Football Recruiting Snapshot

Football recruiting is massive and hard to keep track of. For those of you who don't pay attention to recruiting on a daily basis I want to give you a quick snapshot.

We are about in the same spot we were a year ago. At this point in 2007 we had 4-star locked up, a handful of 3-star kids mostly from Minnesota and many athletes from around the country putting the Gophers on their short lists. To date in 2008 we have a 4-star locked up, a handful of 3-star in state kids and many studs from around the country mentioning the Gophers along with Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, etc.

I sense some anxiousness and eagerness to get more commitments this summer, but as I looked back the bulk of our commitments came in September thru November. So the hope is to just get on the radar of kids and stay in the hunt.

For Tim Brewster to land a second consecutive top 25 recruiting class winning will be an absolute necessity. You can sell kids on playing time and building for future championships while you generate a 1 win season for a little bit but eventually they'll tune you out for teams who are actually winning. Brewster doesn't have to win the Big Ten, but showing improvement and demonstrating that you actually are building something will go a LONG way towards winning recruiting battles with the traditional big dogs.

With that said here is a brief snapshot of who we have, who we are after and who this guy desperately wants to see wearing a Gopher hat come signing day.

	Pos.	Size	Stars	Hometown	Also Offered
Hasan Lipscomb	RB	5'11", 201	4	Houston, TX (Cypress Ridge)	Nebraska, TexA&M, Baylor, ISU
Moses Alipate	QB	6'5", 235	3	Bloomington, MN (Jefferson)	Wash St, Colorado
Josh Campion	OL	6'5", 265	3	Fergus Falls, MN	interest from Wis, Notre Dame, Michigan
Victor Keise	WR	6'1", 160	3	Coral Springs, FL (N. Broward)	interest from NC St, Miami, Conn
Ed Olson	OL	6'6", 270	3	Mahtomedi, MN	N. Ill, interest from PennSt, Mich, Col, Ill
Nick Rengel	TE/WR	6'3", 225	none	Sartell, MN	Buffalo, UCF, N Ill, NDSU

Lipscomb and Alipate highlight the recruiting class thus far.

ESPN Insider has Lipscomb on their top 150 watch list and had this to say...

Follows his blocks well and runs with good vision. Shows good lateral quickness and outside speed stretching the zone run and turning the corner. Can be shifty through the initial traffic flashing good stop-start skill and body control making defenders miss. Shows a burst and sneaky extra gear when he finds an open seam. Not a burner, but displays good speed in the second level to separate.

As a junior Lipscomb rushed for 26 TDs on 1,625 yards. He is originally from New Orleans but was displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Because of his New Orleans roots, LSU pursued but never offered.

Alipate is the flagbearing Minnesota kid of 2009. The QB from Jefferson is kind of an intriguing recruit. His high school team was not very successful and he didn't put up great numbers. But when at camps and other opportunities to show his skills he usually does very well. As a junior he was invited to the Under Armor Junior Combine in January, which says a lot about his talent and upside. Scout has him as a 4-star recruit and ESPN can't say enough good things about him.

For a pocket passer with the great size that Alipate possesses, he is a really good athlete with some footwork and movement skills you don't see from a dropback passer. He is very competitive, shows solid overall natural tools and a strong arm.

Overall, Alipate's competitiveness is evident and he has the measurables, arm and athleticism to become an excellent player at the next level. He could play in the spread and could also play as a pure drop back guy which gives him some real versatility and value.

It should be fun to see him compete with 2008's QB recruit, MarQueis Gray, to lead the Dunbar Spread into the Rose Bowl.

Gopher Nation Wish List...

		Pos	Size	Stars	Hometown	OFFERS	NOTES
1	Michael Carter	CB	5'11", 154	4	Pompano Beach, FL	FL, Clem, Georgia, Miami, Aub and others	cousin to Tyrone Carter
2	Ra'Shede Hageman	TE	6'6", 252	3	Mpls (Washburn)	FL, OSU, Neb, Wis, Ill, Iowa, Mich St	a must have for Brewster
3	Ronnie Wingo Jr	Ath	6-3, 210	4	St. Louis, MO	Bama, Mizz, Tenn, OK, Neb, Kan, Ill, Iowa, Ark	planning to visit, would be a great get, maybe RB
4	Chris Davenport	DT	6-4, 318	5	Mansfield, LA	FL, LSU, USC, Tenn, Tex, Mich, Bama, everybody	I'm not holding my breath
5	Craig Drummong	DE	6-5, 260	4	Chicago	LSU, FL, OSU, USC, Tenn	Top 5 DE - We have our work cut out for us here
6	Bryce McNeal	WR	6-2, 170	4	Mpls (Breck)	committed to Michigan	We win, Mich loses things might change here
7	David Gilbert	DE	6-4, 215	4	Oakland Park, FL	Wis, L'ville, Pur, Scar, UCF, Mich St, etc.	As of 4/30 had 3 offers, now has 12+
8	TyQuan Hammock	ILB	6'1", 220	3	Fort Wayne, IN	L'ville, Mich St., Ind, MAC schools	13 sacks, 164 tackles as JR, cousin to brother to ast coach Thomas Hammock
9	Chris Williams	CB	5-11, 185	4	Cincinnati, OH	WV, Ind, Cincy (has academic hurdles)	"The thing that shocked me was I didn't follow Minnesota football and they told me they went 1-11. I was like 'wow.' I mean if a I believe a school can really turn things around, and they want me to help I, would be interested in that."
10	Nosa Equae	DE	6'4", 235	3	Mansfield, TX	KU, Col, Iowa, Pur, L'ville	Kan and Col are top 2, is planning to visit
11	Rodney Smith	WR	6-6, 202	4	Miami, FL	Aub, FSU, OleMiss, Mizz, Tenn, many others	3.0 GPA, but kind of a longshot imo
12	Nat Berhe	S	5-11, 160	3	Colton, CA	New Mex, SDSU	2.9 GPA
13	Matt Garin	DE	6-4, 220	3	Apple Valley, MN	AZ St, Ore St, Stan, Wash St, AirForce, MACs	plenty of Pac 10 schools but no other BCS schools, interesting
14	Anthony Jones	OLB	6-2, 200	3	Chandler, AZ	AZ, ASU, OreSt, Wash St
15	Dan Orseske	P	6-3, 195		Chicago	Northwestern	We need him and I think we'll get him
16	Artice Kellam	S	5'11", 180	NR	Miami, FL	OleMiss, SoCar
17	Dwayne Difton	WR	5-11, 166	4	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	BC, Pur, Sflor, S Miss, Syracuse	seems high on Auburn if offered
18	Jaz Reynolds	WR	6-3, 180	3	Aldine, TX	Col, Kan, Neb, NW, Virg, SMU, Bay, Vir	his HS QB is heading to Kansas, not likely but who knows

This list is very fluid and I gave preference to guys I thought we had a remote chance at landing. But I am far from knowing anything. As I prefaced this is just a snapshot and wanted to keep people informed (if you want greater detail I suggest you pay the subscription fees to something like Rivals, Scout or ESPN Insider).

It's Minnesota Day on BTN

Today the BTN highlights Minnesota's most recent athletic year. Below are the notable events to be aired on the BTN today.

12:00 N - 4:00 "Minnesota Basketball: The Journey" episodes 1-8

I don't think I have seen each all 8 episodes but this was an entertaining little series. They followed the Gophers in Tubby's first season. If you look REALLY close, you can see me in the Big Ten ACC Challenge episode as I paid to go with the team to Florida State that weekend.

7:00 - Minnesota over Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.

The primetime slot is occupied by Blake Hoffarber's miracle shot. Significant accomplishments in minor sports aside, this was the highlight of the Gopher season for most fans.



9:00 - Big Ten Tonight: Minnesota Year in Review

Not sure what to expect but I anticipate they will chronicle some of the team and individual accomplishments that many Gopher fans were unaware of. So this might be fun to watch to see that just because football was 1-11, basketball missed the NCAA Tournament and Hockey was disappointing; Gopher athletics was not a complete failure.

10:00 - Minnesota vs. Georgetown in 1993 NIT

I remember this game and of all the Gopher programming on today this will be the one I try to watch.

Complete BTN schedule can be found HERE.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Nick Rengel

We now have six verbal commitments, four of which are from Minnesota. As of last night Sartell's Nick Rengal was that fourth.

The 6'3" athlete was at Minnesota's camp this last week and performed well enough to go home with an offer. It didn't take long to accept. Rengal had offers from Central Florida, NDSU, and a handful of MAC schools but had been waiting for the Gopher offer to come through.

"I grew up dreaming of playing for Minnesota, all the kids in Minnesota should. I knew that when they offered me I was going to commit." per Rivals

We need more kids with this attitude. Guys like Matt Carufel and Kim Royston didn't feel like this but later regretted their decisions to play for Notre Dame and Wisconsin respectively . It will take more kids like Rengel and of course a few more wins to truly lock down the boarders.

Obviously as a recruit who has no stars attached to his name this isn't the rock star verbal we all would love to see. But after news of Maresh's heart condition and players defecting news of someone excited to be hear is refreshing.

After reading Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market: Inside the Smash Mouth World of College Football Recruiting" I learned that camp is a great tool for coaches to find those players not yet rated and discovered by everyone. Rengel took advantage of his time in front of the coaching staff and convinced them he was worth a scholarship.

Maybe Rengel is just a local kid who plays special teams and contributes as best he can, or maybe he is that diamond who becomes a factor and makes this team better. I am not here to judge talent, but instead to extend an official welcome.

What was your favorite Clint Brewster moment?

As has been rumored for several days, Clint Brewster (son of head coach Tim Brewster in case you lived under a rock), is going to transfer out of Minnesota. After watching Adam Weber set school records as a redshirted freshman, JUCO All-American David Pittman coming in and highly rated incoming freshman MarQueis Gray on his way to Minnesota, Clint wanted a better opportunity to get some playing time.

Personally I think this is a non-story although it does create a doomsday "Cubs Syndrome" where as soon as a player leaves he tuns into a stud and egg is on our collective faces.

I did like the depth that Clint would have provided to our QB situation as he could have been the clear cut #2 for the next 4 years with the ability to perform well should the QB1 go down for any reason. But that is pure speculation and you can't blame a kid for wanting to compete at a level higher than running the scout team vs. the starting defense (and I use the term 'defense' loosely!).

Where do people think the young Brewster will end up?

Colorado? - seems like a logical fit. Sophomore Cody Hawkins is the returning starter but after Clint sits out a year he would then be in position to be a 3-year starter for the Buffs.

Illinois? - I highly doubt it. The tranfer year would be another season to distance himself from Juice Williams but I don't see him transfering within the Big Ten.

Baylor? - transfer Kirby Freeman will be the QB this upcoming season but then after sitting Brewster would have a shot at being the man for the next four seasons. A Big 12 school in Texas, but Clint would have to compete with 4-star recruit Robert Griffin.

BYU? - I don't think he's mormon.
Air Force? - they run the spread but might not be what he is looking for
Utah? - spread offense, might be a very good fit

Those are my total shots in the dark. If I had to give the official Gopher Nation prediction, I'd say...

1. Colorado
2. Utah
3. Baylor
4. anywhere but Wisconsin

Brewtster taking heat for comments 17 months ago...

January 17th is a date known for many significant events…

• 1595 – Henry IV of France declares war on Spain
• 1605 – First publication of Don Quixote
• 1899 – Al Capone was born
• 1917 – the US buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million
• 1949 – the first sitcom, The Goldbergs, airs on US television
• 1971 – Kid Rock was born
• 1982 – "Cold Sunday" in the US saw temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities (thank god for global warming)
• 1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins

But that date will forever be remember by Gopher fans as the day Athletic Director Joel Maturi officially hired his new head football coach, Tim Brewster.

We are 17 months removed from his first press conference and some Brewster quotes from that day are still being parsed and debated by fans, bloggers and message board enthusiasts. I’ve take my shot at analyzing and ending the conversation (not a goal actually attainable) but ultimately I wonder why it even matters?

There really are two things that matter in college football.

1- actually winning
2- the perception of moving in the right direction

I know that everyone will tell me that really winning is the only thing that matters. And maybe at certain schools that is true, but not necessarily at the University of Minnesota. One could argue that Glen Mason was the third best coach in the storied history of the Gophers (Murray Warmath and Bernie Bierman are clearly top 2). Mason did produce the highest win % since Bierman. But winning games and going to mid-level bowls was not enough to keep his job as it was determined that the program wasn’t really moving forward.

I’m putting words behind the actions of Maturi but I think it is safe to assume that the program had plateaued and the administration or influential alumni believed we needed a new leader to move forward.

This brings us back to January 17^th, 2007 and the initial press conference by Tim Brewster, who boldly proclaimed he was not only creating Gopher Nation but planning not take us to Pasadena and stated things like…

"My expectations from day one are going to be to win the Big Ten Championship. That’s what the seniors deserve and what everybody deserves."

“Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We’re not interested in any rebuilding process. I’m very fortunate that I’m not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. Glen Mason did an excellent job at this university and coached these kids well. They’ve won a lot of games. They’re not void of talent, so we’re in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I’m very excited that it’s not a complete rebuilding process."

These quotes created quite a stir and have been the root of controversy and debate ever since.

One side wonders how we ever hired this lunatic who thought we actually had the talent to win the Big Ten in 2007.Either he was crazy or he was a poor judge of talent and crazy. As his team marched on to a 1-11 season the fuel was added to the fire of this groups’ ire.

The other side says “C’mon guys he didn’t REALLY mean he could win this year.” What coach in his right mind is going to give up on a season. Of course he was just encouraging his troops and showing them that he had confidence in them. Ultimately he just meant that winning the Big Ten (as opposed to ‘earning’ a mediocre bowl bid) is the goal each and ever year.

After initially defending the comments, I say WHO CARES! Whether or not he thought the Gophers were going to be Big Ten Champs in 2008 is completely meaningless. There are two things that matter. His record and the perception that he’s moving the program forward. In year 1, he failed miserably in the win/loss department. But he did hit a home run in the world of recruiting which has Gopher Nation buzzing about being able to field a team with Big Ten talent throughout the roster.

You may say, his words don’t exactly matter, what irks Gopher fans is that his rhetoric is over the top and coming off as crazy which won’t get you anywhere. You may be correct to a degree. He clearly overstated things when he was in the moment of being paraded as a new head coach. But that same enthusiasm and goal oriented rhetoric is precisely the reason he was able to bring in a top 20 recruiting class which happened to be the best this program has seen in decades.

Was his first season a success? Absolutely not, but I would argue it wasn’t a total loss. Bringing in a top 20 class when your team finished 1-11 is incredible. 2007 was a disaster but he has given hope for a sustainable turnaround. Eventually he will have to prove he is more than a recruiter and a coach capable of winning games and take this program to a new level of competitiveness. Through one season he is completing 50% of his passes.

But really does the fact that he was excited and was the first person to voice that we should have higher goals really that big of a deal? His team struggled on the field and there has to be improvement this in 2008, but what he said at his initial press conference or even all through his first spring is completely irrelevant to the 2008 season. Can we please move on?

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Inspiration for this post
Charlie Walters
Sunday Morning Quarterback
Footballnews - 247

Golden Gophers on the national (and international) scene

Congratulations are in order all around for the following current and future Golden Gopher athletes...


Women's Track All-Americans
Liz Roehrig - Runner-up Heptathlon
Heather Dorniden - 5th place 800 Meters
Ruby Radocaj - 6th place Javelin


Men's Track All-Americans
Hassan Mead - 6th place 5000 Meters

Mead is a true freshman who has had an outstanding freshman year and if healthy could become an all time Gopher great.

• All-American (Cross Country)
• Big Ten Runner-Up (Cross Country)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year
  
• Big Ten Outdoor Champ 5000M (Track)
• All-American 5000 M (Track)
• 6th place finish at NCAA Outdoor Championships

Next? Olympic trials.


Wrestling
Jake Deitchler - your youngest member of the US Olympic team as the 66 Kg wrestler. The 18 year old just graduated from Anoka and will be a Golden Gopher next season but has already made a name for himself as only the second high school wrestler to make the Olympic team. Mike Farina was the last to do it in 1976. This is a pretty incredible accomplishment and should give me a reason to tune into Olympic Wrestling this year.

Also worth noting is that there has been a wrester from the state of Minnesota on the US team for every Olympics dating back to 1968.

HOT tailgating product (shameless plug)

I am often e-mailed various products and advertising "opportunities." Some I reject and some I find cool enough that I can't in good conscience keep hidden from Gopher fans and in this case tailgaters.

Check out The Grill Topper (don't hold it agaisnt them that they are an Iowa based company) to see how this little product works. Since my target audience is primarily men, don't count on this being purchased for you for Father's Day, you might have to go and buy it yourself.

Anyway, check it out and it will be interesting to see how many burgers look like THIS on Saturday afternoon, September 12th, 2009 in the TCF Bank Stadium parking lot!

Incoming frehsman, Sam Maresh, to have open heart surgery

UPDATE: thanks to brilliant commenter (G0EL Pete) HERE is a link to more info on the Aortic Valve and replacement.
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Every once in a while something comes along that reminds all of us that football really isn’t all that important.

Many of us have been eagerly anticipating the new look Gopher defense that was to eventually be led by in-state recruit Sam Maresh.The middle linebacker from Champlin was an early commitment to coach Brewster and honestly has been the only significant in-state recruit Brewster has kept from other major programs.

But the Star Tribune is confirming what has been recently rumored, that Maresh has a congenital heart defect requiring surgery. Sam’s father, Bill, e-mailed the Star Tribune…

According to the e-mail, Maresh reported to the U of M on June 2 for a physical, where tests revealed he had a heart murmur. Three days later, after more tests, the family was told that Maresh has a congenital heart defect. Bill Maresh wrote of Sam: "His aortic valve has a serious leak, his ventricle is enlarged and also has an enlarged aortic root."

That is incredibly scary for Maresh and his family. Fortunately this was caught before the condition would have been worsened by 2-a-days in August and hopefully it can be corrected so the young man can live a long and healthy life.

The article does a nice job laying out the significance of Maresh to Brewster and the Gopher program so I won’t go into it any further.

A 4 pm press conference is scheduled for this afternoon to provide further details.

While hoping and praying for more Gopher wins this fall is kind of a big deal to those of us who follow, it all feels pretty meaningless in light of something as serious as this.

It is my prayer for the Maresh family that they can be at peace throughout this process and that Sam can be healed by competent doctors to live a full and healthy life.

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UPDATE:

From GopherIllustrated message boards (rivals subscription required and I urge you to subscribe as they are excellent at what they do), Bill Maresh recently posted this...

It’s difficult to know where to start when sharing information like this. Julie and I have tried to keep the information from going public, only telling family and a few staff members. At 4:00 p.m. there will be a press conference here at Champlin Park High School with Julie, Sam and myself. We feel it is time to share this information with the people we work with.

On Monday June 2nd, Sam reported to the University to participate for his first work out with the Gophers. The University requires physicals of all their new recruits before allowing them to work out. During the physical Sam was told he had a heart murmur and before they would let him work out they would have to perform further test. Wednesday June 4th, Sam had an EKG and an Echogram. Later that evening, Julie and I received a call telling us they had set up an appointment with a cardiologist and that Julie and I needed to be there. Thursday, as we met with two cardiologists, we were told that Sam had a congenital heart defect, his aortic valve has a serious leak, his ventricle is enlarged and also has an enlarged aortic root. We were told that he would need open heart surgery to repair or replace his valve and also to “fix” his aorta.

Yesterday, we were at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and saw three more doctors, the last being Dr. Schaff, a surgeon who we scheduled the surgery with. The Surgery will be June 26th.

The priority of Sam living a full and long life has been the number one concern through this process. Of course as most of you would guess, Sam asked the doctors, “will I be able to play football again” and I’m sure many others will ask the same question.

So before I answer that question, I want to again state that we, including Sam, have accepted the fact that this surgery was necessary for Sam to have a long and full life. Sam chooses to have the valve repaired if possible and if not to have it replaced with a tissue valve.

With the tissue valve, Sam has a chance of playing again. Of course the surgery will have to be a success, his ventricle will have to return to a normal size and his breastbone will have to mend strong enough to handle the impacts of football. So the answer to the question “will Sam be able to play football again” cannot be answered at the present time. There are many hurdles for Sam to clear in the next year before the doctors will clear him.

Julie and I are so thankful for all the University of Minnesota has done, from detecting the heart murmur, to referring us to possibly the best surgeon in the world, Dr. Schaff. We are most thankful for the prayers we have received through the last week and asked that you continue to pray for Sam through his surgery and his recovery.

Thanks for all your support,

The Maresh Family

Gopher Sports 2007-08 Recap

Chances are pretty good that if you read this blog then you are already aware how the football, basketball and hockey teams fared this year. (Ugly, improved, disappointing in case you didn't know). But lets take a moment to recap all of the 23 Golden Gopher sports...

Big Ten Champions
Women's Cross Country
Women's Swimming and Diving
Women's Indoor Track & Field

I guess it was a better year for the women's side of the athletic department but here is a brief sport-by-sport run down.

Fall Sports

Football (1-11) - Tim Brewster's first season was highlited by his recruiting class while we suffered through a season as bad as any in memory. The football team has received enough coverage so we'll leave well enough alone.

Volleyball (18-13) - 11-9 which was good enough to be tied for third in the Big Ten. A streaky season for the Golden Gophers who started out 12-3, went on a seven game losing streak, split their next two and then finished the conference season winning five of their last six. Minnesota was the only team in the country to face all four participants of the Final Four (Cal, Stanford and the National Champs from Penn State). Heading into next year we return two very talented freshmen (Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer) and currently sit as the 9th winningest volleyball program in the country.

W Cross Country (finished 12th at NCAA Championships) - Big Ten Champs (five runners in top 17) and NCAA Midwest Region Champs highlited a rather successful season for the women runners. SO-Jamie Cheever was the highest finisher at the NCAA meet finishing 33rd overall. We do return six of our top seven runners so 2008 could be another highly successful season for the women long distance runners.

M Cross Country (finished 8th at NCAA Championships) - JR-Chris Rombaugh finished 29th and FR-Hassan Mean finished 43rd to lead the Gophers. Mead and Rombaugh finished 2nd and 4th respectively in the Big Ten Championships as the Gophers finished 2nd to Wisconsin. We return three of the top five runners for next year.

Women's Soccer (9-8-2) - The season was nothing special but did manage to pull off the biggest upset in the program's history when the Gopher women knocked off nationally ranked (#8) Penn State 1-0 in double OT. The team finished 6th in conference and lost to Illinois in the first round of the B10 Tourney. With their sophomore and freshmen classes ranking top 50 nationally when they were recruited, it would appear that the next couple seasons could be improved.

Winter Sports

Men's Basketball (20-14) - again well chronicled on this particular blog. Much improved, incredible recruiting class and some new coach who given time just might make a name for himself.

Women's Basketball (20-12) - 11-7 was good enough for 3rd in the Big Ten. More importantly the women earned a their 5th bid into the NCAA Tournament in coach Pam Borton's six seasons. They return their best player in cup stacking champion, PG, Emily Fox who earned First team All-Big Ten honors in her junior season.

Men's Gymnastics - finished 5th (out of 6) in Big Ten Championships. SR-Mitchel Mays claimed an individual title on the vault. Mays was actually the heavy favorite to win an NCAA title on the vault but he "landed short on his Tsukahara double pike for a score of 15.625 and an eighth-place finish."

Women's Gymnastics - finished 6th in Big Ten Championships, but managed to finish the season with a #16 national ranking. Apparently the Big Ten was loaded as seven teams finished in the top 30 (6 in top 20).

Men's Hockey (19-17-9) - a disappointing season as the Gophers began the season with hopes of a Frozen four appearance but reality brought them down to a 9-12-7 WCHA record (7th place). Freshman Goalie, Alex Kangas, went on an unbelievable run during the WCHA tournament and Minnesota fell just short of their 15th conference tournament championship. The Gophers did manage an at large bid into the NCAA's but lost in their first round match up at Boston College.

Women's Hockey (27-7-4) - a more successful regular season than the men ended in much the same fashion. After finishing 2nd in the WCHA to Wisconsin, the Gopher women advanced to the championship game but lost to Wisconsin. They did of course make the NCAA tournament and were given the opportunity to avenge their previous 3 losses to Wisconsin but once again they lost to the Badgers to end the Gopher season.

Men's Swimming and Diving (3rd in Big Ten) - continued their streak of a Big Ten top 3 finish each and every season since 1989. The men scored more points this year in the NCAAs than they did a year ago when they finished 10th, but the added points this year were enough to garner an 11th place finish.

Women's Swimming and Diving (Big Ten Champs) - setting 14 team records and five events the women swimmers (and divers) won their third conference championship. The women continued their successful season and went on to finish 13th at the NCAA meet. Jillian Tyler earned Big Ten freshman of the year.

Wrestling - The Gopher grapplers followed up their 2007 National Championship season with their worst finish in the NCAA meet since 1996 finishing 10th. Not so bad, right? But when you have standards set as high as the Gophers', who have finished top 3 in nine of the last 11 seasons, 10th isn't exactly something to write home about. Second in the Big Ten, their best wrestler returning and the nation's top recruiting class on it's way there is no reason to believe the Gophers will not be back to their usual top three finish.

Spring

Baseball (20-35) - the baseball team is likely the biggest disappointment of the Minnesota athletic department. A decent showing in the non-conference season beating Tulane, Pepperdine and Missouri (all NCAA Tourney participants) turned out to be fools gold as the Gophers struggled mightily and finished last in the Big Ten. I'm planning to cover this in more detail soon, but it was their worst season since 1950. A very young pitching staff and much of their lineup potentially returning (depending on draftee decisions) should mean the Gophers will return to the top of the Big Ten soon.

Softball (29-16) - 4th place finish in the Big Ten. This was the highest Big Ten finish since 1999 and with only four seniors on the team 2009 could be a very successful season for the softball team.

Rowing - With the finest facilities around and a breakthrough season in 207, the women's rowing team finished 4th at the Big Ten Championships and 6th in the Central Region.

Men's Tennis (7-17) - 16 of their 17 losses came to ranked opponents and this young squad finished 4-6 in the Big Ten to cap their season. They will return 3 of their top 4 singles players and should be in fine shape to return to the NCAA tournament where they have been 13 of the last 15 years.

Women's Tennis (15-11) - a winning season and much of their roster returning this may have been a learning season. #1 singles was freshman Alessandra Ferrazzi from Brescia, Italy who will anchor the team in the next few seasons. Looking at the roster you see that the women's tennis team hails from exotic locations all over the world as Italy, Russia, Brazil, Australia and Neenah, Wisconsin are all represented. Bonus points to anyone who is actually reading this and can guess which of those locations I have actually been to.

Men's Track & Field - 5th place in Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The premier outdoor event, the 100m, was won by a Gopher for just the second time as Ibrahim Kabia established himself as the fastest man in the Big Ten (would have been 8th in SEC for those of you keeping track). Three other men won individual titles. Five Gophers will participate in the NCAA Meet (June 11-15 in Des Moines, IA). All five are underclassmen.

Women's Track & Field - This may be the most successful team in Gopher athletics this season. Big Ten Indoor Champs and 3rd place in Outdoor Championships. Eight individuals will be participating in the NCAA Meet next week.

Men's Golf - Big Ten runner ups to Michigan State with two golfers finishing in the top 10. JR-Victor Almstrom finished tied for 5th and SR-Clayton Rask finished 10th. Like several other sports this team was young and will return four of their top five golfers. Rask and Almstrom also participated in the NCAA Central Region Tournament finishing 11th and 41st respectively.

Women's Golf - While young squads has been a theme here, the women's golf team is the youngest of them all. The Gopher women finished 8th in the Big Ten (shooting their second lowest B10 score in team history) and the team was led by two freshman. Teresa Puga finished sixth individually at the Big Ten Tourney and Mary Narsizi finished 23rd. Essentially the entire roster returns (one senior who was not usually within the top 5), while this does not guarantee success they will have every opportunity to improve.

That covers all 23 sports that you can support in Gopher Athletics. As a group the University of Minnesota athletics finished 22nd nationally in the NACDA Director's Cup Standings. I do not believe that all of the spring sports are included in the most recent rankings so I would expect a little drop depending on how well our track athletes perform. A year ago we finished 20th but with the poor showing by football and baseball, coupled with slightly down years in hockey and wrestling the drop cannot be all that unexpected. How Notre Dame could even think about hiring away an athletic director from a team not in the top 20 of the Director's Cup Standings is beyond me.

Directors Cup Standings
Big Ten Teams
2	Michigan
3	Ohio State
4	Penn State
18	Wisconsin
22	Minnesota
23	Purdue
25	Michigan St.
29	Illinois
30	Indiana
32	Northwestern
50	Iowa

Take that Iowa!

Cold Minnesota Lakes Cause Linkage

I haven't jumped on the linkage bandwagon lately but here is what is going on around Gopher Nation and the Big Ten.

• Recently some minuscule Michigan blogger MGO Blog (you've probably never heard of it), has indirectly called out Gopher Nation saying there really is no such thing.
  

  "I blame the 2004 Red Sox and Kos for this. There is no Spartan Nation. There is no UAB Nation. There is no Badger Nation. Unless you are named Chad and everyone on your team is also named Chad, there is no nation for you. BLANK Nation jumped the shark two seconds after the 2004 ACLS. Shut up about it."

  I guess Brian didn't directly call us out so maybe we are OK. All I know is Tim Brewster said there is a Gopher Nation so that's what I'm going with. Maybe he'll think differently after his Wolverines step foot into Gopher Nation as they get housed at the Dome this fall.

• Matt Hayes at The Sporting News recently listed his top 5 players in the conference at each position. Only Eric Decker (#5) and punter Justin Kucek (#2) represented the Gophers. There is little to argue with here as there was a reason we were 0-8 a year ago. If the Gophers are going to win a couple conference games this year guys like Weber, Dom Alford, and anybody on defense may have to earn a spot within the top 5 of their respective position.
  

• As usual the Iowa bloggers Black Heart, Gold Pants provides us with a funny but completely unsafe for work, home or the library post. Just for your own safety and job security I suggest never clicking on a link provided by BHGP!

• People who know me will say I'm lying but I am actually reading a book. I have begun reading Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market - Inside the smash-mouth world of college football recruiting." Feldman spent a little more than the entire 2007 recruiting season with Ole Miss and noted recruiting great Ed Orgeron.
  
  I am not far enough to comment on the book but I have noticed several parallels between Orgeron and Brewster. Both are noted as outstanding recruiters and have landed blue-chip players for blue chip programs which led to National Championships. Orgeron was the master behind Leinart, Bush and other drafted players at USC. Brewster is given credit for guys like Vince Young at Texas. Both parlayed their recruiting reputation into head coaching jobs at schools in need of talent to move up from the bottom of their conferences. It should be a great read and provide some insight into the world of college football recruiting.

• From the Barn put out a hard hitting interview with incoming PF Colton Iverson about his love of "The Office."

• One of the best Big Ten Blogs for one of the worst Big Ten teams recently allowed me to give my thoughts on Gopher Football 2008. Lake the Posts has been giving an early sneak peak into the NU schedule and HERE is the Gopher preview. LTP also did an interview with Big Ten Network host and NU grad Dave Revsine. I didn't actually read it because it is really long but it looks interesting.

• Paterno will eventually die or quit coaching (not sure which will come first) and there are rumors that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is being set to replace him. A planned successor isn't all that strange but when that successor is currently coaching another D1 team, that is unprecedented. It is of course just a rumor but interesting nonetheless.