SB Nation User Blog: GopherNation

My favorite part is the Iowa rapper throwing out the benjamins jacksons. Who says all they've got...

GopherNation — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:16:07 -0000

My favorite part is the Iowa rapper throwing out the ~~benjamins~~ jacksons. Who says all they've got in Iowa is corn?

For the first five bowl practices, the seniors stay in the weight room for the early part, then...

GopherNation — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:41:07 -0000

For the first five bowl practices, the seniors stay in the weight room for the early part, then rejoin the underclassmen when prep begins for Iowa State. Brewster came up with the idea as a way to help the development of the younger plays, including the redshirts, many of whom will be relied upon next year. It's an interesting concept.

Kent Youngblood telling us about Brewster's philosophy for bowl practices. No doubt these extra practices will be used for player development.

Daily Nugz - 12.10.09, Brewster speaks

GopherNation — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:08:43 -0000

Kent Youngblood provides today's Nugz with a couple quality Nugz.

Tim Brewster said he had not contacted Kansas about the open position there, was not a candidate for that or any other job and intended to be the Gophers coach "for a long time."

"It happens every year," Brewster said of the rumors. "Last year I was asked about Tennessee. It's unfortunate that unsubstantiated rumors circulate in the coaching profession this time of year. ... I'm not a candidate for any other job. I'm where I want to be, and I'll be here for a long time."

Indeed, Brewster suggested he and Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi had begun at least preliminary talks about extending Brewster's contract, which has two years remaining on it.

"The contract situation is a non-issue," Brewster said. "I have two years left on my contract, and we're talking about extending the contract."

Well I guess it's all over, for now. He said what he had to say and we'll all move on to other things, for now. Like MarQueis Gray for instance...

"We're going to try to wear him out pretty good [in the bowl game]," Brewster said of Gray. "He's going to play a whole bunch."

After Wednesday's practice, Gray was a very tired and sore freshman.

"My body's killing me right now," he said. "But it's a way to get on the field, though."

That will be mostly at receiver for the Insight Bowl and then the QB competition will be open come Spring practice.

The Dinkytown circus continued, this time the entertainment is provided by Royce White. He claims to be posting a YouTube video giving the "Royce White Story." Clearly this kid just doesn't get it.

VIDEO LINK
No wonder all the good football players play in the South. I don't hear of hostesses around the Big Ten.
There is talk of the NCAA Tournament expanding. Someone get this message to the NCAA, the basketball tournament is perfect. DO NOT MESS IT UP!! Watering it down will bring in more money short-term but dilute interest long-term. I love the NCAA Tournament more than anything else in sports, please do not expand. Letting an 8th Big Ten team and the third best team in the WCC into the tournament is just ridiculous. They do not deserve a shot at a Championship especially when this opportunity is presented to them so the NCAA can make more money.

Brewster to Kansas rumors OPEN TREAD

GopherNation — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:31:31 -0000

This is quite the story (or non-story that has become a story that eventually may be a complete non-story) and it has Gopher Nation fired up.

Let's use this single thread for all remaining discussion.

Links of Note

TDG wonders if Brewster is the next decommit?
Pioneer Press original story.
Star Tribune original story.
STrib's Michael Rand gives us his take. And here is the money line...

All that said, prevailing sentiment is that Brewster isn't going anywhere -- at least not on his own. He hasn't proven enough to command even jobs that would be considered lateral moves. That will leave Maturi to make a call that has risks in both directions: fire Brewster and essentially start over again, producing some chaos and possibly losing seasons for a team trying to fill a new stadium and create excitement; or extend him and run the risk that things go from mediocre to worse -- leading to a deeper hole for the program and an even bigger buyout down the road with more seasons left on Brewster's contract.

I'm sure there will be much more to come. Eventually someone at the U (Maturi, Brewster, whoever) will likely have to make a more definite statement.

Brewster to decommit and head to Kansas?

GopherNation — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:41:29 -0000

Tuesday afternoon rumors started surfacing that Brewster was a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Kansas. Once the rumors surfaced the local beat writers did their job and went to Athletic Director, Joel Maturi for quotes. What they did NOT get was any sort of definitive vote of confidence that Maturi will do what it takes to keep coach Brewster here or even a hint that he wants him here. What we did get were quotes like this.

"There are rumors that he's going to Kansas, so I don't know,"Maturi told the Pioneer Press today. "What can I say? So I can't guarantee it, no. I can't guarantee the decisions of other people."

and this from Youngblood,

And if a coach wants to look around for another job, Maturi said he isn't going to stop him.

"I don't think it's inappropriate, if the coach is doing what he thinks is in his best interest," Maturi said from New York Tuesday.

Again, not exactly strong words but reading between the lines those quotes are saying an awful lot. The lack of any conviction from Maturi made this non-story a story. But wait, it gets even more interesting.

Gopher "insider", Lou Nanne was on the Dan Barriero show and had this to say about the situation.

Well, uh, what I heard is that some friends of Brewster's have actually called Kansas. It wasn't Brewster's agent, it wasn't Brewster, but they called Kansas and see if they might have some interest in him but that's about the extent of it.

Nanne played it off as no big deal and this will all blow over. But this is not normal. By most accounts Brewster is not considered a serious candidate for the KU job.

Now this is of course unconfirmed and CLEARLY none of us know exactly what is going on with any of the parties. But this is not normal.

Maybe Brewster did float his name for an open job, that is not unheard of. But typically it is for a job that is not a lateral move. Glen Mason was in the running for Ohio State, but who can blame him for that? If this is true that he was wondering about the Kansas job, what does that say about what he thinks of the Minnesota job. On the other side, often times an AD is less than forthcoming about the current coach's future, but that does not usually paint a Rosey picture for the program. If Maturi was already debating whether or not to give Brewster a contract extension, this certainly isn't going to help.

MAYBE this all blows over and is completely being overblown by the media and on internet message boards. Remember, Brewster has yet to say anything publicly here and Maturi didn't actually say anything. But this doesn't pass the optimist smell test. I don't see this going away and I don't see any good coming from this.

First of all it absolutely kills recruiting (which is already suffering from a rash of decommits). Secondly messages were sent between both of the primary parties. Maybe they already knew how the other felt but now this whole sorted affair is becoming public.

Maturi is essentially entrenched in a no-win situation. Is he now forced to make a move on Brewster after just three seasons? Or is he going to have to rush into a contract extension to make this all go away? I don't know what the hell is going on or how this is all going to play out but it is not good.

These two guys need to get things figured out and move forward. If Maturi wants Brewster around then make a statement by signing him to an extension. I'm not saying sign him for life, but do something to put this in the past and stop handcuffing recruiting. And if he's not sure then make a move, don't flounder. I know that firing him after only three years is not good practice but he needs to act with some conviction.

This whole thing is embarrassing and needs to go away.

Morgan State comes to the Barn - OFFICIAL GAME THREAD

GopherNation — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:30:53 -0000

Be warned this team may be dangerous! If we do not take them seriously this could be an ugly loss for our Golden Gophers. What is the catalyst for my caution?

Reggie Holmes!

Holmes is averaging 24.6 ppg and has put up 30+ on three different occasions this year. The Bears managed to upset Arkansas a couple weeks ago and knocked in 34 points to lead them to the win. Kevin Thompson is averaging a double-double for the Bears who do have more to them than just Holmes.

Morgan State starting lineup

G - Sean Thomas (3.5 ppg and 3.5 apg)
G - Reggie Holmes (24.6 and 4.1 rpg)
F - Dewayne Jackson (10.1 and 4.6)
F - Kevin Thompson (13.4 and 11.4)
F - Rodney Stokes (6.4 and 4.4)

The Bears tend to score very efficiently but they also allow a lot of points. I'm not going on record saying we are in trouble tonight, but if we don't take this game even a little bit seriously we are in trouble!

Go Gophers!

Brewster to Kansas?

GopherNation — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:37:33 -0000

Brewster to Kansas?

Marcus Fuller is reporting on the rumors Kansas is targeting Tim Brewster. You should read this as there are several cryptic quotes from Maturi.

CBS Blog Poll - Final Regular Season v1

GopherNation — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:35:31 -0000

Final regular season blog poll. Despite not posting on a weekly basis, I have been submitting a TDG ballot. Below is my final ballot for your review. I did move Nebraska up despite their loss to Texas. I think the Huskers are improving as the season goes along and I wouldn't feel right having them any lower. Pitt also moves up from being not ranked to #20. I could buy the argument that Nebraska should be ahead of Pitt, but that is just splitting hairs at this point.

Please share your thoughts, I'm not gripping this ballot so tightly that I wouldn't be willing to move things around a little.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	2
2	Texas
3	TCU	1
4	Florida	3
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Oregon
8	Georgia Tech
9	Ohio State
10	Iowa
11	Penn State
12	Virginia Tech
13	LSU	1
14	Stanford	1
15	Miami (Florida)	2
16	Oregon State	4
17	Northwestern	1
18	Arizona
19	West Virginia	3
20	Pittsburgh
21	Nebraska	3
22	Oklahoma State	1
23	Brigham Young
24	Southern Cal	8
25	Wisconsin
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: California (#17), Houston (#19), Clemson (#25).

Nugz gives you some Insight - 12.07.09

GopherNation — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:39:50 -0000

Gopher Volleyball is garnering the lead today as they have advanced to the NCAA Regionals. This past weekend the Gopher women defeated Louisville and Tennessee. Up next they are hosting the Regionals and will face Colorado State on Friday at 7 pm. Kentucky and Florida State will face off in the early game.

Minnesota should be favored in the Colorado State game but Florida State is the #4 overall seed and therefor is the favorite to make the Final Four.

Gopher hockey continues to struggle, especially on Friday nights. It is really hard to believe the Gophers are sitting this far down in the standings.
Alright, here is some football related content. Rittenberg gives his first take on the Insight Bowl game. He points out that the Insight typically is very high scoring, but this year should be very different.
Gopher baseball has released their 2010 schedule. The DQ Classic is always a great event with quality teams. This year Oklahoma State is the marquee name to go along with Loyola Marymount and Northwestern. The Gophers will also head to Alabama for a three-game set.
These are a few days old but here Myron discusses how this Gopher team is lacking a finisher / true scorer. Marcus talks about the Nolen/Westbrook fight that lead to their benching in the Texas A&M game.
The Star Tribune staff previews the Insight Bowl.

Gopher football heads back to the Insight Bowl to face the Iowa State Cyclones

GopherNation — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:23:28 -0000

Despite a season that failed to truly inspire, the Gophers managed to get bowl eligible. Their reward is a return trip to Tempe. Kind of funny how two schools who are about 215 miles apart in the Midwest will travel to Arizona. If you have to return to the same bowl in consecutive years, there are worse locations than Arizona in December. The silver lining here is that this is a winable game for the Gophers and the Big Ten. More to come in the coming weeks.

U of Minnesota's announcement.
This game is a battle of SBN's best college blog in the state of Iowa vs. SBN's best college blog in the state of Minnesota. Check out Clone Chronicles for some delusion on how they'll manage to beat the mighty Golden Gophers.
Des Moines Register announcement of the bowl match-up. They point out this is ISU's first bowl appearance since 2005 and 10th in school history.

That's all for now.