Decker honored
Posted on December 16th, 2008 – 1:17 PMBy Kent Youngblood
Quick update here. Gophers receiver Eric Decker was named honorable mention all-america by SI.com., the website of Sports Illustrated.
Decker led the Big Ten and set a school record with 76 receptions during the 2008 season. He is currently ranked second in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game (84.1).
Thanks.
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52 Responses to "Decker honored"
It is good to see Gophers recognized. No offense to Decker but this is about all that we could have expected considering all of the talent at WR throughout the country (Crabtree, Bryant, Maclin, Harvin)
grunk … Decker was up against great talent around the country but remember too he was really crippled from late in the Northwestern game. He missed one of the last three games and was no where near himself in the other two.
Yes, injuries are part of football but just imagine the numbers he would have had as a healthy receiver those last three games.
Good job, Eric! Way cool!
I’ve been kind of passively following the postings the last few days. You people are all crazy! It’s just that some are crazier than others. Didn’t read anything posted by wren, though. Can’t tolerate ingnorance and illiteracy.
I’m very optimistic about next season. Our Gophers will be better next year than they were this year. No national championship, probably no Rose Bowl. But respectability and a good bowl game.
GO GOPHERS!!!
This is good for Decker, but I am excited to see not only him but our young WR’s perform in the Bowl Game and next year after seasoning. Ralph Spry did all of us a favor by moving on. No room for him. Lets get the oline in order to protect our QB and establish a ground game. Our offense could be lethal if we can oput it all together.
Lewan is gone! He is going to Michigan. Now all we have left is Carter and Mcneal to look forward too!
Jimbo,
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been reading the posts lately but haven’t responded. The comments have gotten so ridiculous. It’s just mind blowing how so many people who try and portray themselves as Gopher fans wish nothing but failure for this program.
I for one, am excited about their upcoming bowl game and next season. I believe they will have a very good team next year. The coaching staff appears to be getting another strong recruiting class and last years class will have more experience to contribute right away.
Yes, there were some set backs this last year, but where they came from has been a very positive thing. Good luck Gophs, keep the momentum going!!
Too bad about Lewan, he would have been a nice addition. I feel the coaching staff has done a nice job recruiting on the OL with Campion, Michel, Olson, & now Wills. They will also have Carufel to work with. However, beside Carter & McNeal, there is also Taikwon Paige & Torrey Ball that the gophs have their eyes on. Does any one have any updates on any of these recruits? Grunk?
“…….wish nothing but failure for this program.”
How is noting failure the same as wishing nothing but failure for this program? Who is ‘wishing’ anything on this program other than ‘Recruiting’?
Watching the Titanic sink and then commenting on what a disaster that was is not the same as wishing the ship would sink.
We lost at home to Iowa 55-0. Who is wishing that failure on the program?
Next year our recieving crew will be very good. Imagine the four reciever spread with Decker, Hayo, Green, and Smith. The you rotate other guys in like Mcneal, Mcknight, Brandon and Ben. We won’t lack for recieving targets next year that’s for sure.
Bisker and anyone else interested in recruiting…Aside from Carter & McNeal there are some other recruits we are after.
Bryant Allen (3 star WR from St. Louis area) is deciding between Minnesota, Missouri, and Kansas on Thursday too. Allen plans to play football and walk on for basketball.
Paige (4 star Juco CB) seems very likely to commit but he may take another visit elsewhere just to be sure.
Anthony Leon (4 star Juco safety) is another that we are still waiting on too. He is Sean Taylor’s cousin and he redshirted at FSU his freshman year before moving on to a Juco. Leon plans to take a visit to USC before deciding.
Jeremy Gainer (4 star LB) and Kenneth Watkins cousin seems to be down to Minnesota or Michigan State. We probably won’t know on him until mid-January.
Torrey Ball (2 star DE) hasn’t received an offer yet. We brought him for a visit but I have no idea if he is a plan B and we are waiting for others to decide or whether they are still evaluating him. He is an interesting story, he was only 200 lbs as a senior in 2007 and Vandy recruited him but didn’t offer. He took a year off to add muscle, then went to Juco to play football and add more weight. He still has 3 years left.
Those are the primary targets remaining but more could pop up.
This brewster did the last 4 Big Ten games to us. I hate having the Gophers lose Big Ten games.
I will comment on what happens on Game Day Saturdays. NOTHING else really matters.
IF you people thing Big Ten blow-out losses can be spun as something to be desired, there is NO HOPE for this program. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. THAT is a fact of life. Until there are a LOT of Big Ten wins, and there are so many Big Ten losses, there really is NOTHING good happening.
wren … Your blind dog Observer takes note and oberves your insanity. Thanks for posting.
Grunky—as our resident recruiting scout, you have to be impressed with who we are competing agst. for players. It blows me away when I see FSU, USC, Michigan, etc. in the same sentence with Minnesota. It seems to me we are overweighting the DB recruits.
Interesting article in the other paper this morning that should put to rest any doubt that Mason did not have his heart in the program the last couple of years.
Great job Deck. I am saying that like I really think he takes time out of his day to read this stuff. I don’t think so. Just another 2 star to be named to the All-American teams. He is part of a long list of players to make us proud. Gold4, nice to know you had a seat at the table when Mason and Maturi were deciding on who we would play. The word was PREVIOUS when I mentioned who we had played in the past. Yes we do play them in the same season but if we can beat any of them what does it mater? We have a lock on 4 non-conference wins and if we loose any of them we can say they are an upgraded lose over FAU/NDSU/BG. That makes sense to me. And that great wide receiver corp that we are going to have next year has done what this year? The stars hanging behind their names mean nothing until they do it on the field gold4. You should know this better than most. You have to get them to run the correct routes before we can get them the ball.
TX, what makes that article interesting and what does what a man thinks today have anything to do with how he did his job 2 years ago. I would venture to guess if any of us had made over 1 million dollars a year over our past ten years and then when we walked away with 4 plus million more we would have better things to do with our lives. Why can’t some of you stop trying to prove what you thought was wrong with the previous staff and defend what is going on today with our football team. Your only recourse is to point out rumors or urban legends of what was wrong with Mason. Leave the man alone and let him live his life without you guys trying to make it out like it was the worst ten years of Gopher football the school ever had. We went to 7 bowl games and beat some teams that if they had showed up on our non-conference schedule some of you would have gone Ape ****.
Bud–my point is Mason had a nice run and improved the program. However, the last couple of years he was going through the motions. As a result the program was set back. Brewster inherited a roster that was extremely thin. I just wish Mason would have left when he no longer had the drive. I am not trying to dig up irrelevent memories. Just trying to explain what is going on today based on the past. I will no longer comment on Mason—like I said before, he got the last laugh(the money) and I wish him no bad feelings.
Loon,
I stand by what I said. You and others seem to wallow in what you “perceive” to be failure. Coach Brew and his team went 7-5 and made it to a bowl game in the second year of this new regime. They also continue to recruit very well. It’s been a long time since local kids have been this excited about the home team. The past does not matter any more, what matters is how they deal with the present and the future. To me the glass is definitely half full and getting fuller. However, to some, the glass will be eternally be half empty (quite sad).
As for you constantly bringing up the one loss to Iowa, I think I know what category you are in.
To the other who share my optimism keep up the great posts!!
Go gophers!!!!
Tex–I certainly agree, we are competing for recruits against much better competition than in the past. That means more to me than how many stars a guy has because it is the judgement of college coaches. Obviously you’re not going to win all of those but if we can win a few we’ll be in good shape. At this point this class doesn’t have a lot of real high end star power but it is very deep with more talent than we are used to getting. If we can get McNeal, Carter, etc it will add the high end premier players. However, more than anything I feel like we are building a strong foundation so that we don’t have to rely on 22 players to stay healthy.
Tex, the last three years under Mason were all chaos when it came to recruiting. No contract extension, no speaking relationship with Maturi, endless rumors about their relationship, rehire or not to rehire, no football game scheduled by Maturi leaving an empty spot on the schedule, the single most frustrated Gopher fan group I have ever seen at the Virginia game, etc., etc.
The AD has full, 100% confidence in the coach or the program WILL suffer. You wanted that when you wanted Mason out. The program TODAY is paying the price for those three years of BS. My best guess would be that the same process will begin again next season. What is seen as little boo boos this year (Iowa 55-0), will be increasingly seen as major character flaws next year.
Bisker, if you do not mind, I will continue to notice the realities that I see, not the opinions of the recruitnics like you. A good coach does not finish the season the season the way our coach finished the season. The Iowa game was not just a one game disaster. The three prior games were totally lost opportunities as well.
Loon,
Thank you for confirming my previous post (just had to put the 55-0 in there again, didn’t you?). I don’t mind what you want to think at all, I just think it’s sad.
Grunk, thanks for the update on the recruits. It’s my understanding that Watkins has committed to the Gophs. I saw on rivals that they have Gainer listed as interest low now for the Gophers. Last week when I checked, it was listed as high, any insight? I thought he and his cousin wanted to play together?
In response to the original message from Kent on Decker’s honor, congratulations!! I look forward to him being healthy and competeing in their bowl game. He had an outstanding year despite the injuries. He definitely represents the heart & attitude of this team.
Go Gophers!!
Bisker,
If they did Gainer’s interest level I am surprised. It is down to Minnesota & MSU and it is probably close to 50/50. Play for the home town team or play with your cousin. It has to be a tough decision.
That was supposed to say “change” Gainer’s interest level…
Lest anyone doubt the fraud that is the Loon, simply read Mason’s own interview from the PP today. Part of it is excerpted below, and Mason’s OWN admission that his time was done, speaks volumes about the clown that posts as “the Loon” on this site. I think his moniker is a tongue-in-cheek joke on all of us, as normal people just can’t be as stupid as “the Loon” pretends to be with his laughable insights.
Mason likes what he sees in his former programs at U, Kansas
By Marcus R. Fuller
mfuller@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 12/17/2008 10:08:08 AM CST
Minnesota head coach Glen Mason stands with his team before running onto the field before kickoff against Indiana University at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn. Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006. Gophers win 63-26. (Staff)Glen Mason said he did the best he could at Kansas and Minnesota, but he believes both programs are closer now to winning a conference championship than when he coached them.
Mason spent nine seasons at Kansas before leaving for Minnesota in 1996. He spent 10 seasons with the Gophers before being fired in 2006 — even saying he might have “stayed too long.”
Grunk,
My bad, Gainer’s interest is listed as “High” for both the Gophs and Spartans. It looks like he must have officially de-committed from Indiana. Hopefully, Watkins will have some influence on his decision. It would be nice to see him play along side Maresh. Possibly another Hodges/Greenway combo?
Bisker … A site I saw recently said Gainer has decommitted from Indiana and currently has equal interest in Minnesota and Michigan State. He is a guy that would definitely help us.
I’m sure everyone has seen the story from across the river stating that Sam got a full go-ahead Monday from the doctors at Mayo Clinic. He is good to go.
That is wonderful news for the Maresh family, for Sam himself, and certainly for Gopher football.
It doesn’t matter what “the Loon” and “this brewster” think of the program or coach. It doesn’t matter what Glen Mason thinks about the program or coach. It matters what recruits think of the program, and they seem to be undeniably in favor of it. They are the ones who will be devoting 2 to 4 years of their lives to the program and coach. The bickering with the negative posters is a waste of time, they are obviously not happy with Brewster and not even a Rose Bowl would change their minds. We can all be happy that they have no say in the program and no one who matters gives a flying fart about what they think. Enough.
Bisker–Aside from possibly getting Gainer, we already have Reeves & Cooper too. You never know how any of the recruits are going to develop but they all have the tools and with Gainer we wouldn’t be screwed if one didn’t reach their potential/got injured. It takes speed, size, technique and a football IQ to succeed at LB in DI. However, we have been lacking in the speed dept. for a long time and these guys all have wheels (40 times) Cooper: 4.45, Reeves: 4.5, Gainer: 4.5. The MLB’s in the under class have a good speed/size ratio coming from HS too, Maresh 6′2 240 4.7, Tinsley: 6′1″ 220 4.6.
Before they contribute the OLB’s all need to add some muscle and improve with coaching but they have tools that our current LB’s didn’t necessarily have coming out of HS (Hightower 4.6, Triplett 4.6, Davis 4.5–comparable). Time will tell whether they are better but I like their chances.
TNGoph … You need to understand that This Wrenbawler and That Buffloonatic care nothing about Gopher football. Neither one has seen a game.
They just feel something has been stolen from them because Glen would always let each one carry his suitcase from the car to the airport once a year.
This made This Wrenbawls and That Loonybin feel really special and like real insiders. Now that yearly thrill has been stolen away from them and that is the reason they hate Brewster so much.
Amen TNgopher, hit the nail on the head, I can think of a couple that should be hit on the head too!!!!
grunkiejr,
Agreed. I like the speed & athleticism that the coaches are going after. With what Coach Roof has done with the current group of players, the progession of the defense looks very promising. I believe the players you mentioned will have that instinctual football IQ required for D1. If we do get Gainer, I think that at least 2 of the 4 will be able to contribute in some aspect immediately.
Feel free to debate this but this is a third party view of next season’s NCAA preseason rankings.
http://nationalchamps.net/2009/earlybird/index.htm
I sense a long drawn out commentary about This Brewster not winning enough Big Ten games to justify the ranking.
By long, do you mean paragraph after paragraph etc. of constant bashing about this and this??? Can’t imagine who you could be talking about.
grunkiejur.
Are you going to take the #18 all the way to Vegas? I would rather put the bet in a tin can and bury it where only a dog could find it.
What happened to MSU, Wisky & the Illini? Not even a mention. This is merely one persons opinion. Yawn!
Do you want mine? Sorry but I wouldn’t waste my time in such foolishness.
goldenboy, check your reading comprehension skills and background knowledge regarding the Mason quotes.
When asked at the Senate interview for the new stadium “why have we not been to the Rose Bowl in so long?”, Coach Mason responded just as he is responding to the PP interview. “If you want us to get to the Rose Bowl why don’t you help us get the new, on campus stadium?”
He is saying exactly what I have said many times. If you can not beat Mason’s record here with the new stadium, you are not half the coach he was. If Mason was a 6 out 10 as a coach, what does it say about a guy who has TCF and a true home court advantage and does not get to the Rose Bowl?
Some of us put a lot of effort into getting that stadium for damn good reasons. 55-0, at HOME, to IOWA and you want to see the broken glass as being half FULL. Oh yes, the omens are so hard to read! As Monty Python once said so well: “This parrot isn’t dead, it is just pining away!”
Is it 2009, 2010 or 2011 yet? Are we playing on campus? Any sane person realizes that it takes time to resurrect a program that managed 3 BT wins over a ten year span to 7 or 8 BT wins. And who has done that lately other than the Illini. Oops they managed 6 BT wins not 7 or 8.
So you want to go the the Rose Bowl? I do too. The stadium will not by itself get it done. What is so hard about trying to understand that?
The difference is I am willing to wait a bit and even keep my season tickets at TCF. And see if Brewster is capable of getting it done. For someone who claims he worked so hard at getting TCF, I would expect the same. Not.
I am putting my hope on someone other than a guy who struggled to get us 4 out of 10 fo ten years. Go ahead and cry yourself to sleep about Mason;s dismisal. No one here cares.
Bayfield-Don’t attack me for posting the opinion of a media outlet. It is not my ranking and I just said debate it, not this is what is going to happen.
I’m guessing the reason that we are predicted to have a higher preseason ranking than MSU, Illinois & Wisconsin is that they either finished behind us (Illinois) or lose a lot more seniors this season (MSU & Wisconsin).
If you want my opinion, I doubt the AP or Coaches would rank us that highly in the preseason polls.
Could we finish 4th in the Big Ten and 18th overall? That implies at least 8 wins but probably 9 wins with 5 or 6 conference victories. It’s possible but to win that many games next season will require a lot of improvement along the offensive line. I know enough to never bet on the Gophers so this is not something I’m taking to Vegas.
Loon, you say that you don’t wish anything bad to happen to the program but you are already predicting that Brewster won’t take them to the Rose Bowl.
“He is saying exactly what I have said many times. If you can not beat Mason’s record here with the new stadium, you are not half the coach he was. If Mason was a 6 out 10 as a coach, what does it say about a guy who has TCF and a true home court advantage and does not get to the Rose Bowl?”
The last time I checked we have yet to play a game in TCF Bank Stadium.
And having a stadium is not a guarantee of going to a Rose Bowl, it is removing an impediment to recruiting. Mason never said a stadium would get us there, he said it would help.
Yes, Loon at his stupid “best.”
Even Mason says in an interview he stayed too long, and Loon babbles about, what?????? Does anyone speak stupid? I dont get Loon’s point.
Loon: we HAD a campus stadium Loon-fraud, and that did NOT help us get BACK to the Rose Bowl thru the early 1980’s. The Dome was supposed to solve that, you know, the Foggie’s would come here to play warmly indoors.
Going back to campus assures nothing.
NOTHING. Otherwise we would have gone to a couple Rose Bowls in the 1970’s.
How did that work out for us with Dungy?
Ever heard of that guy?
Loon is THE biggest fraud on these web pages. I guarantee the Loon is an 18yo kid living in an Iowan basement.
bayfield … Surely you are not buying into the silly fantasy that an illiterate illegal alien on the run from border police somehow had a hand in getting a new stadium. ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!
No attack. I wave the white flag. My point was how absurd and wothless these type of forecasts are.
dac.
The Loonatic can boost and strut all he wants. His opinion and claims are meaningless and have no merit. After all, he wants Brewster to fail. That’s so obvious. So does his sidekick Wren. How anyone can give up their season tickets is beyond me.
I see Lauranaitis is an All-American for the third year in a row. Not bad for a guy that would never have cracked the starting lineup at Minnesota. At least according to me.
Bayfield: what on earth do I or would anyone else have to do with this brewster failing or succeeding??? What on earth do you, or your good buddy d_a_c or any of these cheesy, cheerleaders for this brewster have to do with him succeeding, or being liked by all the media members including Reusse???? Absolutely nothing Bayfield.
You can pretend that all is well. IF I see something wrong, I’m going to talk about it. A 55 to ZERO loss to iowa is NOT a good sign Bayfield. I see a LOT of things like that happening under this brewster’s watch. In fact, sometimes I seriously wonder who the hell is watching anything over there? prexy b and this mauri seem as though they will be totally surprised any time anything doesn’t work out very well on their watches over there at the University of Minnesota in the football program…or any where else.
Now bayfield: should I start calling you names and tack a “tick” unto your moniker?????? Would that be very smart????? Would that be a good thing????? Hopefully, one of the d_a_c types has just hijacked you moniker Bayfield…other wise you have lost your way and have joined the dark side.
Are we all having fun yet Wren? What more is this blog other than a past time, a hobby or even a habit? You can take all this stuff on the serious side if you wish. Me? I’m just drop in here once in a while, write up a couple paragraphs of nothing and poke a bit of fun at certain people and their views. There is really very little here of substance or merit. Just stuff posted by a bunch of opinion/editorial page wannabees.
You and I still need to have a beer or three someday before we get to old to enjoy the taste.
The Loon is the sanest poster on this board Bayfield. I’ve had the honor of knowing him for a long time in tems of these web-sites devoted to the Gophers.
You also appear to have a sound basis for many ofyour takes on things…AND…you have long been beating the drum for solid football: run the ball and stop the run.
There aren’t too many more people that post here who I would take the time to meet or would care to spend any time talking about the current state of this Gopher Program with. You would be a person that would I would certainly like to talk some Gopher Football with.
While I certainly may not agree with all of your opinions on the current state of the program, I don’t have to agree. I’ve got my take. You have yours and that’s a good thing. What I have noticed about your takes is that they appear to value some of the time-honored, common sense kinds of things and you are “conaistantly” consistant about how you present your views.
I’ve been known to “jab a bit” and have a bit of “argument for the sake of argument’s sake” in my own interactions on this site and that site I formerly posted on that some laughingly refer to as GH now days… ; 0)
You know, I even offered to do a charity gig for them by making a few “guest appearances” on their site to launch a “…ban wren again…campaign. People could have pledged money to have Dave and Jason and some of those other whipper-snappers over there ban me for $$$$$. They are asking for contributions…I thoght a few guest shots by me over there might get the ball rollong for them and I’m sure that people over there would probably pony up ten to twenty bucks to have me banned because I contrasted their foolish opinions so often and so effectively. But, who ever e-mailed me back from gh (didn’t sign a name…just appeared to be one of their moderators o something) told me “thanks, but no thanks…” I think it could have raised them a little money and it might have even livened things up for them over there for a very limited time.
So, maybe we will have the chance to do that one of these days Bayfield. maybe sometime during this New Year. I’ll buy you a beer…you can get me a pepsi or cola and we can drink to a ifetime of following Golden Gopher Football…the good…the bad…the journey…I think that would be a good thing. But, NO fantasy high school ranking stuff! ; 0)
Bisker says:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
grunkiejr,
Agreed. I like the speed & athleticism that the coaches are going after. With what Coach Roof has done with the current group of players, the progession of the defense looks very promising. I believe the players you mentioned will have that instinctual football IQ required for D1. If we do get Gainer, I think that at least 2 of the 4 will be able to contribute in some aspect immediately.
—————
Everything I’ve heard points to Gainer picking MSU, but we shall see. I’m sure the coaches are working him hard.
Bud says:
December 17th, 2008 at 8:56 am
TX, what makes that article interesting and what does what a man thinks today have anything to do with how he did his job 2 years ago. I would venture to guess if any of us had made over 1 million dollars a year over our past ten years and then when we walked away with 4 plus million more we would have better things to do with our lives. Why can’t some of you stop trying to prove what you thought was wrong with the previous staff and defend what is going on today with our football team. Your only recourse is to point out rumors or urban legends of what was wrong with Mason. Leave the man alone and let him live his life without you guys trying to make it out like it was the worst ten years of Gopher football the school ever had. We went to 7 bowl games and beat some teams that if they had showed up on our non-conference schedule some of you would have gone Ape ****.
————-
I see you selectively the last thread where several of us mocked your ignorance…. No comments?
Wren
I would have gladly paid to have listened to you go head to head with Mike Max regarding the stadium. Too bad it didn’t happen. There is one guy that needed to be taken to the woodshed.
Now that there will be ample opportunity to enjoy the game day at TCF, lets make that happen this Fall. I couldn’t stand to hang around the damn dome any longer than necessary and am not a tailgate guy.
And continue to have fun and not take this blog seriously.
brewster didn’t do a very good job of coaching his last few games. Iowa beat them by55 points and kansas beat bad again. so i don’t think it is all mason’s fault. but guess what i’m a good hawkeye fan.
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