Mason's opportunity and my dream

Everyone has posted so many interesting topics that I wish I had more time and typing stamina to respond. Maybe we should start a Big Ten FF conference call each week so we can discuss all these issues. For now I will settle for writing some tidbits here rather than try to go back and respond on each thread.

- I would be thrilled if Maroney went to the Packers. I like Green Bay (behind the Seahawks and Vikes) and it would allow me/us to see him on TV a lot as the GB games are almost always on TV here. Plus, it is better he go to a northern team rather than some southern or coastal team. Would you rather he go to Carolina or Oakland? Yuck!! Also, I bet he will not end up with GB anyway, the predictions this far out are always wrong and GB already tried Thompson and Darkins and got burned so I doubt they will chance an early pick on Maroney. Finally, if dad could hear how much you hate GB Andy-his team- he would disown you!

- I noticed that Michigan is ranked ahead of both Wisc. And Mn. In the B© S standings. What a joke! Wisc. Has 8 wins and beat Michigan and mn could end up with 8 wins and also beat Michigan. Michigan’s last two wins came against the powerhouses Northwestern and Indiana. It sickens me how much the same old teams are always elevated no matter what their record. Wisconsin and Minnesota should be ahead of Michigan- period!

- I am totally bummed that Czech beat Norway out for a spot in the world cup. I am sorry, I do not have anything against the Czechs, but they have experienced enough success in international competition. They won in hockey recently and I’m tired of them. Plus, every other team I wanted to win in the playoffs lost- except Switz. managed to beat Turkey. I hope that England gets paired with either Sweden or Portugal. I want revenge against Portugal for that BS loss England suffered in Portugal during the semis of Euro 2004. In case you missed it, England scored the winning goal in regulation but it was disallowed and eventually Portugal won in a shoot-out. It is clear that the goal should have counted and Portugal got the favorable the call on their home field. Revenge!

- Is anyone surprised by the mayoral election results in Mpls? I thought MCL would give Ryback more of a contest.

- Alabama lost!!! YES! What an overrated team- the gophers would beat them again if they played this year.

- Did I miss something or did the oil companies recently announce record profits and there is still no sings of outrage from the American people? What sheep! It’s just supply and demand! By the way, my property taxes for 2006 are going up 16.5%. I’d just like to thank Jesse and the Republicans for gutting education funding, city aid and basically making the cost of simply breathing ridiculously expensive. And still the Democrats will lose the senate and governor’s race in this state next year.

- OK I put it off long enough now I am going to be sucked into the Mason debate once again. It’s funny this issue came up again as I was thinking that if the gophers win tomorrow I am prepared to argue that this was Mason’s best coaching job in his tenure at mn- even with the wisc debacle. As far as I am concerned if you beat Michigan and Iowa in the same year you are wildly successful. The last time Minnesota beat them both in the same year was 1967- the last time we won the conference title too. So Mason can actually accomplish a rare feat and something that I personally consider significant. I want to beat Michigan and Iowa more than any other teams in the country and if Mason can do it then he deserves credit. Don’t misunderstand me, I still think Mason should be fired for the totality of his work here, his inability to win a title or finish in the top three is inexcusable after 9 years, and a win at Iowa will actually magnify this inability as the Wisconsin melt-down will then be the loss standing in the way of a 9-2 season and an outright third place finish in the Big Ten. But in this one season Mason managed to get a lot of moneys off his/our back. Beating Purdue for the first time in a decade, beating Michigan for the first time in almost two decades, beating Indiana in Bloomington for the first time in 2 decades and winning the final three games of the season for only the second time since 1973 all in the same year is an accomplishment (that only reveals how pathetic we have been over the last 40 years) I did not expect going into the season. Minnesota had a tougher conference schedule this year than they have had in the past 3 years and losing to Penn State and Ohio State (both legitimate top 5 teams in my opinion- OSu would have beaten texas if smith had played all game) is no disgrace. So I am sorry Andy but I think a win over Iowa easily vaults this year above last year and may be number one in the Mason era because of our schedule and who we beat to get our wins. Maybe a more accurate assessment is to say that beating Iowa with the jug already in hand will be the most satisfying year (regular season) that I have experienced in all my years of following gopher football. It is saying a lot but when you have never beaten Michigan and Iowa in the same season- in your life!- it takes on more meaning than one might assume and combine it with finishing 8-3 overall and on a three game winning streak to close out the year- then yes it should be ranked number 1. Of course, all this is dependent on Minnesota winning, which I doubt will happen. If Minnesota loses I still think this was a good year- not great- but certainly on par with last season if not a little better and still better than I expected before the start of the season. Mason has a great opportunity to make gopher football history and turn at least one detractor into a temporary supporter tomorrow- I hope he does it for both our sakes.

- incidentally, assuming that tomorrows game gives us no memorable plays I think the two plays that I will remember from this season- even 20 years from now -are the Cupito option run that tied the game against Purdue (it was huge at the time) because it was so unlikely and the come-back and OT win was really Cupito’s “moment in the sun” and I was genuinely happy for him after all the abuse and criticism he has endured and I was thrilled with a big win at the time. And the other play of course is Russell’s run against Michigan to set up the winning kick. The run will live forever in gopher history and watching him run down the sidelines as I screamed “Go” at the top of my lungs is a moment of joy and exhilaration that I will re-live for the rest of my life and that win makes all the years of suffering, torment, and frustration almost worth it. Thank you Gary! Only a big ten title or a national title could possibly feel better.

- As for Mason’s future I think it’s hard to say. I think Mason will get some offers after this year but nothing that is an obvious “take’ job. I think it may boil down to his contract offer from Maturi. I suspect he is frustrated with manurei and his foot dragging as well as the small salary increase he is likely to get. In my mind this is the biggest reason why mason might leave- he has soured on his contract, the football budget is low or at least lower than Mason thinks it should be, and the stadium delays irritate him. Jay might be right that he decides to cut and run one last time but on the other hand I think his daughter is still in High school and I doubt that his family wants to move at this stage. If I were laying odds I’d say it is 70/30 that he says at Minn. I think he has to win tomorrow, get a low-ball contract offer and be offered a pretty sweet job in a power conference- Syracuse, Tennessee? If those things happen then I would not be surprised to see him leave otherwise I think he knows that he can coach here until he dies if he wants and if he ever breaks through he will be a hero on the scale of alverez. I would be shocked if he took the K-state job and yes I think he still holds out hope for the PSU job. And by the way, if Mason leaves Maturi will take incredible heat from alumni and will probably be sacked as a result. But don’t worry chances are the gophs lay an egg tomorrow as they have every year at Iowa since 1989 and Mason will have a chance to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again next year against one of our rivals.