Earlier this afternoon I went to a local establishment to pick up a “to go” order of food. I was wearing a “M” hat and a gold t shirt under my Gopher football sweatshirt. I think at first glance I would easily pass as a Gopher football fan and one might infer I am in a really good mood today.

While waiting at the bar for my food, two middle aged guys strike up a conversation with me. One asked, “Did you watch the game?”

“I did. I was there.” I replied.

Immediately one of the guys says:

“I’m happy the Gophers won but I am not a Coach Fleck guy”

I waited a moment to gather my thoughts and trying to quickly assess if this guy was sober enough to have a conversation with. He seemed to be so.

Me: “Why is that?”

Dude 1: “He’s too much. He’s fake. It’s all about him. We need a real football coach”

Me: (silent fuming)

Dude 2: “Bernie Bierman would be pissed off about this guy”

Me: “Did you meet Bernie Bierman?”

Dude 2: (silence)

Long awkward silence while I think of something snarky and aggressive to say

My food arrives

2 weeks from today we’ll already be a couple of days into the college football season and the Gopher Football team will have played its first game at TCF Bank Stadium against New Mexico State. For a few weeks I have had friends asking me what I think the season is going to be like… and I don’t have a clue.

In part that is because my brain is still focused on summer, fishing and relaxing. I am in denial about fall coming. I do love fall. Just … not … yet.

I have been casually reading articles, predictions and logging on to the Gophers Rivals site (I have been a long time subscriber) but not digging into a 2 deep roster or who is the leading contender to be the starting QB.

Until this morning.

I was doing some reading about the upcoming season and got quite a bit more interested.

Let me take a pause and go back a bit… then some quick observations, my 2018 prediction and where to find Gopher Football info online.

I grew up a Gopher Football fan. In 1982 (I was 12) my dad picked up 2 season tickets when the Gophers moved to the Metrodome. I attended the university during which time Dad transferred his tickets to me and I have had them since.

35 seasons and I have missed 14 home games. I’m in. I’m committed.

In 2005 I started a blog, “Go for the Roses at gopherfootballblog.com. I did a lot of writing back then and as things sometimes go… started running out of time to spend on it. I shut down the site. I still own the domain name. And I copied the 2005-2007 and posted here on a sub page Gopher the Roses. So if you want to go back in time and see what I was thinking about when Coach Glen Mason was fired, Coach Brewster was hired and the 2007 season you can.

I picked up @Gophers the spring of 2008. This was after the 2007 1-11 season and during the last game of the season, Wisconsin Badgers, when I Tweeted a bunch of “f bombs” on my @MNHeadhunter account. The next days I had a number of my national Recruiter and HR friends suggest that maybe I shouldn’t be doing that

Over the past few years I have on and off again written here on my main page… click Gopher Football. This covers some of the Coach Kill time.

Starting today I am going to write 1-2 times per week during the season. Likely Thu/Fri and again Sun/Mon.

Let me be clear… I am writing about Gopher Football, and college football in general, from a fan perspective. I am not an analyst. I am fully knowledgeable about the game but don’t see the fun writing about a 4-3 Defense, RPO offense, etc.

So what do I think about 2018?

Really sad news this week with the passing of Ray Christensen. Ray was the voice of Gopher football and basketball and his voice is engrained on my brain. I remember jumping into leaf piles with a football listening to games. I was in my cousin’s basement playing floor hockey in 1986 when the Gophers won at Michigan. I had the TV on mute with the radio on when the Gophers upset #1 Penn State.

All of the basketball games... 1,309 of them and 510 football games. I was trying to wrap my brain around how many people over a 50 year career heard this man.

We had a warm sunny weekend in Minneapolis this weekend until late yesterday afternoon when a hail storm whipped through the downtown area.

It was loud and lasted too long. Here are some photos during, after and then sunset:

 
And a short video of the hail falling (no that is not my car):

As I type this the day before kickoff of the Gopher football season. I’m not ready for Fall yet… but being on campus today and taking a walk by TCF Bank Stadium helped get me in the mood.

And we have this weeks Brick by Brick, “Chasing Dreams”:

It has been a long time since I posted anything about Gopher football here. Do not think that shows a lack of enthusiasm or that my support is wavering.

Quite the opposite but time has been in very short supply so while I have been attending and traveling to games my blogging has been absent.

My Tweets however have been in great supply. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking @Gophers

Today is National Signing Day for football and this evening I will be attending the University of Minnesota event at TCF Bank Stadium.

I look forward to seeing some old friends tonight and hearing from Coach Kill about this class.

Below is a press release from the athletic department on today’s announcements.

Go Gophers!!!

NOTE: The U of M athletic department has done an awesome job today. They have player bio's posted including video and I have added the link for each player below. For more information click Minnesota National Signing Day.

Taking a break from the usual stuff to drop in the sad news of the passing of Murray Warmath.

Here is a press release from the University of Minnesota:

Legendary University of Minnesota football coach Murray Warmath passed away Wednesday at age 98 in Bloomington, Minn. Warmath led the Golden Gophers to a national championship and went to two Rose Bowls in his 18-year tenure with Minnesota. 

It is always a good day when I can go over to the University of Minnesota campus and hang out with my Golden Gopher friends. A huge crowd turnout out for the Golden Gopher football national signing day event:

Emcee for the event was Gopher football alum Darrell Thompson who as part of the program interviewed four Gopher football alumni: Rickey Foggie, Chip Lohmiller, Marion Barber, Jr and Ray Hitchcock

Below is the transcript from the December 6th, 2010 introduction of Jerry Kill as the next Head Coach of the University of Minnesota football team.

Coach Kill signed a 5 year, $5 million dollar contract with incentives.

Transcript:

JOEL MATURI: Good afternoon and welcome. This 51‑day search for a new football coach for the University of Minnesota has finally come to a conclusion, and it's a good conclusion.

Before I introduce Coach Kill, I want to take a minute to than Coach Jeff Horton for the tremendous job that he did as interim coach here at the University of Minnesota. Not only did we win our final two football games, including a trophy game, but the success he had in keeping the staff and players focused on football, the classrooms, and their jobs was remarkable. Really a debt of gratitude and thanks.

When we began this journey, we stated that we had some preferences as to the character, experience, and qualifications for the next football coach here at the University of Minnesota. We had some absolutes: No NCAA violations of significance, no social conduct issues, and a demonstrated commitment to academics.

Jerry Kill has been named head coach of the University of Minnesota football program. Minnesota Director of Athletics Joel Maturi announced the signing of Kill to a five-year contract Sunday night.

Kill comes to Minnesota after spending the last three seasons on the sidelines at Northern Illinois University. Kill has led the Huskies to three consecutive bowl games during his tenure. He also coached NIU to a berth the Mid-American Conference Championship game this season. Kill put together a 23-16 record in his three seasons with the Huskies.

“I am so excited to have the opportunity to be the head coach at the University of Minnesota,” Kill said. “It is a tremendous opportunity and -- I think -- great timing. I can promise all the people at the University of Minnesota and throughout the entire state that I am going to give them every single ounce that I can give them. I have done that on every job that I have taken. I was raised the old-school way by my father and mother to do my job to the very best of my ability. You go full speed at it and you don’t let anyone out-work you. I have lived by that motto my entire life and that is what I intend to do at the University of Minnesota.”

In three seasons, Kill coached two winners of the Mid-American Conference Vern Smith Leadership Award, given annually to the conference’s top football player. Defensive end Larry English won the award in 2008, Kill’s first season with the Huskies. Running back Chad Spann was honored as the conference’s top player this season. English went on to be the No. 16 overall choice in the 2009 NFL Draft and currently plays for the San Diego Chargers. Spann currently ranks No. 12 in the nation in scoring and No. 20 in rushing.

If the rumors of the past 24 hours are correct sometime today we will get word about who the next Head Coach is at the University of Minnesota.

I have been on Twitter a lot with my @Gophers account and have had TweetDeck fired up with a column dedicated to this by searching “gopher OR gophers” for about 3 weeks now.

Hats Off to Interim Head Coach Jeff Horton, the staff and the players for staying strong and finishing the year with two wins including bring the pig, Floyd Of Rosedale back to Minneapolis where he belongs.

See this blog post for my photos and video from the Iowa game --> Minnesota Golden Gophers Vs Iowa Hawkeyes 2010 Photos And Video

While we wait I am taking a stroll down memory lane (about 60 days now, has it been longer?) since Tim Brewster was relieved of his duties and the search for his replacement was started.

Below are some of the names that have been mentioned during this process. I am not going to sit here and tell you who was a legit candidate, who was interviewed or who was not.

So I still have not figured out what to do with Gopher The Roses (Gopher Football Blog) and I have not posted any information here since the firing of Head Coach Tim Brewster.

Heck, come to think of it I have not posted any coaching news speculation and now things are getting really crazy with rumors.

Not because I have no interest but a lack of time.

But… last nights victory by the Minnesota Golden Gophers over the Iowa Hawkeyes that brings back Floyd Of Rosedale has me jacked up 24 hours later.

Here is a Floyd Of Rosedale photo:

I have not blogged here or at Gopher The Roses in a long time about Gopher football. I care and I have been attending, screaming my head off and supporting the team, just not had enough time to wrote about it.

This morning the following was sent out by the University of Minnesota:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                          Oct. 17, 2010

Contacts: Garry Bowman (612-875-0154) and Andy Seeley (612-269-2706)

Brewster Relieved of Head Coaching Duties

Athletics director Joel Maturi announced this morning that Tim Brewster has been relieved of his duties as head football coach and that his contract has been terminated. Brewster will be replaced on an interim basis by co-offensive coordinator Jeff Horton, according to Maturi.

“While I appreciate the passion and commitment that Coach Brewster has shown, it is clear that a change in the leadership of Gopher football is necessary,” Maturi said. “We have high aspirations for our football program and we are not satisfied with its current direction. The results so far this season have been unacceptable and the program has simply not shown enough improvement over the past three and a half years to continue with the status quo.”

Maturi said that he has had several discussions regarding the state of the program with university president Robert Bruininks in recent weeks and that the president was in complete agreement with the decision to remove Brewster as head coach. Maturi then told Brewster of his decision this morning.

Brewster, 50, was named Minnesota's 26th head football coach on Jan. 17, 2007. He signed a contract extension in January of 2010 and will be paid a buyout of $600,000 per that agreement.

Brewster coached a total of 45 games with the Gophers and compiled a 15-30 (.333) overall record, including a 6-21 (.222) mark in Big Ten games after yesterday’s 28-17 loss to Purdue.

During his three-plus years at the helm, Brewster guided the Gophers to a pair of Insight Bowl appearances, with his best season coming in 2008, when he guided Minnesota to a 7-6 record.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Director of athletics Joel Maturi, along with interim head coach Jeff Horton and a student-athlete will be available to the media at a news conference today at 1 pm. The news conference will be held in the home team interview room at TCF Bank Stadium. Media interested in attending the news conference should park in Sports Media Parking on either the northeast or northwest sides of Mariucci Arena. Additional sports media parking is available on the apron at Williams Arena. Please enter TCF Bank Stadium through the Dodge County entrance. Television outlets should park in the TV compound, where they can patch directly into the home team interview room.

-UM-

I am working on updating Gopher The Roses (Gopher football blog) in time for Saturday's kickoff but for the moment thought you might enjoy these photos.

Back on July 31st, 2009 I was invited to be part of a tour group of the new TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team (marching band too).

Maybe I was included because of my involvement on the Tailgate Committee (a subcommittee of Gopher Game Day), my volunteer activities on and near campus, my 27 years years as a season ticket holder or maybe because the squeaky wheel made enough noise.

I was not shy about my wanting to get in on a tour and I want to thank my friends at the university and athletic department for including me.

Phil Esten, Associate Athletic Director, gave the tour and to be honest I remember very little of what he said. I was too jacked up, taking pictures and trying to take it all in. Someone said (and I agree) that I was the little kid in the group.

What follows are many of the 100+ photos I took that day:

Over the past year the University of Minnesota Athletic Department has done a wonderful job using social media and social networking sites to promote Gopher football and Head Coach Tim Brewster.

The main site or home for all things Gopher sports related is GopherSports.com

For Gopher football and Head Coach Tim Brewster the following sites have been created using social networking sites allowing for more access, news, photos and video:

Web Sites

• Play4Brew.com (official web site)
• Brew Crew Report (official blog)

Twitter:

• Head Coach Tim Brewster
• Gopher Football
• Gopher Athletics

YouTube

• Play4Brew

Facebook

• Play4Brew