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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2020 13:11:57 GMT
The Gophers football team plays Maryland tonight, but for the second straight week we'll be without the right side of our offensive line: one guy has been out MONTHS with a COVID-related situation*, while the other tore an Achilles. Further, we're missing our kickoff kicker, field goal kicker, and punter, all to COVID. The guy we had kicking last week is just off a hernia surgery and nowhere near 100%.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten is apparently reconsidering whether requiring those athletes who test positive to sit 3 weeks is too long--presumably because suddenly Wisconsin (among others) have a bunch of positive tests.
*The guy sitting out, Daniel Faalele, is a huge, 6-9, 400 lb OT with serious pro prospects, reportedly (though this is a RUMOR, the school has not and legally cannot say specifics on this) contracted COVID in the summer but is still dealing with repercussions. He has reportedly been away from the team for months.
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2020 13:13:36 GMT
Yeah Terps?
That's about all I can muster. That's our big quasi local CFB team, but being casual college fan at best, I don't get too up for them.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2020 13:16:16 GMT
Honestly I can imagine that, especially for football. Maryland hasn't exactly been a powerhouse in that sport. (If you were into basketball, they've been historically better, at least at times.)
Finding sports is really not fun this year. Between cancellations from COVID, the Vikings being decimated by injuries and losing badly, and now COVID messing with the Gophers, it's rough! And I can look forward to basketball, right? Except the Wolves are ALWAYS awful.
So I guess I'm down to fingers crossed for Gophers football yet, and then Gophers basketball (if it happens).
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2020 13:30:21 GMT
Yeah, I'm not a big basketball fan. It just kind of cool when they won they National Title in 2002. But, that didn't cause the same level of excitement here that it would've in other parts of the country.
The Baltimore area traditionally has always been more of a professional sports area. At least since the 1950s.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2020 13:37:21 GMT
I think there is also something about being in a more major metropolitan area that makes college sports feel different. In the Midwest, they have traditionally been as important as pro sports, maybe even more so. After all, a lot of our college athletics go back to the 1800s, while a lot of pro leagues weren't really in the Midwest until later. Minnesota didn't get the Lakers til the 50s, I think it was; then the Twins and Vikings both arrived in the 60s.
Wisconsin loves its Packers, but really it's UW that is THE major program there. Iowa of course has no pro sports, but they have something like five D1 schools (at least for basketball; a couple are lower for football).
We're kind-of in between here. On one hand, Minneapolis is definitely a pro sports town, and I'd argue Minnesota is more a pro sports state than its neighbors. Yet I think we're still maybe more college-oriented than some of the more urban centers along the east and west coasts.
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2020 14:03:58 GMT
I think there is also something about being in a more major metropolitan area that makes college sports feel different. In the Midwest, they have traditionally been as important as pro sports, maybe even more so. After all, a lot of our college athletics go back to the 1800s, while a lot of pro leagues weren't really in the Midwest until later. Minnesota didn't get the Lakers til the 50s, I think it was; then the Twins and Vikings both arrived in the 60s.
Wisconsin loves its Packers, but really it's UW that is THE major program there. Iowa of course has no pro sports, but they have something like five D1 schools (at least for basketball; a couple are lower for football).
We're kind-of in between here. On one hand, Minneapolis is definitely a pro sports town, and I'd argue Minnesota is more a pro sports state than its neighbors. Yet I think we're still maybe more college-oriented than some of the more urban centers along the east and west coasts.
Your timeline is somewhat similar to Baltimore. Baltimore had some early Major League versions of the Orioles, a National League on that folded in the late 1890s, and a brief American League on in 1901 that collapsed and essentially relocated to New York to become the Highlanders (later Yankees). Then, it was all about minor league baseball and college football, until the Baltimore Colts of the AAFC, which folded, until the new Colts arrived in 1953, right around the same time as the Orioles in 1954. Even after the Colts left in 1984, despite the Terps having a pretty good program at time under Bobby Ross, Baltimore still pined for the NFL. We even had championship teams in the USFL and CFL, but neither captured the area like the Ravens.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 30, 2020 14:20:01 GMT
If you're into US history, you'll probably know that Cincinnati was one of the largest cities in the country until the 1960s, so Cincinnati is kind of unique in that we had pro and college sports going back to the 1800s. The Reds were the first baseball team and UC just celebrated its 200th anniversary (although sports obviously came much later). The Bengals didn't arrive until 1968 and have mostly been mediocre since the 90s. UC has always been just below the top tier teams in college basketball and the football team has gained national relevance in the past 15 years (#7 this year so far!). Of course Ohio State is right up the road in Columbus and they have always had a huge presence here. We've definitely been spoiled with sports options over the years, having had an NBA team until the 70s and recently a new expansion MLS team.
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2020 14:22:00 GMT
I know this is college thread, but since you mentioned the Bengals, I really think they were Super Bowl contenders in 2005, but Carson Palmer got hurt in the WC round against the Steelers.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2020 14:44:42 GMT
If you're into US history, you'll probably know that Cincinnati was one of the largest cities in the country until the 1960s, so Cincinnati is kind of unique in that we had pro and college sports going back to the 1800s. The Reds were the first baseball team and UC just celebrated its 200th anniversary (although sports obviously came much later). The Bengals didn't arrive until 1968 and have mostly been mediocre since the 90s. UC has always been just below the top tier teams in college basketball and the football team has gained national relevance in the past 15 years (#7 this year so far!). Of course Ohio State is right up the road in Columbus and they have always had a huge presence here. We've definitely been spoiled with sports options over the years, having had an NBA team until the 70s and recently a new expansion MLS team. How factional are Ohioans in their college (or pro, for that matter) loyalty? Is there a sense of "it's Ohio, so it's good," or are they really committed to Ohio St., Cincinnati, Xavier, and even the smaller ones like Ohio U, Miami (Ohio), Cleveland St., Akron, Dayton etc.?
In Minnesota, with just one D1 program, there isn't really anyone who would put the D2 programs first in their minds: Mankato, Duluth, St. Cloud, Winona, etc. (With St. Thomas, just across the river from me in St. Paul, going D1 next season, that might change.) And even in Iowa, where I attended my first two years of college at U of Northern Iowa, it seemed Iowa was far and away the favorite of virtually everyone, even if they attended UNI or something. Iowa State, UNI, and Drake were all second fiddles at best, really more akin to the Minnesota D2 schools in fans' eyes.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 30, 2020 18:58:29 GMT
If you're into US history, you'll probably know that Cincinnati was one of the largest cities in the country until the 1960s, so Cincinnati is kind of unique in that we had pro and college sports going back to the 1800s. The Reds were the first baseball team and UC just celebrated its 200th anniversary (although sports obviously came much later). The Bengals didn't arrive until 1968 and have mostly been mediocre since the 90s. UC has always been just below the top tier teams in college basketball and the football team has gained national relevance in the past 15 years (#7 this year so far!). Of course Ohio State is right up the road in Columbus and they have always had a huge presence here. We've definitely been spoiled with sports options over the years, having had an NBA team until the 70s and recently a new expansion MLS team. How factional are Ohioans in their college (or pro, for that matter) loyalty? Is there a sense of "it's Ohio, so it's good," or are they really committed to Ohio St., Cincinnati, Xavier, and even the smaller ones like Ohio U, Miami (Ohio), Cleveland St., Akron, Dayton etc.? In Minnesota, with just one D1 program, there isn't really anyone who would put the D2 programs first in their minds: Mankato, Duluth, St. Cloud, Winona, etc. (With St. Thomas, just across the river from me in St. Paul, going D1 next season, that might change.) And even in Iowa, where I attended my first two years of college at U of Northern Iowa, it seemed Iowa was far and away the favorite of virtually everyone, even if they attended UNI or something. Iowa State, UNI, and Drake were all second fiddles at best, really more akin to the Minnesota D2 schools in fans' eyes.
It kind of depends. The smaller ones aren't really relevant enough for anyone to care about. Miami used to have a decent following, (Ben Roethlisberger went there), but all of the conference realignments has made it even tougher to recruit to places like that. UC plays them every year and there's always more UC fans than Miami fans when we're at their place. Ohioans have a love hate relationship with Ohio State. In Columbus, nothing matters but THE Ohio State University. They definitely have a big following here too, although that has eroded somewhat with UC's success. There's also the not so nice joke that if you didn't go to college, you're probably an Ohio State fan (which has a lot of truth, honestly). There is a strong divide between UC basketball and Xavier fans, though. I'd argue it's one of the most heated rivalries in sports. In one corner you have UC, the large public university with two national titles, while on the other corner you have the small Christian university with not much history until gaining relevance in the 90s. All while being literally a few miles apart. Of course Xavier is even in the conference UC used to be in, so they like to rub that in our faces. In pro sports, there aren't necessarily factions, but as you go north it slowly transitions to Browns and Indians fans rather than Bengals and Reds fans. A lot of people here definitely like to make fun of the Browns, who are one of the few teams to have less success than the Bengals over the past 20 years, but I can't really get into it. Probably has to do with my dad liking them since that's who everyone rooted for before the Bengals arrived in 1968. The Reds had a huge fanbase that stretched into Tennessee and North Carolina during the big Red machine years. That's dwindled over years with the addition of new teams, their lack of success, etc.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 30, 2020 18:59:56 GMT
I know this is college thread, but since you mentioned the Bengals, I really think they were Super Bowl contenders in 2005, but Carson Palmer got hurt in the WC round against the Steelers. Yes, just one of many instances of Cincinnati's sports curse. I think the 2015 team was a Super Bowl contender too until the madness that happened at the end of that game.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2020 19:14:38 GMT
Thanks for getting me up to speed on that, TCK. I don't know why I care, but I do find that stuff interesting.
Also, if you follow UC basketball, keep an eye on the Madsen twins from Rochester, MN! Gabe, a 6-6 guard who can play PG, SG, or SF, is really a very good player, especially at scoring the ball. He can shoot, but he's also got solid handles, is a good passer, and is way more athletic than you'd guess. While he was generally rated between 160-200 nationally, I truly believe he was a Top 100 kind of kid. Had he been in the Twin Cities or another real metro area, he'd have been higher regarded. He also had offers from MN, Iowa, Marquette, among others. But he really wanted to play with his twin brother, and the Gophers didn't extend the offer to his brother. (A mistake, in my opinion.)
His twin brother Mason is a 6-2 combo guard who is tougher than almost anyone I can recall watching, especially as a defender. I'd expect Gabe to have some kind of role even this year as a true freshman; Mason will probably earn minutes eventually as the years go by.
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2020 19:19:59 GMT
I know this is college thread, but since you mentioned the Bengals, I really think they were Super Bowl contenders in 2005, but Carson Palmer got hurt in the WC round against the Steelers. Yes, just one of many instances of Cincinnati's sports curse. I think the 2015 team was a Super Bowl contender too until the madness that happened at the end of that game. I think Denver was destined to win in that season. But, if that idiot Burfict were under control, Marvin would've at least finally won a postseason game as a HC.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 31, 2020 2:51:04 GMT
Thanks for getting me up to speed on that, TCK. I don't know why I care, but I do find that stuff interesting. Also, if you follow UC basketball, keep an eye on the Madsen twins from Rochester, MN! Gabe, a 6-6 guard who can play PG, SG, or SF, is really a very good player, especially at scoring the ball. He can shoot, but he's also got solid handles, is a good passer, and is way more athletic than you'd guess. While he was generally rated between 160-200 nationally, I truly believe he was a Top 100 kind of kid. Had he been in the Twin Cities or another real metro area, he'd have been higher regarded. He also had offers from MN, Iowa, Marquette, among others. But he really wanted to play with his twin brother, and the Gophers didn't extend the offer to his brother. (A mistake, in my opinion.)
His twin brother Mason is a 6-2 combo guard who is tougher than almost anyone I can recall watching, especially as a defender. I'd expect Gabe to have some kind of role even this year as a true freshman; Mason will probably earn minutes eventually as the years go by.
Yeah, we're really looking forward to seeing them play. I think we could surprise a few people with Gabe and the transfer from Michigan we brought in.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 31, 2020 13:19:48 GMT
The Gophers football team plays Maryland tonight I'm going to pretend that game didn't happen. My god! This team is competing with the Vikings for worst defense in state history.
We did lose 7 starters from last year's exceptional team, 4 of whom were drafted. So that is a lot to lose, especially for our program, which hasn't been a powerhouse with high school All-Americans ready to step in and replace departing college All-Americans. But I have rarely seen a defense so irrelevant to what an opposing offense was doing on the field! We didn't even impact, much less stop, the run. We barely impacted, much less stopped, the pass. And that's all there is to try to stop!
That said, KDS, you've got quite a QB there in Taulia Tagovailoa. He's small at 5-11, but my gosh. He can run, he can throw accurately, he's a good leader out there. If he's 50% as good as our defense made him look, he's good.
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