Turkey of the Year: Patrick Reusse?

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I look forward to this article every year- it's the beginning of my Thanksgiving day. I realize, of course, I'll be labeled a Badger fan & Iowa lover for even liking a Patrick Reusse article. So be it.

Last year PJ was the TOTY for poor attendance. The 2018 avg was 37,915. The avg this year should be 45,858 (using the PSU sellout number for the Badger game). Nice turnaround in 12 months, which includes two sellouts.

If Pat has a sense of humor, he'd nominate himself this year. He doesn't have to be TOTY but definitely seated at the adult table. The top award should go to "The State of Hockey": Craig Leipold, sellout streak ending at the X, Chuck Fletcher, Parise & Suter contract, etc.

Who are your nominations?


AT No. 1: P.J. Fleck. Here’s the mystery: Strident defenders of Fleck’s sloganeering and sugarcoating are everywhere, and yet people are showing up for Gophers football games in the smallest numbers in the Tsar’s memory — and that dates to being in the closed end zone of Memorial Stadium on Nov. 13, 1954 (Gophers 22, Iowa 20 in an upset). The crowd was 65,464, and that’s more actual customers than Fleck attracted total in the past three Big Ten games in TCF Bank Stadium. He might beat the flop of a Wisconsin team Saturday, and join the 70 percent of Power Five teams that make some form of a bowl game, but even that would leave Phil at 5-13 in Big Ten games at Minnesota and in a half-empty stadium that’s the second smallest in the conference.

This is Year 1 in Fleck math, and it’s also Year 1 for The Authentic Turkeys, and the Top TAT turns out to be Philip John Fleck. The Tsar hopes that floats everyone’s boat.
 

I hope pat does make himself turkey because he for sure deserves it for keeping himself out of the boat for so long. Hockey is a sore subject...
 

Pat hates people who are better than he is. He can not stand those who aspire to anything above his useless station in life. He is always my view of the man who loves to ridicule and mock. Always Turkey of Any Year.
 

Got to be Tom Thibodeau from the Wolves. Glen Taylor did hire him so they could be co-winners.
 

Another reason the Iowa loss really stung, was I was hoping that we could have a 13 game winning streak since the article was published when we got to Thanksgiving this season.
 


Pat essentially named himself Turkey of the Year two years ago in what was going to be his last TOTY column. Then last year he called it something slightly different and gave it to PJ.

It's unlikely he names himself again.

PJ has been the best performing Turkey of the Year of any one listed I believe while holding the crown.
 

Pat should definitely nominate himself for TOY for his catastrophically premature naming of Fleck last year. He dislikes Fleck so much that he couldn’t wait beyond 1 and a half years of the Fleck regime to nail him. Well a 12-1 record since the award should humble Pat enough to nominate Mr. Long View himself for this embarrassing journalism.
 


Reusse wouldn't admit he's wrong on the Fleck issue if his life depended on it. Trolling Gopher football and basketball fans is his most pleasurable activity. It'll Never happen. He gets off on it (probably replaced some other obsession). I followed him on Twitter after the St. Thomas debacle (because he is good with small college sports) and had to unfollow him recently because I couldn't take it any more. He was waiting in the weeds all season for a loss then went all psycho trolling Fleck once the Gophs lost to Iowa. Super douche.
 



The Gophers got hot once Fleck was named TOTY so I hope he gets TOTY again this year. Worked last time so why not try it again.
 


Hard to come up with good picks when things are going well in Minnesota sports. Probably someone hockey related or Andrew Wiggins. Even he is showing signs of life.
 

Suggs
Dawson Garcia
Dainja
And the rest of the Minnesota Basketball 2020 recruits!
 



I'd never be looking forward to a FatPat article like you are Section. I guess if you relate to that type of negative world thinking, then FatPat is your guy.
 

Wcfan56 said:
Pat should definitely nominate himself for TOY for his catastrophically premature naming of Fleck last year. He dislikes Fleck so much that he couldn’t wait beyond 1 and a half years of the Fleck regime to nail him. Well a 12-1 record since the award should humble Pat enough to nominate Mr. Long View himself for this embarrassing journalism.
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He does not like how Fleck goes about his business, but he does credit him for the job he does.
 


again - the point of Reusse's article was that Fleck was hired - in part - to increase attendance at games. and at the time he wrote the article, the gophers were getting actual crowds - not tickets sold - of just over 15,000 people for a B1G team. It was a shot at the fans as much as Fleck.

If you actually listened to Reusse's podcast, he has been very complimentary of the Gopher football team and players. he picked them to beat Penn State. I believe he has picked them to beat Wisconsin. he still doesn't like Fleck for the same reasons that other people don't like Fleck - the slogans, the acronyms, the hype. but he gives the team a lot of credit.
 

Well I give Pat a lot of credit for cleaning out an all-you-can-eat buffet by himself.
 

I bet he names the tool who used a helmet as a weapon in the NFL.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
again - the point of Reusse's article was that Fleck was hired - in part - to increase attendance at games. and at the time he wrote the article, the gophers were getting actual crowds - not tickets sold - of just over 15,000 people for a B1G team. It was a shot at the fans as much as Fleck.

If you actually listened to Reusse's podcast, he has been very complimentary of the Gopher football team and players. he picked them to beat Penn State. I believe he has picked them to beat Wisconsin. he still doesn't like Fleck for the same reasons that other people don't like Fleck - the slogans, the acronyms, the hype. but he gives the team a lot of credit.
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Sure. Evidently proper duration on Reusse's timeline to sell out a stadium was two years or less.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
again - the point of Reusse's article was that Fleck was hired - in part - to increase attendance at games. and at the time he wrote the article, the gophers were getting actual crowds - not tickets sold - of just over 15,000 people for a B1G team. It was a shot at the fans as much as Fleck.

If you actually listened to Reusse's podcast, he has been very complimentary of the Gopher football team and players. he picked them to beat Penn State. I believe he has picked them to beat Wisconsin. he still doesn't like Fleck for the same reasons that other people don't like Fleck - the slogans, the acronyms, the hype. but he gives the team a lot of credit.
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You gotta be kidding me- slogans deserve TOY! That over horrible T Wolves and Wild management? Quit defending your SW MN buddy.
 

My all time favorite Reusse column was back prior to the internet era where he compared soccer to other youth sports. It was a brilliant piece. It was about how in youth soccer, the way it is played, all the mommies and daddys can declare their Johnny or Susie is the best one as they all run behind the ball. But in youth baseball, their kid might have to be up to bat with two outs in a one run game in the last inning, or camped out under a fly ball that will decide the game. It was hilarious.

I have looked for it a few times over the years but unfortunately without doing the library microfilm route, I just have never found a link to it with an online search. I don't think it exists on line.

I used to think that people were too sensitive around here (well, actually, I still feel that way but not when it comes to Reusse) and for a long time refused to join the Reusse bashing sessions on Gopherhole. But, after years of seeing and hearing Reusse going out of his way to ridicule pretty much anything Gopher-football-related, I eventually did come to a similar conclusion and as a result, mostly avoid his columns, his voice on radio, and certainly don't follow him on Twitter. Don't follow him and no longer read his stuff. Was aware and did read his turkey article last year and it further reinforced my acquired belief that his Gopher hatred had reached some sort of weird level.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
again - the point of Reusse's article was that Fleck was hired - in part - to increase attendance at games. and at the time he wrote the article, the gophers were getting actual crowds - not tickets sold - of just over 15,000 people for a B1G team. It was a shot at the fans as much as Fleck.

If you actually listened to Reusse's podcast, he has been very complimentary of the Gopher football team and players. he picked them to beat Penn State. I believe he has picked them to beat Wisconsin. he still doesn't like Fleck for the same reasons that other people don't like Fleck - the slogans, the acronyms, the hype. but he gives the team a lot of credit.
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And yet he wasted no time ripping Fleck and Gopher fans a new bung hole after the Iowa loss. Still a douche.
 


If I remember correctly he poked a lot of fun at MIAC Presidents for throwing out St. Thomas, so my guess he would name them.
 


Patrick Reusse gets a bad rap at this board because he actively trolls its members, both admitting it and noting how easy it is, and because he doesn't fit the frankly outdated mold of the reporter as "cheerleader with a typewriter" to borrow a term from another situation. He came up in the last era when the Gophers were a national power and the pre WWII era when we were a power was only a generation or so back. On that basis he has never been willing to accept mediocrity passed off as success nor has he ever had much patience for head coaches who use a carnival barker routine while promising that the next golden age was just around the corner when it actually wasn't even close.

PJ Fleck's rah-rah routine is not for everyone. If he had Tim Brewster's record, Jim Wacker's record or has the post 2003 burn out of Glen Mason, I shudder to think about the threads that will get started here. In the context of Reusse, he's a diehard cynic. When the 2018 Turkey of the Year article came out, the Gophers were not yet bowl eligible and hadn't yet beaten Wisconsin. Attendance that year, with what I'll point out was a dreadful home slate from to sell tickets to, was awful by any measurement. The "Row The Boat" stuff won't work on a cynic under such circumstances. This season he's been plenty complimentary. The Iowa loss was worthy of criticism with Fleck's penalty for entering the field bordering on inexcusable, but he's generally been more than fair this season.
 


BeerFueledFF said:
I'm still reasonably sure that St. Thomas wanted to get thrown out.
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I think St. Thomas wanted to stay in the MIAC because they very much enjoy being the big fish in a small pond, being highly competitive to dominant in nearly every sport. Staying in the MIAC was also highly convenient given that every team is in state and drivable with out a need to stay over night except for possibly Concordia up in Moorhead for certain games. Hamline, Macalester, Augsburg, Bethel, and St. Kate's are all right in town. Now the travel time and distance is going to be long and at times arduous. They'll also be in leagues that won't give them a chance to raise a championship banner and NCAA tourney appearance quite so often. It's going to be a rude awakening for them. However, the fact that St. Thomas made seemingly no effort to find a new D-3 conference and completely bypassed D-2 says they aren't too broken up about this at the moment and are embracing post MIAC life.
 

I don’t believe Pat is recoverable in my eyes. I’ve read his columns since the mid ‘80s. And very much looked forward to his take on things. However, over the past two decades he’s been more WWE spin man than a journalist. Some of his takes have not only been bad and wrong, but have cut against the grain of even being a sports fan. On that, he lost me. Good riddance, Pat. It will take a bit of magic for me to take any stock or enjoyment in what you have to say. Though, if you could find some miraculous way to make me care again, I’d welcome you back. At least for the sake of nostalgia.
 

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