Getting a bit antsy for a recruiting fix. Who do we think will be the next one to jump in the boat.

My guess FWIW is Bachmeier since QB's usually commit early, then the class starts falling quickly into place. I know we have a QB commit already but I feel like Hank is Fleck's key to this class.

Trevor Oppedal:


Strengths:

· Run blocking. Solid pad level and leverage in run blocking. Controls defender and keeps feet moving until finishing defender
· Athleticism to pull. Able to adjust to moving targets; quick feet in his pulls
· Size (6’7”, 275 pounds)

Weaknesses:

· No pass blocking highlights in his film
· Strength. Wins right now due to his natural size, but will need to add strength

Oppedal has the size for a D1 player and showed some good things in the run game. Actually, some of his more impressive highlights came on the defensive line, but I see him as an offensive lineman in college. He showed the ability to pull and finishes defenders. There weren’t any pass blocking highlights in his film, which is a bit concerning considering he played in a spread system. Oppedal may move inside to guard later in his career where that might suit his strengths better.

Login to view embedded media

As much as I hate certain team's in the big ten and hope they lose,(Wisconsin especially).
I have to know. When is the last time the Big10 won all of it's bowl games in the same year.

From my family to yours...I hope the New Year brings you health, wealth and happiness...oh yeah WARMTH for those of you stuck in the deep freeze. I also hope it brings more wins and success on the Gopher football field that includes a B1G Title and reaching further successes beyond that. HAPPY NEW YEAR GOPHER FAMILY !!! SKI U MAH GO GOPHERS !!!

Link: UA All-America Game: Five surprises on Opening Day

Dunlap and Faalele reportedly impressed big time on opening day. Click the link above or click the below to expand it.

Getting ready for 6 weeks on the beach and need some more good reading material ideas

Just started reading The Black Hand, about the deadliest secret society in American history.

I said no one in WI cares about this bowl game, so why should we (as far as wanting them to lose). It was hyperbole....but I thought there was truth to it, since it's a letdown from not making the playoff.

But I think I was wrong. I talked to a buddy of mine from WI....and he is pretty happy. We usually spar some, not too bad but definitely some....but I congratulated him for helping the B1G to 7-0. He gave me a thumbs-up, said "thanks", and emphasized it with a photo of the word "gracias". He said just one other thing....that he was happy for how good the season was.

For me....sometimes congratulating your rival is better than continuous trash-talking and negativity.

Our Gopher Wrestlers are back in action tomorrow and Saturday at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Tomorrow we go against #23 North Carolina at 11am and then take on #11 Cornell at 1pm. On Sat. we have Columbia (former Gopher Joe Nord is a coach there) at 11am and then Binghamton at 1pm. We should be about even with Cornell (this could go either way) and we should win the other three matches pretty easily. The Duals will be streamed on TrackWrestling.com for $19.95.

What a nice weekend to get away from the freezing MN weather and be in sunny South Florida!!!

There are also 5 Gophers who are wrestling at The Midlands in Chicago tomorrow and Saturday, including Colin Carr, Steve Bleise, Carson Brolsma, Steve Polakowski and Jakob Bergeland. Bleise has the best chance to do well, as he may take 2nd to #3 Brandon Sorensen of IA. The Midlands will be streamed live on FloWrestling.com.

Here is the article from Gophersports.com:


Gophers Heading to First-Ever South Beach Duals

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers traveled down to Florida to take on the first ever South Beach Duals on Dec. 29 and 30.



Gophersports.com
Dec. 28, 2017

No. 10 Minnesota at South Beach Duals
Date/Time Friday and Saturday, Dec. 29 & 30, 2017 | 10:00 a.m. each day
Location Deerfield Sports Complex
Tickets Information
Live Video TrackWrestling
Live Updates @GopherWrestling
Notes - South Beach Duals

Social Media @GopherWrestling | Facebook | Instagram

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers traveled down to Florida to take on the first ever South Beach Duals on Dec. 29 and 30. Minnesota will wrestle against Columbia, North Carolina, Columbia and Binghamton.

WINTER GETAWAY

The University of Minnesota will take part in the first ever South Beach Duals event. The Gophers are one of a dozen teams that will take the mat in Ft. Lauderdale. Binghamton, Columbia, North Carolina and Cornell will be the Gophers three opponents during the two day event. Other teams include Franklin & Marshall, Kent State, Michigan State, Missouri, North Dakota State, Rider and SIU Edwardsville. The event will take place at Deerfield Beach Sportsplex.

LAST TIME OUT - FRESNO STATE

The last time the Gophers were in action on the mat was back on Dec. 10 when thye took on the Bulldogs of Fresno State. Minnesota was able to overwhelm Fresno State by a score of 38-7. The 38 points was the most points the Gophers were able to put up at home since 2013 when Minnesota crushed Wyoming 41-5 at the then-called Sports Pavilion.

"I was impressed with our aggressiveness today," head coach Brandon Eggum said after the dual. "The way each guy started matches and all the way through that seventh minute, I thought guys wrestled with passion and fans love seeing that and I'm proud of them.

EXTRA BONUS POINTS

Against Fresno State, eight Maroon and Gold singlets were able to pick up bonus point victories including two pints, four major decisions and two tech falls. It has been over six years since the Gophers have been able to pick up at least eight bonus point victories in a dual. Minnesota has picked up seven numerous times over that span.

FALL KING

Tommy Thorn has done nothing but dazzle this season. His seven falls this season puts him on the top of the team, one ahead of 133-pounder Mitch McKee. Thorn's quickest fall came against Fresno State when he pinned Chris Deloza for the second time this year (the first came in Las Vegas at the Cliff Keen Invite). Thorn's seven pins put him higher than last year's leader, Mitch McKee, who had six during the 2016-17 season.

SOLID SENIORS

This season, the Gophers have three seniors in their starting lineup, including Jake Short, Nick Wanzek and Chris Pfarr. Thus far this season, those three have accumulated a 22-10 (.688) record. In those 22 wins, these seniors have 11 bonus point wins. Including the non-starting seniors, they have combined to go 30-16 this season in dual/open tournaments.

SCORING MACHINE

Near perfect has been Lizak this season. The junior, 2017 NCAA Finalist, has brought his record to 13-1 this season. This season, he has outscored his opponents 127-25, including 44-2 in his last four matches (since his first loss at Cliff Keen). Nine of the 13 victories for Lizak have been bonus point wins, including the last four matches.

BOBBY BACK ON TRACK

Bobby Steveson was able to capture his first victory of the season against Fresno State in a high scoring affair. Steveson won his match by major decision and his 19 points were the second most he has scored in a match, his highest coming against Zach Nevills of Stanford at the 2016 Cliff Keen Invite when he scored 23 points in a 23-8 tech fall.

BACK IN THE NEUTRAL POSITION

The last time the University of Minnesota has taken part in neutral dual action was back in 2015 when the team took on the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. The Gophers also took on North Carolina during that neutral site event. Minnesota's last victory at a neutral site was Feb. 17, 2014 when they defeated Cornell, who they will also face at the South Beach Duals.

MIDLANDS PARTICIPANTS

The Gophers will send five wrestlers to the 55th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Dec. 29 and 30. Colin Carr, Steve Bleise, Carson Brolsma, Steve Polakowski and Jakob Bergeland will all participate. You can watch at FloWrestling ($) here. You can also keep up to date on the brackets here.

They don’t like PJ Fleck. Is that respect or fear that the tides are turning? And of course they all remembered 55 and his D3 career.

Go Canes!! Hope they win by 100.

New Nike uniforms are coming for the football team in 2018 whether you're ready or not.

What do you think they'll look like? What do you want them to look like? What are you afraid of?

Here is a reminder of some combinations we saw in 2017:

Login to view embedded media

They don’t like PJ Fleck. Is that respect or fear that the tides are turning? And of course they all remembered 55 and his D3 career.

I posted this in DT but some folks may not read or post over there and I thought it was important to share with the Gopher family because these things are serious and want everyone to be safe while ringing in the New Year with family and friends...
Good job by the police...this easily could've been another tragedy. Be safe and vigilant while out enjoying the New Year's Eve festivities with friends and loved ones...there are idiots out there with ZERO to lose.
Hours before hotel's NYE celebration man arrested ... - ABC13 Houston

Come on; you always suspected it right?

Police arrest alleged 'Nigerian prince' email scammer in Louisiana
USA TODAY NETWORKCharles Ventura, USA TODAYPublished 6:22 a.m. ET Dec. 30, 2017 | Updated 9:46 a.m. ET Dec. 30, 2017

• 
  
• 
  
• 

Slidell man arrested in 'Nigerian Prince' money scam
WWL - New Orleans, LA

A Louisiana man was arrested in connection with the "Nigerian prince" scheme that has scammed people out of thousands of dollars, police announced Thursday.

Michael Neu, 67, faces 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering after being taken into custody following an 18-month investigation, according to the Slidell Police Department. Police said Neu is suspected of being the scam's "middle man" who obtained money and "subsequently wired" funds to his co-conspirators in Nigeria.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the phishing scam begins with an email purporting to be from a high-ranking Nigerian official who seeks financial assistance or personal information to retrieve an alleged inheritance.

Though the scheme is often the butt of late-night TV jokes, people have fallen victim to the scam, officials say.


Michael Neu, 67 of Slidell, La., is pictured being taken into custody for wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a "Nigerian prince" scam, according to the Slidell Police Department. (Photo: Slidell Police Department)


"Most people laugh at the thought of falling for such a fraud, but law enforcement officials report annual losses of millions of dollars to these schemes," the Slidell police said in a statement.

Authorities warn to be cautious when receiving suspicious emails or phone calls from unknown individuals and urge people not to disclose personal or financial information. Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal said he hopes Neu's arrest serves as a warning to the public.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal said in a released statement. "Never give out personal information over the phone, through e-mail, cash checks for other individuals, or wire large amounts of money to someone you don’t know. 99.9 percent of the time, it’s a scam.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ian-prince-email-scammer-louisiana/992073001/

Held them to 52 points and about 600 yards to seal the victory for Wake Forest

I hadn’t seen this yet, and had no idea that Team USA volleyballs like the Tapp Sisters and Wilhite had signed with Adidas.

Cool to see her at the same table in the ad with a bunch of international superstars!

Login to view embedded media

Good job by the police...this easily could've been another tragedy. Be safe and vigilant while out enjoying the New Year's Eve festivities with friends and loved ones...there are idiots out there with ZERO to lose.
Hours before hotel's NYE celebration man arrested ... - ABC13 Houston

PSU up 35-21 and has piled up 450 yds with 5 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter. Well done coach Limegrover!

No doubt that Jordan is a beast inside. Very strong legs and upper body though he did not look quite as explosive today against Harvard, in the first half.

Though I appreciate his talents including a record amount of 'double-doubles' to start the season, I think Jordan could improve immensely in a couple areas that would take his offensive game to new levels..

I have written, ad nauseum, about his need to hit that mid range jumper with some level of consistency.. That would force the opponent to play him closer on the outside.. Which in turn, would clear some of the traffic on the inside as the player guarding Jordan could not cheat by clogging up the middle when Jordan is outside the key. It would free up our team in other areas on the floor.

The one thing that I have noticed that is glaring, both this year and last, is when he goes to his LEFT on the dribble that he can't finish with his left hand unless he stops the dribble to set his feet and goes straight up near the basket... He cant drive and finish with the left hand in a continuous motion.. He contorts his body when he gets to the rim where he brings the ball back to his RIGHT HAND and that reduces his explosiveness and balance... This offseason, I would have him work against Curry or Hurt to finish with the left hand at the rim after the drive.. It would be so much smoother and keep him in balance so he would not have to reach back to his right hand.

He is such a powerful player and I just want him to be able to expand his game a bit to make his life easier on the floor as well as teammates.. Kinda reminds me what the late Lorenzo Charles did for NC State back in the early to mid 1980s.... To me, they are similar players in style.

some one please give me the dumbed down version of it. Now we don’t get a tax return?

I’m going to the Orange Bowl and need a few suggestions since white people tailgate much more than brothas.

1. What should we eat?
2. What should we drink?
3. What should we do when a drunk white dude bumps into our tailgate?
4. Who should I root for? Miami cause we hate Badgers or support the Big 10?

I’ll hang up and listen.

I swear I just saw Tracy on the Louisville sideline at the Taxslayer Bowl.

NW overcomes ridiculous coaching by Fitzgerald to beat Kentucky by one and leaving the BIG 4-0 with OSu, Michigan. PennState, and Wisconsin to go. It's nice to not have to listen to how weak the BIG is every bowl season.