We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 134

                    

Gopher men's basketball, some football notes, and what we'll take from 2020.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 133

                   

The end of the Gophers' season.

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Midweek Review: Minnesota 17-20 Wisconsin (OT)

Minnesota and Wisconsin fans would each rather their teams lose Paul Bunyan's Axe than not play at all, so regardless of the outcome Saturday, the fact the trophy was on the line at all for the 130th time felt like a gift. Maybe not a gift they should have gotten, considering the risks of playing any sport in a pandemic, but one that felt good to receive anyway.

In the end, however, the Badgers are the ones who won the Axe. It was a tight, at times ugly contest in which 14 of 23 possessions ended in either a punt or a field goal attempt. If Wisconsin had lost, the story of the game would have been about absent players (both new and held over from previous weeks) and an underperforming quarterback. Instead, it's about how Minnesota intentionally ran into a brick wall and couldn't take capitalize on their opponents' difficulties moving the ball.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 132

                  

College football coaching changes, examining Minnesota's win in Lincoln, and a preview of Wisconsin.

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Midweek Review: Minnesota 24-17 Nebraska

Minnesota's return from COVID-19-forced hiatus went better than expected. Despite all the holes in the Gophers' depth chart, they left Lincoln with a 24-17 win over Nebraska that elevates their record to 3-3 (and keeps the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy in Minneapolis). It was an impressive but at times frustrating win that demonstrated each team's significant flaws and gave the victors hope that those flaws may have started to improve.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 131

                 

Previewing Minnesota-Nebraska.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 130

                

The cancellation of Minnesota-Wisconsin the various good and bad of Minnesota's recent victory over Purdue, and the Thanksgiving weekend college football schedule.

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Midweek Review: Purdue 31-34 Minnesota

 1. The officials blew this game.

Just roll it.

I mean, this is just irredeemably bad. I have not seen a worse offensive pass interference decision, and I will likely die before seeing a worse offensive pass interference decision. Purdue fans should be livid. Jeff Brohm clearly was.

But hey — the Boilermakers had 52 seconds left and four downs within Minnesota territory. They had their chance to come back from this call and win in spite of it. It's not like the officials missed anything on Josh Aune's game-sealing intercep —

Ooheauuggghh.

Yeah, that's bad. I could point to an earlier phantom defensive pass interference call that saved what became a Purdue touchdown drive, and I can say the officiating was bad both ways (and it was), but there's not anything that will help. At the most important point of the game, Purdue got screwed. Twice. Though Minnesota had two timeouts and could have won anyway, that was no guarantee. Minnesota is beyond lucky to come out of this game the victors.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 129

               

The NBA Draft and a Purdue-Minnesota preview.

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Midweek Review: Iowa 35-7 Minnesota

There's no sugarcoating, sidestepping, or excusing it: That game sucked.

Iowa dominated Minnesota on the ground and on defense, and the Floyd of Rosedale will stay south for a sixth straight year. The Gophers have one win at the halfway point of the abbreviated regular season, and they likely won't get more than a couple more by the end. No sane observer is questioning the program's direction or retroactively labeling its 2019 breakthrough as a fluke, but it is abundantly clear that in this moment, Minnesota is too inconsistent and too young to contend for a while.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 128

              

The Gophers' easy win over Illinois and how they can reclaim the Floyd of Rosedale.

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Midweek Review: Minnesota 41-14 Illinois

The Gophers needed to bounce back against Illinois to get their season back on track, and they did so in a big way. While their 41-14 blowout win was against a shorthanded Illini team, and it did not totally alleviate concerns about Minnesota's flaws, it was the kind of Saturday that eased fans' anxieties and keeps Minnesota in the hunt for a high finish in the Big Ten West.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 127

             

The Gophers' Maryland disaster and a preview of Illinois.

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Midweek Review: Minnesota 44-45 Maryland

The Gophers' opener hinted that their defense would be a bigger problem than anticipated. Their second game indicated that it might be bad enough to wreck their season. Against a team that scored just three points in their first game, the Gophers' defense wasted a strong offensive performance by allowing 10.2 yards per play in a 44-45 overtime loss to hapless Maryland. It was a catastrophe that potentially forebodes more catastrophe, and it demands a postmortem.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 126

            

Minnesota's loss to Michigan and Friday night's game at Maryland.

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Midweek Review: Michigan 49-24 Minnesota

Success, as P.J. Fleck said and graphed in his first season, does not always arrive on a perfectly linear path. It is also not guaranteed to maintain over time; it may fade, even partially, and only with time may it return to its previous heights.

A shorthanded and young Minnesota team demonstrated this fact by getting shellacked by Michigan Saturday, tempering some (perhaps overly) expectant fans' enthusiasm for the follow-up to the program's 2019 breakthrough. Poor run defense and a formidable Michigan front did them in, and the Little Brown Jug continues its residency in Ann Arbor.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 125

           

Previewing the Big Ten West, in particular Minnesota, and what to expect from Michigan.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 124

          

Previewing the Big Ten East and reviewing another Vikings loss.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 123

         

Eddie Van Halen, Chandler's deep dive into the Gophers' passing game, and more Vikings.

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Every Pass Tanner Morgan Threw in 2019

The Gophers' 2019 season was its best in more than half a century, and the biggest reason for that was their dangerous passing attack. Minnesota jumped from 40th in FBS in passing yards per attempt the year prior to 6th. Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman were both named First Team All-Big Ten receivers, with Johnson breaking a bundle of the program's single-season and career records and Bateman appearing on multiple All-America teams. Tanner Morgan had the most productive season ever for a Gophers quarterback, setting single-season program records for passing yards, touchdowns, and completion rate.

With a new season beginning in just weeks, it is a good time to reexamine and try to learn something from the passes Morgan threw in his breakout sophomore year.

Here, then, are all 318 of those passes.

Click on any image in this post to enlarge it.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 122

        

The future of the Stars, Astros-Twins, and the Vikings.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 121

       

The Big Ten's plans to return and the calamitous start to the Vikings' season.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 120

      

College football observations and the Vikings' season-opening loss to the Packers.

We recorded before the Big Ten's announcement of an October return to play, so commentary on that will come next week.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 119

     

A sports roundup and a Vikings and NFL preview.

A warning: We had more audio interruptions than normal this week.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 118

    

The NBA players' strike and racial inequality.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 117

   

NBA drafts both past and future and a rant about Kobe Bryant.

The recording cut out for a few seconds near the end, but it should not greatly detract from your listening experience.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 116

  

The Big Ten season's postponement and The Texas Gentlemen's Floor It!!!.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 115

 

The NBA's return and Players' Tribune pieces from the players of the Pac-12 and Big Ten.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 114

The first week of the MLB season and the viability of sports.

Since we recorded, some facts cited have become out-of-date. For example: MLB has come up with good and bad ideas for various aspects of playing during a pandemic, and more than one team has had a positive test. Forgive us; it was a more innocent, simpler time.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 113

Flaws of the education system and the treatment of women in sports.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 112

The bands of our life.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 111

The returns of various sports (reprise) and how we've been killing time.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 110

The returns of various sports and the Teskey Brothers' Live at the Forum.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 109

What we can learn from the Iowa football scandal.

We've been recording remotely for a few months, and this time, the technology gave us some problems. At some points, Aaron heard Chandler a few seconds after Chandler spoke, or Chandler heard Aaron a few seconds after Aaron spoke. We've edited out some awkward pauses, but we couldn't do anything about moments where we talked over one another or where Chandler's voice cuts out. We apologize in advance.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 107

The sports moments we would go back in time to see in person.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 106

Determining the greatest American rock band.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 105

Tanner Morgan's NFL chances and reworking The Athletic DFW's reader survey for Minnesota sports.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 104

Recapping the Vikings' draft.

There are some problems with Chandler's audio in this one. We're tinkering with our recording setup, and we can address issues that arise only so much with editing.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 103

Previewing the 2020 NFL Draft with Daniel House.

Places you can find Daniel:
Twitter: @DanielHouseNFL
Vikings Corner
GopherHole
SKOR North

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 102

How Aaron became a fan of jam bands.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 101

Gigaton and our favorite Pearl Jam songs.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 100

Our podcast recommendations.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 099

NFL news items and some of our favorite YouTube videos.

Aaron's recommendations:
Dr. John With The Meters (1974) | Professor Longhair Earl King
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — "Let's Impeach the President" in Atlanta
Tom Waits with David Letterman

Chandler's recommendations:
Pretty Good: "Why Do I Choose This For a Living?"
Metallica in Seattle, 1989
The Auburn band watching the Kick Six
The SMU Jones Film & Video Collection

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Ranking Minnesota's 13 Uniform Combinations in 2019

We're all bored. In normal times, if the only sport we cared about was college football, we'd be overreacting spring games — or even spring practices — these days. Instead, the best we can do to consume the sport we love are things we'd be doing in June: reading predictive articles, speculating about transfer destinations, watching old games, and finding any kind of content to fill the void.

One of my sub-hobbies as a part of my sports fandom has for many years been the sport's aesthetics. Since I drew my first uniform concepts in elementary school, a lot of other people have caught onto this sub-hobby, too. Now, uniforms are a part of the business of college football; some teams wear something different every week to draw the attention of recruits.

In 2019, the Gophers were one of those teams. They wore 13 different uniform combinations in as many games. For content's sake, I present my reviews and rankings of those 13 combinations.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 098

Life in the age of COVID-19 and the NFL offseason.

A correction: The Baylor receiver Chandler mentioned is named Denzel Mims.

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2020 Southwest Basketball Tournament

Not every person from Texas is born with a belief in Texan exceptionalism. Only most such persons are.

As a child growing up in the Metroplex, I believed in it. Though certain other aspects of my life and nascent worldview may have contradicted with that belief — family ties and sports allegiances to Minnesota; a distaste for Texas' largely bland rural areas; and a lifelong disconnect with the state's sizable population of rednecks (in some parts known as Aggies) — I still felt that I lived somewhere special.

From the time I first heard it, I have celebrated the (perhaps mythical) line from Davy Crockett's concession speech after losing an election in Tennessee: "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas." The president was Texan. I didn't yet like Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughan, but so were they. Tex-Mex, Whataburger, Dr. Pepper, and the best barbecue are Texan. All of my friends were Texan. Texas Tech University, my parents' school, was in Texas. And Denton, my hometown, was in Texas. What a place this was.

I was Texan, but I was also a sports fan. With time, I discovered the NCAA Tournament and then college basketball video games. When I found the game mode that allowed you to play a 32- or 64-team tournament and pick the competitors, my brain quickly turned to the idea of an all-Texas tournament. However, I ran out of teams quickly. So I begrudgingly granted bids to teams from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and even Oklahoma to complete the field.

I never played through a whole tournament, as I think the mere concept was always more alluring to me than the real possibility of Tech's run ending after two rounds because I wasn't very good at the game. But that concept stuck with me.

Two years ago, I brought that idea to this space, picking teams based on their RPI ranks. I chose venues in the five-state cluster based on overly ambitious minimum capacities (few arenas in Arkansas or New Mexico hold 9,000 or more people) and held regional finals in NBA arenas, which guaranteed that future editions of the exercise would boringly rotate between the same handful of places. And I went on a bit too long about the selection process when really, all anyone who read the post would have cared about was the bracket.

I changed a few things last year, using KenPom ranks instead and lowering the capacity threshold for the early rounds. And I spent a little less time droning.

This year, our only college basketball tournaments exist in our minds or digitally, whether in the archives of the internet, on the hard drives of gamers, or in hypotheticals about what might have been. Today, the real NCAA Tournament would have started. As a result, I felt compelled to put together this post earlier than normal and help try to fill the content void. I hope it is a noble effort.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 097

Recorded Wednesday: Our in retrospect naїve view of how COVID-19 impacts sports, with added discussion of the future of Gopher men's basketball and a continuation of our baseball preview. Just pretend that anything we said matters, and stop panic-buying toilet paper.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 096

The Twins' closest division rivals and ESL conversation-starters.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 095

The state of Gopher men's basketball and the first installment of our baseball preview.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 094

The Twins and Wolves' big trades.

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Are Younger Soccer Players Worse Defenders?

I am a fan of Norwich City Football Club of the English Premier League. My fandom has waxed and waned over time for various reasons, but I make it a point to watch every Norwich match. It's a 2-hour chunk of my weekend, plus some supplementary reading on the side; it's not that great a commitment, and I like watching soccer.

Norwich are currently the last-place club in the Premier League. Since the start of the season, they have been favorites to be relegated, if not finish in that spot. That's what happens when you don't have the resources of other clubs in one of the top soccer leagues in the world.

Norwich also have a lot of intriguing young players: Fullbacks Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis, center back Ben Godfrey, and midfielders Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendía are each 23 years old or younger and making major contributions to a Premier League team.

The Canaries have struggled perhaps in part because of that youth. Their defense is one of the Premier League's worst; Norwich have allowed the most goals in the league. Likely the best member of their back four, center back Cristoph Zimmermann, is 27 years old. At least anecdotally, it seems like the club's inexperience and defensive struggles are linked. I wondered if this was the case and decided to test this hypothesis against available data from the Premier League this season.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 093

A couple of college football notes, the Super Bowl, and previewing the Vikings' offseason. Recorded less than an hour before the Twins traded for Kenta Maeda and the Wolves traded everyone on their roster, so we'll get to those news items next week.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 092

The 76 albums Chandler listened to in 2019.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 091

A smattering of sports topics.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 090

The Josh Donaldson signing, football, and the death of Neil Peart.

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We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 089

The Bonnaroo lineup, the Gophers and Vikings' unexpected wins and their futures, and a tribute.

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In Review: Auburn 24-31 Minnesota

1. For the first time since the forward pass was legal, Minnesota won 11 games in a season.

P.J. Fleck's third season in charge of the Gophers was the program's best since at least 1967, when they last made the Rose Bowl. Though they fell short of Pasadena in 2019, an 11-2 finish with marquee wins over two brand-name programs shows how far Fleck has already taken Minnesota, as well as where he can take it from this point.

Conference politics are annoying, and the public's heavy reliance on bowl games to inform their opinions is not always logical, but the bottom line is that in college football, perception shapes reality. Programs need narratives on their side to continue to recruit well and to gain and maintain the faith of fans and boosters. Beating an opponent of Auburn's caliber, especially one that comes specifically from the SEC, carries tremendous weight. This win gives Minnesota a major boost of credibility.

This was a joyous season for Minnesota fans, and they should forever cherish its signature moments. But what determines the legacy of the 2019 Gophers — as a brilliant but brief moment, or as the start of something greater — is what comes next. Winning this game increases the chances that what comes next is just as good, if not better.