Daily Gopher: Fleck doesn't give a s*** about the weather

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Did you know that it gets cold in Minnesota during the winter? If that fact eluded you, Ian Boyd is here to remind you not once but three times(!) in an article about the recruiting challenges facing P.J. Fleck. Boyd argues that Minnesota struggles to recruit talent because it is cold during the winter, in contrast to warm places like Florida.

On the one hand there is some truth to this. It is easier to develop football players when they can play outside year round. Minnesota tends to produce fewer high caliber athletes than states with comparable populations in warmer climates. Indoor sports are different story, but it is a fact that the state produces few four and five star recruits. Why then write an piece responding? Three reasons. First, dude come on, we know it’s cold in the winter here. Second, weather is not the reason that Minnesota does not recruit well. Third, the weather’s impact on schemes is less important than Boyd alleges.

http://www.thedailygopher.com/2017/...cruiting-pj-fleck-cold-weather-whoopidity-doo
 

The referenced article talks about being ready to play games in December at TCF. How many December games have been played at TCF (not including the Vikings)?

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Word said:
The referenced article talks about being ready to play games in December at TCF. How many December games have been played at TCF (not including the Vikings)?

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0 and unless the B1G went to a title game hosted at a division champ, it'll likely never happen.
 

Tim Riggins said:
0 and unless the B1G went to a title game hosted at a division champ, it'll likely never happen.
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Articles like these always fail to mention that we are actually one of the driest Big Ten climates during September October and November. Maybe here it will be 10 degrees cooler than Michigan but at least we're typically dry.
 

beatles said:
Articles like these always fail to mention that we are actually one of the driest Big Ten climates during September October and November. Maybe here it will be 10 degrees cooler than Michigan but at least we're typically dry.
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Very good point. How many other Big Ten schools played home games in rains this past season...lots! Did we have any? Nope!
 


harley_gopher said:
Very good point. How many other Big Ten schools played home games in rains this past season...lots! Did we have any? Nope!
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True, but you still have to get recruits to live there pretty much year round, and it is damn cold in the winter (especially for a recruit from Texas). No, you don't have to play in it, but you do have to live it every day. The weather is definitely a factor in the Gopher's recruiting.
 

Ski U Master said:
True, but you still have to get recruits to live there pretty much year round, and it is damn cold in the winter (especially for a recruit from Texas). No, you don't have to play in it, but you do have to live it every day. The weather is definitely a factor in the Gopher's recruiting.
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True. But I think the point being made by some is that winter is pretty lousy in most of the B1G country. The average temperature differences are negligible when it comes to dress and outside avoidance.

If the Texas recruit wants to play at a southern school, great. But if he wants to play in the B1G, he needs to sack up. Winter sucks most places in the B1G.

There is a perception that MN is like Siberia for 6 months and towns like Iowa City and Madison are just a bit chilly. I've lived in Michigan and now live in Illinois and I have these conversations every time I tell someone I'm from Minnesota. They tell me "Oh, it's so cold there", as we both stand there shivering in winter jackets waiting for our kids to get out of school.
 

BarnBoy said:
True. But I think the point being made by some is that winter is pretty lousy in most of the B1G country. The average temperature differences are negligible when it comes to dress and outside avoidance.

If the Texas recruit wants to play at a southern school, great. But if he wants to play in the B1G, he needs to sack up. Winter sucks most places in the B1G.

There is a perception that MN is like Siberia for 6 months and towns like Iowa City and Madison are just a bit chilly. I've lived in Michigan and now live in Illinois and I have these conversations every time I tell someone I'm from Minnesota. They tell me "Oh, it's so cold there", as we both stand there shivering in winter jackets waiting for our kids to get out of school.
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This is exactly right, and below are the numbers to prove it! I always find it comical how people from cold Midwestern cities have the perception that they live in a tropical paradise compared to Minneapolis. In reality, towns like madison and East Lansing actually have COLDER average annual low temperatures than Minneapolis! And, on average, Minneapolis temperatures are within approximately 5 degrees of nine other B1G cities!
B1G Average Temperatures.JPG
 

It gets cold here? Winter sucks? You could also argue that it gets hot here and summer sucks.
 



I would say our recruiting troubles come more from the fact that we are geographically much more isolated from population centers than most major conference teams. Think about the neighboring areas, north of here - Canada, nearly no recruits, west of here - almost no recruits all the way to Seattle, east of here - Wisconsin then lake Michigan, so a few but not many, south of here - Iowa , so very few until you go at least two states away. It's a fairly unique situation. The other big ten states border more populated and/or recruit rich areas.
 

Claeys thought it was cold here.


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BarnBoy said:
True. But I think the point being made by some is that winter is pretty lousy in most of the B1G country. The average temperature differences are negligible when it comes to dress and outside avoidance.

If the Texas recruit wants to play at a southern school, great. But if he wants to play in the B1G, he needs to sack up. Winter sucks most places in the B1G.

There is a perception that MN is like Siberia for 6 months and towns like Iowa City and Madison are just a bit chilly. I've lived in Michigan and now live in Illinois and I have these conversations every time I tell someone I'm from Minnesota. They tell me "Oh, it's so cold there", as we both stand there shivering in winter jackets waiting for our kids to get out of school.
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What a bunch of insufferable ******s. Did you also tell them about the "Slaughter in Sioux Falls" and how we all enjoy the delicacy of Lutefisk. Ill take Minneapolis over any other Big Ten city and honestly our winters have not been that bad the last 3 or 4 years and Ive worked outside daily on a railroad for 10 years.
 

MplsGopherFan said:
This is exactly right, and below are the numbers to prove it! I always find it comical how people from cold Midwestern cities have the perception that they live in a tropical paradise compared to Minneapolis. In reality, towns like madison and East Lansing actually have COLDER average annual low temperatures than Minneapolis! And, on average, Minneapolis temperatures are within approximately 5 degrees of nine other B1G cities!
View attachment 4786
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Interesting chart. Looking to the other 4 in the top 5 coldest, it's pretty hard to accept any more weather excuses. Fleck needs to carry a copy of this in his back pocket for recruits deciding between Minnesota and any of those schools.


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Donkeypunch Jones said:
What a bunch of insufferable ******s. Did you also tell them about the "Slaughter in Sioux Falls" and how we all enjoy the delicacy of Lutefisk. Ill take Minneapolis over any other Big Ten city and honestly our winters have not been that bad the last 3 or 4 years and Ive worked outside daily on a railroad for 10 years.
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Careful!! Global warming is a hoax and we have the Chinese to blame for the whole charade!
 


The geographic isolation component is imo the most significant aspect of the schools recruiting issues. I would like to see ~ 15 power conference caliber recruits being produced in a 3 hour radius of campus consistently.

We're too reliant on areas where the competition for recruits is very tough and are likely to lose many of those recruiting wars even with Flecks energy and drive as a recruiter.
 

Smash em Gophs! said:
Careful!! Global warming is a hoax and we have the Chinese to blame for the whole charade!
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Global Warming is dead. It is now Climate Change. Get with the program. When data showed fluctuations rather than a trend the agenda was changed. Kinda like changing a prediction from Gophers are going to win to Gophers are going to play.


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Of course Fleck would say that. But he knows better.

In reality, its one important "thing" in a long list that he has to overcome to get quality players from warmer climates to come to the Frozen Tundra.
 

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