For reasons that still aren't clear, Friends of the Blog JD Mill and Jeffrick asked me to join their podcast full time (along with Matt O'Connell, which is an equally odd decision). Well, I'm going to enjoy the ride until they realize what an awful mistake they've made.
This week we seek catharsis after losing to Purdue, castigate certain segments of our fan base, look for answers as to why our depth situation is a crime against humanity and sing with bittersweet thoughts about how good Chris 'Blues' Streveler would have looked in PJ Fleck's offense.
It's been so long, but that's what's so fun about hope.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
AUDIO: Two Minute Hope - The Night Game
Rebranded as something much more clever and easier to say!
Today I discuss the thrill that is night games at TCF and call Chad Spann Denard Span. This single-take action ain't for the perfectionists, kids.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Our JFK: The Anti-Senior Conspiracy
The nutbags are out. That's okay, because they provide a constant stream of howling goop to write about.
As I wrote yesterday, we’re in for a culture year. For us fans, it sucks because we see the writing on the wall, in blood, on fire, shooting acid in our eyes, that we’re going to lose a lot more games than we win this year. We’ll muddle through, though, like we always have: self-medicating with booze and benzos (though not together, Gopher fans, we need you alive!), avoiding message boards for 96 hours after games, blocking any and all Wisconsin fans on Twitter and spending every Sunday in bed watching Netflix with the covers over our heads. That process is more or less like an old friend to us now.
As I wrote yesterday, we’re in for a culture year. For us fans, it sucks because we see the writing on the wall, in blood, on fire, shooting acid in our eyes, that we’re going to lose a lot more games than we win this year. We’ll muddle through, though, like we always have: self-medicating with booze and benzos (though not together, Gopher fans, we need you alive!), avoiding message boards for 96 hours after games, blocking any and all Wisconsin fans on Twitter and spending every Sunday in bed watching Netflix with the covers over our heads. That process is more or less like an old friend to us now.
AUDIO: MDNOH - The Undeclassmen Talent Nucleus
Today's nugget is all about the sweet stable of underclass talent we have and how it'll get us to Pasadena on the first day of the next decade!
LISTEN HERE
LISTEN HERE
Monday, October 9, 2017
AUDIO: Mostly Daily Nugget of Hope
SGH now in transcendent audio form.
Trying something a little different to see if this works. A (mostly) daily nugget of optimism about the program to get you feel good and hyped for the next game.
Today's first attempt brutally fails at the optimistic part, as we discuss the offense and losing to a Purdue. We'll do better next time.
If it gets more than five listens, I'll do another one!
LISTEN HERE
Trying something a little different to see if this works. A (mostly) daily nugget of optimism about the program to get you feel good and hyped for the next game.
Today's first attempt brutally fails at the optimistic part, as we discuss the offense and losing to a Purdue. We'll do better next time.
If it gets more than five listens, I'll do another one!
LISTEN HERE
The Culture Year: A Survival Guide
You ever have those dreams where you're trapped in a wooden box?
It's dark, but the sounds and bouncing around lead you to believe you're in the back of a truck or something. Eventually, the truck stops and you hear the door slide open. A couple of dudes hop in, lift up the box you're in throw it down on the ground, laugh, then get back in the truck and drive away. It's effing hot and you're sweating already. Recognizing there's no one around to hear you yelling, you start kicking at one of the sides to get out. After an hour or two, you finally break one of the boards and manage to extract yourself. Once your eyes adjust to the light, you see you're in an arid environment on the side of a dirt road. You stumble along the road for a few miles, you're disoriented, exhausted and dehydrated and finally come to a small village. There's an old car on the side of the road and...it has a Mexican license plate. You don't really remember how or why, but you've been kidnapped and sent to Mexico. Your life seems to have gone sideways.
Well, we Gopher fans have just kicked our way out of the box and find ourselves in a culture year, which is just like Mexico except without Tecate, delicious refried beans and likelihood of being beheaded in a war between drug cartels.
It's dark, but the sounds and bouncing around lead you to believe you're in the back of a truck or something. Eventually, the truck stops and you hear the door slide open. A couple of dudes hop in, lift up the box you're in throw it down on the ground, laugh, then get back in the truck and drive away. It's effing hot and you're sweating already. Recognizing there's no one around to hear you yelling, you start kicking at one of the sides to get out. After an hour or two, you finally break one of the boards and manage to extract yourself. Once your eyes adjust to the light, you see you're in an arid environment on the side of a dirt road. You stumble along the road for a few miles, you're disoriented, exhausted and dehydrated and finally come to a small village. There's an old car on the side of the road and...it has a Mexican license plate. You don't really remember how or why, but you've been kidnapped and sent to Mexico. Your life seems to have gone sideways.
Well, we Gopher fans have just kicked our way out of the box and find ourselves in a culture year, which is just like Mexico except without Tecate, delicious refried beans and likelihood of being beheaded in a war between drug cartels.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Heart and Quit: The a Purdue Game Prediction
So, yeah, the model didn't work so well last week. We grossly underestimated Maryland's Heart Factor. While their Quit % reached a high of 89% in the 2nd quarter, their interception of a Connor Rhoda pass off the hands of Tyler Johnson at the three yard line immediately caused a ten-fold increase in Heart Factor to 12.2, a high for this season.
We were surprised at the Gophers lack of Heart Factor from the outset - it just didn't seem like they were ever in the game, consistently missing tackles and not getting lit on the sidelines nearly as much as in the previous three weeks. And when Maryland went ahead with 90 seconds to play and the Gophers failed to catch the ensuing kickoff, well, the Quitometer reached a Quit % of 100% and, uh, quit working. It was the worst of times.
We were surprised at the Gophers lack of Heart Factor from the outset - it just didn't seem like they were ever in the game, consistently missing tackles and not getting lit on the sidelines nearly as much as in the previous three weeks. And when Maryland went ahead with 90 seconds to play and the Gophers failed to catch the ensuing kickoff, well, the Quitometer reached a Quit % of 100% and, uh, quit working. It was the worst of times.
Friday, October 6, 2017
PJ Fleck or: How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Shtick
Time for a very special episode of Still Got Hope....
Your boy here has clinical depression and has his whole life. Hasn't kept me from mostly doing what I want and having a very solid career as a blogger; but it's imbued me with a very pessimistic, cynical attitude about almost everything.
I followed PJ Fleck a bit last year as his star rose at Western Michigan. ESPN and others named him the first coach of the Millennial generation and, frankly I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean, but okay. Myriad stories about his unorthodox approach to culture and team management kind of went in one eyeball and out the other. I thought he was a bit kooky, but it was fun to watch a MAC team make a run to a NY6 bowl game and give Wisconsin everything they could handle in the Cotton Bowl.
Your boy here has clinical depression and has his whole life. Hasn't kept me from mostly doing what I want and having a very solid career as a blogger; but it's imbued me with a very pessimistic, cynical attitude about almost everything.
I followed PJ Fleck a bit last year as his star rose at Western Michigan. ESPN and others named him the first coach of the Millennial generation and, frankly I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean, but okay. Myriad stories about his unorthodox approach to culture and team management kind of went in one eyeball and out the other. I thought he was a bit kooky, but it was fun to watch a MAC team make a run to a NY6 bowl game and give Wisconsin everything they could handle in the Cotton Bowl.
Why Is the Gopher Football Atmosphere So Anemic?
Had a good discussion with some of the Gopher Illuminati last night about how jealous we were of the atmosphere around programs that haven't exactly been paragons of success over the last 25 years. Specifically, we were marveling at how rowdy NC State's fans were during their game against Louisville, though the same applies to Iowa State and a number of other middling-at-best programs.
NC State is a good comparable program as they've consistently been a fringe bowl team (RIP in peace MV) for most of the last 40 years (my lifetime, which is all that matters on my blog). They've had four 9+ win seasons in that time, including one 11-win season in 2002 where they finished ranked 11/12 in the polls. Other than that, they've consistently been in the 5-8 win range; kind of like us, with a slightly higher average win count (I didn't do the math, so "slightly" is probably the wrong qualifier) and no tire fire seasons like we had in 1983 and 2007 (/cuts). But their game-day atmosphere is orders of magnitude better than ours. Same for Iowa State, the Mario Mendoza of college football. How? Why do fans go all out for college teams that are comparable or worse than we are when we can't get close to filling the stadium while undefeated on a beautiful fall day?
NC State is a good comparable program as they've consistently been a fringe bowl team (RIP in peace MV) for most of the last 40 years (my lifetime, which is all that matters on my blog). They've had four 9+ win seasons in that time, including one 11-win season in 2002 where they finished ranked 11/12 in the polls. Other than that, they've consistently been in the 5-8 win range; kind of like us, with a slightly higher average win count (I didn't do the math, so "slightly" is probably the wrong qualifier) and no tire fire seasons like we had in 1983 and 2007 (/cuts). But their game-day atmosphere is orders of magnitude better than ours. Same for Iowa State, the Mario Mendoza of college football. How? Why do fans go all out for college teams that are comparable or worse than we are when we can't get close to filling the stadium while undefeated on a beautiful fall day?
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Battle of the First Year B1G Coaches: Who's More Elite so Far?
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Taken All Wrong Podcast
I had the chance to make a guest appearance on the Taken All Wrong Podcast with FOtB JD Mill and Jeffrick and fellow guest Matt O'Connell, also of the internet.
We discussed the aftermath of the Maryland game, what that portends for the future, Purdue and whether 2018 or 2019 will be the season we win the B1G.
Give it a listen during work today or over an especially long poop.
We discussed the aftermath of the Maryland game, what that portends for the future, Purdue and whether 2018 or 2019 will be the season we win the B1G.
Give it a listen during work today or over an especially long poop.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Paul Molitor: Wanna Keep Him?
A funny thing happened when Jim Pohlad hired Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine during last off-season. Pohlad ended any speculation by announcing that Paul Molitor would return to finish the third year of his contract as manager of the Twins.
It seemed unusual to me at the time because that's sorta, you know, what the GM and Chief Baseball Officer should be deciding. It might be safe to say that Falvey and Levine were on board with this though as it gave them a year to evaluate the staff. That didn't stop them from replacing a number of coaches, including bringing in hitting coach James Rowson. Rowson deserves some credit for a season where the Twins were 4th in the AL in runs scored.
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