Gophers Offer Lakeville South's Mitch Leidner a Scholarship

Lakeville South's quarterback Mitch Leidner met with Gopher head coach Jerry Kill on Monday when Kill offered Leidner a scholarship.

The Gophers had been planning on trying to make him a tight end because of his size and athleticism, but their minds were changed soon after they saw Leidner throw at a tournament this summer.

The 6-4, 220-pound quarterback threw for 2,096 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior last fall.

Wow, this would be a great signing for the Gophers if they can somehow get him. Leidner is being aggressively pursued by the Iowa Hawkeyes and if they got him they would also be keeping him away from one of their biggest rivals. Hopefully Kill can sign this kid because keeping big time talent in state is going to be a key to Kill's success at Minnesota.

Golden Gopher Tight End Tiree Eure Also Set to Transfer

In addition to DeLeon Eskridge transferring, Golden Gopher tight end Tiree Eure also has plans to transfer even though he was entering his senior season.

According to the Star Tribune, "Eure, a senior who transferred from Lackawanna College and served as backup to Eric Lair at tight end, caught three passes for 47 yards and a touchdown in his lone season with the Gophers. No reason was given for his departure. 'Things just didn't work out for Tiree,' Kill said."

Although it is said to watch these Gophers go, there is some good news. With their deparatures, the Gophers will be adding Dexter Foremon and Malcolm Moulton to the roster for next fall. They are both wide receivers. Moulton was recruited from a Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and is expected to be a big time contributor. On why Kill felt he needed to add two receivers to the team, he said he felt like we needed more depth at the position. Moulton is pictured above.

Senior Running Back DeLeon Eskridge Not Returning to U

DeLeon Eskridge will not be returning to the University of Minnesota for his senior season. Eskridge was the leading rusher on the team last year and scored seven touchdowns in the process. The University granted a release of his scholarship so that he could transfer to a school closer to home in San Francisco. The reason he is moving back is because his family is having problems right now. Head Coach Jerry Kill had this to say:

"He and I both felt it was in his best interest to make this decision"

Duanne Bennett now returns as the only senior running back for the Gophers next season.

This is a low blow for the Gophers. This is going to make a strong year for Jerry Kill tough to come by. Sure, DeLeon Eskridge wasn't that good, but he was semi-productive. I hope a young back emerges during training camp so that Kill can have a really good first season at the U.

Gophers Change How You Pay for Season Tickets

The Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball season tickets will be purchased a little bit differently this upcoming season. Rather than just paying $600 for season tickets, customers will have to give a donation to the school depending on where the ticket is. Here's a quote from the Startribune about it:

"The best seats in Williams Arena will cost season-ticket holders $100, $250 or $400 apiece, depending on their location. The most expensive seats (midcourt) will cost Gophers men's basketball fans $1,060 annually or approximately $51 per home game. According to David Crum, the university's director of development, Minnesota men's basketball is the only program in the Big Ten without preferred seating. A limited plan that affects about 1,000 season-tickets and has existed for more than a decade requires a $1,000 or $700 fee for specific seats."

Just because everyone else does it doesn't mean we have to do it. Crum, would you jump off a cliff if the rest of the Big Ten did? Didn't think so. It's not like your basketball team is so good that people are going to want to pay that much anyway.

Maturi Not Cutting Back on Non-Profit Sports Teams

The University of Minnesota is one of 9 of 73 schools in the power conferences that fields at least 25 total teams. Maturi takes pride in aspect of the school. He's always been told to cut back on teams such as gymnastics and wrestling, but that's what has made the school great. Maturi is strongly opposed to funneling all of the schools funding to football, basketball, and hockey:

"Quite frankly, if we're going to operate it strictly like a business, we should have three products, not 25," Maturi said, referring to revenue-generating football, men's basketball and men's hockey. "But because Minnesota has always believed in that opportunity and that consistent mission, we've been able to [keep all 25 sports]."

Maturi later went on to say that the reason he is able to keep all the programs up and running is that the school gets 6.5 million from the Big Ten Network.

Okay, Maturi, I understand your logic and you think you're doing an amazing job, but you're not looking at the whole picture. If you put a little more effort into the success of the bigger programs that people care about, you would get a lot more funding from alumni. Then you would be able to fund the programs that no one watches with that money. I appreciate the fact that it's very well rounded at the U, but think about the long run. The school can make a lot more money and thye will please the boosters writing out the pay checks

Should we be Paying Student Athletes? Maturi Doesn't Think So

In an article in the Startribune, Joe Maturi was interviewed and was asked if he believed that students athletes should be paid. He said no and that he thought it would be really complicated if it was that way. "Is it just people that play in the games or do you include the reserves as well? It's a complicated issue. I think that if the kids leave the university with their degree, they are leaving with something that's going to impact them for the rest of their lives. If they don't leave here with their degree, then it's not good for us and it's not good for them. But I'm against paying." (Startribune)

Here's my opinion on it. Why not pay these players? Sure, a degree can lead to a lot of money, but the Universities are making SO much money off of these kids. Prime example, how about when they sell jerseys with the number of a player on it. Sure, it doesn't say the players name on the back, but it's practically the same thing. The schools are marketing players and they should be making money. I think that they should pay the reserves just as much as the stars. Take the revenue that the team made and split a small amount of it among the players on the team. These schools are making a lot of money off these sports teams, they surely can afford it.

Gopher Target Makes US Select Team

Tubby Smith has been targeting Apple Valley's Tyus Jones ever since he made the varsity basketball team in 8th grade. His court vision, size, and ballhandling skills make him an ideal point guard who could really help the Gophers. Too bad he's not such a well kept secret anymore.

Jones made the U-16 National Developmental team this week after three days of grueling try outs in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 27 of the top prospects in the nation were invited to try out for the team and only 12 made the team. ESPN.com recently named him the top point guard in the class of 2014. He's received scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota and Iowa. Expect about every school in the country to make a play for him.

The most impressive part about it is that he backed up the hype with this performance and by making this team. He was mostly invited because of his reputation, but showed that he is the real deal. The Gophers are going to have to do everything in their power to keep this kid from the state because he is the best prospect it has seen in quite some time. He's the most highly touted prospect since Royce White, who currently plays at Iowa State.

Jerry Kill('s) with Realism

Jerry Kill, whose predecessor attempted to relate to fans through unfounded optimism, has taken the approach of realism and killed it. Gopher fans love the realistic approach Jerry Kill is portraying for the Gophers' football team.

Kill has promised very little to his audiences except to make the Gophers do things the right way and give it their all in football.

While on his out-state tour, Kill visited Hutchinson, Willmar and Mankato.

Kill has also expressed 4 basic rules he expects the Gophers football team to follow:

1. Be on time
2. Act right
3. Go to class
4. Play hard on Saturday

Realism may challenge No. 3, but hey, I've seen stranger things happen.

As for Kill's No. 1 goal? He wants people to be able to look him in the eye and say they are proud to be a Gopher fan.

11am Kickoff Goes Bu-Bye?

Adding Nebraska into the fold allowed the Big Ten to renegotiate it's TV contracts with ABC and ESPN. This is very good for those of us who like to spend our Friday nights at the bar. Why you ask?

Because the renegotiations have given the Big Ten potential to load up on the 2:30pm Saturday time slot. Prior to this, the Big Ten was banned from having night games in November, sticking them in the 11am spot. 11am is simply too early for the hungover, which leads to poor fan support, a busy custodial staff and low TV ratings because college kids are still asleep.

An 11am start time is hated by everyone because it helps no one.

Tailgating at 11am? Sure, everyone loves bacon, but everyone loves sleep too -- especially as the season gets further along and the temperature drops exponentially.

A later kick off will get the college kids there, improving the student section and making the stadium full of die-hards and normal joes. Here's to no more (or less) 11am kick offs. Cheers.

Brewster Speaks!

In the seven months since his debacle of being the head football coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers ended, the man known as Tim ‘sounds-like-a-sleazy-used-car-salesman’ Brewster has finally broken silence. Here was the old Brew had to say:

"I poured my heart and soul into that situation in Minnesota and I was disappointed with how it ended," Brewster told Naples (Fla.) Daily News, “But I'm a positive guy and you're not going to keep me down long.”

Listen Brew, I know how you feel. Junior year of high school, I poured my heart into chemistry class that year. I met with the teacher about as many times as you called your idiotic offense out of the shot gun. I had a great teacher too. She was awesome too; she was never rattled by my bone-headedness which saw me get a D+ in the class.

You know Brew; there are a few similarities here. I had a great teacher that never quit on me despite my stupidity. Meanwhile, you had a great quarter back in Adam Webber who never quit on you despite your stupidity. Also, we both poured are hearts and souls into what we did.

However, that is where the similarities end and the differences arise. You see, I wound up with a D+, miraculously passed the class and went onto continue my education, excelling in the arts and English’s. Meanwhile you wound up with an F, failed as a coach, lost your job and excelled in absolutely nothing.

Continue to think positive Brew, because at the moment that is all you have. That is unless you do decide to become a used car salesman, because unlike coaching, I see you excelling in that field.