PJ after practice: stronger, faster, more agile than we've ever been..Cody one of best players in NCAA..Pleasantly surprised how caught up new cbs are

For the OL, both Lewis and Boe have been ready to start for "awhile". The position of concern is LG.
Like the coaches said, they rotated something like 11 through on the OL last year. Probably a big reason all five starters stayed healthy. I think they will be fine, and I believe Fleck mentioned he sees them being able to rotate similar to last year.
 

The big risk will be injury. In the brief time that he's actually gotten playing time without injury, he's looked like a total stud.
Always that risk for injury. Not sure I'm following you on his brief playing time without injury comment. Played in all 13 games last year and started six. Second on the team in tackles, and basically led them in tackles the last four games last season.
 
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Always that risk for injury. Not sure I'm following you on his brief playing time without injury comment. Played in all 13 games last year and started six. Second on the team in tackles, and bacically led them in tackles the last four games last season.

Semantics. My point was that he looked like stud late last season with limited playing time under his belt. He missed most of 2021 and got limited playing time until the back half of last year (I thought he was a bit dinged up to start the year but could be wrong).
 

Like the coaches said, they rotated something like 11 through on the OL last year. Probably a big reason all five starters stayed healthy. I think they will be fine, and I believe Fleck mentioned he sees them being able to rotate similar to last year.
Wasn’t that 11 DL. Can’t think of 11 who played significant time on the OL
 

Wasn’t that 11 DL. Can’t think of 11 who played significant time on the OL
Yeah. that sounds correct. I think it was 7/8 on OL...I believe six on this roster played in all 13 games last year. I do know Fleck or the OCs mentioned it at some point during the broadcast. Also thought one of them said they expect to be able to do at least the same this year?
 



First games are always tricky and I am not a fan of starting the year with a conference game. Nebraska's new scheme may be a little tricky to deal with right out gate but the good news is that they will still be working out the kinks as well since it is a brand new system for them also.

Glad we are at home which should help the offense in general with communication since they won't have to contend with crowd noise.
I love opening with a BIG opponent. Makes fall camp important.
 






Last five years have been totally meaningless to you, eh?
You weren't disappointed with loses to Iowa and Iowa and Iowa etc then to Illonois or Purdue or Bowling Green.
 

You weren't disappointed with loses to Iowa and Iowa and Iowa etc then to Illonois or Purdue or Bowling Green.
Not nearly enough to develop an Eeyore caliber set of expectations for this team on a yearly basis. Yes, beat Iowa. But you don't go from mediocrity to Alabama caliber in two years. This team is making strides year after year and we are going in the right direction. Have faith, this coaching staff has shown that they know what they're doing and Fleck is getting better as a coach every year.
 

He transferred to Kansas.
Wasn't aware of that, I saw that he was still listed on the Gophers team website (where I got the info for my response to you) when I searched his name but he did indeed transfer to Kansas. I don't follow roster moves as diligently as others, my bad.
 




Not nearly enough to develop an Eeyore caliber set of expectations for this team on a yearly basis. Yes, beat Iowa. But you don't go from mediocrity to Alabama caliber in two years. This team is making strides year after year and we are going in the right direction. Have faith, this coaching staff has shown that they know what they're doing and Fleck is getting better as a coach every year.

If I had $100 dollars for everytime I heard they are the right course I'd be a millionaire...oops I mean a multimillionaire (forgot about inflation).
Don't expect them to be Alabama as they will never be able to buy the players.
 

If I had $100 dollars for everytime I heard they are the right course I'd be a millionaire...oops I mean a multimillionaire (forgot about inflation).
Don't expect them to be Alabama as they will never be able to buy the players.
 

If I had $100 dollars for everytime I heard they are the right course I'd be a millionaire...oops I mean a multimillionaire (forgot about inflation).
Don't expect them to be Alabama as they will never be able to buy the players.
Why follow if, to you, it's so hopeless then? Masochistic? There are better uses for your time in this wide, expansive world full of fanciful distractions if you're constantly expecting disappointment from a group of late teens/early 20s playing a game.

I choose hope and look at the big picture and quantitative evidence that we're heading in the right direction. I also realize I'm wasting my time arguing with a human with a lot of life experience who is highly unlikely to change their perspective late in life. That being said, quit being such a stick in the mud!
 


If I had $100 dollars for everytime I heard they are the right course I'd be a millionaire...oops I mean a multimillionaire (forgot about inflation).
Don't expect them to be Alabama as they will never be able to buy the players.
Is 29 wins in the past 3 full seasons not a sign that the program is on the right course?

I get that there have been some disappointing and frustrating loses but good lord man, if you actually are a fan you should feel pretty damn good about the current state of the program.
 

Is 29 wins in the past 3 full seasons not a sign that the program is on the right course?

I get that there have been some disappointing and frustrating loses but good lord man, if you actually are a fan you should feel pretty damn good about the current state of the program.
So how many games will they win this year? I'm sure your taking into the schedule, which according to Fleck is the 2nd hardest in the country.
 

So how many games will they win this year? I'm sure your taking into the schedule, which according to Fleck is the 2nd hardest in the country.
It isn't Fleck who came up with the 2nd hardest schedule thing....but hey don't let facts get in the way.

My enjoyment of a football season is very loosely tied to the teams record. Under Fleck there have been some disappointing moments and frustrating loses but the good far outweighs the bad and he has this program performing better than it has in a long long long time. For someone who claims to have been a fan for 50 years you would think you would be able to appreciate that fact but maybe not.

So if you are disappointed in track record of the program under Fleck then you should probably find another team to follow or something better to do with your time because this is the best shape Gopher football has been in, in 60+ years.....so 10 years before you became a fan I guess.
 

It isn't Fleck who came up with the 2nd hardest schedule thing....but hey don't let facts get in the way.

My enjoyment of a football season is very loosely tied to the teams record. Under Fleck there have been some disappointing moments and frustrating loses but the good far outweighs the bad and he has this program performing better than it has in a long long long time. For someone who claims to have been a fan for 50 years you would think you would be able to appreciate that fact but maybe not.

So if you are disappointed in track record of the program under Fleck then you should probably find another team to follow or something better to do with your time because this is the best shape Gopher football has been in, in 60+ years.....so 10 years before you became a fan I guess.
I have seen this expressed a few times here, and I have literally never met a sports fan in my life with this mindset. I know some people who go to games to socialize with old friends or connect with potential business partners and enjoy the games for those reasons, but nobody who is there primarily for the sport in question. Sports have always been about competition to me: W's and L's. The feeling after the wins over Auburn and Penn State was about as night and day as emotions get in comparisons to the the losses to Wisconsin and Iowa in that same season. Personally, I don't see the point in following a sports team if the expectation is not to win games and (at least some) championships.

This second part really bothers me. I don't care that your view of sports is different than mine, but to tell people to follow another team because they actually have expectations of success is ridiculous. Fleck has been the best coach here in 60 years and has delivered the one notable season of my lifetime. People can acknowledge that while also feeling like stepping over that extremely low bar is not worthy of great acclaim. No coach in the history of the program has ever lost to Iowa SIX times in a row like Fleck has. The great season of 2019? Our other supposed rival who actually won the B1G West by beating us on our home field to end the conference season has already FIRED the coach who brought them that division title. I am by no means out on Fleck and think a Big Ten West title is certainly attainable this year in the final year of divisions. If it doesn't happen, criticism is warranted. I think it will be just Minnesota and Illinois from the West who have not won a division title (Nebraska's may have been in the Legends/Leaders era). There is a wide gap between firing Ed Ogeron at LSU like 2 years after a National Title and asking PJ to beat Wisconsin and Iowa or even get his first win over Michigan or Ohio State when he's in his 7th season.
 

I have seen this expressed a few times here, and I have literally never met a sports fan in my life with this mindset. I know some people who go to games to socialize with old friends or connect with potential business partners and enjoy the games for those reasons, but nobody who is there primarily for the sport in question. Sports have always been about competition to me: W's and L's. The feeling after the wins over Auburn and Penn State was about as night and day as emotions get in comparisons to the the losses to Wisconsin and Iowa in that same season. Personally, I don't see the point in following a sports team if the expectation is not to win games and (at least some) championships.

This second part really bothers me. I don't care that your view of sports is different than mine, but to tell people to follow another team because they actually have expectations of success is ridiculous. Fleck has been the best coach here in 60 years and has delivered the one notable season of my lifetime. People can acknowledge that while also feeling like stepping over that extremely low bar is not worthy of great acclaim. No coach in the history of the program has ever lost to Iowa SIX times in a row like Fleck has. The great season of 2019? Our other supposed rival who actually won the B1G West by beating us on our home field to end the conference season has already FIRED the coach who brought them that division title. I am by no means out on Fleck and think a Big Ten West title is certainly attainable this year in the final year of divisions. If it doesn't happen, criticism is warranted. I think it will be just Minnesota and Illinois from the West who have not won a division title (Nebraska's may have been in the Legends/Leaders era). There is a wide gap between firing Ed Ogeron at LSU like 2 years after a National Title and asking PJ to beat Wisconsin and Iowa or even get his first win over Michigan or Ohio State when he's in his 7th season.
To the first part.....I want the Gophers to win every game, it sucks when they lose, especially to a team like Iowa and in games where the opportunity to win has been there multiple times.

To the second part.....I tried to craft a reply but it was getting too complicated so I gave up on it. You are arguing a lot of points I didn't make so not going to try and go there. :)
 

I have seen this expressed a few times here, and I have literally never met a sports fan in my life with this mindset. I know some people who go to games to socialize with old friends or connect with potential business partners and enjoy the games for those reasons, but nobody who is there primarily for the sport in question. Sports have always been about competition to me: W's and L's. The feeling after the wins over Auburn and Penn State was about as night and day as emotions get in comparisons to the the losses to Wisconsin and Iowa in that same season. Personally, I don't see the point in following a sports team if the expectation is not to win games and (at least some) championships.

This second part really bothers me. I don't care that your view of sports is different than mine, but to tell people to follow another team because they actually have expectations of success is ridiculous. Fleck has been the best coach here in 60 years and has delivered the one notable season of my lifetime. People can acknowledge that while also feeling like stepping over that extremely low bar is not worthy of great acclaim. No coach in the history of the program has ever lost to Iowa SIX times in a row like Fleck has. The great season of 2019? Our other supposed rival who actually won the B1G West by beating us on our home field to end the conference season has already FIRED the coach who brought them that division title. I am by no means out on Fleck and think a Big Ten West title is certainly attainable this year in the final year of divisions. If it doesn't happen, criticism is warranted. I think it will be just Minnesota and Illinois from the West who have not won a division title (Nebraska's may have been in the Legends/Leaders era). There is a wide gap between firing Ed Ogeron at LSU like 2 years after a National Title and asking PJ to beat Wisconsin and Iowa or even get his first win over Michigan or Ohio State when he's in his 7th season.
Negativity is exhausting and sucks the energy out of people. Channeling that negativity into a season that hasn't even started is too god damn much. This started with Philo already giving up on us having a successful season because he's an old crabass with a mopey, kicking rocks down the road mentality associated with past memories of the program and totally ignoring the recent successes, and then pulling the same old bowling green and iowa blah blah blah crap instead of acknowledging that we have, in fact, been pretty fucking good lately, especially from a historical standpoint. People coming here pretending to be fans and shitting on the season before there's even been a snap is fucking garbage, especially when players come here and read this shit. Yes, it's time to beat Iowa. But be a supporter, keep your negativity to yourself, or go away. Come back and bitch when you can say I told you so, not right now.

I apologize for the hostility but I can't handle the defense of the behavior especially at this particular point in the PREseason.
 


This second part really bothers me. I don't care that your view of sports is different than mine, but to tell people to follow another team because they actually have expectations of success is ridiculous. Fleck has been the best coach here in 60 years and has delivered the one notable season of my lifetime. People can acknowledge that while also feeling like stepping over that extremely low bar is not worthy of great acclaim. No coach in the history of the program has ever lost to Iowa SIX times in a row like Fleck has. The great season of 2019? Our other supposed rival who actually won the B1G West by beating us on our home field to end the conference season has already FIRED the coach who brought them that division title. I am by no means out on Fleck and think a Big Ten West title is certainly attainable this year in the final year of divisions. If it doesn't happen, criticism is warranted. I think it will be just Minnesota and Illinois from the West who have not won a division title (Nebraska's may have been in the Legends/Leaders era). There is a wide gap between firing Ed Ogeron at LSU like 2 years after a National Title and asking PJ to beat Wisconsin and Iowa or even get his first win over Michigan or Ohio State when he's in his 7th season.
I think I finally figured out what bugs me so much about this section and it is that you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.

You don't feel Fleck has stepped over a very low bar of success for the program and yet you also point out that 60 years worth of coaches couldn't step over that same bar. Seems to me that maybe that bar is not quite as low as you want to make it out to be.

The Iowa record is frustrating, I am sure nobody is more frustrated by it than Fleck himself. But the reality of those 6 loses to Iowa is that the team has been in position to win 3-4 of those games and failed to get it done on the field. The coach gets deserved criticism for his players not coming through but it isn't like we are out there getting our butt kicked by Iowa year in and year out. Need to crack through and get the win but the gap is not a big as some want to pretend it is. The talent gap has been erased, now just have to finish the job on the field.

Your very last line is laughable. Anyone who goes into this 2023 season expecting Fleck to beat Michigan or Ohio State is just setting themselves and the program up for disappointment. If Michigan and Ohio State continue to be as good as they have been they are National Championship level programs this year. That is not saying that we can't hope to compete with them or even potentially find a way to pull the upset but to expect it would be foolish.
 

One of the differences with college football is that it's just about the only team sport where fans can imagine perfection.

9-4 is really good in MLB, NFL, NBA, other NCAA sports, etc. On the championship path. Almost nobody goes undefeated in these sports. But undefeated teams exist in college football every year, so every loss can feel like a calamity.

When perfect ends up being the measuring stick, it's easy to be disappointed.
 

One of the differences with college football is that it's just about the only team sport where fans can imagine perfection.

9-4 is really good in MLB, NFL, NBA, other NCAA sports, etc. On the championship path. Almost nobody goes undefeated in these sports. But undefeated teams exist in college football every year, so every loss can feel like a calamity.

When perfect ends up being the measuring stick, it's easy to be disappointed.
I don't disagree with your point but I also don't think most fanbases should be using perfection as a measuring stick because it is a realistic possibility for a very very very limited number of teams.

You hope for perfection but the reality is that most teams are going to finish with a minimum of 2-3 losses and most will have significantly more.
 




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