RandBall: Minnesota sports fans were ruined by Lou Holtz and David Ortiz

[PMWinSTP]

People thought Richard Pitino was a rising star in 2014 after nearly making the NCAA Tournament in his first season and winning the NIT. He was the heir apparent at Louisville and was definitely going to leave before too long.

Which people? I thought the hire was a huge stretch and that he won with Tubby's recruits.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Good point. TK probably knows as much about baseball strategy as any living human. But once the guys he came up with - the Hrbek/Puck/Gaetti/Viola era players started aging out or moving on, it seemed he had a very hard time dealing with some of the younger talent. Granted, some of that "talent" was borderline even at best.

TK had to get by with the thrifty ownership. The Mike Lamb era.

 

[Cayman]

Which people? I thought the hire was a huge stretch and that he won with Tubby's recruits.

I think you would have been in the minority in having a neutral/negative opinion of Pitino at that time. I remember debates on the board at the end of the 2012-13 season about whether we cheer for the Gophers to win in the NCAA tournament, or to lose as soon as possible to guarantee that Tubby gets fired, because the program was going to hit rock bottom after Rodney Williams and Trevor Mbakwe graduated, with lackluster 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes. There was of course the several page long debates about whether the Gophers were tied for 7th in the Big Ten, or 9th outright, with people arguing for the latter position trying to make Tubby look as bad as possible to justify firing him.

Tubby never got much out of spring recruiting, usually just lightly recruited freshmen from out of state to fill the bench after a more talented player transferred out. Pitino came in and was praised for bringing in Deandre Mathieu, Joey King, and Malik Smith, who all contributed in a significant way and prevented the 2013-14 season from being the disaster it could have possibly been otherwise. He was also credited for getting more out of Mo Walker than Tubby had up to that point. Excitement was high that we got as close to the tournament as we did, being arguably just one Andre Hollins injury or a Rakeem Buckles admission away from making the dance (and arguably got shafted as the rare RPI top 50 high major team that doesn't get an at-large bid). Before the season he seemed very close to landing Reid Travis, after it seemed like we might not have a shot. Pitino also lost his conference tournament championship game at FIU on the final possession, and had one of their best seasons in like 20 years for the one season he was there.

I remember at least seeing on Gopher social media after Pitino's first season fans speculating that Pitino might take us to another tournament or two and then bolt for Louisville or some other big time job. I know people look back now and say Pitino had no business getting the Minnesota job given his career up to that point, and say that his shortcomings could be seen from a mile away, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who was particularly dissatisfied with him in the spring of 2014, and the biggest concern was that he would be too successful too soon and leave.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

Not getting your WMU response...

We poached their coach after a 13-0 season and their best season since was 8-5. That's contradictory to "mostly going upward" which is what I was responding too.

 

[highwayman]

KG is a better example than Ortiz. KG was a generationally great player during and after his time at MN. Ortiz was a timing issue who found his groove with Boston. KG truly wanted to be here and win a championship here but then won it with Boston. No one "blames" KG for leaving, and we were all genuinely happy for him. But I think that's the regret MN fans feel -- like that Boston championship could have (should have) been with us.

The murder of Malik Sealy (KG's best friend) was the big change in the team's trajectory.

 

[#2Gopher]

Ortiz barely made the Red Sox's roster. He was struggling big time with them and kept begging for more time to prove himself. Always wondered how much drugs played a role for him. Hotz would have had more violations yet the longer he stayed. What would that had done for the program?

 

[disco]

Ortiz barely made the Red Sox's roster. He was struggling big time with them and kept begging for more time to prove himself. Always wondered how much drugs played a role for him. Hotz would have had more violations yet the longer he stayed. What would that had done for the program?

If Holtz had won multiple Big 10 titles and competed for or won a National Title, who cares about violations? Notre Dame didn't have any seasons or wins vacated, did they?

 

[#2Gopher]

If Holtz had won multiple Big 10 titles and competed for or won a National Title, who cares about violations? Notre Dame didn't have any seasons or wins vacated, did they?

Who knows what he would have done here where he thought he needed to violate the rules to get ahead. No need to do it at Notre Dame for obvious reasons.

 

[disco]

Who knows what he would have done here where he thought he needed to violate the rules to get ahead. No need to do it at Notre Dame for obvious reasons.

Once again, I could not possibly care less about the rules as pertains to college football recruiting as long as the team wins.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Who knows what he would have done here where he thought he needed to violate the rules to get ahead. No need to do it at Notre Dame for obvious reasons.

There was stuff at Notre Dame as well.

 

[disco]

There was stuff at Notre Dame as well.

Absolutely. But they won big time with Holtz. That's what matters at this level.