Underrate Us at Your Peril, Gophers Say

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Fair enough.

I like it - and just about anything that motivates the team to play at a higher level is A-OK with me.
 

Good read:) I hope Phil keeps it up.:clap:
 

When Mase was coach here Gopherholers were planning on signing petitions, going on hunger strikes, and marching down University Avenue in protest for the way the media is treating them. I told them if you want to shut the media up then win. Winning will shut them up, but it's going to take more than just winning half your games to do that. Get to a Jan. 1 bowl game. Every Big Ten school except Minnesota and Indiana has done this in the modern age. Don't tell me how we have always been passed over. Only one time were we passed over for a really nice bowl and that was the year we beat Penn State with that famous field goal. Other then that we have been passed over for minor bowls here and there.

If you want to shut the media up then WIN!
 

If the Gophers are underrated, and if this is because the media didn't put the effort into doing proper analysis, then this is the media's problem, not one of the Gophers not winning. And even during Mason's better years, the media still dumped on the Gophers. How much winning would we have to do before the local media decided that it wasn't their job to dump on the local team?
 


RodentRampage said:
If the Gophers are underrated, and if this is because the media didn't put the effort into doing proper analysis, ...QUOTE]

RR I have read this theory in many of your posts with regards to the Gophers prospects this year. I have no idea if you are right or wrong about it. I will throw this out there though.

My preference is to read Phil Steele's preview. Not saying he is all knowing I just like his product. The last 3 years he has been right on with the Gopher preview for the year. He had them last in the B10 07, one of his most improved teams in the country and going to a bowl in 08, last year had them going to a bowl again.

This year he picks Minnesota to have a down year. Whether he is right or wrong remains to be seen but at least it appears from his last 3 years at prediciting the Gophers outlook for the season he puts in the research you keep indicating isn't being done.
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Just look at the great majority of the predictions: they are based on the assumption that because the defense is replacing 9 starters, that the defense will be awful. No analysis of whether or not the new starters will be any good or not. Most of them seem to be simply repeating each other. If the defense turns out not to be awful, then the predictions will be off.

I'm not saying that they are wrong, only that they are making assumptions. Saying "He's been right before, therefore, he's probably right now" is a different matter than looking at whether predictions are based on sufficient evidence.
 

With all due respect, why wouldn't the players say these things? What team out there that's being rated towards the bottom of their conference isn't saying the exact same things. Find me players on any team anywhere in the country that is saying "We are picked to finish dead last and I feel like we're being given too much respect."

Of course the players are going to say these things, but just because they feel like they're being underrated, doesn't mean they are.
 

MTPiKapp said:
With all due respect, why wouldn't the players say these things? What team out there that's being rated towards the bottom of their conference isn't saying the exact same things. Find me players on any team anywhere in the country that is saying "We are picked to finish dead last and I feel like we're being given too much respect."

Of course the players are going to say these things, but just because they feel like they're being underrated, doesn't mean they are.
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With all due respect, just because they feel like they're being underrated also doesn't mean they are NOT.

Go Gophers!
 



MTPiKapp said:
With all due respect, why wouldn't the players say these things? What team out there that's being rated towards the bottom of their conference isn't saying the exact same things. Find me players on any team anywhere in the country that is saying "We are picked to finish dead last and I feel like we're being given too much respect."

Of course the players are going to say these things, but just because they feel like they're being underrated, doesn't mean they are.
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I guess MTSU will find out if they are or not on Sept. 2. Until then nobody knows. If the Gophers lose that game, it could be a long session. If they win, we'll find out what kind of team they really are when they play against USC.
 

Gopher024 said:
I guess MTSU will find out if they are or not on Sept. 2. Until then nobody knows. If the Gophers lose that game, it could be a long session. If they win, we'll find out what kind of team they really are when they play against USC.
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What happens if they lose to MTSU, and then beat USC?

Losing to a team that had 10 wins last year at their place isn't a crushing defeat, nor does it guarantee a long season. The only thing that losing the first game guarantees is that you won't be in the National Championship discussion.
 

MJGopher said:
What happens if they lose to MTSU, and then beat USC?

Losing to a team that had 10 wins last year at their place isn't a crushing defeat, nor does it guarantee a long season. The only thing that losing the first game guarantees is that you won't be in the National Championship discussion.
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It will mean that they lost to a mediocre team and then pulled off a nice upset at home. Notice that I indicated that it "could" mean we're in for a long season, not that it necessarily will.
 

It's hard to make predictions, expecially about the future.
 



I, for one, am very optimistic about the upcoming season...not because I think we will win 10 games...we won't. I do think that we will have one or two tough losses and one or two really big wins...we will win one or two games against upper echelon teams including either WI or IA or both.

The problem with new systems, players and coaches is building consistency. Talent gets you wins but time gets you consistency.

The offense will be better and the defense will improve week to week. We will be much tougher to beat in NOV this year than the last three, barring big time injuries.

That said, if we can win 5 games including one or two trophy/nationally significant games it will be a success to me...and then next year our defense and offense will return many starters and it will all come down to QB play...I say 2011, barring coach turn over will be our first 10 win season in the modern era and a shot at the Rose Bowl or Jan 1 game...but who knows.

GO Gophers!!!!!!!
 

RodentRampage said:
Just look at the great majority of the predictions: they are based on the assumption that because the defense is replacing 9 starters, that the defense will be awful. No analysis of whether or not the new starters will be any good or not. Most of them seem to be simply repeating each other. If the defense turns out not to be awful, then the predictions will be off.

I'm not saying that they are wrong, only that they are making assumptions. Saying "He's been right before, therefore, he's probably right now" is a different matter than looking at whether predictions are based on sufficient evidence.
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Do you actually know in detail how much or little research/evidence each of these predictions evaluated? If the answer is no, then you are guilty of making assumptions just like they are. Many of these new starters played last year so it isn't as if it is a huge secret about their abilities. Obviously, these predictions are not always right on and some are more accurate than others traditionally (i.e Phil Steele) but it also isn't fair to discount all of the predictions simply because you don't like the prediction.
 

GopherGod said:
Do you actually know in detail how much or little research/evidence each of these predictions evaluated? If the answer is no, then you are guilty of making assumptions just like they are. Many of these new starters played last year so it isn't as if it is a huge secret about their abilities. Obviously, these predictions are not always right on and some are more accurate than others traditionally (i.e Phil Steele) but it also isn't fair to discount all of the predictions simply because you don't like the prediction.
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Let me explain it to you. These predictions are composed of things called "words". These words are grouped into sentences. By looking at these words and sentences, I can see what their predictions say and what they don't say. All I see when I look at the predictions is the assumption that the defense will be awful because 9 starters are being replaced. I can only go with what they have written, if they have further information, they have not shared it with the rest of us.

I am not even saying they are wrong, just that the predictions are based on significant uncertainties.
 

I am saying they are wrong. This team is more talented than previous. If the argument is that the schedule nullifies that then I'm Ok with that opinion, if the argument is that we will be worse therefore will have worse results, then I think they are dead wrong.
 

The media in town has really lost interest in the Gophers post-Holtz and every coach and team has suffered from that. I am in my mid-50s and I can remember in the 1960s when the front page of the StarTrib Sunday sports page (anyone else here remember the Sports Peach?) was devoted entirely to the Gophers and the day-to-day coverage was thorough, at least during the football season.

The Gophers became an afterthought sometime in the 1970s and it's really too bad, especially given the overweening coverage of the pro teams, which includes countless unnecessary articles filled with non-pertinent information. There should be more room, both in print and on broadcast, for the Gophers. And it really isn't about winning. The coverage given to the Timberwolves and Wild still dwarfs that given to the Gophers.
 


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