Offseason Goldy News and Thoughts

• Scout and Rivals have revealed their top 300 and 250 respectively for the football class of 2010 and the Gophers are off to a good start. Offensive lineman Jimmy Gjere is #161 overall on Rivals and a 4-star and #159 and a 4-star on Scout. Linebacker Konrad Zagzebski is #239 on Scout. Other notables Sentreal Henderson is #1 overall on both lists by a wide margin according to reports. Beau Allen is #247 on Scout.
• With Spring Football approaching the Daily Gopher noted that Brewster has started participating in the irritating fad that is Twitter. Here is his feed. Reading through this Brewster is devolving into just a characticture. Sometimes it is really hard to take him serious with the rah-rah nonsense that comes out of his mouth.
• Speaking of a character babbling non-sense Pat Reusse is at it again. Nothing gets me more annoyed than Pat Reusse taking potshots at the University of Minnesota. I don't know what the University did to him but he clearly hates the U. He writes an article about how every Gopher program this year was mediocre and collapsed and while it is true in some cases, he is stretching and bringing pessimism to a whole new level. He then ranks the disappointments in order of most disappointing.
• He claims the Volleyball team failed because it was ranked 10th nationally and lost at home in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Explain how to me that is a failure. The Washington Basketball team was ranked high and won the Pac-10 this year but lost in the second round in Portland to Purdue. Were they a failure? No, then why would the Volleyball team be one.
• Next is the Women's Hockey team that only won the WCHA crown, was ranked #1 for a lot of the year and lost in the Frozen Four to Mercyhurst. While it is disappointing they could not win, never is a trip to the Frozen Four a failure or a collapse. When it is one and done anything can happen.
• Wrestling came next. They were acknowledged to be in a down year and had a bad year but every powerhouse has a bad year as they finished 7th in the Big Ten tournament. I would take any bet that they will be a lot better next year.
• Then he had the balls to list the Men's Basketball team as a failure or collapse. He uses the excuse that the team was ranked #19 and was mediocre down the stretch. He claims that Damian Johnson regressed in Big Ten play and anyone who actually watched the team knows the opposite is true as he became our best player down the stretch. He doesn't dwell on the fact that this team won 9 games two years ago and still has 4 players from that team contributing. This team met or exceeded any rational expectations for this team heading into the season. I think Reusse would fit right in as a Kentucky Wildcat fan.
• He again thinks the Women's team failed for making the second round of the NCAA and beating a higher seed on its own home court. He was around when the Women were at the bottom and 100 people watched them in the Sports Pavilion and now being one of the top 32 teams isn't good enough.
• He then brings up the Gopher Football "collapse". What always is failed to be mentioned is that the Gophers never beat a bowl team the whole year. They did not collapse they just beat crappy teams early. People thought the Illinois and Purdue wins were impressive but they ended up not to be. The Gopher football team definitely has not been an overnight success but they did improve over 2007 and there is no reason to believe they won't improve on 2008 next year.
• Then finally he brings up the Hockey collapse. While I admit that it was a terrible collapse and this team had way too much talent to miss the NCAA tournament, he took it too far. Here is his quote about the hockey team "Don Lucia again turning his Yankees of college hockey into the St. Paul Saints". I don't even fully get the analogy and to say it is an overeaction is to put it mildly. They finished as the 15th best team in the nation and while they disappointed this year they certainly were not a minor league team.
• I'm sorry for the rant and it is probably hard to follow and read but I hate Reusse and I don't get why he feels necessary to rip the U. If Tubby wins the Big Ten next year, Reusse will either write an article about some old football coach talking about his playing days at Gustavus or he will take the day off and wait until they lose in the tournament and rip the failure of the program.