Fleck sees Gophers winning axe as defining moment, Badgers disagree

BleedGopher

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per Megan:

Throughout Big Ten Media Days, P.J. Fleck made one point multiple times, from his news conference to his breakout session to the kickoff luncheon.

No, it wasn’t (only) “row the boat.” It was that the Gophers finally topping Wisconsin in the border battle marked a turning point for his program.

“Getting the axe back, I thought, meant a lot for both teams,” Fleck said Thursday. “I know, maybe, Wisconsin is not happy that we have the axe, but it’s healthy for the rivalry. Trust me, Wisconsin didn’t let us win. But it’s healthy.”

From Fleck’s perspective, a 14-year drought caused Gophers fans to doubt that Paul Bunyan’s Axe would ever return to Minnesota.

“Well, winning that game, especially how we won it and where we won it and hadn’t won there since 1994,” Fleck said, “breaking that mold creates this hope for the future, and that’s what I hope our state of Minnesota understands is we’re doing things that haven’t been done in a very long time.”

Wisconsin, though, didn’t see it as such a defining moment.

“That’s cool that that’s how they want to use it when they look at one game,” Wisconsin senior linebacker Chris Orr said. “I don’t know if it’s something I would do unless I, like, won the Big Ten Championship.

“I don’t look at losing that game as something that’s going to make us go down the toilet bowl now.”

Center Tyler Biadasz echoed that point, saying while the Badgers are “upset” about that 2018 loss, they aren’t “damaged to the point where [they’re] not hungry enough for it back.” They didn’t even need Fleck’s reminder: An empty trophy case the players walk past in the locker room all the time never lets them forget.

http://www.startribune.com/while-p-...ment-badgers-disagree/512974842/?refresh=true

Go Gophers!!
 

They'll feel differently after the game this year, when they lose again.
 


They cooled on the Axe.

LOL.
It was a great win for the Gophers in their journey back to respectability. For the Badgers it was a down year in that our defense was so depleted and our QB play was not up to par. The Gophers earned the win and it was no fluke. We'll see if its two programs crossing in the night in opposite directions. Or, it was one game. I think its one game, you guys got better and we didn't put up much fight.
 

per Megan:

Throughout Big Ten Media Days, P.J. Fleck made one point multiple times, from his news conference to his breakout session to the kickoff luncheon.

No, it wasn’t (only) “row the boat.” It was that the Gophers finally topping Wisconsin in the border battle marked a turning point for his program.

“Getting the axe back, I thought, meant a lot for both teams,” Fleck said Thursday. “I know, maybe, Wisconsin is not happy that we have the axe, but it’s healthy for the rivalry. Trust me, Wisconsin didn’t let us win. But it’s healthy.”

From Fleck’s perspective, a 14-year drought caused Gophers fans to doubt that Paul Bunyan’s Axe would ever return to Minnesota.

“Well, winning that game, especially how we won it and where we won it and hadn’t won there since 1994,” Fleck said, “breaking that mold creates this hope for the future, and that’s what I hope our state of Minnesota understands is we’re doing things that haven’t been done in a very long time.”

Wisconsin, though, didn’t see it as such a defining moment.

“That’s cool that that’s how they want to use it when they look at one game,” Wisconsin senior linebacker Chris Orr said. “I don’t know if it’s something I would do unless I, like, won the Big Ten Championship.

“I don’t look at losing that game as something that’s going to make us go down the toilet bowl now.”

Center Tyler Biadasz echoed that point, saying while the Badgers are “upset” about that 2018 loss, they aren’t “damaged to the point where [they’re] not hungry enough for it back.” They didn’t even need Fleck’s reminder: An empty trophy case the players walk past in the locker room all the time never lets them forget.

http://www.startribune.com/while-p-...ment-badgers-disagree/512974842/?refresh=true

Go Gophers!!

This year baby. The B1G West trophy comes to our Trophy case.
 


They wouldn't even respond except for seeing our new physicality.

It's amazing, but I believe we are getting in their heads.
 

More importantly, it gave us the momentum we needed to head to the bowl game and secure our fourth win in five games.

Sounds like sour grapes out of the badgers. We thumped 'em.
 

LOL.
It was a great win for the Gophers in their journey back to respectability. For the Badgers it was a down year in that our defense was so depleted and our QB play was not up to par. The Gophers earned the win and it was no fluke. We'll see if its two programs crossing in the night in opposite directions. Or, it was one game. I think its one game, you guys got better and we didn't put up much fight.


I think most MN realize WI isn't going away.

And I think the point is the rivalry is on track to be competitive again.

Although I wouldn't lose sleep if we won 14 straight.....
 

More importantly, it gave us the momentum we needed to head to the bowl game and secure our fourth win in five games.

Sounds like sour grapes out of the badgers. We thumped 'em.

And hopefully momentum into this year and moving forward.

If we lose 14 in a row again, it'll just be a blip and I'll be closing in on retirement remembering fondly of game in late my 30's
 



Beating them again would add some substance for Fleck here. Beating them was huge but one win is easily forgotten. Making it a streak makes it recognizable and a huge kick in the nuts to Wisconsin fans.
 
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Love it that (a) Fleck is constantly reminding them we have the Axe, and (b) that Wisconsin should be happy we took it from them. It's the new normal, we win, they lose, and they should be happy about it. There's a metaphor in their somewhere...
 

Unless Fleck wins the axe 16 years in a row, I won't be impressed.
 

More importantly, it gave us the momentum we needed to head to the bowl game and secure our fourth win in five games.

Sounds like sour grapes out of the badgers. We thumped 'em.

I see what you did there...
 



Unless Fleck wins the axe 16 years in a row, I won't be impressed.

Or at least a 3rd of the time. Stupid statements from coach on this.

“That’s cool that that’s how they want to use it when they look at one game,” Wisconsin senior linebacker Chris Orr said. “I don’t know if it’s something I would do unless I, like, won the Big Ten Championship.
 

When Orr points out that it's just one game, he's showing that he doesn't grasp that a turning point is by definition a moment in time.

When Orr says that that loss doesn't mean they're going to go down the toilet, or when Biadasz says that they aren't damaged goods, they show that they don't get that the game can be a turning point for Minnesota without being a turning point for Wisconsin.

Or maybe they're just a little sensitive. In their butts. Which hurt.
 

one game does not make a trend.

so - a random thought --- let's say that over the next 10 years, each team wins the Axe 5 times. would Gopher fans be OK with that? sure would be a lot better than going 0-14. Or has one win made Gopher fans want to dominate the series the way WI did?

I am old enough to remember when WI was really down in football during the Don Morton years. Back then, if you would have told Badger fans that they would beat MN for 14 consecutive years, they would have thought you were nuts. things change.
 

Great game and great win. One of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever attended. But, 2-3 decades?


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one game does not make a trend.

so - a random thought --- let's say that over the next 10 years, each team wins the Axe 5 times. would Gopher fans be OK with that? sure would be a lot better than going 0-14. Or has one win made Gopher fans want to dominate the series the way WI did?

I am old enough to remember when WI was really down in football during the Don Morton years. Back then, if you would have told Badger fans that they would beat MN for 14 consecutive years, they would have thought you were nuts. things change.


I would prefer winning 14, but I would accept a back and forth competitive rivalry
 

one game does not make a trend.

so - a random thought --- let's say that over the next 10 years, each team wins the Axe 5 times. would Gopher fans be OK with that? sure would be a lot better than going 0-14. Or has one win made Gopher fans want to dominate the series the way WI did?

I am old enough to remember when WI was really down in football during the Don Morton years. Back then, if you would have told Badger fans that they would beat MN for 14 consecutive years, they would have thought you were nuts. things change.

If the Badgers stay similar to how they have been for quite some time on the competitive front then I would be thrilled to split the next 10 games with them. Sure we would all love to dominate the rivalry but just getting it back to being a competition each season would be a huge step in the right direction for us.

Any fan that wouldn't be content with splitting with the Badgers right now is delusional in their expectations for the program. Wisconsin has been very good for quite some time now so would be great to get to a point where we are at that same level.
 

The Badgers beat some really bad Gophers teams during the streak. That didn't stop their players and fans from rubbing it in and celebrating it whenever they could (as they should). But when they lost, it turned into they were having a down year and they're wondering why the Gophers are making a big deal out of it.

If they're going to make a big deal about the 14 years in a row, why would you not expect that the Gophers would make a big deal about breaking that streak?
 

Beating them again would add some substance for Fleck here. Beating them was huge but one win is easily forgotten. Making it a streak makes it recognizable and a huge kick in the nuts to Wisconsin fans.

All rivalrys have streaks. After a 14 year run, the Badgers are now tied with Minnesota. They win 14, we win one and we are tied? Sounds like a rivalry to me.
 

Personally, I think those Wisconsin players quoted were being a little defensive, as are their fans when it comes up. That’s good! Iowa fans are getting worried too, with some of their defensiveness when someone suggests our squad might be on the rise.


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If the Badgers stay similar to how they have been for quite some time on the competitive front then I would be thrilled to split the next 10 games with them. Sure we would all love to dominate the rivalry but just getting it back to being a competition each season would be a huge step in the right direction for us.

Any fan that wouldn't be content with splitting with the Badgers right now is delusional in their expectations for the program. Wisconsin has been very good for quite some time now so would be great to get to a point where we are at that same level.

If Gophs are a .500 or worse team over that stretch, not so much.
 

That streak was such a fluke it got to be a mental thing. Of course WI has been the better program over that time and most of those years had the better team, but they weren't so much better they should've won each of those games. After it turned into a streak, and then we lost some of those games in ridiculous ways or due to big comebacks, it just became a THING.
 

I’d trade last year’s win for a streak of 14.

Enjoy the victory, but strutting about a single victory after losing 14-straight isn’t a good look.


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The Gophers should absolutely celebrate ending the streak, especially since it was done in a decidedly non-fluky way. It was getting so ridiculous that some Badger fans were openly hoping the Goofs took one just so the rivalry got some spark back. I was not in this camp and think it deserves scorn, but it was out there.

That said, even beyond the rivalry, it's pretty amazing how much hinged on that one game for Fleck and Minnesota. He loses that one, there's no bowl game and there would have definitely been some off-season hot-seat chatter. Better hope Peej takes advantage of the Charmin-soft schedule this year.
 

The Gophers should absolutely celebrate ending the streak, especially since it was done in a decidedly non-fluky way. It was getting so ridiculous that some Badger fans were openly hoping the Goofs took one just so the rivalry got some spark back. I was not in this camp and think it deserves scorn, but it was out there.

That said, even beyond the rivalry, it's pretty amazing how much hinged on that one game for Fleck and Minnesota. He loses that one, there's no bowl game and there would have definitely been some off-season hot-seat chatter. Better hope Peej takes advantage of the Charmin-soft schedule this year.

Hot seat chatter after year 2..........LOL
 

Hot seat chatter after year 2..........LOL

I could see where back to back 5-7 seasons and 0-4 against Wisconsin and Iowa could give a feeling that we’re spinning our wheels. But yeah I’m not sure we’d fire a coach after year 3 unless recruiting is tanking and the team goes 1-11.
 

The Gophers should absolutely celebrate ending the streak, especially since it was done in a decidedly non-fluky way. It was getting so ridiculous that some Badger fans were openly hoping the Goofs took one just so the rivalry got some spark back. I was not in this camp and think it deserves scorn, but it was out there.

That said, even beyond the rivalry, it's pretty amazing how much hinged on that one game for Fleck and Minnesota. He loses that one, there's no bowl game and there would have definitely been some off-season hot-seat chatter. Better hope Peej takes advantage of the Charmin-soft schedule this year.

As you mentioned, there was no question as to which was the better team in that game...the Gophers really took it to them from the start of the game. It was nice to see them end the slump in that manner.
 

If Gophs are a .500 or worse team over that stretch, not so much.

What are you talking about? The question was just about splitting with Wisconsin over the next 10 matchups. Had nothing to do with the teams overall record during the same stretch.
 




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