Reusse Trolling PJ Again



Can someone copy and paste so we don’t have to give him any clicks?
 

Can someone copy and paste so we don’t have to give him any clicks?

Here you go -



There were selected members of the Twin Cities sports media that showed a reluctance to embrace Phillip John Fleck when he blew into town as the head football coach for the Gophers on Jan. 7, 2017.

The introductory news conference came with such a torrent of motivational sloganeering that it caused some imaginary paintballs to be fired in Fleck’s direction. These skeptics are all respected sports commentators on the local scene and there’s no reason to name names.

Although … you know who you are, Meat Sauce.

Thirty-three months later, Fleck is riding high with a 6-0 record, a No. 20 rating in the weekly Associated Press poll, and with a team that stands as a 28 ½-point road favorite for Saturday’s Big Ten contest at Rutgers.

More amazing is that Minnesota’s pro franchises are setting up hierarchies that make them sound like Phillip John wannabes. I even heard one of the Timberwolves say at the team’s opening media session that his goal was to “change my best’’ on a daily basis.

This gent didn’t come up with that himself. I’m very suspicious that he heard it from 33-year-old head coach Ryan Saunders, who got it from the 38-year-old Fleck, with whom he has developed a friendship.

The Twins actually preceded Fleck with organizational changes that featured new sports lingo, when baseball CEO Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine took charge in November 2016.

That tandem got off to a flying start at the introductory news conference, when Sid Hartman – still grieving the departure of his friend, the affable baseball boss Terry Ryan– challenged the alleged genius of these two whipper snappers to be put in this position of power.

Falvey gave some double-speak, before Levine followed with, “I’m as offended by this as you are, sir,’’ and then added that they had been hired and would do their best.

Thankfully, he didn’t say “change our best,’’ and amid moments of double-speak (and once triple-speak, as Levine attempted to explain why Byron Buxton wasn’t recalled in September 2018), the rhetoric has been … ah, we’ll give ‘em a tolerable.

Note: Falvey did use “collaborative’’ so often in the early months you wanted to perforate your eardrums with a pencil, but he was able to rein that in.

And then along came Rocco Baldelli as the 37-year-old manager and win, lose or rain-delayed, every day was a day to feel good about his team – and it's hard to argue with the results (101-61, AL Central title).

We got our share of assurance over the importance of “culture’’ from the front office, the manager’s office and the clubhouse. Phillip John, though – he has been the king of culture. He vowed on Jan. 7, 2017, he had arrived to change the culture, leading a charge that now has become the sales pitch across the top levels of Minnesota’s sports world.

The Wild talked about that in firing Paul Fenton as general manager and replacing him with Bill Guerin, although Billy is a bit old by culture-changing standards at 48.

I heard about this from owner Craig Leipold and his team president, Matt Majka recently: sis boom bah, the Wild is changing culture, which at the moment has to be ahead of the pace for changing goal-scoring habits.

For sure, unless Bruce Boudreau does something magical with the 2019-20 Wild, he will be 65 and down the road at season’s end and replaced by a 40-year-old with all his slogans and buzz words in a row.

Nowhere is the Fleckian turn more dramatic than with the Timberwolves. Tom Thibodeau was fired last January because he was deemed to be surly and definitely unpopular with a segment of Wolves fans.

I’m reluctant to use large segment of Wolves fans, since it’s debatable that such a segment exists.

Anyway, when Saunders was previewing the season, he offered this among his culturally attuned remarks:

“When we talked about leadership, we talked about servant leadership, and not just with KAT but with a number of players on this team. We want to be a committee of leaders.’’

There he was at the front table – Wolves head coach Ryan Saunders, with a dead-on imitation of Fleck.

The only true holdout at the top of the Twin Cities sports chain from Culture World is Mike Zimmer, 63 and still the crusty football coach unwilling to sugarcoat every observation.

Zim has a well-balanced club this year, with offensive weapons (including the quarterback) and an outstanding defense, and he’s headed back to the playoffs -- probably with an NFC North title.

(Disclaimer: That’s based on the league office ruling the Packers are no longer allowed to play 18 men vs. 11 in their remaining games at Lambeau Field).

When Zimmer goes, count on this: He’s going to be replaced by a culturally-driven, change-your-best young coach in the Fleck mold. Come to think of it, that could be Fleck himself.

I mean, once you’ve gotten back the Axe, what’s left to conquer in college football?

And Meat Sauce: I can’t believe you were such a skeptic.
 

Not sure you understand what trolling is. If Fleck never responds...Ruesse is trolling you now Pj
 


Meh. I don’t have a problem with this. Is anything he wrote inaccurate?
 

Meh. I don’t have a problem with this. Is anything he wrote inaccurate?

Not really. Just Reusse's backhanded way of responding to the success of someone he isn't fond of.
 







I liked it. It was thought-provoking and entertaining.

But there's definitely a segment of the Gopherhole population that can't stand the sound of Reusse's pen scraping across the page, no matter what he writes.
 

Gophers are 8-0 since Reusse made Fleck his 2018 Turkey of the Year. Reusse is probably self centered enough to think it is all because of him. If I were to boil his strange obsession with belittling Gopher football down into one cataclysmic miscalculation - it is his 2018 Turkey award - which he directed at Fleck in the year the Gophers turned around, beat Wisconsin, and won their bowl game while the Twins, Vikings, and Wild all missed the playoffs and the Timberwolves devolved into a dumpster fire.
 



Gophers are 8-0 since Reusse made Fleck his 2018 Turkey of the Year. Reusse is probably self centered enough to think it is all because of him. If I were to boil his strange obsession with belittling Gopher football down into one cataclysmic miscalculation - it is his 2018 Turkey award - which he directed at Fleck in the year the Gophers turned around, beat Wisconsin, and won their bowl game while the Twins, Vikings, and Wild all missed the playoffs and the Timberwolves devolved into a dumpster fire.

I think you are on to something there! The Turkey is responsible.
 

It's funny he's hanging his hat on Zimmer who's team could very well continue onto a mediocre season and miss the playoffs. The Vikings are not trending in the right direction if you ask me.
 

My short and sweet take after glancing at this?..... dumb article. It is in no way out of the ordinary for contemporaries to model successful approaches.
 
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In his latest offering (blog with multiple typos) Reusse connects the dots between Fleck and other Minnesota sports franchises using "coachspeak". Kind of humorous, but certainly not in any way giving Fleck kudos for his success. Classic Reusse.

http://www.startribune.com/fleckian...levels-of-minnesota-s-sports-scene/563149052/

I do not see how this is in any way an effort to troll Fleck, other than by calling him by his given name instead of PJ. The article lays out that in today's current TC sports world, the Gopher HC was ahead of the curve.
 


This is fine, IMO. It’s actually a backhanded compliment to PJ that others are following his lead. It definitely sounds like Saunders is, at least. He’s even attended a few practices this year.


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Reusse on his podcast actually gave PJ a backhanded compliment (or at least not an insult) when talking about Harbaugh. Something along the lines of "Harbaugh's so goofy. There's a difference between Fleck goofy and Harbaugh goofy. Fleck's goofy on purpose. Harbaugh is goofy because he's goofy".
 

Stupid article. Not sure how anyone would think this is good journalism. Has the bar been lowered at the Trib these days?
 

Reusse on his podcast actually gave PJ a backhanded compliment (or at least not an insult) when talking about Harbaugh. Something along the lines of "Harbaugh's so goofy. There's a difference between Fleck goofy and Harbaugh goofy. Fleck's goofy on purpose. Harbaugh is goofy because he's goofy".

Actually, this is how I look at Fleck's slogans. Other coaches say the same things, but our coach has nifty little words for those things and truly has a purpose for it all.
 

Geeze don't be so sensitive. it was funny and not wrong.
 

Reusse, as crusty and trolling as he is, is a baseball guy. When Rocco Baldelli comes along with the new generation "positivity" type management style and shows immediate success, that must make an impression.
 

It's funny he's hanging his hat on Zimmer who's team could very well continue onto a mediocre season and miss the playoffs. The Vikings are not trending in the right direction if you ask me.

Not sure I can agree with you there, Working. The Vikings have two losses - @CHI, where even the best Vikings teams struggle to play well, and @GB, where Cousins threw one of the worst throws I've ever seen an NFL QB make on a drive where the Vikings should've taken the lead and won. They've been dominant in the 4 wins, winning by an average of 18 points per game. Unless the wheels fall off for some strange reason, I'd be shocked if they don't win somewhere between 10-12 games and make the playoffs, ideally as a division champion - but more likely as a wild card given that the NFL has the fix in for the Packers this year.
 

Stupid article. Not sure how anyone would think this is good journalism. Has the bar been lowered at the Trib these days?

He's a columnist, not a reporter. Also this was a blog entry.
 

It appears he's just saying that now everyone is doing what PJ was doing a couple years ago.

But yes, for Fleck it's not just goofy words. It's all part of his coaching curriculum.

He handles the job of head coach like a football 101, 201, 301, and 401 class.
 

Funny, but definitely not complimentary to P.J. Has PJ ever responded, commented on the negative media attention? P.J. may be an over the top kind of guy, but his Nebraska presser included some inspirational comments on the players over coming injuries and a funny comment on Renner being too smart for long conversations with P.J.

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Honestly, I’ve found myself paying more attention to what he says lately. There’s way more substance, and less slogans than there were 2 years ago. The things he says to keep his players focused on the moment are next level, which is why it wouldn’t shock me in the least if they run the table through the regular season. I’m not saying I think they will, but it’s not unimaginable.


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Funny, but definitely not complimentary to P.J. Has PJ ever responded, commented on the negative media attention? P.J. may be an over the top kind of guy, but his Nebraska presser included some inspirational comments on the players over coming injuries and a funny comment on Renner being too smart for long conversations with P.J.

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The "default negative media setting" for anything Gopher and PJ in this market is starting to subside like the tide gradually pulling out. The low tide leaves the urchins (trolls) exposed in the open - and some of them are starting to look like fools. Funny how I have yet to see PJ lose his temper in public even with the trolls in full force at the beginning. I couldn't do that.
 




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