What, me nervous?!?!?

The popcorn bowl is empty and my finger nails are starting to look awfully tasty.  Was it due to the Memorial Day family movie marathon?  Nope.  I've been sitting back and watching how well the new Gopher football staff recruits and their approach.  In retrospect, I think I'd rather watch paint dry.

This staff is willing to sell the program to recruits based on what it is and the success that the staff has had in the past.  To allow Minnesota's name sell itself seems foolish.  Yes, it's a B1G school, which is great.  But it hasn't had a winning tradition since the Nixon administration.  There are 11 other schools that can claim B1G status as well and they have more recent experience or something a little more "sexy" to offer at this time.  We're losing recruiting battles right now to those other schools, including Kevin Wilson's Hoosiers which is something I never thought I would say.  Yes, the staff has experienced success at each stop they have made but winning the MAC East isn't really that exciting when compared to lacing em up in Ann Arbor, wearing red and playing in Pasadena in 2012, pumping roids in Iowa City or driving around in an Escalade you didn't have to pay for in Columbus.

There is no sizzle to the staff's meat and potatoes approach.  I think Thomas Hammock, could have been that sizzle but he saw that he wasn't going to be a good fit for this staff and took his services across the river.

Predictions:
1. Toledo (a MAC program) will be rated higher in the 2011 class recruiting rankings than Minnesota
2. Kill either leaves the U to be the KSU/KU coach in December 2012 or he's fired December 2016.
3. Summer camp 2011 is a bust and we get verbals from 5 recruits from MN/WI/IL that nobody else wants.

Am I nervous for the Gopher program?  You could say that.

Glen Mason- Justifiable Homicide?

I’ve never been confused for a Robert Bruininks / Joel Maturi lover.  When writing about blaming Bruininks for the slide in high profile sports, it got me reminiscing about Glen Mason, in a good way.  I remember being really frustrated with the Gophers in 2006 (especially the NDSU escape) but now I find myself pining for his return, much like you might think about an ex-girlfriend. 

You know that there are reasons why she is an ex, but you remember all the good things and compare her to subsequent girlfriends.  Yeah, she nagged me about my clothes and how I didn't take her out enough but man she was better in the sack than the other girls I've been with.  You have that mental image of the best picture she ever took with you as being how she looked back then.  She hung out with you and your boys at the clubs, pool halls, the beach, etc. You remember her for the good things and don't dwell on the bad.  That's how I'm feeling about Mase right now.

The return won’t happen so I’ll just look back and ponder on if Mase really should have been let go and what the reasons for his dismissal were.

Remember When

Remember the good ole days of 2002 when Gopher sports were relevant? 

Football – team finished 8-5 and was the first of a 5 year run of postseason bowl games

Men’s Hoops – 19-14 (4^th place in the NIT) not great but considering the recent Haskins scandal it wasn’t so bad

Men’s Hockey – NCAA champions (also NCAA champs in 2003)

Wrestling - NCAA champions (also were NCAA champions in 2001 and 2007)

Men’s Baseball – made it to the NCAA tournament

Women’s Hoops – 25-6 12-4 in B1G; NCAA Sweet 16 (followed by a final 4 trip and another sweet 16)

Women’s Hockey – NCAA Frozen Four (NCAA champs in 2000, 2004, 2005)

Volleyball – 1^st in B1G; NCAA regional semifinal

Men’s Golf – NCAA champions

But look where we are 10 years later: