National Champs! Gophers Win College National Bass Fishing Championship

BleedGopher

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per the STrib:

While national championships have been few and far between at the University of Minnesota, students Austin Felix and Chris Burgan quietly brought home a title over the weekend.

The pair won the FLW College National Bass Fishing Championship on Saturday in Seneca, S.C., a first for the school, and a first for a northern school in a competition dominated by Southern anglers. Besides trophies, the pair won $30,000 worth of prizes for their team, including a new boat, motor and trailer.

“I was pretty shocked,’’ said Felix, 29, of Eden Prairie. “Usually all the national champions come out of the South, because they get to fish bass year-round.’’

He and Burgan, 21, of Rhinelander, Wis., also won a chance to compete this summer with professional anglers in the 2014 Forest Wood Cup in South Carolina, the world’s most prestigious bass tournament.

“That’s the equivalent of someone on the U of M golf team getting invited to the Masters golf tournament,’’ Felix said.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/249678321.html

Go Gophers!!
 




29 years old? Are we sure he hasn't already used up his eligibility? I smell an NCAA investigation coming
 


They put the bass in basketball i guess.
 

29 years old? Are we sure he hasn't already used up his eligibility? I smell an NCAA investigation coming

That's the great thing about Club Sports, each sport has its own eligibility rules. Obviously fishing has no time limit, and you might see a lot of grad students.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

per the STrib:

While national championships have been few and far between at the University of Minnesota....



Is this not one of the most blatent examples of just how clueless and idiotic the STrib people are?!


I mean, sure we're not winning Natl Titles in football or basketball anymore, BUT, if you are going to talk about a Bass Fishing Natl Title and in the same breath try to claim that Titles are few and far between at the Univ of Minnesota, then I've got something for the STribers to consider.



Going backwards, tell me when to quit now, lol...


2013-14 - UMn wins THREE Natl Xs, 2 in Dance Team comp & 1 in Wrestling Duals, SO FAR... hopefully a few more are to come.


2012-13 - UMn wins SIX Natl Titles, 1 in W's Hockey, 2 in Dance Team comp, 1 in Curling, 1 in Women's Club Hockey & 1 in Wr Duals

2011-12 - UMn wins FOUR Natl Titles, 1 in W's Hockey, 2 in Dance Team comp & 1 in Wr Duals

2010-11 - UMn wins two Natl Titles, both in Dance Team competition.

2009-10 - UMn wins THREE Natl Titles, 2 in Dance Team competition & 1 in Women's Kumite.

2008-09 - UMn wins 1 Natl Title in Curling.

2007-08 - all I could find for this school year was a Quiz Bowl Natl Title in the Undergraduate Division. The same Quiz Bowl team also won titles in 2008-09 & 2009-10. It's one of the most successful competitive teams at the U, if not the most successful? lol

2006-07 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in Wr Duals and one in NCAA Wrestling.

2005-06 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in Wr Duals & 1 in Dance Team Competition.

2004-05 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in Women's Hockey & 1 in Dance Team Competition.

2003-04 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in Women's Hockey & 1 in Dance Team Competition.

2002-03 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in Men's Hockey & 1 in Dance Team Competition.

2001-02 - UMn wins FOUR Natl Titles, 1 in Men's Hk, 1 in Mens Golf, 1 in NCAA Wr & 1 in Wr Duals

2000-01 - UMn wins 2 Natl Titles, 1 in NCAA Wrestling & 1 in Wr Duals

1999-00 - UMn wins 1 Natl Titles in Women's Hockey.

1998-99 - I'll have to go check if the Solar Rayce Team on a Title this year, because even the Quiz Bowl team could only come up with a 3rd place finish and the Men's Wrestling only finished 2nd in the closest 1-2 finish in NCAA tournament history.

1997-98 - UMn wins 1 Natl Title in Wr Duals.


That's at least ONE Bass Fishing Natl Title equivalent or more, EVERY YEAR for the past, 16 and a half years. Or a total of 40 Natl Titles in those 16 and half years. More than 2 a year. And that list is missing several more Quiz Bowl Natl Titles and some Solar Rayce Car Titles that aren't on my list of "sports" titles, so I only remembered when the 3 I listed occurred and so only listed those 3.

Simply put, the U's competitive spirit has been on fire every since Yoduf became President, or about that time. I don't know if it was him necessarily that lit the fire initially or if he just happened to come into his position around the time this upward swing seemed to begin? I felt the beginnings of this upward swing first when we hired Lou Holtz, and then Clem Haskins and after Holtz left but before Clem got outed as a cheater, when J Robinson first arrived at the U.

Then getting a very successful VB coach from Illinois and Glen Mason and then Don Lucia for the hockey team were just hires that seemed to show a pattern, of hiring people that the U truly felt could change the fortunes of the teams they would be leading. Haskins didn't work out for us and we are still in recovery mode from that debacle and Glen Mason was a big improvement, but not the 2nd coming of Bernie Bierman we were hoping for. There was talk of getting Dungy and Saunders to come home, but unfortunately for us both were just too good at what they did to drop down so far and have to work so hard and pray they didn't fail and become the 2nd coming of Joe Salem. Not sure if that was when we had the idiot as our AD either, who had the right intentions and made some decent hires, but otherwise just didn't have it and slowed down this whole upward move in as many ways as he helped it.

But things just seem to get better and better every year. Some peaks and some valleys which is to be expected in college sports, but the U is averaging almost 5 Final Fours a year if you include the Dance Team's accomplishments since the beginning of the 21st Century, as compared to not even 1 a year for all of the decades prior to that. The U dropped the ball when it didn't push to become the nation's leader in supporting women's athletics as soon as it possibly could have. The U's been at the forefront of supporting blacks, jews, moslems, communists, Transgenders, Gays, Bisexuals and any and all minorities of any kind in any way really in the past, as well as women in so many other ways over it's history, it kind of bewilders me that it didn't jump all over this opportunity in the realm of athletics. But now I'm rambling.




compared to this


1996-97 - This is the last year of the Dark Ages that started in basically in 1980. Basically an 18 year stretch with ZERO Natl Titles in any sport, although I believe there was a Handball Natl Title won sometime in the 80's? 1987 I believe, but those club Titles are only fun to talk about when they come IN ADDITION to other NCAA sports Natl Titles.

Maybe winning the Gold Medal in the Miracle on Ice Olympic games with 9 Gophers on the 20 man roster and a former Gopher at the helm basically used up all of our Mojo for the next entire decade and a half?! lol

I know there is some real world explanation, probably having something to do with who the U's president and AD were along with others in decision making positions, and if not for Herb Brooks and the Gopher hockey teams of the 70's, that period absent of any Natl Titles would have stretched back to 1964.




There was a time in history when the University of Minnesota was at least tied for 1st place in the nation for having the most Natl Titles in Football, Basketball, Baseball and Hockey, all at the same time, if you count any(or all) of the Hockey titles from the 20s.

And UMn still ranks among the Top Ten in the nation in all 4 of those sports in the # of Natl Titles won in those 4 sports, counting Helms, AAU, and other forms of pre-NCAA Titles such as Billingsley Titles in cfb. Tack on our ranking Top 5 in the # of Wrestling Natl Titles now, and #1 in # of Women's Hockey Titles and UMn's done ok for itself. We all wish it could be better, especially with those majors, Football, basketball and baseball, but far too many people seem to be needed to join forces to cancel out those in Minnesota who seem determined to conspire to undermine our Big Money sports' chances of ever being as good as they once were.



Making the whole 190 million dollar Practice Facility Plus thing happen is a good start, though.
 




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