The sky is falling

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mnsportsgeek said:
If I wasn’t already an eternal pessimist, I think I am now. This season was supposed to be different.

But here I am trying to rationalize 9 wins still so maybe I’ll never learn.
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9 wins?
 

I'm always disappointed when we lose, but I keep reminding myself that this is the best era of Gopher football in the lifetime of my fandom. (U grad in 2002). Even during the glory years of Maroney and Barber, we lost to WI (blocked punt) and IA (they torn down the Dome's goalposts) and went to mid-tier bowls. The program has always had those bright spots like beating #3 Penn St (then again when #4) and some other big wins along the way, but has missed some of the key wins that would have got them to the next level. I trust Fleck more than I did Mason and Kill. Plus, there is a lot of season left. Purdue and Illinois have tests in front of them yet and our path to win the West isn't closed (albeit with zero room for error now). Let's keep the oars in the water and hope to pull the stunner in Happy Valley. I'll be there to see us spoil the White Out, ruin their homecoming and put us back on the map! (I hope!) #SkiUMah
 

schw0509 said:
I'm always disappointed when we lose, but I keep reminding myself that this is the best era of Gopher football in the lifetime of my fandom. (U grad in 2002). Even during the glory years of Maroney and Barber, we lost to WI (blocked punt) and IA (they torn down the Dome's goalposts) and went to mid-tier bowls. The program has always had those bright spots like beating #3 Penn St (then again when #4) and some other big wins along the way, but has missed some of the key wins that would have got them to the next level. I trust Fleck more than I did Mason and Kill. Plus, there is a lot of season left. Purdue and Illinois have tests in front of them yet and our path to win the West isn't closed (albeit with zero room for error now). Let's keep the oars in the water and hope to pull the stunner in Happy Valley. I'll be there to see us spoil the White Out, ruin their homecoming and put us back on the map! (I hope!) #SkiUMah
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Hey don’t be the voice of reason, that’s not allowed here! Having endured more than 45 years of watching Gopher football I am very happy to have expectations and to be disappointed with a loss against a very good team. Used to be a good ass whopping every game, now just occasionally. Seasons not over but it feels that way, they will come back and compete in the rest of the games. Either way I’ll be watching every one because that’s my team, and always will be my team. Just once I’d like them to just do what they are not supposed to do and win the conference like days of yore.
 


MRJ said:
No power conference school embraces utter mediocrity in their revenue sports like Minnesota. It's so engrained and fully acceptable that it might as well become one of their marketing slogans: "Golden Gopher athletics: Where excellence isn't a thing."
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Good grief, no.
 
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Non conference schedule was garbage and this team wasn’t even tested. Now weaknesses are exposed. WR, RT, edge defense are a few. Offense has to evolve.
 


WorkingMyTailOff said:
PhiloVance you know the LowDown (not sure if your moniker is an REM reference), but the NIL arrangement has made it harder for Minnesota and it’s frugal fan base to compete.
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Maybe not yet, but it will. Unless this team has some really wealthy boosters emerge, the best players and coaches are going to go where the money is.

Let's look at Bryce Young. He's in all those Nissan commercials with all those former Heisman winners, as an active player at Alabama. The NFL minimum is $750,000 a year. There are college players making more than that now. Will any Gopher player ever be able to get on that kind of money train?

Unfortunately, I don't think any of us GopherHolers are billionaires.
 



Allshade said:
Let's assume you, yourself, do not embrace mediocrity. Instead, you embrace being elite. Then, we hire you to move our revenue sports to elite status. Like everyone else, you fail. According to your logic, we all can say you, yourself, embrace mediocrity. That's your faulty logic. The fact is, our leaders are trying to be elite, but they can't do it. They don't embrace mediocrity. They simply can't figure out how to obtain elite status. Yes, they make stupid decisions. But not because they want to be mediocre. The fact is, the great athletes don't want to come to Minnesota. The million dollar question is whether the right coach could attract elite talent to Minnesota. That's all there is to it. And guess what, those elite coaches ain't coming here unless you offer them unprecedented money, and even then they probably won't come. So, you better embrace mediocrity. Cause that's what we're getting most years, unless we get very lucky to attract an elite coach with a strong following. Just look at Nebraska. You think they embrace mediocrity? Of course not. But they sure have sucked even with a more talented roster than Minnesota. It ain
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So, in other words, I'm correct. And to top it off, we should accept and embrace the mediocrity because we're us. Thanks for the input.
 


The folks who only / mostly post after losses are a bizarre anomaly in sports.

I don’t get it.
 

I'm usually not one to look beyond "one game at a time", but thinking about next year without Mo and JMS, and with an unseasoned QB, we could be looking at a a very dismal season.
 



MRJ said:
Exactly. And also waits to make a change to men's hockey until the program becomes completely irrelevant on the national level before he convinces Lucia to "retire."
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Don Lucia won his conference in 6 of his last 7 seasons. He was fired immediately after he had one .500-ish season (though, even then, the Gophers finished the season ranked).
 

hello-world said:
Don Lucia won his conference in 6 of his last 7 seasons. He was fired immediately after he had one .500-ish season (though, even then, the Gophers finished the season ranked).
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Winning the Big Ten in hockey isn't much of an accomplishment.
 

hello-world said:
Don Lucia won his conference in 6 of his last 7 seasons. He was fired immediately after he had one .500-ish season (though, even then, the Gophers finished the season ranked).
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If you want to pretend the program was in good shape when Lucia left, feel free. I whole heartedly disagree.
 


MRJ said:
If you want to pretend the program was in good shape when Lucia left, feel free. I whole heartedly disagree.
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Seemed to put a lot of players in the NHL.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Seemed to put a lot of players in the NHL.
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Yep and was barely making or missing the NCAA Tournament along the way. Also got smoked on the regular against instate opponents while attendance disappeared. The program was a sinking ship in the later years under Lucia.
 

MRJ said:
Yep and was barely making or missing the NCAA Tournament along the way. Also got smoked on the regular against instate opponents while attendance disappeared. The program was a sinking ship in the later years under Lucia.
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Interesting take. There's no doubt he was ready to retire. How's it doing now, through your eyes?
 



MRJ said:
I'm not so sure. Some of Coyle's hiring decisions are questionable at best, especially on the basketball side. I think he's really trying with Fleck, but at this point, PJ is proving himself to fall in line with the mediocrity of Gopher football of decades past. As to the other revenue sports, Coyle waited WAY too long to usher Don Lucia out of the hockey door and basketball hasn't been close to relevant in more than two decades. I'd love to agree with you, but I just don't see it. Please excuse the tangent of discussing other athletic programs on the football board, but I still see a whole lot of the past in the department as a whole.
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Fleck is 24 - 8 in the last 2 1/2 legitimate seasons. Nothing mediocre about it, especially compared to past Minnesota record.
 

Dakota2 said:
Fleck is 24 - 8 in the last 2 1/2 legitimate seasons. Nothing mediocre about it, especially compared to past Minnesota record.
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2020 was a legit season. Nothing to hide, include it.
 

MRJ said:
So, in other words, I'm correct. And to top it off, we should accept and embrace the mediocrity because we're us. Thanks for the input.
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You missed his point by a bigger margin than your last field goal try from 90 yards out.
 

PMWinSTP said:
2020 was a legit season. Nothing to hide, include it.
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Legit by the record books. Not in the eyes of coaches, players, and fans who understand the fraud that governed the Big Ten "season".

If you meant include it because 27-12 is also not mediocre, then I agree.
 



GoForGold said:
Sadly, that seems realistic now. They should get at least 3 more wins (Rutgers, Northwestern and either Iowa or Nebraska). Road games at Penn St. and Wisconsin look to be uphill battles.
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Nebraska is improving and a game in Lincoln is challenging. NW and Rutgers, yes, maybe Iowa. 8-4, 7-5?
 


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