If you chose the sport with the hottest females, which would you choose..
1) Beach volleyball(my pick)
2) Swimming
3) Diving
4) Track and field
5) Soccer
6) weight lifters(if you are into that type of woman)
7) The girls whose sole responsibility is to bring the medals to the person hanging them over the necks of the winners.

I refuse to put gymnastic girls as it is wrong on some level to put girls less than 5 feet tall and barely looking like they are out of elementary school.. But you can vote on that if you wish.

Gopher hosted Illinois St and 34,006 tickets were sold.

I'm expecting September 1st to be the worst attended game at TCF Bank Stadium, and lowest attended home game since 9/11/2004.

Thanks MegaTongue

We need about 6-8 OL ready to roll.

We seem to have a pretty good starting 5 with Wright, Mayes, Moore, Calhoun and Pirsig.

Who do you think will be 6,7 and 8? Its not a simple as a two deep, as players starting at one position may switch to another if #6 plays. #6 may also be the number one backup at multiple positions.

6. Weyler
7. Greene
8. Fanning, Steiber, Connelly, Olson, Leidner???

Highlight

During 11-on-11s, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Elu Aydon plowed through the line of scrimmage, got his hands up and cleanly intercepted a pass from backup quarterback Marcus McMaryion. The 6-foot-3, 327-pound American Samoa native has earned praise throughout the offseason for his work on the line and he has even been listed as a backup tight end for special offensive situations. He certainly showed soft hands on that play and then rumbled to the house for a touchdown, much to the joy of his defensive teammates. It brought smiles to the faces of both head coach Gary Andersen and defensive coordinator Kevin Clune after practice.

Notes and observations

1. The biggest news to come out of the day was the loss of some depth in the secondary. OSU lost a pair of reserves as Gabe Ovgard announced his medical retirement on Twitter due to a series of concussions and Andersen confirmed that Cyril Noland-Lewis, a senior cornerback who was a starting safety early last season, had left the team.

Ovgard had been positive story for the Beavers during a challenging two-win season in 2015. A former walk-on wide receiver from Klamath Falls converted to safety last year and intercepted eventual No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Jared Goff against Cal. He started the final two weeks of the season and earned a scholarship this offseason. Heading into fall camp, he was listed as a backup safety behind junior Brandon Arnold.

"It happened basically in the last day or so," Andersen said of Ovgard's retirement. "He's in a good spot, he's going to finish school, he's going to get his school paid for, which is an awesome thing. We're happy to have him around as much as he wants to be. But Gabe's a tremendous kid. The kid's on this team love him. It's hard when those things happen."

Noland-Lewis' departure comes in the midst of a transition to cornerback. The senior, who has already earned a degree from Oregon State, had started last season at safety but lost his starting job after struggling to pick up the new scheme. The Beavers' fall camp depth chart listed him as the third string right cornerback behind Dwayne Williams and Jay Irvine, but he earned some reps with the second string earlier in camp.

"Cyril's played a lot of football, he's battled through his time here now," Andersen said. "I support his decision wholeheartedly for Cyril to move along again to that next adventure in life. I think it's so important. People like to make big deals out of those things sometimes. But kid's put in a lot of hard work. He's had a very, very solid career. He's excited about the future. ... When he walked out of my office, I gave him a big hug and he knows I'm going to be there for him forever."

Noland-Lewis spoke to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday following the team's open scrimmage, addressing his change of positions.

"It was like, okay, it's a new challenge," he said. "It was one of those things to where it was like, hey, challenge accepted right off the bat. It wasn't any second-guessing myself, second-guessing my talent, my speed, any of that. At the end of the day, it's all about execution."

2. With the two departures, the secondary was in flux Monday since Arnold and Williams – both starters – sat out. Among players in the regular rotation at cornerback were Treston Decoud, Jay Irvine, Shawn Wilson, Xavier Crawford and Jaydon Grant. Other than Decoud, all those players are freshmen.

"It's a little bit of a shot as you go through there," Andersen said of secondary depth. "We have a lot of young guys. It's an opportunity for young guys to step up."

Wilson made one of the better defensive plays during the portion of practice open to media, hauling in an interception with his right hand along the right sideline one-on-one against freshman Trevon Bradford.

At safety, I saw varying combinations featuring Devin Chappell, Landry Payne, Omar Hicks-Onu, Jalen Moore, Kendall Hill and Drew Kell.

3. Isaac Garcia, a three-star outside linebacker who originally committed to USC, is on campus. He attended practice Monday but did not participate after missing more than a week of fall camp while completing academic requirements. According to source close to the team, Garcia must still complete the Beavers' "BEST" Bridge academic program.

"I expect Isaac to be completely ready to roll here in the next couple of days," Andersen said. "The exact timing of when he comes to practices and all those things are still up in the air."

Christian Wallace, a four-star cornerback who also missed the start of camp due to academic issues, is not yet with the team. Andersen remained optimistic that both players would be part of the program this season, but also indicated that they would likely redshirt given the amount of time both have missed.

"It's frustrating to not have them here now for them and for us, but that's okay because those kids are most likely going to need a year to get themselves ready to play," he said.

4. Back on the field, Andersen spoke highly of the team's effort, calling it a "big time football practice." Following Friday's open scrimmage, the head coach praised the team for its physicality, application of coaching from the scrimmage, lack of administrative penalties and ease with which the team has been substituting on offense and defense.

5. Another thing Andersen noted was some of the offensive playmakers showing up. After a solid showing at the scrimmage, Seth Collins made another impressive deep catch Monday. He went one-on-one with Crawford down the right sideline and caught a pass from Darell Garretson for a gain of roughly 40 yards. It set up an eventual score for the offense. Jordan Villamin, who has missed time earlier in camp with an undisclosed injury, was a notable absence from the receiving corps Monday.

6. There was some consistency on the first team offensive line with Blake Brandel at left tackle, Fred Lauina at left guard, Yanni Demogerontas at center, Gavin Andrews at right guard and Dustin Stanton at right tackle. The second team unit featured Sam Curtius at left tackle, Sosaia Tauaho at left guard, Kammy Delp at center, Miki Fifita at right guard and Trent Moore at right tackle. No update to this point on Sean Harlow's availability and Will Hopkins was once again held out.

7. As the Beavers continue to look for running back depth behind Ryan Nall, Andersen pointed to Tim Cook as having a good day with his runs and pass catching. Cook and freshman Art Pierce split reps as the second-string back and Paul Lucas had a catch out of the backfield during an offensive drive. I did not notice a rep for Kyle White.

8. Jonathan Willis, who came on strong at the end of last season and has since moved from outside to inside linebacker, earned praise from members of the coaching staff for his work over the past week. At one point during 11-on-11 drills, he got into the backfield and batted down a pass. Willis has had an opportunity over the last couple practice given a shoulder injury to likely starter Manase Hungalu. Hungalu was in a sling Saturday and out again Monday, but a team source said the injury is not considered serious.

Quotable

"From the front to the back, there's some key pieces that are stepping forward. That's great. But the depth and how they're all going to fit together, gotta get more flushed out over the next two weeks." -- defensive coordinator Kevin Clune

Coming up

Tuesday is a double day for the Beavers and they will not have any media availability. The team is off on Wednesday, one day before their scrimmage Thursday morning. I'm working on a story about Elu Aydon's decision to come to Oregon State after originally committing to Wisconsin to play for Gary Andersen. Gina is writing about the backup quarterback battle between Marcus McMaryion and Mason Moran.

Link: Degruy likes the cold

Minnesota is yet to offer Degruy, but he's very high on the Gophers and says he'll come for a visit.

Tried googling and searching on the BTN site. The only schedule I could find was from 2012? The BTN site sucks.

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Minnesota has recruited McCabe, a 2018 point guard from Wisconsin, pretty hard, but I would be very surprised if the Gophers will be his choice since Pomeday was his point of contact, and Pomeday just left. I asked around and everyone seems to think he's committing to West Virginia.

I don't think it's Brooks.

New OSU QB Darrell Garretson transferred to OSU after starting for a year at Utah State. He has been reunited with his USU OC who is now the OC for the Beavers.

So, while I still think the Gophers should eventually win convincingly, I think the first 2-3 quarters we will have our hands full. Curious what everybody else thinks

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if I'm right tomorrow when Claeys talks about it, don't make a big deal about my brilliance... ok? Don't want to get the BIG head.

Per Phil Steele:
Add Minnesota DB Eric Amoako Juco Transfer (Orig Oregon)
http://philsteele.com/miscpages/Injuries/Out for Year.html

Either I missed this originally or I totally forgot.


http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...ersity-of-oregon-ducks-houston-baptist-060316

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/co...cle_8f99df4d-5b21-57d3-a23a-dc2fa30066a0.html

Disturbing paragraph from our recruiting coordinator:

“We don’t get caught up in what everybody else is doing. I don’t need anybody to validate my decision,” said Glasscock. “Of the 2015 active NFL rosters, 33 percent did not play in Power Five conferences. We want to live in that 33 percent world. We would rather be in recruiting battles we’re going to dominate instead of fighting the whole Big Ten.”

That is the attitude of a loser in my opinion. If our recruiting coordinator doesn't think he can compete with the big boys for recruits, how are we selling the kids to compete against the big boys on the field.

It looks like JRob's exit negotiations are still stalled according to J's attorney/agent James C.W. Bock who was on the Mike Max show on WCCO radio last night. A very knowledgeable poster on The Guillotine College Wrestling Forum listened to the interview and described it as follows:

"J's spokesman was on with Mike Max tonight on WCCO for about 20 minutes. Nothing really new to report. He seemed frustrated that the U is dragging their feet, and that they won't come out and say what exactly J should have done in this situation other then one he did do. He wasn't critical of Coyle as much as the higher up U administrators. J's legal team has not been privy to any emails between acting AD Goetz and her higher ups, since at this time there is no court action on this issue going on (no charges filed). Both he and Maxy seemed to imply that if/when they attempt to terminate J's contract, there would be lawsuits, and then all emails would need to be made available to them, to see if things were handled correctly by the administration after J reported his suspicions."

So, it seems like J is definitely out as Head Coach and that the U administration is having a hard time striking a deal that satisfies J. It also looks like J thinks he is being blamed for internal oversight errors made by Athletic Dept. higher ups. AD Coyle has been trying to strike a deal that would avoid a lawsuit by J. But, if there is no deal, and they just terminate J, he will file a lawsuit. This may still not have any negative effect on the wrestling program, but it could lead to more negative publicity for the U.

J's lawyer likely used this radio interview to put pressure on the U to reach a mutual settlement. I suspect that we will still have a settlement, amiable or not, sometime in the next few weeks.

Here's the Pioneer Press article from last night:


U, Wrestling coach J Robinson negotiating exit strategy


Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson (Pioneer Press file photo)

Pioneer Press
By John Shipley
August 12, 2016 at 8:31 pm
UPDATED: August 12, 2016 at 9:37 pm

The agent for suspended Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson said Friday that negotiations with the school are breaking down, and that it appears the U is trying to make Robinson the scapegoat for the athletics department’s broken drug policy.

“From the inside, it looks to me as though the university, for some reason, wants to blame Coach Robinson for internal athletic department, and probably larger, failures,” James C.W. Bock, an attorney and Robinson’s agent, told WCCO Radio.

Robinson, 69, is on paid leave pending the results of a school investigation into the way he handled allegations that some of his wrestlers were taking and selling the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

A University of Minnesota Police Department investigation was launched after a complaint related to the wrestling program was filed on its confidential EthicsPoint reporting service April 7. The results were forwarded to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which declined to press charges.

Athletics Director Mark Coyle suspended Robinson indefinitely June 1, and an internal school investigation into how Robinson handled the issue is ongoing, a school spokesman said late Friday. He declined further comment.

In the meantime, the U hired Robinson’s longtime assistant Brandon Eggum as interim head coach and has been negotiating an exit strategy for Robinson, who appears to have surrendered the hope of keeping the job he’s held since 1986. Under him, the Gophers have three NCAA titles and 124 All-America honors.

“The bottom line is, in all candor, we’ve been negotiating with the University of Minnesota, and if the university wants a scapegoat, then pay (Robinson) his contract and kick him out the door,” Bock told WCCO’s Mike Max.

Emails released to the Pioneer Press by the university and Bock show that Robinson made efforts to follow school protocol, informing his superiors of his suspicions in early March. The entire team was drug-tested March 22, and three days later, interim athletics director Beth Goetz emailed Robinson the department’s drug and alcohol policy.

After the story went public in late May, the U said it was launching its own investigation.

According to documents released by the UMPD, one wrestler told police, “There was illegal selling of drugs. Our coach tried to cover it up by making all the people involved turn in the drugs they had” on the weekend of March 25. The anonymous EthicsPoint complaint made the same allegation, contending Robinson told wrestlers to turn over “any illegal drugs that they have in their possession” to him.

This meeting, according to emails and police documents, took place two weeks after senior associate AD Marc Ryan emailed Robinson a form he had to complete to get his student-athletes drug-tested. What remains unclear is whether Robinson knew wrestlers were selling drugs or if he told the university.

Also unclear is how the U has responded to the allegations; whether any wrestlers have been punished and/or entered into the school’s confidential substance abuse program.

“It looks like their internal practices broke down, so they need a scapegoat,” Bock told Max.

Initial Notes:

-About one to two thousand Gophers fans were in attendance today for the scrimmage.
-Once again, mostly classic rock and roll and more "family friendly" music being played at TCF Bank Stadium today.
-First team offense played only a couple series together, so that was a bit disappointing for the crowd.
-1st team offensive line played several series today and did a very nice job opening holes for the running backs.
-Kobe McCrary got a lot of run today as most of the offensive play calling was very vanilla and featured a bunch of running plays.
-He showed excellent vision and makes decent cuts, definitely a guy who will be in the mix in the first couple games as they try to make up for the loss of Shannon Brooks.
-Rodney Smith is healthy and had a white (participation) jersey on but did not play a single snap in the scrimmage.
-Bryce Witham showed a nice burst after making a catch out in the flats and turned up field for a gain of about 12. Looked very comfortable out there today.
-Mitch Leidner was solid in very limited action, connected with Rashad Still across the middle on a short "stick route," hopefully well be seeing plenty of connections between them two.
-2nd and 3rd team offensive lines really struggled to give backup quarterbacks enough time to throw today. Lots of QB hurries and blown dead plays as soon as guys got back there.
-Both Winson DeLattiboudere and Taiyon Devers were impressive off the edge and registered "sacks" on the Gophers backup QB's.
-Kamal Martin certainly looks the part, a big and athletic dude that looks like he could come in and make an impact immediately.
-DeMarcus Williams had some nice scrambles today and made most of his plays with his feet. The backup offensive lines gave him almost no time to throw and he was sacked several times because of it.
-It was a very short scrimmage at only 45 minutes, many of the fans thought it was halftime when Claeys gathered the players in the middle but it turned out to be the final breakdown.
-Phillip Howard struggled a bit today with the scout team offense. He dropped a wide open bubble screen and struggled at times to create consistent separation.
-1st team offensive line was intact today going left to right Wright-Calhoun-Moore-Mayes-Pirsig and played very well together. We've said it many times before, but depth is the big issue with the OL group, gotta find more guys who can be ready to play this season.
-Merrick Jackson and Steven Richardson will be a problem together in the middle this season, but they have some good competition with Stelter and Ekpe. I was impressed with Stelter's burst off the line and he was able to get penetration a couple times today.
-Jonathon Femi-Cole had a couple of nice runs up the middle. Very physical and solid straight line speed, but not a ton of great cuts and vision showed, got a ways to go still.
-James Johannesson was impressive once again. He just runs so hard and always seems to pick up 2-3 extra yards after contact a-la David Cobb. Will challenge for PT in the absence of Brooks, he's got a bright future.
-Damarius Travis and Jalen Myrick didn't see any action at all as the coaching staff knows what they can do.


Plays of the Day:
-Seth Green connected with Tyler Johnson for about a 40 yard touchdown early in the scrimmage. Green lofted one over the middle on a post route and Johnson flat out went up and got it.
-Melvin Holland burned Ray Buford on a "Go" route along the left sideline and made an excellent catch in the endzone for a 30 plus yard touchdown on a beautiful throw from Connor Rhoda.
-Ray Buford was in coverage on Tyler Johnson and it looked like Johnson had a step or two on the redshirt freshman but Buford showed excellent closing speed to get up and knock the pass away. Gopher fans can hope to see a lot of that this season and beyond.
-Kiondre Thomas stood out today and got some run with the second team defense. There wasn't one play in particular, but he doesn't look one bit scared of being thrown in there. He hits hard and puts his head right in there on run support.

Impressions:
-Tyler Johnson is a flat out gamer. Continue to be impressed with him and his ability to attack the football and make plays. Way more ready to play than I figured he would be after playing QB all of high school.
-There are a couple backup defensive linemen who could play this year because of their ability to get off the ball and get to the passer (looking at you Winston D. and Taiyon Devers).
-It isn't out of the question to see a Coughlin-Barber-Martin All-MN linebacking core starting in a couple of years.
-Eric Amoako and Ace Rogers were solid at the safety positions today. Ace looked the best he has in a long time as he was flying all around the field and making plays. Looked like the guy who had a huge hit on Kevontae Turpin of TCU last fall before forcing and recovering a fumble.
-Melvin Holland can be a factor in the passing game. He is quick and strong and uses his size to create separation against DB's. Second best catch of the day by Gopher WR's was his for that 30 yard TD.
-Hunter Register could also be a factor in the passing game! He caught a couple of short hitches today and succeeded in making quick cuts upfield to get a couple more yards after contact.
-Our WR's are starting to look the part of Big Ten sized playmakers after five years into the Kill/Claeys era. Gone are the days of our top receivers being guys in the mold of Derrick Engel and Isaac Fruechte.
-Demry Croft is definitely the backup for now, but Minnesota could be in deep trouble if Mitch goes down early due to injury. The backups all need time to develop significantly.

Injuries:
-Eric Carter was out today and had a boot on his left foot, not sure what the damage is.
-Carter Coughlin limped off the field today and had an ice pack on his knee afterwards, definitely something to monitor as knee injuries are nothing to mess with.
-Isaiah Gentry was in an orange jersey but no idea what was wrong.
-Duke Anyanwu did not participate today. He pulled a hamstring in practice this week and continues to have some lingering issues with his surgically repaired knee.
-Coney Durr and Antoine Winfield were held out of action with injuries today, but are more day-to-day and should be back fairly soon.
-Cody Poock is injured at the moment but should be fine in a week or so, he was held out of the scrimmage today.
-Brandon Lingen also held out today as they continue to work on his shoulder.

Any other notes or questions you guys have feel free to chime in!

Women's 8 won gold. Any Gophers among them?

Start of the English Premier League!!

Liverpool with the WIN on the road against Arsenal! Coutinho is a stud!

Link: Rivals150 floor general down to four

Good stuff from Dan McDonald. The one thing I would disagree on is Minnesota trying to keep him from taking other visits. I'm quite sure he's going to visit Dayton, as they're a real contender for Wright. As I've said in the past, he may not be a take for Xavier now, but if he is by his visit, they're a real contender. Memphis is the new team as he didn't mention them at all in July and then included them on his list. I don't see them as a threat at the moment.

Link: John talks final six

Theo John's finalists are Minnesota, Marquette, Purdue, Cal, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

The Gophers have always been there. He has a great relationship with Ben Johnson and Richard Pitino. He's said many times before that there is a certain appeal to staying near home. He's close to his family. Minnesota has a lot going for them.

At Marquette, he thinks he can play right away and he has a very, very good relationship with Marquette. They've been thought of as the biggest contender for a while now.

Cal is going to be in this more than I thought. Many schools that offered this summer, including bigger ones like Florida and Maryland, didn't make the cut, but Cal did. He's developed a good relationship with them, they've sent several to the NBA recently, and his family likes the school's academic reputation. Theo also noted that they have the best weather.

Oklahoma got the first official visit, which he really enjoyed. The OU basketball staff is apparently somewhat confident that they can get Theo.

He likes Purdue's track record of producing big men, and he liked them enough to give them a visit this summer. Purdue was only at a couple of his games in Vegas, though, so Brian Neubert of GoldandBlack.com and I have wondered whether he's actually a take for them.

I don't think Illinois is much of a factor anymore. He says that five-star center Jeremiah Tilmon's commitment doesn't matter, but in reality I think it does. Plus, he's not taking an official visit there.

Longtime Vikings ticketholders have said this: The financial sting for the Taj Ma Zygi isn’t so much the $7,500 (or more) per-seat license required to maintain good locations. It’s the fact individual tickets were going from a previous $150 to $325 or $350, and with the Vikings making clear the right to increase the price of each ticket by 10 percent in all of the next three years.

For all of you that think the U is ripping people off for charging a seating tax. Look at what Vikings fans get to pay. But they're the NFL. people bow down to them.

Mine are
Devers/Winston D/Kamal Martin defense
Markus Williams-offense

If I can get away, I am thinking of coming up for the state fair for the first time in a long time.. What are your suggestions for the best of the unusual fair food???. Probably will be there for a week.

I'll have a report on the scrimmage in a bit, but I wanted to drop a note on injuries. Eric Carter twisted his ankle, and it sounds like he'll be ready to go by the star of the season. Brandon Lingen goes to the doctor next week for his shoulder. Cody Poock will be back Monday and could have played today, but the staff chose to be cautious with him. Shannon Brooks has a fracture, but not a "complete fracture" on his foot and had to get a screw in it. He has to go two weeks without putting any weight on it. Claeys made it sound like he expects him to miss five weeks.

Also, Donnell Greene will be able to practice next week. He's two days through a five day waiting period.

Hmmm...

Link: Rallis talks about Sherels and Hippe, injuries, wrestling, and more

Sid said on his show today where the new track is going to be. But I couldn't understand where it was. Did anyone else hear where he said it's going?