"Row the Boat" Added to the Gold Helmet


Damn - a guy really misses a lot when he spends the day at work.

OK - 2 things - first, on Fleck's coaching career - here it is:

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006 Ohio State (GA)
2007–2008 Northern Illinois (WR)
2009 Northern Illinois (WR/RC)
2010–2011 Rutgers (WR)
2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (WR)
2013–2016 Western Michigan
2017–present Minnesota

MN is Fleck's 6th job in 12 years. average of 2 years a stop. (ironically, the same number he cited at the U of MN as an issue, when talking about sustainability). Hey - maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's not a job-hopper. maybe he's going to stay at the U of MN for 25 years. But, based on the evidence at hand, I stand with my guess that Fleck is at MN for 7 years or less. I could be wrong - but I could be right. We won't know for 7 years (or less).

Again, this is incredibly typical for a coach working his way to the top, particularly in the modern era. Look at recent Big Ten hires. When Chris Ash became the Rutgers head coach, it was his 8th job in 20 seasons. D.J. Durkin - 7th in 16 seasons. Tom Allen - 11th in 24 seasons. Lovie Smith had 11 in 24 seasons when he got the Bears job. James Franklin - 11 in 16 seasons when hired by Vanderbilt. I could go on.

You're taking something that's a total non-issue and trying to draw a nonsense conclusion from it.
 

Back on topic, I don't think anyone will care what is on the helmets if they start winning consistently.
 

Damn - a guy really misses a lot when he spends the day at work.

OK - 2 things - first, on Fleck's coaching career - here it is:

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006 Ohio State (GA)
2007–2008 Northern Illinois (WR)
2009 Northern Illinois (WR/RC)
2010–2011 Rutgers (WR)
2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (WR)
2013–2016 Western Michigan
2017–present Minnesota

MN is Fleck's 6th job in 12 years. average of 2 years a stop. (ironically, the same number he cited at the U of MN as an issue, when talking about sustainability). Hey - maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's not a job-hopper. maybe he's going to stay at the U of MN for 25 years. But, based on the evidence at hand, I stand with my guess that Fleck is at MN for 7 years or less. I could be wrong - but I could be right. We won't know for 7 years (or less).

OK - now the really stupid one. the word "act." I did NOT mean act as in Fleck is an actor, or a phony. I meant it in the sense of "taking his act on the road" - act as a synonym for how he behaves - could have used "shtick" or "routine" or even (gasp) "culture." As in - this is what Fleck is. this is how he acts (as in behaves - not act as in playing a part). At this point, I have accepted that this is who Fleck is. Nobody is that good of an actor to behave the way Fleck does if it wasn't genuine. Robert DeNiro can't stay in character that long.

I absolutely, positively did not mean it as a shot. If I had, I would have used a different word. I work with words - I spend all day typing news and sports scripts for my radio job. I choose words very carefully. If I meant to say Fleck is a phony BS artist, I would have said Fleck is a phony BS artist. Again, I was using "act" as a shortcut - act meaning behavior.

Bottom line - the Fleck supporters are now seeing insults where none exist or were intended. Believe me - when I want to insult Fleck, you will have no problem understanding my meaning.

If his goal was to be a head coach, why would he not take better jobs when they are offered to him?

This is so common. Nick Saban had 10 different jobs in his first 22 years of coaching.
 

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/01/20/minnesota-unveils-new-football-uniforms/

Casual followers will have to look hard for noticeable differences.

The numbers use a font that harkens back to the 1940s, with a brick inlay that pays homage to Memorial Stadium.

Coach Jerry Kill says the Gophers made it clear to Nike that they wanted a look that emphasizes the history of the program.

Where does that say the "Brick by Brick" saying was due to Memorial Stadium?
 





You are really slow, or simply in love with PJ. Everything he does is self-promotion.


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Yeah not sure if he's ever coached a football game before.
 



Not a valid comparison row the boat replaced Ski-U-Mah. This is disgraceful. But of course you like it

What do you mean it replaced it? It's still on the helmet? Of course that would require you to click on a link to see.

Are you over your obsession with Fleck's genitals yet?
 

I have followed gopher football for about 35 years and never once did anyone utter the phrase brick by brick. Yes Memorial stadium was made of bricks but so are many other stadiums. Brick by brick is a slogan concocted by Kill as a way to simply explain what his program is about. A catchphrase to inspire players and fans that there is a brighter future ahead as long we keep building brick by brick. The same goes for row the boat. Remember way back in like 1990 when a Notre Dame assistant coach took over a Big Ten school down on its luck and changed the logo on the helmets? There was no web back then to air ones grievances but imagine what some of those folks thought. Sadly they could only write angry letters or complain while sitting on a bar stool so their opinions are not as easily accessible and in many cases lost. Oh how lucky we are to live in an age where our half baked ideas and opinions can be saved and made accessible for the many historians and anthropologists of the future who will what know what the people of this time thought about row the boat. Fleck is the coach and he gets to do it his way until he leaves or we give him the boot. Every coach through here has changed the uniforms for better or for worse. Are a few row the boats and oars something to endlessly complain about?
 

I have followed gopher football for about 35 years and never once did anyone utter the phrase brick by brick. Yes Memorial stadium was made of bricks but so are many other stadiums. Brick by brick is a slogan concocted by Kill as a way to simply explain what his program is about. A catchphrase to inspire players and fans that there is a brighter future ahead as long we keep building brick by brick. The same goes for row the boat. Remember way back in like 1990 when a Notre Dame assistant coach took over a Big Ten school down on its luck and changed the logo on the helmets? There was no web back then to air ones grievances but imagine what some of those folks thought. Sadly they could only write angry letters or complain while sitting on a bar stool so their opinions are not as easily accessible and in many cases lost. Oh how lucky we are to live in an age where our half baked ideas and opinions can be saved and made accessible for the many historians and anthropologists of the future who will what know what the people of this time thought about row the boat. Fleck is the coach and he gets to do it his way until he leaves or we give him the boot. Every coach through here has changed the uniforms for better or for worse. Are a few row the boats and oars something to endlessly complain about?

Many of us have been fans longer than 35 years. I don't recall any helmet logo change under holt that didn't relate the U. (You will have to show your work on that one.). There has been several subtle changes to the logos over time.
So if the coach had some new promotional program based upon "Achieving Gold" or "Howpher" or such, you would still think it was randomly selected and not be based upon any part of the U?
It is PJ's program and he can make numerous changes, but there are limits. This has nothing to do with the internet.


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Many of us have been fans longer than 35 years. I don't recall any helmet logo change under holt that didn't relate the U. (You will have to show your work on that one.). There has been several subtle changes to the logos over time.
So if the coach had some new promotional program based upon "Achieving Gold" or "Howpher" or such, you would still think it was randomly selected and not be based upon any part of the U?
It is PJ's program and he can make numerous changes, but there are limits. This has nothing to do with the internet.


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Double post
 



Many of us have been fans longer than 35 years. I don't recall any helmet logo change under holt that didn't relate the U. (You will have to show your work on that one.). There has been several subtle changes to the logos over time.
So if the coach had some new promotional program based upon "Achieving Gold" or "Howpher" or such, you would still think it was randomly selected and not be based upon any part of the U?
It is PJ's program and he can make numerous changes, but there are limits. This has nothing to do with the internet.


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NM
 

If we win a Big10 Championship most will embrace it. If there is mediocrity, its just another goofy slogan.
 

I have followed gopher football for about 35 years and never once did anyone utter the phrase brick by brick. Yes Memorial stadium was made of bricks but so are many other stadiums. Brick by brick is a slogan concocted by Kill as a way to simply explain what his program is about. A catchphrase to inspire players and fans that there is a brighter future ahead as long we keep building brick by brick. The same goes for row the boat. Remember way back in like 1990 when a Notre Dame assistant coach took over a Big Ten school down on its luck and changed the logo on the helmets? There was no web back then to air ones grievances but imagine what some of those folks thought. Sadly they could only write angry letters or complain while sitting on a bar stool so their opinions are not as easily accessible and in many cases lost. Oh how lucky we are to live in an age where our half baked ideas and opinions can be saved and made accessible for the many historians and anthropologists of the future who will what know what the people of this time thought about row the boat. Fleck is the coach and he gets to do it his way until he leaves or we give him the boot. Every coach through here has changed the uniforms for better or for worse. Are a few row the boats and oars something to endlessly complain about?

Have you read all 11 pages of this thread? The answer is obviously yes. Everyone is scared. I don't blame them. I mean, when I see Row The Boat down the center of the helmet in 1/4 inch size lettering when the team is at the opposite end of the stadium from my seats in Section 103 about to score a TD, how on earth am I going to be able to handle that?! Help someone! Help!
 

Personally, I can sympathize with people that have a problem with this - it clearly has nothing to do with the history of the program (the entire RTB tie-in with SKI-U-Mah was an accident).

On the other hand, traditions have to start somewhere. If Fleck succeeds and coaches here for 15 years, absolutely nobody will equate "Row The Boat" with WMU (other than a handful of inconsequential WMU fans). To me it's a lot like the Broken Chair trophy...some people don't like because they think it is contrived just because it started on social media. But - if it was left alone and allowed to mature for 100 years, it would be every bit as valid as the Pig, Jug, or Ax. I'm sure there where stodgy, old badger fans that bemoaned Jump Around when it was first introduced, but after decades of success on the field they probably join in and jump with all their drunken glee these days.

The longer Fleck stays here, more and more fans will grow up with Row The Boat being associated with Minnesota - and, boom, it will become our tradition. If Fleck fails or bails, it will simply be one more thing thrown into the garbage pit of our embarrassments.
 

Many of us have been fans longer than 35 years. I don't recall any helmet logo change under holt that didn't relate the U. (You will have to show your work on that one.). There has been several subtle changes to the logos over time.
So if the coach had some new promotional program based upon "Achieving Gold" or "Howpher" or such, you would still think it was randomly selected and not be based upon any part of the U?
It is PJ's program and he can make numerous changes, but there are limits. This has nothing to do with the internet.


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Folks freak out about a logo change or adding RTB on the helmet and site tradition. How many color versions of maroon and gold have we accepted over the past 30yrs? Wouldn't that be.more outrageous? People think the black uniforms are cool. Why no outrage over that?

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Folks freak out about a logo change or adding RTB on the helmet and site tradition. How many color versions of maroon and gold have we accepted over the past 30yrs? Wouldn't that be.more outrageous? People think the black uniforms are cool. Why no outrage over that?

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I wish RUTM had been added to to gold helmet stripe.... Maybe we'll see it on Rutgers helmets.
 

This thread went the way I would have guessed.

If JB posts enough, he will bring up Fleck's genitals.
JB assumes anyone who doesn't love EVERYTHING about Fleck worships Claeys.
Some of the Flecksters even hit us with a "I don't really like it, but if PJ likes it, it's okay by me". Kind of weird.

My take - -

I don't like it. There is a place for tradition in college football. I didn't like it when Penn State added names to the back of their jerseys. I didn't like it when we put Brick by Brick on the helmets and I really don't an 8 month old phrase being on the Gopher helmet. This was a Western Michigan catch phrase THIS year. So no, I don't like it. It feels like shameless self promotion and it's way too soon to be brandishing a PJ Fleck phrase (literally) on the University of Minnesota's uniforms.

That said, it's not a huge deal to me. It's lame but I'm not one of the people that really cares about uniforms or anything like that.
 

Ski-U-Mah has a history with the U of M pretty much since the beginning. School opened in 1851, closed during civil war, then re-opened in 1867. Ski-U-Mah was coined in 1884 which was pretty close to the beginning of when athletics were started at the U. It's in the Rouser and used all throughout athletics not just for a particular sport. Wouldn't consider it a slogan so having it be apart of the uniform design for ANY sport would make sense.
Brick by Brick was a slogan used by Kill/Claeys and Row the Boat is a slogan used by PJF. These are specific to football and completely different than Ski-U-Mah as we didn't see and I can't see any other program embracing them.
We didn't see the words Brick by Brick put on any football uniforms, just a subtle reference to it on the numbers. Had it been, I would have been just as vocally opposed to it as I am with RTB. Has nothing to do with PJF. Has everything to do with the U of M, as neither Brick by Brick before or Row the Boat now are part of the entire athletic program, so those things should stay off of the official uniforms of the university. Put the slogan on shirts, oars, boats, in the locker room, on billboards, on team pre-game gear, around the football complex and even in the stadium, but leave any and all slogans and or references to them off the uniforms, which includes the helmet. a subtle reference to them like the bricks is ok as it isn't noticeable even up close.

Have to correct myself, as BbB was on back of helmets. So, I would have to say RTB can be on the helmet. Would rather see it on back like BbB was.
 

Never cared much about the uniform or helmet, as long as it's a Minnesota one. Though Penn State aside, we're in the age of multiple options.

Confess that I rarely read the posts on said changes, beyond a post or two.

Looking at the number of views for every one of them though, I appear to be in a very small minority.
 

I have a hard enough time trying to explain what Ski U Man means to my Texas friends and now I have to try and explain RTB? No thank you!
 

Where does that say the "Brick by Brick" saying was due to Memorial Stadium?

So you concede that adding bricks to our uniforms was meant to reference memorial stadium, but can't buy the "brick by brick" slogan was meant to tie into that? I was surprised by that observation until I saw who posted it.


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The reasons I didn't mind brick by brick as much are:. 1) it wasn't borrowed from a MAC school, 2) Kill didn't implement his first year, 3) it has ties to both Memorial and TCF stadiums.

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So you concede that adding bricks to our uniforms was meant to reference memorial stadium, but can't buy the "brick by brick" slogan was meant to tie into that? I was surprised by that observation until I saw who posted it.


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Spoof - I hate to say this, but I think we should just give up. The University of Minnesota Football team is now the PJ Fleck Football team. If people are happy with that, fine. I'm not happy with it, but there's nothing I can do about it. And I am very seriously considering just giving up on Gopher FB - and on this website. I don't want to hang around someplace where I'm not welcome, and I am definitely not welcome at this board anymore. The Flecksters have won. You and I should just get out of the way and let them revel in their victory. Maybe it will turn out the way they want, and they will have many happy years cheering for Fleck and the Gophers - and I mean it in that order - Fleck 1st and the Gophers 2nd. Then again, maybe it won't turn out the way they want. Only time will tell. hell, maybe I'll have another heart attack, die, and I won't be around to see what happens. that probably would not bother some of the people on this board.
 


The reasons I didn't mind brick by brick as much are:. 1) it wasn't borrowed from a MAC school, 2) Kill didn't implement his first year, 3) it has ties to both Memorial and TCF stadiums.

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How is it borrowed from a MAC school? It didn't exist at Western Michigan before Fleck. It's Fleck's slogan, and he's now at the University of Minnesota.
 

Spoof - I hate to say this, but I think we should just give up. The University of Minnesota Football team is now the PJ Fleck Football team. If people are happy with that, fine. I'm not happy with it, but there's nothing I can do about it. And I am very seriously considering just giving up on Gopher FB - and on this website. I don't want to hang around someplace where I'm not welcome, and I am definitely not welcome at this board anymore. The Flecksters have won. You and I should just get out of the way and let them revel in their victory. Maybe it will turn out the way they want, and they will have many happy years cheering for Fleck and the Gophers - and I mean it in that order - Fleck 1st and the Gophers 2nd. Then again, maybe it won't turn out the way they want. Only time will tell. hell, maybe I'll have another heart attack, die, and I won't be around to see what happens. that probably would not bother some of the people on this board.

Won what? RTB is here to stay as long as Fleck is here regardless of what anyone says. It will be used wherever Fleck want's to use it with the University's permission. Get used to it and get over it. You're getting worked up over 3 tiny words on a helmet.

I know you and most this board are older and change is difficult to grasp. But the incessant pouting by some of the people your age is just sad.
 

Spoof - I hate to say this, but I think we should just give up. The University of Minnesota Football team is now the PJ Fleck Football team. If people are happy with that, fine. I'm not happy with it, but there's nothing I can do about it. And I am very seriously considering just giving up on Gopher FB - and on this website. I don't want to hang around someplace where I'm not welcome, and I am definitely not welcome at this board anymore. The Flecksters have won. You and I should just get out of the way and let them revel in their victory. Maybe it will turn out the way they want, and they will have many happy years cheering for Fleck and the Gophers - and I mean it in that order - Fleck 1st and the Gophers 2nd. Then again, maybe it won't turn out the way they want. Only time will tell. hell, maybe I'll have another heart attack, die, and I won't be around to see what happens. that probably would not bother some of the people on this board.

You can't reason with unreasonable people.
You can't find logic in illogical situations.
Some see things clearly, others see what they want to see.
I like PJF as our coach, a lot, but not other things about his style. To me this is reasonable and logical. To the unreasonable and illogical it isn't because they only see what they want to.
I'm a fan of your posts SON and hope you keep posting. However, I'm the worst poster this site has had in 15-years, so take that for what it's worth. Go Gophers!


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