The Kessel, 19 November 1942 - 31 January 1943
Maturi didn't lose the game last night. People with less skill but who we're better coached and played with more personal responsibility and more heart won.
givetheballtodarrell,
1. As I have sadly stated in a previous post, in the annals of NCAA Division 1A athletic directors, Joel Maturi’s leadership, decision making, and stewardship of the University of Minnesota revenue sports programs begs comparison and runs parallel with Herr GeneralfeldMarschall Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus’ leadership, decision making, and stewardship of the much vaunted German Sixth Army.
2. Paulus suffered from fatal character flaws. His unwillingness or inability to defy Hitler’s idiotic orders to attack Stalingrad prematurely was then followed with an even weaker display of character through failing to protect his remaining troops in The Kessel (19 November 1942 – 31 January 1943) by breaking out of the Kessel. It meant defying Hitler’s idiotic order to hold Stalingrad at all cost. The result was total decimation of the German Sixth Army, which started out with some 300,000 troops of which only 6,000 survived the war.
3. In the case of the University of Minnesota Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (or whatever they are called today), it matters little whether the idiotic order to fire Glen Mason came from Robert Bruininks, The Regents of the University of Minnesota, or whether this was a brain f@rt specially conjured up by Joel Maturi himself. What matters are the results. The results remind me of dropping ordnance on our own troops and killing them through “friendly fire.” We fragged ourselves through this horrible display of leadership.
4. Paulus likely would have been courts martialed by Hitler and probably executed for breaking out of “The Kessel,” but he would have saved tens of thousands of good German soldiers. A good leader puts the interests of those under his / her charge ahead of his / her own personal interests. In Paulus’ case, he made two bad decisions, the first agreeing to prematurely attack Stalingrad, followed by an even worse one which would seal the fate of the German Sixth Army.
5. Our 37 – 24 loss last night is another monument to Joel Maturi’s horrible decision making, and his failure to hold himself accountable for the irreparable damage he has perpetrated on University of Minnesota revenue sports. If Robert Bruininks or The Regents of the University of Minnesota ordered Joel Maturi to fire Glen Mason, then Joel should have had the character to stand up to them, refuse the order, and tender his own resignation in protest. If the decision to fire Glen Mason was Joel Maturi’s and Joel’s alone, he should have resigned before he fired Tim Brewster, in acknowledgement of his own personal mistakes. He did neither.
6. I don’t blame Tim Brewster like other people on this board do. He took the opportunity to earn 7 figures Joel handed him on a silver platter. Tim did not make a decision to be a poor football coach. He made a decision to become a millionaire.
7. Thank God Joel did not go through ROTC at Notre Dame and did not lead men in battle in Vietnam.
