Star Tribune Letter to Editor: The Gophers should leave the Big Ten

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Breakin' The Plane

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I've got to stop reading the Star Tribune. They'll print just about anything in their "Letters of the Week" column. Take this week's gem:


IT SEEMS THERE IS LITTLE RECOGNITION OF THE UNDERLYING REASONS THAT THE GOPHERS HAVE DIFFICULTY DOING WELL IN BIG TEN FOOTBALL. AMONG THEM:

• LOCATION -- AS A COLD-WEATHER SCHOOL IT DOES NOT ATTRACT HIGH-LEVEL PLAYERS FROM THE SOUTH.

• DEMOGRAPHICS -- WITH A SPARSE POPULATION HERE AND IN THE DAKOTAS, QUALITY PLAYERS ARE LIMITED. CANADA IS NOT A SOURCE. WISCONSIN, IOWA AND COLORADO ATTRACT PLAYERS FROM THE FRINGE AREAS.

• REBUILDING SINCE 1962 IS LONG ENOUGH TO SHOW THAT MOVING TO A DIFFERENT CONFERENCE SUCH AS WITH NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA IS THE BEST WAY TO HAVE A MORE SUCCESSFUL WINNING PROGRAM. CHANGING THE WEATHER AND POPULATION IS MORE DIFFICULT. MOVING THE SCHOOL SOUTH WOULD BE A GREATER CHALLENGE.

Jerome Lanning, Minneapolis
 

I read that and just laughed. I believe the saying is: if you are a fool, it is better to keep your mouth shut and keep them guessing, then speak and remove all doubt. He accomplished the latter.
 

Evidently he skipped the article talking about the cash cow the Big Ten Network has become. We won't be going anywhere, whether we are a top tier football program or not.
 


A quick google search indicates Mr. Lanning is 75. Why am I not surprised.....
 


I hate the cold weather school crap. Our conference has plenty of successful cold weather programs. As for being more competitive if we went to a lower rated conference, I could get better grades if I took my college degree and went back to high school to show those chumps how Trigonometry really works, but getting straight A's would not make it a satisfying or noble endeavor.
 

Sports Huddle "Savant" Demographic

Probably the same d-bag IDIOT that phoned into the 9:30 a.m. then-Mason show about 8 years ago requesting that we should look into playing Drake from Des Moines. Yes, Drake University - who plays a conference schedule that includes Marist and Campbell.

Honestly, is there a more illiterate D-1 fan base than some of the callers to The Sports Huddle?
 

That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. Well, maybe not the dumbest, but, it's up there. That guys gotta be about 70-80 years old.
 

Amazingly stupid letter, but even more stupid is the dude attached his name to it. Yikes!!!
 



Another knife turning episode by the Strib. A rational editor would have tossed it in the trash.
 


If the U can't recruit enough players from the South, maybe they should build a dome and play their games indoors.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Another knife turning episode by the Strib. A rational editor would have tossed it in the trash.
Click to expand...

Much like the stuff Reusse tosses out that people get up in arms about letters to the editor are supposed to get people riled up otherwise what is the point of printing them? They look for the nut jobs and put it out there for everyone to laugh at or discuss.
 



e.bigelow said:
That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. Well, maybe not the dumbest, but, it's up there. That guys gotta be about 70-80 years old.
Click to expand...

Easy now. Please don't equate 70-80 years old with being dumb. You will offend someones parent or grandparent.

What is dumb is the Strib even printing something like this.
 

It's -6 in Minneapolis right now. It's 2 in Madison. Is there much of a difference?
 

spermophilus said:
Probably the same d-bag IDIOT that phoned into the 9:30 a.m. then-Mason show about 8 years ago requesting that we should look into playing Drake from Des Moines. Yes, Drake University - who plays a conference schedule that includes Marist and Campbell.

Honestly, is there a more illiterate D-1 fan base than some of the callers to The Sports Huddle?
Click to expand...

How about the fans that pick the Gophers to beat Michigan or Wisconsin each season?
 




GophersInIowa said:
It's -6 in Minneapolis right now. It's 2 in Madison. Is there much of a difference?
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It's also 2 in Iowa City. The answer is NO there is not a difference in the weather just the quality of life and opportunity. Minnesota crushes WI and IA in terms of quality of life and opportunities after school it's not even close!

We are lacking severely when it comes to facilities!
 


I don't pay much attention to letters to the editor in any newspaper. This is a rather stupid letter to the editor. Yes, winters are cold in Minnesota. But the Gophers don't play football in winter, and it really isn't significantly colder in the Twin Cities than in other Big Ten cities. The idea that there is too little talent in Minnesota doesn't make sense. Wisconsin and Iowa don't have any significant advantage in the local talent available. The author seems to be under the impression that the Gophers have been a terrible team since 1962. The Gophers had one truly bad stretch, from 1991 to 1997, where they won no more than 4 games in a season. Aside from that dark stretch, the Gophers have been a middle of the road team.
 

This is probably the same guy who told me to sit down after Nelson made his 3rd TD pass at the Purdue Game as everybody in the section stood up. He was mad becasuse he couldnt see.
 

Weather... don't get me started.
 

Of course pantherdimwit of epic fame is tweeting this posting to recruits

And linking the article to this idots letter to the editor. What that guy will not do to get a dig in at the Gophers.
For some reason I had forgotten what a tool he is, must be in the same ilk as C-note Hawk or the dink from
Apple Valley known as Steve.
 

GophersInIowa said:
It's -6 in Minneapolis right now. It's 2 in Madison. Is there much of a difference?
Click to expand...

Been saying this for a long time. People get all up in arms about "how much colder" it is here than other BT schools (or for that matter, other areas of the country). I'll expand the comparison: MN -3, Madison 2, Iowa City 7, Chicago 11, Ann Arbor 10. Come on. I know it's cold. But does anyone honestly dress differently for 0 degrees vs 10? 25 vs 37? Especially when those places that are 5-10 degrees warmer than here still do get down close to 0 at some point in the year (meaning you have warm clothes). It's stupid.

I'll also ask. do any of those places have 4 pro sports teams to attend? 2 downtowns full of bars and stuff to do? It's idiotic.
 

Move to a conference with NoDak and SoDak he says......crazy old man.
 

Parski1 said:
Move to a conference with NoDak and SoDak he says......crazy old man.
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Yeah, I'm sure he ignores how we wouldn't get nearly the level of recruits that we get now, so if we went to their conference we'd have trouble beating them as well.

If someone wrote in that the vikes should play in the CFL, would the Strib print it? I think not.
 

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