Paul Bunyan’s Axe or Floyd of Rosedale?
Posted on October 8th, 2008 – 6:36 PMBy Kent Youngblood
Greetings.
Man, what a day. Perfect fall day to have been playing 18 holes. Wish I could have.
After practice Wednesday Gophers coach Tim Brewster said he was hopeful that cornerback Marcus Sherels would be able to play Saturday.
This is my first year covering the Gophers, so I’m still learning to read between the lines. But it seems that being hopeful Sherels could play is a bit different than the confidence expressed Tuesday. Then again, I could be over-analyzing the whole thing.
Here’s what Brewster said when I asked him for an update: ”Marcus did good today. He ran around a little bit. He’s not quite ready to play in a game yet, but we’re hopefull he’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”
Thing is, the Gophers won’t be going full contact any more this week. Might that make it harder to decide whether Sherels’ shoulder is ready or not?
”He’ll tell us,” Brewster said. ”He’ll know whether he’s 100 percent ready to go. And if he can, he will.”
We’ll see.
Meanwhile, just talking to folks in passing after practice I get the feeling this is a pretty confident team going to Illinois. Center Jeff Tow-Arnett said the offensive line had a great week of practice. Everybody keeps talking about how hard it will be to stop the Illini offense. I think a big key to the game will be the Gophers’ ability to run the ball. If the Gophers can run well enough to approach the kind of time-of-possession advantage they enjoyed last week, there is a real chance of an upset.
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49 Responses to "Paul Bunyan’s Axe or Floyd of Rosedale?"
I would have to say that Minny-Sconny rivalry is way bigger than Minny-Iowa. Don’t get me wrong I hate both teams but I hate Wisonsin a little bit more. Maybe I am jealous of Camp Randall, tailgating, JUMP!!, and the obvious one of kicking our butts the last how many years. However, the tide is turning and with our TCF stadium coming soon the kids that the Sconnies always steal are staying home. Look at next year for example: 1. Decker back 2. Weber Back 3. 2 four star recruit RB coming in 4. OL Carufel starting 5. Simmons and Brock back! It is time for this great state to get it’s pride back and get behind these kids and this program. See you all in the new stadium! MICHIGAN - OHIO STATE is my biggest college rivalry!
What? I understand your first sentence, the rest are kind of nuts. “Are” is a verb in the present tense. It is as if Kool Aid can cause retro non reality.
Hey Loon,
Get a life! What are you some nerd English Professor. This is a football blog so if you want to talk about nouns and verbs and present tense nonsense go somewhere else! You probably have never even been to a Gopher game because you are too scared to leave your Mom’s basement! Maybe you and the rest of your nerd buddies can have a Kool Aid spelling bee! At least I know I won’t be seeing you at the new stadium because you will be at home with Mommy, practicing your grammar!
The Gophers are an improved team, but this weekend promises to be very tough. Illinois laid a beating on the Gophs at the Dome last year, so the trip there will not be a picnic. Even a bad loss does not have to mean the end of the season, because the Gophers have a pretty good chance to win in every game remaining except at Wisconsin. An 8 or 9 win season plus a good recruiting class would be great way to move into the new stadium and would convince me that Brewster is moving in the right direction.
We owned Illinois under Coach HWRR (He Who Recruits Rapists), 5-1. Ahh, the glory days.
5-1. Ahh, the glory days.
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The question remains, where is there a 6th cupcake in 2008?
Began11, I still have no idea what you were trying to say. Was it a sort of fantasy Gopher reality? I have been a Gopher football fan for forty two years as an adult and I can never remember a football coach locking down the recruiting borders here for any year, regardless of tense.
I’d love an upset, but reality
dictates a 37-14 loss.
but Purdue……
Loon and recruiting, the dynamic duo of our blog world.
And let’s relive some genius insights:
Recruiting says:
August 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
look at whats left from brewster’s last minute, ‘07 signees.
Apply that % to class of ‘08 and you will see what will be left in ‘09.
Many of us have called exactly what is happening to this class, right DAC?
Recruiting says:
August 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Is this guy a friggin piece of work or what? He is certifiable!! Oh timmi, the NCAA is on the way after the holiday!!
Recruiting says:
September 1st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Whooooopee….punky pulls to .500 vs the MAC……..for 5 more days any way…….
Recruiting says:
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Pull your head out of the sand, LBB, brewster will not be here at this time next year.
Recruiting says:
September 6th, 2008 at 9:09 am
It is really sad and pathetic to listen to punky ramble on about his squeeker over lowly NIU like it was a coming out win over USC and to continue on to tonight’s game like he is taking the boys into Gainsville for a showdown with Florida. These are MAC schools, “coach.” Do you have a clue? You almost lost your home opener to a MAC school for the second year in a row!! You are a legend in your own mind…..Pop Warner.
So toot-’reCruit:
how’s 5-1 sound?
will brew still be gone next year?
Is the ncaa here , yet?
did he finish 1-1 against the MAC?
the real recruits, are they all leaving?
Please, relive your stupidity one more time with us all.
I think you and loon are one and the same blogger. Who’s insulted there? Ouch.
Lets not forget the question at hand. I HATE Iowa alot! But Wisconsin makes me feel this new kind of hatred, and when i saw those guys cut down our goal post last year it sent an arrow through my heart. I WANT THE AXE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ken,
Your right about the running game. It’s definetly important to control the ball this Saturday.
Can you ask Brewster if he is planning on giving Thomas or Whaley a shot at running back soon?
Wisconsin is a couple notches above Iowa rivalry-wise, I think. One thing that I think helps is that they both have hockey, which translates into a more complete rivalry between the two schools. That, and I don’t know, it’s just Wisconsin. Call it circular and without much reasoning, but it’s what I think.
Kent, good article on Campbell today. Appreciate your coverage.
andover joe says:
October 8th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
And let’s relive some genius insights:
Recruiting says:
August 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
look at whats left from brewster’s last minute, ‘07 signees.
Apply that % to class of ‘08 and you will see what will be left in ‘09.
Many of us have called exactly what is happening to this class, right DAC?
Recruiting says:
August 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Is this guy a friggin piece of work or what? He is certifiable!! Oh timmi, the NCAA is on the way after the holiday!!
Recruiting says:
September 1st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Whooooopee….punky pulls to .500 vs the MAC……..for 5 more days any way…….
Recruiting says:
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Pull your head out of the sand, LBB, brewster will not be here at this time next year.
Recruiting says:
September 6th, 2008 at 9:09 am
It is really sad and pathetic to listen to punky ramble on about his squeeker over lowly NIU like it was a coming out win over USC and to continue on to tonight’s game like he is taking the boys into Gainsville for a showdown with Florida. These are MAC schools, “coach.” Do you have a clue? You almost lost your home opener to a MAC school for the second year in a row!! You are a legend in your own mind…..Pop Warner.
So toot-’reCruit:
how’s 5-1 sound?
will brew still be gone next year?
Is the ncaa here , yet?
did he finish 1-1 against the MAC?
the real recruits, are they all leaving?
Please, relive your stupidity one more time with us all.
I think you and loon are one and the same blogger. Who’s insulted there? Ouch.
====================
“Ouch?” Ouch is living in a trailer in Noker County with nothing better to do than fixate on my gripping posts!
5-1 = [5 cupcakes + 1 legit team]= frigging joke!
So I was talking to Brewster about it, as he coached in four of those games. He said there are very few things like being escorted by mounted police through a throng of 500,000 people —
==================
What a damn liar! lol Are you sure it wasn’t a million, Punky? Were they all chanting brew-sturd…brew-sturd..brew-sturd?
AndJOe–I am with you. Illinois looked extremely tough agst Michigan. A 3 headed monster in their QB/RB/WR. If Roof can find a way to slow them down and hold them under 30 points, I will be extremely impressed.
I see Williams matching up somewhere between Indiana’s Lewis and tOSU’s Pryor. Because of Pryor’s athleticism, we were unable to neutralize him.
It’s amazing how effectiv corner-blitzes are for this type of QB. Mendenhall ran all over us last year…I don’t think DuFrene is nearly as good.
Williams is a better passer this year, but I think if we can keep pressure on him, he won’t be nearly as successful. I still see him as a primarily running QB.
By the way; Roof is setting himself up to be the Defensive Coordinator of the year with this turnaround.
Locking down the borders? Has Joe Pa locked down his borders? It appears he wasn’t even close in getting Terrell Pryor.
EVERY state has these problems people. Why is it that Minnesotan’s take it personally? Michigan doesn’t get their top guys every year. Florida State doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. Miami doesn’t. Texas doesn’t.
If 5 Cupcakes = 5 Wins and 1 legit opponent = 1 loss, then what can be said about WI losing to 1 Legit team and 1 cupcake (you have to be kidding yourself if you think MI is Legit - either than our your Kool Aid across the border is stronger than ours…well, that last part is probably true (eh’hem…paint thinner). Go Gophers…either 2-1 or 1-2 in Big 10 play after this week - Booo Loser WI fans…0-3 in the B10 after this weeks loss to Penn State! Prediction - after this weekend WI will be the last place team in the conference (talk about cupcake) - takers?
dayold, we have one common opponent and that is OSU. Whisky may very well be 0-3 after this weekend but it still comes down to us verses them on Nov. 15. OSU 34 UM 21, OSU 21 UW 17, right now I would have to say that Whisky is the better team. We would be making excusses for our team if we opened with Whisky’s first three teams.
What would I rather have; the Axe or Floyd?
Wisconsin Fans are arrogant
Iowa Fans are blindly loyal
I would say I want the AXE. Seeing arrogant drunks with frowns on their faces is a good thing. Plus the axe looks more gangster.
Bud - true…but c’mon, using the same logic as “they” have about us…it’s fun to poke a little fun back at them - especially since MI is down this year, and they had them at half time and couldn’t hold them or score enough pts to stay in front of them - major choke job if you ask me!
We are 6-2 against Ill. over the past 12 years. We have always played them tough down at their place and I think that this Ill. team is ripe for a whipping. I do not know if Ill is a top half team in the Big Ten this year. PSU,MSU,OSU,NW, and Whisky would be my picks at this time.
Not sold on NW…considering the Gophs last year nearly went to their place and won - should have won, that is…so, if you put NW there, then considering their cupcakes and W’s this year I would have to argue that by your logic the Gophs would be there too…and I’m not completely sold on either of them beeing better than Purdue just yet…that team is another bewilderment of a B10 squad in my opinion.
dayold, Mich has turned the ball over at an alarming rate this year. If they do not turn it over in one game this year(with our luck it will be us) they could be 5-0. That is football though, just look at our turnover ratio this year to last.
The most important trophy the Gophers play for, BY FAR, is the Little Brown Jug. It’s not as much a rivalry game anymore, since the teams don’t play every year and the results haven’t been too competitive recently, but if we had to win only one of the trophies that would be the one.
As to the question of Axe vs Pig, they are about the same. This season, the Pig is the much bigger deal. Last game in the Dome, Iowa needing a win to become bowl-eligible, 15,000 black-and-gold-clad farmers in town for their semi-annual look at paved streets and indoor plumbing…I really want to win this game.
During the previous coaches tenure we went 4-6 verses Iowa, 2-8 verses Whisky, 1-6 verses Mich., and 4-4 against PSU. I guess the one we want the most would be the one that is the toughest to get?
I’ve said it before, but I love to repeat myself.
I find the Iowa fans annoying, but Wisconsin fans are downright repugnant. I moderately dislike Iowa, but despise the Badgers and their ridiculous fans. Definitely the axe.
Some years wisky stinks and iowa stinks worse. Other years, iowa stinks and wisky stinks worse. It all depends on the circumstances, how things have been recently and what the stiuation dictates.
However, just as with all Big Ten rivalries, it is the history of the reivalry that makes it all worth while being a Golden Gopher Fan and a Big Ten Conference member. It is not the past five years…fifteen years or twenty five years. It is the past fift games…seventy five games or more that make these rivalries and membership in the Big Ten Conference the incredible experience for the fans of each school.
Year to year experience is ok, but it is nothing when compared to the overall history of the total experience. What do the numbers for the entire series have to say? How long have the fans been fans?
All in all, I’d have to say that the young fans are most apt to be in the trash-talking phase of the art of being a fan.
It gives more depth of understanding to be able to fondly remember specific games…wins…losses…the great players from your own team…and the great players you have had the privilige of watching from your Big Ten Rivals teams. Then, having a chance to chat with some of the other great fans who happen to be fans of your rival really makes Big Ten road game experiences something special.
It’s not the insults or the trash talking…it is the respect for the Big Ten conference and it is the realization that it is the respect for the rivalry that the history of the series of games has fostered that makes me realize that without iowa and without wisky, Big Ten Football would NOT be the same for me as a football fan. The true beauty of the rivalry with wisky…and iowa is the fact that the games are played EVERY year. There is always “next” year in these series and that is true for a win…or a loss. It’s the history that makes it special. It’s the memories. It’s bigger than the trash that is talked from year to year. It’s allabout th mutual respect that a hundred games can bring to a rivalry. It wouldn’t be football season in Minnesota without Iowa or Wisconsin on the schedule.
Illinios is one of the top 4 teams in the Big Ten. Winning at Illinios would be like winning at OSU. Illinios is definetly better then Northwestern. It would be a big upset to win this Saturday.
This year the bigger game will probably be Iowa. For us it will come down to a bowl game or a bowl game upgrade, for them it might be a bowl game as well. I don’t like losing at home in any case.
goldohfour: winning at Illinois would NOT be like winning at OHIO STADIUM. Now way…no shape…no form.
Illinois is a very beatable team. Illinois is NOT a historically strong program like OSU. Illinois IS coached by some zookster whois not known for his Game Day Coaching…
IF the Gophers play a half decent game execution wise and this brewster has them ready to play…they COULD upset Illinois this Saturday. Will any of those things happen? It all depends on this brewster and his coaching staff. Will they have the team there in time for the opening kickoff and will they be prepared to have a chance to take care of any be Illinois misques? Take the ball away. Actually be ready to play at the start of the game. Have a game plan that gives the Gopher players a chance to compete. Be ready to “execute…execute…execute…” Believe they can win and play like it…that is dependent upon this brewster’s ability to COACH! Beat ‘em Gophers!
Wren you are a dreamer. If we beat Illinios, they should make a statue of Brewster in the Bierman building.
Remember I said we should win 8 games this year. I have expectations with Brewster and I had expectations with Mase. You had NO expectations with Mase. So why listen to you?
Saying Mason averaged 3 to 5 Big Ten wins a year is Wren being a spin doctor. Mase averaged 3.2 wins in the Big Ten a season. Even if Mase averaged 4 he’d probably would still be here.
Heck, if Mase didn’t give up a 31 point lead in a quarter and a half, he’d still be here. That was terrible coaching.
Wren,
No one reads your nonesense. I’m not going to listen to someone who has no expectations for 10 years and now with a new coach it all changes. It might be your split personality.
You can spin it all you want goldohfour. You can try to put me down any way you wish.You can spin brewster until you corkscrew him into the ground head first. But, the3 bottom line is, always has been and always will be the number of Big Ten wins vs. Big Ten losses. Spin til you blow lunchj all over yourself and those other dizzy kool-aid drinkers goldohfour.
We’ll watch these Big Ten games one by one. And we will notch each win in the w column and each loss under the l column. This brewster will either get significant numbers of wins or he will be run out of town on a rail. In the end, at Minnesota even Bierman and Warmath were run off because they didn’t win ENOUGH Biog Ten games…Waker, Smokey Joe and Gutey were run off. The totally incompetent Mason was run off, after being extended a couple of times, bought out and paid a heck of a lot of “buy out” money by the incompetent ad and prexy at the University of Minnesota just so he could get those pretenders in the administration a new football stadium.
This brewster will most certainly be run off too. He’ll be in good company though. The University of Minnesota ALWAYS runs off their football coaches. It’s tradition…it is inevitable and it is all documented HISTORY. It’s not “if…”, it is only a matter of when! I’m starting to kind of assume that you kool-aid drinkers and spinners have to suffer through a LOT before some new administrators come in and clean house…so go ahead and corkscrew this brewster right into the ground with all of your spin. As for me, I want Big Ten wins.
goldohfour: you certainly are a “nobdoy” (to use your own words. Unfortunately you very often times write specifically to me with specific regard to my posts. Thanks for nothing goldohfour…and…keep reading and trying to spin and control. Nobody…nothing…that’s our goldohfour…
;0)
I think Illinois will win a fairly competitive game. I think the offense got a wake up call last week.
Wisconsin is more of a rival because more students from WI attend MN than do from Iowa.
Goldo4–I agree with you and have been saying all week Illinois is a very tough, dangerous team. I think they are a top 25 team. They played Missouri close the first game of the season. Las Vegas doesn’t have the Gophers a 13 point dog for no reason. Upsets happen, and this would definitely qualify as one. Again, hold them under 30 and there is a chance.
With all of you as my witness, I swear I will never read another Wren or Loon post again. Never.
Wisconsin is a bigger rival due to the NFL,college hockey, and the fact that Becky’s coach is the biggest POS in college football today.
Both schools fans are classless, anyone remember countless USC expressing their views of Iowa fans after their Rose Bowl game? Anyone remember ASU fans stating the same after ASU won 44-7 over the pigeons?
Who has more arrests? Iowa’s football team or Wisconsin’s band? LMAOR.
Budinsky says:
October 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Wisconsin is a bigger rival due to the NFL,college hockey, and the fact that Becky’s coach is the biggest POS in college football today.
Both schools fans are classless, anyone remember countless USC expressing their views of Iowa fans after their Rose Bowl game? Anyone remember ASU fans stating the same after ASU won 44-7 over the pigeons?
Who has more arrests? Iowa’s football team or Wisconsin’s band? LMAOR.
————–
Very funny Bud, why not tell us about attendence instead of impersonating me?
Derek, I don’t believe Budinsky and Bud are one and the same. Budinsky’s post was intelligent, witty and pretty accurate.
wrenagain2 says:
October 9th, 2008 at 10:11 am
goldohfour: winning at Illinois would NOT be like winning at OHIO STADIUM. Now way…no shape…no form.
—————–
If this brewster isn’t taking his players into Champaign looking for a win, what’s the point in this brewster even making the trip with his players? He could better be using the time focusing on his recruiting!
So, it is my contention that this brewster needs to have a game plan ready that squeeze the juice, stop the run and force Williams to be “air williams” and beat the Gophers with his arm. This brewster needs to crank up the Gopher’s running game against a weak zookster defense. Thi brewster needs significant numbers of Big Ten wins. Illinois may be one of the few chances for a road win this brewster has in 2008. this zookster can be had and this brewster needs to kick it in gear and get it done in Champaign.
“If this whyne renbawls isn’t taking his meth business into Champaign looking for a score, what’s the point in this whyne renbawls even making the trip with his mule loon?
Jimbo says:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Derek, I don’t believe Budinsky and Bud are one and the same. Budinsky’s post was intelligent, witty and pretty accurate
————
Point taken.
Have any you noticed how many of our players are probable or questionable for tomorrow, including Decker and Weber? Ouch?
Thanks for a great 1st half of the season coach Brew! Keep this program rolling! Good luck at Illinois tomorrow and beat both Iowa and Wisconsin!!!!!
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