Souhan column: Lowest common denominator? That's AD Maturi

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Like Souhan or not, it's hard to argue with this one. I love the last paragraph:

He arrived at the U when the Gophers athletic department was successful. Gopherdom has been hurtling downhill ever since, and instead of slamming brakes or seizing the wheel, Gentleman Joel has stared out the windshield at the fluffy clouds in the distance. One of them looks just like a unicorn.
 

Pretty much what he was saying on espn1500 this afternoon.

I'm sure m2s will chime in soon.

Whether people like it or not, it is time to raise questions.(basketball included).
 

Following is what I said on the FB Forum about this. Read it any way you want.

I clicked on the link, read Souey's article, chugged my Phillips screwdriver (Milk of Magnesia with vodka) , $hit my pants, wiped with Tucks, used my tongue to lick the bottom of the birdcage, poured rubbing alcohol on my wrists after slitting them, but other than that, it was fun.

You are now welcome to let me know what the hell I am talking about. :banghead:
 

At least it sounds like he's going to extend Lucia, that should get more people on his side:)
 


Other than the.........

Brewster fiasco, which was obviously a flop, I don't Maturi has done a bad job. He's a tireless worker, and his puck and hoops coaches are stand up guys with intergrity who have national championships to their credit.

There always needs to be "blame," in these matters when a team is not as successful as they would like to be......but it usually doesn't mean you have bad leadership or coaches. It just means you got beat.
 

leftyslefty said:
Brewster fiasco, which was obviously a flop, I don't Maturi has done a bad job. He's a tireless worker, and his puck and hoops coaches are stand up guys with intergrity who have national championships to their credit.

There always needs to be "blame," in these matters when a team is not as successful as they would like to be......but it usually doesn't mean you have bad leadership or coaches. It just means you got beat.
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I agree that a couple bad breaks here and there can turn a promising season into a poor season very quickly. However, when the hockey team plays in numerous games this year where they appear uninterested, unmotivated and unprepared for the game and the overwhelming theme of not only this season but the past couple seasons is lackadaisical effort and inconsistency that's when leadership should be brought into question.
 

Not much to complain about in that article. I think the Tubby stuff is a little overstated though.
 

leftyslefty said:
Brewster fiasco, which was obviously a flop, I don't Maturi has done a bad job. He's a tireless worker, and his puck and hoops coaches are stand up guys with intergrity who have national championships to their credit.

There always needs to be "blame," in these matters when a team is not as successful as they would like to be......but it usually doesn't mean you have bad leadership or coaches. It just means you got beat.
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The guys been on the job like 9 years and we don't have an NCAA tournament win in basketball or a significant bowl game appearance in his tenure. I believe a tie for 4th in the conference is the best we've done in either of the major sports. At what point is it his fault?

Could the Monson firing have gone any worse? ("I am not going to go there")
Could the most recent football coaching search have been any more of an embarassment?

If it is true that Tubby Smith hired himself (and he's still done no better than 9-9 in the conference), then Maturi has done everything except throw up on himself when it comes to decision making involving the 2 major sports.

I do not know a lot about hockey, but it was winning championships when he got to Minnesota and now it's losing to Alaska Anchorage.

It's not just "bad luck" that the programs have done nothing of note for almost an entire decade now.
 



Souhan is an idiot if he really thinks that most places Tubby would be fearing for his job.
There is not a single place in the country where any coach, who could take over a bottom 4 team in school history (with less than 10 wins), finish .500 or better 4/4 seasons, win 20 games and make the postseason 3/4 seasons, and make the NCAA tourney 2/4 seasons, would be on the hotseat. Not a single school.
Even schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas would probably have some patience if they were coming off of a 9 win season.

If Tubby's name was Joe Schmoe, people would be loving the job he is doing and would chalk up the poor finish to mostly bad luck.
 

Rosemountian said:
If Tubby's name was Joe Schmoe, people would be loving the job he is doing and would chalk up the poor finish to mostly bad luck.
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You have to be joking. Losing 10 of 11 games to end a season when you were ranked as high as 16? Think again.
 

I have been a big critic of Joel maturi. However, I think Souhans article does not get to the root of the problem and is too shallow. As much as I agree with Souhan in many ways, replacing Marturi will not fix what is wrong at the U of M. There are many other systemic problems that need to be fixed right along with a change in the AD's office. For example, there is a culture of "losing" that is accepted at the University. To consistently win it takes COMMITMENT (not LIP service) from the Top down. For example, the U does not have a General college that most Big Time schools have that Athletes take advatage of to remain eligible. because of the knee jerk reaction to the Jan Ganglehoff debacle, the University has a arms length approach between student athletes and councilors. There was a strib article on this a couple years ago, There is No accountability for results at the University, I am sure if others could dig even deeper they would find more.

The biggest issue is changing the Athletic culture that maybe the new President can create/influence with sweeping changes in attitudes and personnel giving the word Commitment some meat. Then maybe Minnesota will achieve it's potential in Athletics.
 

The biggest issue with Maturi is that he doesn't cut bait soon enough, he lets these coaches languish too long and then ends up firing them mid-season. Hopefully at the news conference today it is announced that both assistants have been let go of and that better/ more experienced coaches will be taking their place... there is not a lack of coaching talent in and around this state.
 



Losing 3 players who transferred & 2 players to injury THIS YEAR = losing 10 of 11 games to end the season. All five of thiese players were going to be important contributors this year. How is this all on the coaching staff? Part of it? Ok. All of it. Not a chance.
 

Souhan's take on Tubby is unsurprisingly offensively stupid, and the column as a whole is, once again, embarrassing poorly written (dude, the jokes wouldn't make a CBS audience laugh, just stop already), but I have to agree that Maturi is terribly inept, and should be replaced as soon as possible.
 

Rosemountian said:
Souhan is an idiot if he really thinks that most places Tubby would be fearing for his job.
There is not a single place in the country where any coach, who could take over a bottom 4 team in school history (with less than 10 wins), finish .500 or better 4/4 seasons, win 20 games and make the postseason 3/4 seasons, and make the NCAA tourney 2/4 seasons, would be on the hotseat. Not a single school.
Even schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas would probably have some patience if they were coming off of a 9 win season.

If Tubby's name was Joe Schmoe, people would be loving the job he is doing and would chalk up the poor finish to mostly bad luck.
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Joe Schmoe wouldn't probably be making $2 million a year, I think that's why people are really ticked off. If we had hired a coach at a mil a year and he did the exact same things Tubby has done, they'd be more willing to accept excuses I'm pretty sure.

Also, at many schools, we wouldn't have seen 6 players leave the program for whatever reason. I say this because I doubt White and Mbakwe don't play at all last season at a lot of schools. And if they play, that changes a whole lot of what has gone on the past two seasons IMO.
 

Monty519 said:
Joe Schmoe wouldn't probably be making $2 million a year, I think that's why people are really ticked off. If we had hired a coach at a mil a year and he did the exact same things Tubby has done, they'd be more willing to accept excuses I'm pretty sure.

Also, at many schools, we wouldn't have seen 6 players leave the program for whatever reason. I say this because I doubt White and Mbakwe don't play at all last season at a lot of schools. And if they play, that changes a whole lot of what has gone on the past two seasons IMO.
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That argument drives me crazy. It's like hating on Joe Mauer because he makes too much money too. 'Well, I'd like him fine if he only made $5 million, but he's not worth $23 so I'm going to piss and moan' Who cares? It's not your money. And even though Tubby's salary is 'your money' since the basketball program turns a profit, it really isn't. His salary is paid for by the revenue the program generates, not your precious tax dollar. Get over it. The only thing that would happen with that $1 million savings is lower attendance, and fewer wins. In the event the lower attendance could avoided, the women's rowing team might get a shiny addition to the boathouse.
 

freshtrout said:
Losing 3 players who transferred & 2 players to injury THIS YEAR = losing 10 of 11 games to end the season. All five of thiese players were going to be important contributors this year. How is this all on the coaching staff? Part of it? Ok. All of it. Not a chance.
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Tubby Drove Cobbs and Joseph out of here whether anyone wants to believe it or not. If you think Cobbs left because he was homesick, you are wrong. There was way more to that than being home sick. Even Al Nolen called out Tubby in the Pioneer Press this past weekend. I believe he said something like "You just have to block coach out of your head and just play ball" --what the hell is that? Devoe wanted to transfer LAST season before Al Nolen got injured because he didn't like playing for Tubby but decided to stay when he was given the reigns of the point guard position. That is the only reason he stayed last year or we wouldn't have even had to worry about him transferring during the middle of this season. A lot of it is actually on Tubby IMO. I know Dr. Don has a stick up his ass about this topic but hey, what can ya do. I think it's pretty logical. Stop giving Tubby free passes.
 

badger joel maturi has run the revenue sports into the ground. Men's Hoops was a MINUS six in Big Ten play (6 BT wins minus 12 BT losses equals minus six.) He appears to be letting the hockey coach's contract expire, and is offering the hoops coach an extension and pay raise. What kind of game plan is that? Does the length of time remaining on a contract affect recruiting or doesn't it really matter? Doesn't hockey really matter in badger joel maturi's world? Doesn't it matter where our revenue sports finish in the conference standings?????

As long as maturi is employed as the ad at the U of M and is given a golden parachute by some ancient lame duck prexy who has one foot out the door and who wants to "take care" of his errand-boy ad, the revenue sports programs at the U of M are in trouble.
 

howeda7 said:
That argument drives me crazy. It's like hating on Joe Mauer because he makes too much money too. 'Well, I'd like him fine if he only made $5 million, but he's not worth $23 so I'm going to piss and moan' Who cares? It's not your money. And even though Tubby's salary is 'your money' since the basketball program turns a profit, it really isn't. His salary is paid for by the revenue the program generates, not your precious tax dollar. Get over it. The only thing that would happen with that $1 million savings is lower attendance, and fewer wins. In the event the lower attendance could avoided, the women's rowing team might get a shiny addition to the boathouse.
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Howeda- Monty is exactly right. No one begrudges Tubby the money- that's not the issue. The issue is that this is a really important phase with the U. We overpaid for a basketball coach for a specific reason. We paid for his name brand because our own name brand was not looking so good. The Tubby name at 2 mil plus is supposed to be a near guarantee of decent success. Programs don't pay that kind of cash for less than great success. So the expectations are high and rightfully so. It is crucial that before Tubby leaves Minnesota that he has some big success. Otherwise we will be stuck with the stigma that "even Tubby Smith couldn't win at Minnesota."
That wouldn't be correct because I think you can win here. But that would be the perception.
 

beeg

bga1 said:
Howeda- Monty is exactly right. No one begrudges Tubby the money- that's not the issue. The issue is that this is a really important phase with the U. We overpaid for a basketball coach for a specific reason. We paid for his name brand because our own name brand was not looking so good. The Tubby name at 2 mil plus is supposed to be a near guarantee of decent success. Programs don't pay that kind of cash for less than great success. So the expectations are high and rightfully so. It is crucial that before Tubby leaves Minnesota that he has some big success. Otherwise we will be stuck with the stigma that "even Tubby Smith couldn't win at Minnesota."That wouldn't be correct because I think you can win here. But that would be the perception.
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Dead on Beeg.

:clap::clap::clap:
 

JackiO said:
Tubby Drove Cobbs and Joseph out of here whether anyone wants to believe it or not. If you think Cobbs left because he was homesick, you are wrong. There was way more to that than being home sick. Even Al Nolen called out Tubby in the Pioneer Press this past weekend. I believe he said something like "You just have to block coach out of your head and just play ball" --what the hell is that? Devoe wanted to transfer LAST season before Al Nolen got injured because he didn't like playing for Tubby but decided to stay when he was given the reigns of the point guard position. That is the only reason he stayed last year or we wouldn't have even had to worry about him transferring during the middle of this season. A lot of it is actually on Tubby IMO. I know Dr. Don has a stick up his ass about this topic but hey, what can ya do. I think it's pretty logical. Stop giving Tubby free passes.
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Good post JackiO. This in a nutshell is what concerns me about Tubby. Perimeter players seem to have difficulty playing with confidence for him. The result is the sort of tentative looking offense that we have been plagued with this year and off and on throughout Tubby's tenure here. The most success we have had with Tubby has been when we are running. His half court offense has been beyond bad. He's a good coach but this is his achilles heel.
 

JackiO said:
Tubby Drove Cobbs and Joseph out of here whether anyone wants to believe it or not. If you think Cobbs left because he was homesick, you are wrong. There was way more to that than being home sick. Even Al Nolen called out Tubby in the Pioneer Press this past weekend. I believe he said something like "You just have to block coach out of your head and just play ball" --what the hell is that? Devoe wanted to transfer LAST season before Al Nolen got injured because he didn't like playing for Tubby but decided to stay when he was given the reigns of the point guard position. That is the only reason he stayed last year or we wouldn't have even had to worry about him transferring during the middle of this season. A lot of it is actually on Tubby IMO. I know Dr. Don has a stick up his ass about this topic but hey, what can ya do. I think it's pretty logical. Stop giving Tubby free passes.
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Well, Devoe needed somebody to drive him. Weed slows the reaction time enormously, and I, for one, think it was very responsible of him to get a D.D.
 

bga1 said:
Howeda- Monty is exactly right. No one begrudges Tubby the money- that's not the issue. The issue is that this is a really important phase with the U. We overpaid for a basketball coach for a specific reason. We paid for his name brand because our own name brand was not looking so good. The Tubby name at 2 mil plus is supposed to be a near guarantee of decent success. Programs don't pay that kind of cash for less than great success. So the expectations are high and rightfully so. It is crucial that before Tubby leaves Minnesota that he has some big success. Otherwise we will be stuck with the stigma that "even Tubby Smith couldn't win at Minnesota."
That wouldn't be correct because I think you can win here. But that would be the perception.
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I don't disagree that we need him to succeed. I just don't understand being 'more' angry about it because of his salary. This year was a huge disappointment. If you want to be pissed, that's fine. But it wouldn't have been any easier to take if Tubby's paychecks had one less zero. We hired Tubby because the program needed the shot in the arm he provided and that was his going rate.

Now people don't want to give him an extension, or want him to take a paycut. Get real. You don't keep power coaches by refusing to keep thier contracts at least 4-5 years out or offering incentive-based extensions. 3.5 years of Tubby's tenure went reasonably well. .5 years of it was a train-wreck. But we still need to get the extension signed and move on to better things.
 

Little lonely, and sometimes hard to be a Maturi apologist here, but since Souhan is now being lauded as an astute sports writer, somebody has to try. This column is really some of his usual crap: superficial and poorly written. He's more interested in being seen as clever than in actually examining something.

Souhan makes it sound like in 2002, the year Maturi took over, Minnesota was a sports power rivaled only by maybe Ohio State or Texas. Then Maturi took over and it's been a constant downhill slide to this year. Fact is, in football, we had 40 years of really mediocre football with the dozen years before Glen's 10-3 season probably the worst stretch. After that 10-3 season, when Maturi took over, Mason was 7-5, 7-5, and 6-7. Souhan doesn't really explain exactly how Maturi is to blame for those years, but it's obviously his fault. We didn't revert back to form after a surprise year; no, Joel caused it because ... because ... well, just because.

In basketball, we've had some solid stretches, and they've usually come to a screeching halt because of self-inflicted wounds. Souhan writes, "Monson's basketball team was a year away from beginning a run to the NCAA tournament. Fact is, that 21-11 NCAA year is 3 season's away. I suspect even Souhan knows that, but it's important that Joel arrives at the peak of success. It's also very important to ignore that under Maturi we haven't had those scandals.

In women's basketball, it's much the same dishonesty. Borton's women weren't headed to the Final Four when Maturi arrived as Souhan states. That season is 2 year's away, and the next year was a Sweet 16 finish. Incidentally, in that Final Four year, the Gophers were 9-7 in the Big 10, good for 6th place. A little before Maturi arrived, we had a stretch of 6 years where we averaged 6 wins a year, and it all wasn't under Littlejohn.

When people like to hammer on Maturi, they always bring up women's basketball, even though many could care less about it. They overlook completely how absolutely lucky the Gophers were to have Whalen and McCarville at the same time and use that as a norm in judging both Maturi and Borton. Just as dishonest as ignoring that Borton wasn't able to build on those exceptional years.

Hockey is the one sport where Maturi does arrive at a real peak. Yet, despite the last 3 years, it wasn't like there has been a steady decline since Maturi took over. Right before the last 3 years, Lucia had a 31-10-3 season. Souhan again doesn't explain just exactly what Maturi has done to cause the last 3 seasons in hockey, but it's obviously his fault. Fact is, 2 NCAA championships buys most coaches a lot of rope.

Maturi obviously needs to be blamed for the Brewster hire; it was doubly bad because any benefit or momentum from opening the new stadium was lost. Not sure why Souhan went after the Kill hire, other than it's Souhan and he just had to use, "the one-eyed man is king," line because it's so unbelievably witty. No big names went anywhere in college. I doubt Maturi screwed up hiring Harbaugh. Kill might fail given our history, but it seems like a pretty solid choice. It certainly isn't one that needs to be ridiculed.

Extensions are where Maturi gets an awful lot of criticism. In hindsight, it's warranted. If you look at when it was done, it can be second-guessing at it's finest. Both Mason and Monson had that one year where people thought that we were on our way. Then Glen couldn't stop blowing games, looking for other jobs, and being surly to people who mattered. Monson was a hot young coach we were scared of losing. Not too many people saw how shaky that reputation was except his players who quit on him first. Borton's extension can be criticized, mainly for its length. Yet, in '09 she went 20-12 and one an NCAA against Notre Dame in South Bend so it's not like she can't coach.

With extensions for Tubby and Lucia, it's easy to have an opinion. It would be a lot tougher if you had to decide. Though Tubby is sort of a non-brainer. You don't look at Tubby's track record and what happened this year and tell him, "So long." That Souhan even brings this up shows how he tries to fit the situation into his basic premise for a column. Maturi has apparently decided if Lucia isn't going to be fired, then I've got to extend him. Who knows if it's the right choice? Does Maturi really have that much faith in Lucia, or is it the fact that the athletic department can't afford any more buy-outs? Those are the types of questions I'd like discussed. Not some crap about hurtling downhill and seeing unicorns.
 

Mulligan said:
Little lonely, and sometimes hard to be a Maturi apologist here, but since Souhan is now being lauded as an astute sports writer, somebody has to try. This column is really some of his usual crap: superficial and poorly written. He's more interested in being seen as clever than in actually examining something.

Souhan makes it sound like in 2002, the year Maturi took over, Minnesota was a sports power rivaled only by maybe Ohio State or Texas. Then Maturi took over and it's been a constant downhill slide to this year. Fact is, in football, we had 40 years of really mediocre football with the dozen years before Glen's 10-3 season probably the worst stretch. After that 10-3 season, when Maturi took over, Mason was 7-5, 7-5, and 6-7. Souhan doesn't really explain exactly how Maturi is to blame for those years, but it's obviously his fault. We didn't revert back to form after a surprise year; no, Joel caused it because ... because ... well, just because.

In basketball, we've had some solid stretches, and they've usually come to a screeching halt because of self-inflicted wounds. Souhan writes, "Monson's basketball team was a year away from beginning a run to the NCAA tournament. Fact is, that 21-11 NCAA year is 3 season's away. I suspect even Souhan knows that, but it's important that Joel arrives at the peak of success. It's also very important to ignore that under Maturi we haven't had those scandals.

In women's basketball, it's much the same dishonesty. Borton's women weren't headed to the Final Four when Maturi arrived as Souhan states. That season is 2 year's away, and the next year was a Sweet 16 finish. Incidentally, in that Final Four year, the Gophers were 9-7 in the Big 10, good for 6th place. A little before Maturi arrived, we had a stretch of 6 years where we averaged 6 wins a year, and it all wasn't under Littlejohn.

When people like to hammer on Maturi, they always bring up women's basketball, even though many could care less about it. They overlook completely how absolutely lucky the Gophers were to have Whalen and McCarville at the same time and use that as a norm in judging both Maturi and Borton. Just as dishonest as ignoring that Borton wasn't able to build on those exceptional years.

Hockey is the one sport where Maturi does arrive at a real peak. Yet, despite the last 3 years, it wasn't like there has been a steady decline since Maturi took over. Right before the last 3 years, Lucia had a 31-10-3 season. Souhan again doesn't explain just exactly what Maturi has done to cause the last 3 seasons in hockey, but it's obviously his fault. Fact is, 2 NCAA championships buys most coaches a lot of rope.

Maturi obviously needs to be blamed for the Brewster hire; it was doubly bad because any benefit or momentum from opening the new stadium was lost. Not sure why Souhan went after the Kill hire, other than it's Souhan and he just had to use, "the one-eyed man is king," line because it's so unbelievably witty. No big names went anywhere in college. I doubt Maturi screwed up hiring Harbaugh. Kill might fail given our history, but it seems like a pretty solid choice. It certainly isn't one that needs to be ridiculed.

Extensions are where Maturi gets an awful lot of criticism. In hindsight, it's warranted. If you look at when it was done, it can be second-guessing at it's finest. Both Mason and Monson had that one year where people thought that we were on our way. Then Glen couldn't stop blowing games, looking for other jobs, and being surly to people who mattered. Monson was a hot young coach we were scared of losing. Not too many people saw how shaky that reputation was except his players who quit on him first. Borton's extension can be criticized, mainly for its length. Yet, in '09 she went 20-12 and one an NCAA against Notre Dame in South Bend so it's not like she can't coach.

With extensions for Tubby and Lucia, it's easy to have an opinion. It would be a lot tougher if you had to decide. Though Tubby is sort of a non-brainer. You don't look at Tubby's track record and what happened this year and tell him, "So long." That Souhan even brings this up shows how he tries to fit the situation into his basic premise for a column. Maturi has apparently decided if Lucia isn't going to be fired, then I've got to extend him. Who knows if it's the right choice? Does Maturi really have that much faith in Lucia, or is it the fact that the athletic department can't afford any more buy-outs? Those are the types of questions I'd like discussed. Not some crap about hurtling downhill and seeing unicorns.
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I agree with the majority of your post. I liked the research done as well!

I would add, however, I give Maturi SOME blame for the U of M continuing with, as you said, was happening before him. Even though a Maturi decision didn't cause things to happen, he has continued the same, winning-second ... equality, happiness, and rainbows first attitude.

The difference between southern schools (winning) and UMN is that they really do put their major revenue athletics (and athletes) first or at least equal with academics. Minnesota does not do this. If you look at Trevor last season and White last season (we can debate who suspended them, if it was right, etc.) but I have a feeling at many many many other schools that win, there is a much different ruiling on those and that different ruling would have resulted in a VERY special season at MN.

So while Maturi has done very little directly to cause losing, his attitude of being "Wisconsin-Like" and being everyone's best friend and if we are lucky, maybe winning a few games, is what does it.

Maturi didn't build a new football stadium to help the Gophers football team, he did it to help other Big Ten schools, now they have a nice facility to use for road games instead of the dome. (that's not actually stated anywhere, just my opinion on how he feels about athletics)

Maturi just has the same old losing attitude UMN execs have and until someone changes that, they will all be critisized the way Joel has. I think Joel is a great, caring, hard working man, but his ideology is not going to result in much winning.
 

Mulligan said:
Hockey is the one sport where Maturi does arrive at a real peak. Yet, despite the last 3 years, it wasn't like there has been a steady decline since Maturi took over. Right before the last 3 years, Lucia had a 31-10-3 season. Souhan again doesn't explain just exactly what Maturi has done to cause the last 3 seasons in hockey, but it's obviously his fault. Fact is, 2 NCAA championships buys most coaches a lot of rope.
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I'll tell you why Maturi's to blame for hockey. Lucia and assistant coach Hill are inseparable. The hockey program decline coincides with Hill's arrival. Assistant coaches in hockey are much more important than people think, and the 'U' has Hill (who Lucia refuses to dismiss, and the players hate) and Potulny (zero coaching experience). Maturi needs to step in, demand Hill's dismissal, demand Potulny's dismissal, and go get (and pay for) two top notch assistants for Lucia. If Lucia refuses, dismiss him. But of course, good guy Maturi wouldn't do that. He's more interested in his coaching friendships than US, the fans of the University of Minnesota.

Same goes for Tubby. I don't give a flying #$@%^ what he did anywhere else. Win baby. Those of us in the corporate world aren't guaranteed anything. It's 'what have you done for me lately'. Of course, Maturi wants to extend both of these guys, when they are NOT PERFORMING. No excuses, please.

Nice guys finish last. If being nice is more important than being competitive, this is the result.
 

Firejumper said:
Win baby. Those of us in the corporate world aren't guaranteed anything. It's 'what have you done for me lately'. Of course, Maturi wants to extend both of these guys, when they are NOT PERFORMING. No excuses, please.

Nice guys finish last. If being nice is more important than being competitive, this is the result.
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Get a clue, Pal. For over 40 years the people in charge at the U have not been concerned about winning championships. For much of that time they have acted like there were embarrassed that the U even had an intercollegiate athletics program (e.g. Malcom Moos, C. Peter McGrath, Ken Keller, etc.). Not much has changed. Winning championships is still down the priority list for them. They think championships are nice but the U has many more important things to worry about. Joel Maturi inherited this culture at the U. He didn't create it. GopherHolers need to start putting the blame where it belongs. If anyone thinks the next AD is going to be able to change things you are sadly mistaken. Especially in this time of declining financial support from the Minnesota Legislature. Gopher fans who were around in the 1960's already understand this.
 

bga1 said:
Good post JackiO. This in a nutshell is what concerns me about Tubby. Perimeter players seem to have difficulty playing with confidence for him. The result is the sort of tentative looking offense that we have been plagued with this year and off and on throughout Tubby's tenure here. The most success we have had with Tubby has been when we are running. His half court offense has been beyond bad. He's a good coach but this is his achilles heel.
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+1
 

I emailed Maturi and Bruininks about the hockey situation and the overall failure of our athletic teams the last 5 years and Maturi responded that they know what they understand big time college athletics and how to win and not get busted by the NCAA.

I don't believe that this is true...they know how to stay clean, they know how to appease the liberal mindset that runs roughshot over our athletic program and the U in general...but they certainly don't know how to win.

I responded by equating our hockey team to the OSU football team. In terms of revenue and expenditure, local talent and history, our program would be the OSU of hockey. If tOSU missed playing in a bowl game for 3 years in a row...do you think Tressel would keep his job? Hell no...he'd be shi*t canned in a NY minute...how do we not send Lucia packing? Got no response to this email.

These guys are clueless. They have no idea how to run a successful program.
 

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