there.

I believe the two wild cards in this league are illinois and The U. They could have either extraordinary years, or disappointing years. Lindys just caught good vibes from ill and bad ones from The U. Will be an interesting year for sure.
 

Not exactly a surprise. Lindy's has often looked down their noses at Gopher football. In fact, I can't remember them ever picking the Gophers above either 7 or 8 in any year, even with our good teams under Mason. Personally, I think we'll be better than at least Northwestern and have great shots at being better than Michigan and Wisconsin in the Big Ten standings.

What I don't get is why they have Wisconsin that high. Quite frankly, they weren't very good last year and I see nothing that makes me think they'll be any better this year.

Everyone has a different perspective though and based on the Badgers recent history, I guess people can give them the benefit of the doubt.

And I'm sure the Hawkeye faithful must be ecstatic over their placing as well (sarcasm).

The best part about all of it? Seeing the season actually play out.
 

With Michigan State, Illinois and Wisconsin at home, anything can happen - from 3rd place on down, it is going to be a battle...
 

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Illinois
5. Iowa
6. Michigan
7. Minnesota
8. Northwestern
9. Wisconsin
10. Purdue
11. Indiana

I think we are pretty equal to Michigan this year, but we have the tougher schedule so I gave them the nod at number 6. I don't think Wisconsin will be any good this year, although they should sweep their nonconference play.

Ohio State isn't towering above the other schools as they have in past years. They have plenty of talent but are lean on experience. I could easily see them finishing 3rd or 4th in the conference.

I'm not that confident in Iowa. I've seen some place them as high as 2nd in the conference. I think Shonn Greene was pretty much their entire offense last year...so someone is going to have to step up. I could see them easily ending at 8th or 9th in the conference.

Indiana will be putrid this year, in my opinion. At least on offense.
 


Let me put it this way. Who is worried about playing us? My list begins and ends with Indiana.

If we went .500 in the conference this year I would be pretty happy.

I really hope Weber, Decker, Simmons, Scherels and Lawrence don't get injured.

I also hope we beat Air Force. Seriously, we should rig that game.
 

Studwell55 said:
Let me put it this way. Who is worried about playing us? My list begins and ends with Indiana.

If we went .500 in the conference this year I would be pretty happy.

I really hope Weber, Decker, Simmons, Scherels and Lawrence don't get injured.

I also hope we beat Air Force. Seriously, we should rig that game.
Click to expand...

really??? i think a lot of teams are worried about us this year...not saying we are going to win the big ten but almost all of our home games are winnable... i would say wisconsin michigan state and even cal should be a little worried
 


The ranking looks pretty spot on. we've got another year before we're ready to play with the top half of this conference. i would say from about four down to us we're all pretty close.
 




Considering how the U finished last seasons final 2 games.....we deserve the ranking. It has to get better or Brewster will be out on his a&&.
 

GoBigGold said:
Considering how the U finished last seasons final 2 games.....we deserve the ranking. It has to get better or Brewster will be out on his a&&.
Click to expand...

Try the last 5 games of the 2008 season. That Michigan game was the precurser to the iowa game in a lot of ways. Ouch: to lose to the WORST Michigan team since the 1950's hurt a lot...that should have been a chance to bring the JUG home. I really don't know if this brewster will EVER have as good a chance to win the JUG as he should have had in 2008. That one really hurt and set the tone for the remainder of the season. And that NU game...incredible...just incredible. That was a sad day.
 





4starrecruit said:
Try the last 5 games of the 2008 season. That Michigan game was the precurser to the iowa game in a lot of ways. Ouch: to lose to the WORST Michigan team since the 1950's hurt a lot...that should have been a chance to bring the JUG home. I really don't know if this brewster will EVER have as good a chance to win the JUG as he should have had in 2008. That one really hurt and set the tone for the remainder of the season. And that NU game...incredible...just incredible. That was a sad day.
Click to expand...
I've said this before, but if Joel Monroe doesn't miss that chipshot, the Gophers finish the season 9-3, at worst.
 

It is almost like the Football Golden Gophers are like the Chicago Cubs of the NCAA.
 

darren: Yes, those losses to NU and Michigan helped to get Mason's tail fired and forced him to take those millions and millions of General Fund borrowed dollars from the incompetent prex b and maturi. That is a part of history. That is what happend. Big Ten losses like that will get you smashed, bashed, trashed and dashed! You will end up getting run out of town on a rail and will, (in Mason's case) be FORCED to take all that hard cold cash! ( ; 0 )

And, do you know what darren? These 2 losses to NU and Michigan and the way they were lost are going to HAUNT this brewster too. They were Big Ten losses. Big Ten losses will kill a coaching career. No doubt about it. Mason sucked! (But, he got the big money!) It would appear to me that based on your perspective, this brewster sucked in all those Big Ten losses as well. What else can one say about a deal like that?

Losing Big Ten football games SUCKS! Remember that. Losing Big Ten Football Games is the WORST thing a Big Ten Football Coach can EVER do...
 

And darren: 55-0 in the final Big Ten game of the 2008 season? That sounds like a LOT of somebody's didn't even SHOW UP. Now THAT was beyond bad.
 

GoBigGold said:
It is almost like the Football Golden Gophers are like the Chicago Cubs of the NCAA.
Click to expand...

No, were like the Toronto Maple Leafs of NCAA football. Been about 50 years since we've put a team truly worth winning a championship. Maple leafs won lord stanley 13 times before 1967....nothing since. We, like the Leafs in hockey, were one of the most important programs in college football until the 1960's, and then.....nothing since. At least we have a golden age to look back upon.

It's sad, but not quite Chicago Cubs sad. Yeah, if you want misery stretching over a century, we should ask our dear friends in Madison. 1989-2009...... zero championships. Too bad....for them. :) Barry Alvarez is their golden age, and it was good for them, but it wasn't all that great.
 

And darren: 2000 in the Horseshoe was an incredibly rewarding experience. 1999 at PSU was too (I wasn't there for that one though.) 2005 in the Big House in Ann Arbor was something I will NEVER forget. As big a failure as Mason was, he had some GREAT moments and he DID walk away with all that money that this prexy b and maturi had to go into hock to come up with...

Not ZORBA...or JIMMY...or even darren "the GREEK" can take that away or spin that any other way than a huge bad mark for prexy b and maturi... ; 0 )
 

Wren...I'm not going to rip too much on Mason. Overall I liked him and he definitely left the program in better shape then when he arrived. I will concede the following points:
1) Although I have questioned his recruiting from time to time but I do not blame him for the 2006 recruiting class because it would have been impossible for anyone to put together a recruiting class with all their contract being run down to the ground.
2) You are 100% correct that Maturi blew it on Mason's renegotiation and it cost the University lots of money.
3) The way the team played against Michigan and Iowa last season was horrible and embarassing and the coaching staff deserves some of the blame for that poor effort.

Look...the book is still out on Brewster. I'm not ready to give him an extension but I won't be ready to fire him even if they don't have a drastic improvement this year. I can easily see the Gophers being a better team in 2009 but having the same, or slightly less, W/L record.

This constant ragging on Brewster by people who were upset with the way Mason was treated is getting tiresome. Let's all deal with reality. A) Mason is gone. B) Mason isn't coming back. C) Barring a complete collapse, Brewster will be coach at least through 2010. D) Maturi is very likely going to be the one who decides when he leaves the University.

That's it. That's reality. Like it or not it does no good to constantly Btch&Moan about it. We all follow the Gophers...we all love this program...we all are super-pumped to experience our new stadium. Let's unite and move forward.
 

I hope that circumstances

(like the promise of a nice retirement after his good buddy, prexy b resigns from his position to retire should provide a lot of incentive for this to happen. prexy b is approaching age 68 and maturi is approaching age 65. Neither of them will be around if they fire this brewster and hire a new football coach. With their record of handling football coaching changes, they obviously should NOT be the ones to set the direction of the football program for the next 10 to 15 years AFTER they are no longer in the picture. They are both nice OLD GUYS but they need to recognize their ages, realize that the University of Minnesota needs leadership to plan and execute the plans for the University for the next QUARTER of a CENTURY. That is NOT a thing for guys currently age 67 and 64 to do. )

take maturi out of the picture before a new football coach can be hired.

I realize that maturi will need to either fire or extend this brewster within the next two years. It SHOULD be now, because it is not good form to let a coache's contract run below 3 years for recruiting purposes AND retention of position coaches and coordinators.

However, I will not blindly rubber stamp with my approval what this brewster is doing and has done and will do based upon his personality and tendency to hype and put his foot in his mouth.

I also am NOT impressed by the fact that he has NO clue what his offensive strategy is. First he brought in that dunbar for two season and now is finally going away from that spreadsy stuff that basically ruined his first two years here as coach. I say what I think. Why should everyone here have to be on the "same page" with what they see happening? Especially when we have seen a 3-13 record in Big Ten play and some unbelievably non-competetive games?

My whole sense of energy for Gopher Football used to be based upon the need to return to Campus and to an on campus stadium. We now HAVE that stadium. To a certain extent, administrators at the U of M will HAVE to make the stadium work. However, I will never trust the administrations to do that without holding their feet to the fire.

I WANT this brewster left in place...with contract extensions that do not let his contract fall to less than three seasons. I want that so that this prexy b and maturi can bow out more gracefully and NOT try to impact the next 10 to 15 years of Gopher Football beyond their own participation in the administration of University of Minnesota football and the plans for the University of Minnesota generally. The University of Minnesota is too important to the state of Minnesota for that. Since a ew stadium has been built, the long range future of the football program is KEY to the administration of college athletics at the University of Minnesota.

I want brewster to prove he can be competetive in Big Ten Football. The third season is key to him to show us all if he can cut the mustard. He needs to win Big Ten football games to prove that he can help the U of M football program to COMPETE in the Big Ten. Minnesota, as MOST Big Ten Programs will not be dominant within the conference...they don't have to be "Ohio State-like"...but...they MUST compete and be competetive.

I've been a fan far too long to say nothing about this brewster. He has started out rather roughly to say the least. 2009 is an important season...just as 2008 and 2007 were important seasaons. They are seasons and chances that brewster...the players...and we fans can NEVER get back. I want BETTER in the future. To do that we NEED to see this brewster prove he can be at least as competetive as the guy he replaced. If he can't...he will need to be replaced...but NOT until prexy b and maturi have retired and are gone. They must NEVER hire again for the football program in my opinion!
 

4starrecruit said:
prexy b is approaching age 68 and maturi is approaching age 65... They are both nice OLD GUYS but they need to recognize their ages, realize that the University of Minnesota needs leadership to plan and execute the plans for the University for the next QUARTER of a CENTURY. That is NOT a thing for guys currently age 67 and 64 to do.
Click to expand...

Wren, why do you keep bringing up their ages as though it is meaningful or relevant?

2007 College President Study

Bruininks is slightly older than average, and indeed 49% of college presidents are over the age of 60. I'd agree that Maturi is older than many ADs, but anyone who cannot see that he has done a far better job than his predecessor is blind or has an agenda.

But, again, all that is beside the point. A person's age means NOTHING when it comes to an assessment of their job. We all have been inundated with your anti-"prexy" and anti-"Macturi" rants ad infinitum, so you no longer need to make that the central thrust of every single post you put on here.

Tear them apart based on their performance, but leave their age out of it. It is impertinent and meaningless. That type of thinking is how age discrimination lawsuits got started in this country. Just because you're a crazy old bastard doesn't mean they are.
 

Here were Lindy's Big Ten Picks for 2008:

1-Ohio State
2-Wisc.
3-Illini
4-Penn State
5-Mich
6-Mich State
7-Iowa
8-Purdue
9-Indiana
10-GOPHERS
11-Northwestern

As you can see, they were far from accurate - Wisc. and Ill. rated too high and MSU and Iowa rated too low - the GOPHERS were rated #75 nationally in 2008, #56 this year...the point is, Lindy was way off base with 2 of their top 3 picks last year - let the season begin...
 

dpodoll68 said:
Wren, why do you keep bringing up their ages as though it is meaningful or relevant?

2007 College President Study

Bruininks is slightly older than average, and indeed 49% of college presidents are over the age of 60. I'd agree that Maturi is older than many ADs, but anyone who cannot see that he has done a far better job than his predecessor is blind or has an agenda.

But, again, all that is beside the point. A person's age means NOTHING when it comes to an assessment of their job. We all have been inundated with your anti-"prexy" and anti-"Macturi" rants ad infinitum, so you no longer need to make that the central thrust of every single post you put on here.

Tear them apart based on their performance, but leave their age out of it. It is impertinent and meaningless. That type of thinking is how age discrimination lawsuits got started in this country. Just because you're a crazy old bastard doesn't mean they are.
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A "crazy old bastard" I may be but, since you take the liberty to say that, I must tell you that you are a crazy bastard of undetermined age if you don't think that this prexy b is on the long-of-tooth end of the average age for college prexys across the land. You can try to ignore his age all you wish, but, the time for the changing of the guard has come to the Unviersity of Minnesota. We have been using up a lot of potential and good sources of future donations that the academic side of the University of Minnesota will need during the next quarter of a century. With an average tenure of 8.6 years, a new prexy needs to be cultivating and nurturing future sources of contributions for the University of Minnesota Academics to be tapping into tofund the biomed buildings and labs of the future.

It is time for prexy b to go. It is time for him to take maturi with him. Turn over the reigns and let someone new drive this University into the future. Perhaps the new man...OR...woman who takes over will have an impact on bringing this University to new heights. This prexy b. just doesn't have the time needed to do all the things he needs to do.
 

...and they built a statue of him in front of the stadium.
The only thing more ridiculous outside Camp Randall is that artwork of footballs piled onto one another. Yep, the Maple Leafs comparison is better than using the Cubs and i'll make that change when dicussing U of M futility with my WI family.
Re: the wait--
It'll be that much sweeter when U of M football is back on top.
 

4starrecruit said:
A "crazy old bastard" I may be but, since you take the liberty to say that, I must tell you that you are a crazy bastard of undetermined age if you don't think that this prexy b is on the long-of-tooth end of the average age for college prexys across the land. You can try to ignore his age all you wish, but, the time for the changing of the guard has come to the Unviersity of Minnesota. We have been using up a lot of potential and good sources of futre donations that the academic side of the University of Minnesota will need during the next quarter of a century. With an average tenure of 8.6 years, a new prexy needs to be cultivating and nurturing future sources of contributions for the University of Minnesota Academics to be tapping into tofund the biomed buildings and labs of the future.

It is time for prexy b to go. It is time for him to take maturi with him. Turn over the reigns and let someone new drive this University into the future. Perhaps the new man...OR...woman who takes over will have an impact on bringing this University to new heights.
Click to expand...

Excellent. You've repeated exactly what I just said, followed by more nonsensical ramblings that have nothing to do with the performance of either. Well played.

And if the average tenure of a president is 8.6 years, then by my calculations, Bruininks has at least 2 years left to even get to that average. Average. Not "exceedingly lengthy" or "interminably long" like you always seem to imply. Then again, I don't recall anyone ever using Wren and reasonable in the same sentence.

4starrecruit said:
This prexy b. just doesn't have the time needed to do all the things he needs to do.
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Do you know something the rest of us don't? Does Bruininks have a terminal illness? Based on his age, he could quite reasonably live another 25 years. I'd call that plenty of time to "do all the things he needs to do."
 

67frosh said:
Here were Lindy's Big Ten Picks for 2008:

1-Ohio State
2-Wisc.
3-Illini
4-Penn State
5-Mich
6-Mich State
7-Iowa
8-Purdue
9-Indiana
10-GOPHERS
11-Northwestern
Click to expand...

Compare that to the actual order of finish.

1-Penn State (+3)
2-Ohio State (-1)
3-Michgan State (+3)
4-Northwestern (+7)
5-Iowa (+2)
6-Wisconsin (-4)
7-Minnesota (+3)
8-Illinois (-5)
9-Michigan (-4)
10-Purdue (-2)
11-Indiana (-2)

On average they missed the actual order of finish by 3.25 places with Northwestern being the extreme of finishing 7 places higher than predicted. The most reliable prediction based upon the Lindy data is that the Gophers will not finish 9th (the Lindy prediction) because in 2008 they didn't predict a single team correctly.
 

dopodoll: this prexy b was much older when he startedhis job than the average prexy was. Living another 25 years and running the University of Minnesota past the prime "running the University of Minnesota" time are totally different things. Just as a person's age MUST be taken into consideration when running for the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY of the United States must be, so must the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCEY of the Univerisity of Minnesota take reasonable age into consideration. Nothing is more pathetic than watching congressmen/women or Senators serving into their 90's. The final few years of Regan were kind of painful. Listening to him stumble with words in a press conference when he used to be such a master communicator was kind of sad.

It is time for a person of prexy b's age to retire. Perhaps he could be an advisor or serve on the Board of Regents. But, it is time for new vision and new energy. Last year, at one point in time this prexy b had to delay some travel plans due to health concerns. That is an alarm ringing. That is a "sign" that must be observed.

This prexy b worked his way up through the ranks of the U of M system. It is time for new blood. Perhaps someone from outside this University System could bring some new visions and ideas and will not be quite so encumbered with some of the ancient relationships that exist when long-term employees of the University have too much familiarity with one another...

Like I said: it is time for a new prexy to drive this U on home Thanks for the memories prexy b. Now is the perfect time to bring in your repalcemen! The times are difficult. The times are changing. New blood will help energize this Great University. It is the right time and it is the right thing to do! Prexy Y managed to bring a great energy for doing what needed to be done when he came to town and totally spruced up the campus that had been so badly neglected. Find some candidate from outside the U of M system. It is time for new blood and new, fresh ideas. It is time for a very strong academic personality to bring the U of M to new academic heights. The state of Minnesota needs the strongest U of M possible. The economy of the state will depend upon it for the next half a centruy!
 

NEWSFLASH: Wren hijacks another thread with his typical garbage. Shocking, I know...
 

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