Sometimes we on this Board, and other true Golden Gopher fans, might be too close to the Golden Gopher Football Team's situation to properly understand it. I know that I am. Today I received a dose of how our beloved football program is actually seen by others with no vested interest.
Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal includes its annual article (with table) rating Power Five Conference football programs by two variables - first, "Weakling to Powerhouse", and second, "Embarrassing to Admirable".
(By the way, I am not trying to make the point that the WSJ is all knowing or the ultimate judge, or even right. I am simply referring to the article as a proxy for general pubic opinion about our Football Program from a source without any clear anti-Minnesota agenda.)
In the Weakling to Powerhouse scale, Minnesota is in the bottom quartile, ahead of only four Big Ten Teams - Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland. (And we saw what Maryland did today.) Note that four of the Gophers' victories last year were against those four teams - obviously a fortunate schedule.
More importantly, in the Embarrassing to Admirable scale, Minnesota is ranked near the bottom, ahead of only North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Baylor. (And think about how awful those four programs have been.)
As I mentioned above, I raise the WSJ article not to agree with it. Instead, I raise the article to point out how Minnesota is perceived.
Because of where the Gophers are on the football scale, perhaps we should temper our expectations a bit, and support Coach Fleck and his staff as they attempt to improve the Gophers, especially through recruiting. The bottom quartile does not customarily become champions. Coach Fleck did not inherit a gold mine. He and his staff have their work cut out for them.
Because of where the Gophers are on the integrity scale, perhaps we should better keep in mind how the Gophers are perceived by non- and indifferent fans. That perception affects everything, but it especially affects attendance and recruiting. In my view, we are lucky that Coach Fleck, given his opportunities, chose to come to Minnesota. (I agree with him that we are a Sleeping Giant, but someone has to wake us up.) Given his outlook and personality, as well as coaching ability, he might have been the perfect hire. In addition, we should laud the administration for moving on from the prior coaching regime, despite their obvious coaching talents, and understand why casual fans may not be showing the support we think they should. In my view, attendance will improve only when the team performs and the general perception of the program improves. (And Coach Fleck appears to be working on both fronts.)
Thank you.
Go Gophers! Row the Boat! Ski-U-Mah! (Always Ski-U-Mah!)
Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal includes its annual article (with table) rating Power Five Conference football programs by two variables - first, "Weakling to Powerhouse", and second, "Embarrassing to Admirable".
(By the way, I am not trying to make the point that the WSJ is all knowing or the ultimate judge, or even right. I am simply referring to the article as a proxy for general pubic opinion about our Football Program from a source without any clear anti-Minnesota agenda.)
In the Weakling to Powerhouse scale, Minnesota is in the bottom quartile, ahead of only four Big Ten Teams - Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland. (And we saw what Maryland did today.) Note that four of the Gophers' victories last year were against those four teams - obviously a fortunate schedule.
More importantly, in the Embarrassing to Admirable scale, Minnesota is ranked near the bottom, ahead of only North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Baylor. (And think about how awful those four programs have been.)
As I mentioned above, I raise the WSJ article not to agree with it. Instead, I raise the article to point out how Minnesota is perceived.
Because of where the Gophers are on the football scale, perhaps we should temper our expectations a bit, and support Coach Fleck and his staff as they attempt to improve the Gophers, especially through recruiting. The bottom quartile does not customarily become champions. Coach Fleck did not inherit a gold mine. He and his staff have their work cut out for them.
Because of where the Gophers are on the integrity scale, perhaps we should better keep in mind how the Gophers are perceived by non- and indifferent fans. That perception affects everything, but it especially affects attendance and recruiting. In my view, we are lucky that Coach Fleck, given his opportunities, chose to come to Minnesota. (I agree with him that we are a Sleeping Giant, but someone has to wake us up.) Given his outlook and personality, as well as coaching ability, he might have been the perfect hire. In addition, we should laud the administration for moving on from the prior coaching regime, despite their obvious coaching talents, and understand why casual fans may not be showing the support we think they should. In my view, attendance will improve only when the team performs and the general perception of the program improves. (And Coach Fleck appears to be working on both fronts.)
Thank you.
Go Gophers! Row the Boat! Ski-U-Mah! (Always Ski-U-Mah!)
