Another view of PJ

MrC

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
767
Reaction score
0
Points
16
On Saturday night, I attended a fund raiser for the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.

As a Gopher fan, a couple things stood out.

Kyle Tanner spoke to the crowd. As you may recall, he was the young man with Fanconi anemia who used a T-shirt cannon to deliver Justin Jeunemann’s scholarship. Kyle was the highlight of the evening, with a smart, funny, articulate and engaging message. He seemed as sincere in his admiration for PJ as in his pride in pointing out his mother was in the crowd on Mother’s Day eve. The two shared a standing ovation.

PJ appeared a few times via recorded video. The first time he said he could not be there because he was attending a different charity event. I thought that was odd, but then I learned that one of the live auction items was a dinner with the Fleck’s at their home cooked by a professional chef:

https://aesbid.com/WFSAT18/Item?id=3&isLive=True

If I recall correctly, the dinner went for $15000. I was surprised that with all the pressures on their calendar, PJ and Heather were willing to give a second night to a charity to make up for giving last Saturday night to different charity.

I know there are folks that would discount this as just part of his job, or maybe contractually required, or 9 scholarships, or year zero, or whatever. And yes, he does make himself an easy target from time to time. But his commitment to the community is real. I find that easy to admire.
 

Good post, and I agree with all of it.

Beat wisconsin though and he'll be the toast of the town.

Go Gophers!!
 

It's very saavy in terms of a PR/marketing sense (clearly it's working). He may also like doing it out of the goodness of his heart, not arguing that. But, it can't be denied that it's very thoughtful brand building, and is starting to turn a lot of the apathetic folks into active supporters.

Whatever his motivation, the end result is the same. Even though the rhetoric gets annoying, and borderline patronizing and phony, it can't be argued that the impact the guy has is all-around positive. Can't help but feel great about the attention he's bringing, and "karmic" vibes.

Again, this is nothing new around the program, previous regimes have been very active in the community and charitable organizations, PJ just does such a great job of emphasizing it and getting it broadcasted.
 

IMHO, he is genuine and thoughtful albeit he can be a little corny.

The guy has boundless energy. His mom even took him to the doctor to see if something was wrong with him growing up. Yup. He's normal. You need to get him involve in sports to channel all that energy.

Bottom line, all things are forgiven if we beat Wisconsin regularly and win the B1G.
 

IMHO, he is genuine and thoughtful albeit he can be a little corny.

The guy has boundless energy. His mom even took him to the doctor to see if something was wrong with him growing up. Yup. He's normal. You need to get him involve in sports to channel all that energy.

Bottom line, all things are forgiven if we beat Wisconsin regularly and win the B1G.

Yep, I agree with this take.

I think he is a bit corny and goofy, but he strikes me as genuine.
 


I've no reason to doubt PJ isn't who he says he is.

I'm sure he has moments where he wants to lay on the couch and stuff his face with nachos and not be 100% psychically, spiritually, socially elite, but that doesn't take away from him IMO.
 

"It's very saavy in terms of a PR/marketing sense (clearly it's working)"

Not with all the gymnastics they are having to use to sell tickets it's not. Not if you talk to the non-hardcore Gopher Fans either. Nor if you're in the stands at TCF.

It's certainly not helpful reading how many of his most loyal defenders are constantly posting about how mediocre the team is gonna be this year. Injuries, lack of depth? They are both worthy of noting. The weakness of the schedule should mitigate some of that.

What's deafening though is all the silence about how the Caching Staff being able to steal a game or two. Even the most strident of his supporters never say a thing about that. Matter of fact when people start talking about match-ups, virtually never does anybody give the Gopher's Staff the check mark.

And that's on a Gopher Fan Website!

I still think Fleck will end-up being a good coach. He's got a track record that should confirm that. Problem is in the public's mind so far he's all talk.

Win 7+ games this year, bring some trophies home and don't quit they way they did against NW and WI and the public will start buying in. Both in terms of support and tickets.

Right now comparisons to Brewster aren't fair. Fleck had a good track record, Brewster did not.

Jim Wacker, for those old enough to remember, may be. He had a good track record. He won 4 National Titles at lower levels and didn't do that bad at TCU, which had been abysmal before he got there.

He was a FCA guy, preached and lived his life "on the straight and narrow". His athletes did too.

Problem is they couldn't deliver on the field. Trust that P.J. can. Until then, hold off a little on how much of his "marketing" is working.
 

“My heart is pumpin', and my corpuscles are jumpin', baby, I'll tell ya. I'm thrilled.” — Jim Wacker

I liked him. He was genuinely a good person.
 

"It's very saavy in terms of a PR/marketing sense (clearly it's working)"

Not with all the gymnastics they are having to use to sell tickets it's not. Not if you talk to the non-hardcore Gopher Fans either. Nor if you're in the stands at TCF.

It's certainly not helpful reading how many of his most loyal defenders are constantly posting about how mediocre the team is gonna be this year. Injuries, lack of depth? They are both worthy of noting. The weakness of the schedule should mitigate some of that.

What's deafening though is all the silence about how the Caching Staff being able to steal a game or two. Even the most strident of his supporters never say a thing about that. Matter of fact when people start talking about match-ups, virtually never does anybody give the Gopher's Staff the check mark.

And that's on a Gopher Fan Website!

I still think Fleck will end-up being a good coach. He's got a track record that should confirm that. Problem is in the public's mind so far he's all talk.

Win 7+ games this year, bring some trophies home and don't quit they way they did against NW and WI and the public will start buying in. Both in terms of support and tickets.

Right now comparisons to Brewster aren't fair. Fleck had a good track record, Brewster did not.

Jim Wacker, for those old enough to remember, may be. He had a good track record. He won 4 National Titles at lower levels and didn't do that bad at TCU, which had been abysmal before he got there.

He was a FCA guy, preached and lived his life "on the straight and narrow". His athletes did too.

Problem is they couldn't deliver on the field. Trust that P.J. can. Until then, hold off a little on how much of his "marketing" is working.


Well, this has been the case since Mason.
Part of the reason why is because since Mason, we never really stole a game.
Only top 25 win since Mason was beating a downward spiralling Nebraska team I believe.
 



Well, this has been the case since Mason.
Part of the reason why is because since Mason, we never really stole a game.
Only top 25 win since Mason was beating a downward spiralling Nebraska team I believe.

Downward spiraling isn't quite accurate - that Nebraska team was coming off 1 loss at Wisconsin, it was in Nebraska, and the following week they went into Iowa and beat Iowa. That was a good win for our program.

The other Nebraska win (at home), the win was sandwiched between 5 Nebraska wins. That team went on to beat Georgia in the Gator Bowl that year. Now quite circling the drain.
 

Well, this has been the case since Mason.
Part of the reason why is because since Mason, we never really stole a game.
Only top 25 win since Mason was beating a downward spiralling Nebraska team I believe.

Nice attempt at deflecting. Didn't say anything about a big upset, just the ability to beat a favored team, or win a game late. You know, steal a game or two. That's been done a number of times since that Nebraska game. Problem is even Fleck's most ardent supporters show no confidence in P.J.'s ability to ever beat a favored team. Even you know that.

And those of us who think he can and will do that this year bring responses of "Hell no!"

Picking them to beat only 2 or 3 Power Conference teams? Fans have gone from mocking 8-5 and 9-4 seasons because "they didn't beat anybody". To "maybe in a year or two we can be competitive again". Or worse yet "Who cares about that? I don't care if they can't even get to .500 I want a National Championship!" :banghead:

Call it what you will, but it's not "a marketing success". Which is what that post was about.
 

Nice attempt at deflecting. Didn't say anything about a big upset, just the ability to beat a favored team, or win a game late. You know, steal a game or two. That's been done a number of times since that Nebraska game. Problem is even Fleck's most ardent supporters show no confidence in P.J.'s ability to ever beat a favored team. Even you know that.

And those of us who think he can and will do that this year bring responses of "Hell no!"

Picking them to beat only 2 or 3 Power Conference teams? Fans have gone from mocking 8-5 and 9-4 seasons because "they didn't beat anybody". To "maybe in a year or two we can be competitive again". Or worse yet "Who cares about that? I don't care if they can't even get to .500 I want a National Championship!" :banghead:

Call it what you will, but it's not "a marketing success". Which is what that post was about.

That's my personal favorite....along with the Navy Seal analogy.
 

Nice attempt at deflecting. Didn't say anything about a big upset, just the ability to beat a favored team, or win a game late. You know, steal a game or two. That's been done a number of times since that Nebraska game. Problem is even Fleck's most ardent supporters show no confidence in P.J.'s ability to ever beat a favored team. Even you know that.

And those of us who think he can and will do that this year bring responses of "Hell no!"

Picking them to beat only 2 or 3 Power Conference teams? Fans have gone from mocking 8-5 and 9-4 seasons because "they didn't beat anybody". To "maybe in a year or two we can be competitive again". Or worse yet "Who cares about that? I don't care if they can't even get to .500 I want a National Championship!" :banghead:

Call it what you will, but it's not "a marketing success". Which is what that post was about.

Not sure if you are looking for a signature win, but I'm not sure who Fleck would have beat last year which would have been appropriate to make your case that he had a good win.

If he beat Maryland or Purdue, it would have been ho-hum.
If they beat MSU, it would have been because "MSU was still down" or if they beat Michigan, it would have been a negative reflection on Harbaugh moreso than anything positive for Fleck.
In the end, I just don't expect a lot from 2 and 3 start QB's starting their first season.

We can all be upset that Fleck didn't beat WI or Michigan, but really, when have we? Now after one short season with two QB's that weren't right for the system in their first years, we're supposed to start using that as some type of proof that PJ can't coach them up to beat a team as an underdog?

Mason's been gone for how many years, and we have two Nebraska wins as key victories in how many years, and Fleck went 0 for 3 or 4 in games you felt would have been good coaching wins?

Do you people even listen to yourselves or count the number of games that would actually hit your criteria when you make these arguments?
 



Maryland - L
Purdue - L
MSU - L
Illinois - W
Iowa - L
Michigan - L
Nebraska - W
Northwestern - L
Wisconsin - L

Which of these games last year would have been a signature win for you?
 

Not sure if you are looking for a signature win, but I'm not sure who Fleck would have beat last year which would have been appropriate to make your case that he had a good win.

If he beat Maryland or Purdue, it would have been ho-hum.
If they beat MSU, it would have been because "MSU was still down" or if they beat Michigan, it would have been a negative reflection on Harbaugh moreso than anything positive for Fleck.
In the end, I just don't expect a lot from 2 and 3 start QB's starting their first season.

We can all be upset that Fleck didn't beat WI or Michigan, but really, when have we? Now after one short season with two QB's that weren't right for the system in their first years, we're supposed to start using that as some type of proof that PJ can't coach them up to beat a team as an underdog?

Mason's been gone for how many years, and we have two Nebraska wins as key victories in how many years, and Fleck went 0 for 3 or 4 in games you felt would have been good coaching wins?

Do you people even listen to yourselves or count the number of games that would actually hit your criteria when you make these arguments?

Well, he lost to Maryland and Purdue. Is that better? I agree there weren't many realistic opportunities for a signature win last year, based on the schedule and talent level. What soured me on the season was losing two games we did not need to lose -- Maryland and Purdue.
 

Not sure if you are looking for a signature win, but I'm not sure who Fleck would have beat last year which would have been appropriate to make your case that he had a good win.

Do you people even listen to yourselves or count the number of games that would actually hit your criteria when you make these arguments?

That was a response to "just the ability to beat a favored team, or win a game late. ??

No kidding. Who the hell was talking about beating "top 25 " teams or "signature wins" besides you?

I get it. You have zero faith in his coaching ability, just his ability to recruit. Do you even read a post before you reply to it? :D
 

Well, he lost to Maryland and Purdue. Is that better? I agree there weren't many realistic opportunities for a signature win last year, based on the schedule and talent level. What soured me on the season was losing two games we did not need to lose -- Maryland and Purdue.

I agree that losses to Maryland and Purdue weren't good, but do you think fans of Maryland and Purdue are looking at us going, "Well, we beat MN, so that was a great coaching win!".

Just like I could point to a 30 point win over Nebraska and point to that as something bigger than it is, but it isn't.
Same with losing to WI by 30 points.
Is a single season of losing to Wisconsin by 30 all of a sudden to give credit or blame to a coach?
Same for a 30 point win vs Nebraska. Is he a great coach because of one game?

My point is, people are conveniently looking for Fleck after one season to have something no Gopher coach had since Mason.

In 10 years as Head Coach, Mason had 6 wins over top 25 teams.
Everyone since had 2.
 

Problem is even Fleck's most ardent supporters show no confidence in P.J.'s ability to ever beat a favored team.

This makes absolutely no sense as Fleck's Gophers did beat a favored team last season. So why wouldn't his most ardent supporters have confidence he could do it again?
 

I agree that losses to Maryland and Purdue weren't good, but do you think fans of Maryland and Purdue are looking at us going, "Well, we beat MN, so that was a great coaching win!".

Just like I could point to a 30 point win over Nebraska and point to that as something bigger than it is, but it isn't.
Same with losing to WI by 30 points.
Is a single season of losing to Wisconsin by 30 all of a sudden to give credit or blame to a coach?
Same for a 30 point win vs Nebraska. Is he a great coach because of one game?

My point is, people are conveniently looking for Fleck after one season to have something no Gopher coach had since Mason.

In 10 years as Head Coach, Mason had 6 wins over top 25 teams.


Everyone since had 2.

Who are these "people" you keep referring to who are demanding those wins over Top 25 teams?

Can you actually find anybody who posted that in this thread, you know besides yourself. :cool:
 

This makes absolutely no sense as Fleck's Gophers did beat a favored team last season. So why wouldn't his most ardent supporters have confidence he could do it again?

Yeah, that's the conundrum right there isn't it? :cool:
 

This makes absolutely no sense as Fleck's Gophers did beat a favored team last season. So why wouldn't his most ardent supporters have confidence he could do it again?

You are referring to the 1-11 Oregon State Beavers? That was and always will be one of the most curious betting lines ever.

Thank God the air dehydration PJ worried about didn’t strike too hard.
 

You are referring to the 1-11 Oregon State Beavers? That was and always will be one of the most curious betting lines ever.

Thank God the air dehydration PJ worried about didn’t strike too hard.

That is the game I am referring to. The poster said show the ability to beat a favored team. Fleck did beat a favored team. Regardless of how curious the line was the Gophers beat a favored team.
 


Thank you for the balance Mr C. Just to be clear, my impressions of PJ include a very talented, good man. It's because of this he frustrates me. He is capable of more than I think he realizes. He reports all the excuses rather than talking about all the positives, including his own ability. He seems afraid to go for it, now. He wants to wait for the future. For instance, the future is now at Nebraska. PJ and the Gophers beat Nebraska by 100 but Scott Frost doesn't care. he's on fire, they are going to win this year and PJ has the Gophers hoping we get to 2020. That's all.
 

There is no conundrum. Your whole premise is false as the Fleck coached Gophers beat a favored team.

Yeah, he really stole that game against a favored team didn't he?

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:rolleyes:

Oh and unlike you and the "other guy" I think Fleck and Company have it in them them to win some of those games this year.
 

Yeah, he really stole that game against a favored team didn't he?

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:rolleyes:

Oh and unlike you and the "other guy" I think Fleck and Company have it in them them to win some of those games this year.

Again, you make no sense.

The Fleck coached Gophers have beaten a favored team. Therefore there would be no reason for me or the "other guy" to think that a Fleck coached Gopher team would never beat a favored team.
 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that with the lethal combination of Croft and Rhoda under center, the Gophers weren't going to steal anything from anyone.
 

So in the end, some GH'ers are upset that he didn't pull an upset which he did.

Now they are upset that betting lines were incorrect.

They are also upset because he's setting expectations low.

If Oregon St was the one game where he pulled a win he shouldn't we want to discount that, yet say we expect more.


That's like saying, "Hey, that chick you brought home last weekend was so drunk, she didn't recognize how ugly and awkward you were, so that doesn't really count.
Now explain to me why you aren't bringing home some other babe this week who is even hotter?"
 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that with the lethal combination of Croft and Rhoda under center, the Gophers weren't going to steal anything from anyone.

Thank you.

It's as if people will read this sentence, yet have ZERO ABILITY to comprehend any of what you wrote.
 





Top Bottom