Reusse: This is a week to celebrate Kill's grand turnaround

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I am fine with the game itself, so long as it doesn't lower our bar. I don't think a season where we go 2-6 in conference and get to go to a bowl game should be considered any more successful than a season where we went 2-6 in conference, got 6 wins, but was before the era where there were 70 bowl teams. For the Gophers, this season should be viewed as a success because we doubled our win total from the year before. The bowl game adds some neat exposure for the team and the extra practices can't hurt. But the fact that they have added enough bowls that teams with 25% conference winning percentages can get in does not turn this season into something magical.

It is very much like the NCAA basketball tournament. If the team absolutely tanks in the B1G season, goes in as a 12 seed, but gets paired up in one of those ridiculous "if two 12-seeds play each other, then a 12-seed gets a tournament win games", my response will not be "yes! we won a tournament game!". We've set the bar at 6-6 (2-6) after this season, what I am looking for out of the bowl game is a chance to go to 7-6, and if nothing else, us being able to use the extra practice to get in a position where we can go at least 7-5 (3-5) (heck, I would consider 6-6 (3-5) to be an improvement) next year.
 

Iceland12 said:
You want another reason for all the Bowl Games? Ratings. Lousy Bowl Games still beat good basketball games. The University Presidents have been saying it all along. Playoffs heavily dilute the regular season. March Madness is great for fans and the NCAA, but it kills interest in December-February Basketball to all but the hard core fans.

From Stewart Mandel at SI/CNN:

Last Saturday, at almost exactly the same time that Butler took No. 1 Indiana to overtime (and eventually won) in the most eventful college basketball game of the season, Arizona scored two touchdowns in the final 46 seconds of the New Mexico Bowl to stun Nevada, 49-48.
Having switched furiously back and forth between both broadcasts, I'm not sure how the Nielsen ratings would count my household. But when the overnight ratings came in, the football game garnered a 1.9, the basketball game a 1.5. The Utah State-Toledo Potato Bowl played later the same day received a 1.8.
And people wonder why we have 35 bowl games?


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20121219/bowl-system-mailbag/#ixzz2GMHEIyav
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I wasn't personally watching, but yeah, these bowl games are a draw. A lot of people, believe it or not, are gonna be watching this Gopher game tonight rather than other sporting events (I'm not even sure how much else is going on actually). This is a good opportunity for Minnesota to get some pretty darn good exposure if they can perform well.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Although a couple of cheap shots, I do agree there are WAY to many bowl games. Although 12 would be too few, I think 35 or whatever there is now is way too many. 20-25 would be ok, IMO, but there are so many meaningless games with little or no attendance, you would think something ahs to be done. I would like to see a .500 conference record or something like that...
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Or...6 wins vs FBS teams. We have 5 - the bowl system is laughable.
 

Iceland12 said:
You want another reason for all the Bowl Games? Ratings. Lousy Bowl Games still beat good basketball games. The University Presidents have been saying it all along. Playoffs heavily dilute the regular season. March Madness is great for fans and the NCAA, but it kills interest in December-February Basketball to all but the hard core fans.

From Stewart Mandel at SI/CNN:

Last Saturday, at almost exactly the same time that Butler took No. 1 Indiana to overtime (and eventually won) in the most eventful college basketball game of the season, Arizona scored two touchdowns in the final 46 seconds of the New Mexico Bowl to stun Nevada, 49-48.
Having switched furiously back and forth between both broadcasts, I'm not sure how the Nielsen ratings would count my household. But when the overnight ratings came in, the football game garnered a 1.9, the basketball game a 1.5. The Utah State-Toledo Potato Bowl played later the same day received a 1.8.
And people wonder why we have 35 bowl games?

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20121219/bowl-system-mailbag/#ixzz2GMHEIyav
Click to expand...

This is the exact reason there are so many bowl games. I love watching games during bowl season. As a lover of football, the more football I can watch, and watching random teams in bowl games that I may not get to observe the better. During the season when I am attending the majority of Gopher football games, I do not get to see a vast majority of these team play. The bowl season provides the perfect opportunity for me to watch a large number of teams that I would otherwise not see during the regular season. I, honestly, really enjoy it. But, that's just me.

If you don't like all the bowl games, do not watch them! No one is forcing you to watch!
 



Here's my take on the "too many bowl games" argument:

1. Having more games to watch is never a bad thing.
2. If you argue that many of the bowl games are meaningless so they shouldn't be played, then shouldn't you say the same thing about many of the regular season games? Even by mid-season, many teams have no chance of winning the National Championship and their conference championship. Why not just cancel all of those games as well?
3. If all these games were being played on, say week 3 of the season, everyone would be excited about all the great match-ups. Why does that change now?
4. Bowls give you a chance to match-up against teams you normally wouldn't face (unless you are IA St and Tulsa). Fun for the players and the fans.
5. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's pretty simple.
 

Random thoughts -
1. I was at the 1977 game where the Gophs beat Washington and Warren Moon. Great game. I don't remember the crowd being that small, but I was still drinking then, so there are some gaps in my memory.......

2. The only way they will cut back on the # of bowl games is if the sponsors drop out. As long as there is some entity willing to sponsor the games, there will be a slew of bowl games.

3. If you impose a higher standard to qualify for a bowl, then what happens if there are not enough eligible teams to fill the available slots? Cancel a game you've already promoted? I don't think so.

4. In case anyone hasn't figured this out - Reusse rips the Gophers because he wants to p**s off the hard-core fans. It's a game with him - he runs a negative article, people on here get mad and complain, and Pat reads the comments and laughs at the stupid Gopher fans. Complaining about Reusse is like complaining about the weather or rush-hour traffic - it accomplishes nothing.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Here's my take on the "too many bowl games" argument:

1. Having more games to watch is never a bad thing.
2. If you argue that many of the bowl games are meaningless so they shouldn't be played, then shouldn't you say the same thing about many of the regular season games? Even by mid-season, many teams have no chance of winning the National Championship and their conference championship. Why not just cancel all of those games as well?
3. If all these games were being played on, say week 3 of the season, everyone would be excited about all the great match-ups. Why does that change now?
4. Bowls give you a chance to match-up against teams you normally wouldn't face (unless you are IA St and Tulsa). Fun for the players and the fans.
5. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's pretty simple.
Click to expand...

+1. My thoughts exactly.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Here's my take on the "too many bowl games" argument:

1. Having more games to watch is never a bad thing.
2. If you argue that many of the bowl games are meaningless so they shouldn't be played, then shouldn't you say the same thing about many of the regular season games? Even by mid-season, many teams have no chance of winning the National Championship and their conference championship. Why not just cancel all of those games as well?
3. If all these games were being played on, say week 3 of the season, everyone would be excited about all the great match-ups. Why does that change now?
4. Bowls give you a chance to match-up against teams you normally wouldn't face (unless you are IA St and Tulsa). Fun for the players and the fans.
5. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's pretty simple.
Click to expand...

All that seems pretty reasonable to me.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
Random thoughts -
1. I was at the 1977 game where the Gophs beat Washington and Warren Moon. Great game. I don't remember the crowd being that small, but I was still drinking then, so there are some gaps in my memory.......

2. The only way they will cut back on the # of bowl games is if the sponsors drop out. As long as there is some entity willing to sponsor the games, there will be a slew of bowl games.

3. If you impose a higher standard to qualify for a bowl, then what happens if there are not enough eligible teams to fill the available slots? Cancel a game you've already promoted? I don't think so.

4. In case anyone hasn't figured this out - Reusse rips the Gophers because he wants to p**s off the hard-core fans. It's a game with him - he runs a negative article, people on here get mad and complain, and Pat reads the comments and laughs at the stupid Gopher fans. Complaining about Reusse is like complaining about the weather or rush-hour traffic - it accomplishes nothing.
Click to expand...

All that too. Well, except for the last part. Unlike complaining about the weather or rush hour complaining about a Reusse column does have an effect. It brings on more of 'um. :)
 

Reusse doesn't exist in my universe except when I'm reminded of him on this board.
 

Reusse is a D-Bag. He hates Gopher football...always has.
 

"grand turnaround?" I don't think even the most diluted gopher homer would declare a grand turnaround at this point in Kill's tenure. Sure, many gopher homers hope that this season was the beginning of a grand turnaround but that's it.

Personally I think 6-6 is an improvement over 3-9. Beating 3 more inferior non-conference opponents is better than not beating them. Should we be disappointed?

Reusse, old enough to remember some truly great Gopher football teams, has the attitude of, "wake me up when they make it back to the Rose Bowl." That's just fine but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to share the same attitude.


p.s. Whining or poking fun at how many "meaningless" bowl games there are now was old 10 years ago. The bowl system heavily expanded 15+ years ago, when are we going to stop acting like this is just happened?
 




stevedave23 said:
"grand turnaround?" I don't think even the most diluted gopher homer would declare a grand turnaround at this point in Kill's tenure. Sure, many gopher homers hope that this season was the beginning of a grand turnaround but that's it.

Personally I think 6-6 is an improvement over 3-9. Beating 3 more inferior non-conference opponents is better than not beating them. Should we be disappointed?

Reusse, old enough to remember some truly great Gopher football teams, has the attitude of, "wake me up when they make it back to the Rose Bowl." That's just fine but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to share the same attitude.


p.s. Whining or poking fun at how many "meaningless" bowl games there are now was old 10 years ago. The bowl system heavily expanded 15+ years ago, when are we going to stop acting like this is just happened?
Click to expand...

in 1999 there we like 23 or so games, seems like a good number...
unless this site is way off...
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/1999_archive_bowls.html
 

Way too many bowl games.

Unfair to the kids.

Waaaay too many games in the season already.

10 game season.

15 bowl games.
 

I'm pretty sure Old Patti wrote a similar article mocking Tim Brewster's grand turnaround in 2008. Same old, same old.
 


Reusse/Barrerio/Every dumba$$ TC sports personality needs to stop with the "there are too many bowls" argument. It simply magnifies the fact that they know NOTHING about college football.
This town is simply ignorant of college football to the point where it's sad, simply really sad.
Playing lots of bowls is college football reality. It's where the sport is right now. Money drives everything and nobody is going backward to LESS bowls.

What's funny to me is the same folks who complain about cupcake NC schedules also complain about too many bowls, which generally pit two functional BCS opponents against each other.

What's to complain about? Spending money?(que dum dum common man with some stupid donor cash reference)
No, in general money is made from bowls(I know the B1G splits revenue and some bowls lose money)
But nobody really cares about that.
Too much football?
More football is good IMO.
Rewarding mediocrity?
Lots of teams are still left out, and I guess I'd rather reward unpaid college kids for winning half their games than tell them to F off until they win more at the end of the year.
It's a dumb argument. The past is the past, let it die. Embrace the present or shut up.
 

Ole said:
Playing lots of bowls is college football reality. It's where the sport is right now. Money drives everything and nobody is going backward to LESS bowls.
Click to expand...

Yup, the current bloated bowl system will stay that way unless some bowls themselves fold up. There is too much money tied up in sponsorship contracts, TV contracts, conference alignment contracts and these "foundations" that run the bowls and employ people full-time for lots of money.

Hence, I don't think the NCAA/BCS would just cut the number of bowls, as that would mess up lucrative contracts and make people lose their jobs. We are stuck with it now.

They should start by making a 7 win (and/or 6 FBS wins) rule, and requiring bowls to petition for exceptions if needed to fill their slots. Perhaps eventually with a playoff system some lower bowls will go out of business, and we can reach a more sensible equilibrium.
 

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