College Football Blogger Awards Nominations

The typical pomp and circumstance surrounding the Golden Globes was relegated to a yawn-inspiring press conference this year. But as the college football blogger community readies to pat itself on the back, we're not held back by the contractual demands of writers. Nah, most of us do this for the fun of it.

So, now that one of the most upset-filled (if anti-climatic) college football seasons is behind us, the cream of the crop in the college football blogosphere have announced that nominations are now being received for the 2007 College Blogger Awards. The awards are the brainchild of the ever-entertaining bloggers at Every Day Should be Saturday, MGOBlog, Burnt Orange Nation, Dawg Sports and Rocky Top Talk.

Readers like you, and bloggers like me, are encouraged to nominate there favorite blogs and posts for recognition. You can make your nominations on this page, though I should warn that nominations are due by Sunday. My nominations for most of the awards (I had to skip a few) are below. Happy voting! Also, it should be pointed out that not all nominees from the various blogs and commenters will make the final list as official "nominees." A secret meeting will take place to narrow down the list. For your viewing pleasure, here is a list of last year's winners. This is important because the wise committee has decided against allowing repeat winners.

On to PJS' nominations.

Best Community: I'm not sure it's even close. Brian at MGOBlog, as someone once wrote to me in an email, has a vocal community the size of the Michigan football fanbase. The interaction is always entertaining to read (if occasionally depressing, like after losses to Appalachian State).

Funniest Blog: My nomination would have went to EDSBS, but because they won last year, I'm left to look elsewhere. There are certainly great options nationwide, but I'm going to stick with the Big Ten and give the nod to Black Heart Gold Pants. The drunken interviews with Ron Zook were laugh-out-loud funny.

Best analysis (Emphasis placed on statistical manipulation and well researched pieces that reveal something news): Again, no blog stands out more than MGOBlog, but Brian deservedly won this award one year ago. That said, a fine second choice is always Sunday Morning Quarterback. Very well done on a daily basis. Well researched. Well thought out.

Prettiest Blog: The best thing about blogs is they come in all shapes and sizes. I could nominate so many here, but the blog I find most attractive is Eleven Warriors, one of the many excellent Ohio State blogs. It's a simple design that uses all of its space well and isn't too loud.

The Job Award (The blog that has suffered through an embarrassing season with the most dignity): I'm going to hand my nomination here to my fellow Minnesota blogger Tom at Gopher Nation. While I was busy hammering away at Tim Brewster for his play calling and decision making, Tom remained positive (well, as much as he could). Kudos.

Best Big Ten Blog(s): We Big Ten bloggers have taken strides during the last year. We've created a bloggers group. We've fought the SEC speed stereotype. We've worked together like no other set of conference bloggers. Because of that, I'm going to nominate three excellent blogs, whose founders began the Big Ten Bloggers Group. They are Dave at Maize n' Brew, Sean at Around the Oval and Mike at Black Shoe Diaries. Not only are their blogs excellent sources of information about their team, but they also had the foresight to realize a group of bloggers might like to work together, and even have a little fun too.

Best National Blog: For me it came down to SMQ or EDSBS, but seeing as SMQ got the nod one year ago, we throw our nomination behind EDSBS.

Links: Nolen Expected To Play

Most importantly today, we learn via GopherGold and Myron Medcalf that Al Nolen practiced Tueseday and is expected to play against Ohio State. This is a very good development. The Gophers still should have been able to win against Michigan State on Sunday, but it was obvious that without him the Gophers lack any real point guard. Lawrence McKenzie can fill this role well in stretches, but when he needs a breather the point guard play became rather hard to watch.

Hopefully Nolen will be at or near 100 percent. They'll need him in a hostile environment.

Now, on to a few other interesting tidbits.

** For a good laugh, you really ought to check out this photoshopped image of Tubby Smith that RandBall found while perusing the Internets. It's very well done.

** This same-day feature piece by John Millea in the Star Tribune is a must-read. Millea chronicles the football and basketball recruitment of Cretin Derham Hall's sophomore Seantrel Henderson, a 6'7", 305 pound offensive lineman (and apparently power forward). Millea reports that Seantrel's recruitment could be higher profile than what we just witnessed with Notre Dame bound Michael Floyd. Also, Jon at TNABACG gushes over Henderson and suggests the big man is "the official Next Big Thing in the state of Minnesota."

** Starting a new blog isn't easy. But your readership grows instantly when you knock one of your first pieces out of the park. That's what the blogger at The Legion of Cats did with this look back at Tubby Smith's departure from Kentucky. Many bloggers, columnists and television pundits have tried to lay out the complicated situation Tubby was involved in at UK, and in just the second post in the blog's history, The Legion of Cats succinctly has accomplished that feat. I'm not going to quote the post extensively here, because it's worth a read in its entirety if you are at all interested in the UK back story.

** Speaking of UK, the Wildcats pulled the upset over a very talented Tennessee team last night. Tru at A Sea of Blue has more. I'll give you a taste:

"The very best victories are the ones you don't expect. That's true in life, for sure, but nowhere is it more axiomatic than in sports. An unanticipated win against a superior opponent just causes those little endorphin thingys to run wild, giving you a wonderfully sated sensation."

While many of us have quietly enjoyed UK's struggles in the early portion of the season, I'm somewhat happy for the UK fan base today. They've been through quite a bit since March and they very much needed a win like this to keep their spirits high.

** The Pioneer Press' Charley Walters has a handful of University of Minnesota tidbits in his column of tidbits today. But, most interesting is his lead to the piece talking with Glen Mason. The coach who came to be known as "Mediocre Mason," suggests that Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney weren't appreciated in Minnesota by "local people." I'm going to assume Mason is referring to the media and fans. I'm not sure I agree with that. I think most everyone looked at the Barber/Maroney tandem (combined with the power running game in general) as one of the best in the nation. But Mason's players didn't get the ink the professional sports teams in Minnesota do because, simply, they weren't winning enough at a high enough level. This seems like a strange comment for Mason to make. What do you think?

** Lastly, I'd like to bring your attention to a blog I've added during the last couple months on the sidebar titled Hoopraker. First, the site is aesthetically pleasing. But more importantly to me, the writing is top-notch. Take this lead to a post from Jan. 14 for instance:

"Sometimes lost in the premature and tunnel visioned emphasis on the NCAA tournament as the only metric of a team’s worth is the appreciation for the moments at hand. Obscured in the bid or bust equation, betrayed by the singular emphasis on the March endgame is an enjoyment of the season as a journey where each individual game, whether win or defeat, whether RPI bolstering or not, tells its own set of compelling stories."

Very well stated point. I check out this site often, and because many blogs get lost on my sidebar, I wanted to take a moment to highlight these guys because they're doing a fantastic job.

Big Ten Opener: Sparty Talks Some Trash

It's one thing for our own bloggers to make fun of our mascot, it's quite another for a blogger from Michigan State to take aim at Smilin' Goldy the Gopher.

You see, John at SpartyMSU blog is so worried about the Big Ten opener, and Tubby Smith's upstart Gophers coming to East Lansing, that the safest shot he could take at our troops was to belittle their mascot. Here's John's blasphemous take on Goldy.

they are Not fierce, Not scary, Not Masculine….. The Choice of this Mascot Kind of reminds me of the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz.. or the Big Green Pine trees of Stanford.. or the Delta State University Fighting Okra. Goldie Gopher on the Football field side lines was about a worth wile as the Fighting Pickles of North Carolina School of the Arts. Frankly.. Goldie looks more like the Might Mouse Cartoon than a Gopher

This of course comes from a fan of a team who's mascot wears a freaking skirt. Just saying. And in this picture Sparty is showing off some serious leg. Stay hot, Sparty.

Mascots aside, the MSU-Minnesota opener presents a very tough test for Tubby's Gophers. The way Spencer Tollackson has been playing would indicate that MSU junior center Goran Suton will be able to at the very least neutralize our center. Meanwhile, Minnesota's best offensive player, Dan Coleman, can very likely be neutralized by MSU's Raymar Morgan.

And as we've learned during the losses at Florida State and UNLV, the Gophers struggle mightily with teams that have capable back courts. Michigan State meets that criteria with Drew Neitzel, who has an impressive 4.29 to 1 assist to turnover ration this season. With the guard play of Neitzel and the offensive and rebounding capabilities of Suton and Morgan, and MSU presents perhaps the biggest challenge for Minnesota yet.

John asked how the Gophers are going to match-up. .... Well, I'd say poorly. When we came to East Lansing last year, Lawrence McKenzie and Dan Coleman led us in scoring. Now, McKenzie's offense has gone by the wayside to play the point guard spot and Coleman, while showing flashes of brilliance, disappears against top notch competition.

Finally, John writes: "Help me out Charlie.. whats the word from the Great White North… ?? You see them going better than 4th to 6th place?"

John, we'd love a 4th to 6th place finish. No one in Minnesota is delusional enough to think the Gophers can compete for a Big Ten title this season. But an upper echelon Big Ten finish would be a vast improvement from last season and indicate the difference Tubby has made. But the Gophers aren't in the class right now of the Spartans, Hoosiers or Badgers. We'd love a 4th place finish, which would likely mean an NCAA bid.

I do have a couple questions for SpartyMSU. .... What's the deal with Isiah Dahlman, who was a product of Braham, Minnesota. He's now a sophomore and still playing sparingly? Will he get his chance eventually? How has he looked when on the floor?

How good do Michigan State fans think this team is? Do fans see this as one of Izzo's best teams? Is Neitzel good enough to lead the Spartans to a Big Ten title and a deep tourney run?

After the Gophers were embarrassed at UNLV last weekend, don't expect Tubby's team to allow themselves to be walked over again. And if Dan Coleman shows up, and Lawrence McKenzie can run the offense AND score, the Gophers could put a scare into the Spartans.

Guest Post: ISU Blogger Gives Gophers The Edge

PJS Note: With the biggest game in the Tubby Smith era set to tip off Tuesday night, PJS and CrossCyed at the Clone Chronicles decided a little cross-blog cooperation was in order. Below you'll get CrossCyed's mostly pessimistic views on the Cyclones' 2007-08 season and what to expect from ISU Tuesday night. You'll find my preview at the Clone Chronicles here.

Guest Post
By CrossCyed

For those of you looking for a good-looking win against a Big 12school, Tuesday night may be your chance.

LIKELY STARTING LINEUP:

G Diante Garrett OR Sean Haluska
G Bryan Petersen
F Rahshon Clark
F Craig Brackins
C Jiri Hubalek

Iowa State really appears to be a team in disarray. With lackluster performances in all of the first three games, it's really hard to get a read on the team, and the game against the Gophers will be a good test.

I must preface the article by saying we will likely be missing our best player in 6-7 Wesley Johnson, quite possibly the best sophomore in the Big 12 not named DJ Augustin.

We're also without SG Lucca Staiger, who is currently ineligible due to the NCAA and it's bass-ackwardness. The backcourt provides question marks at both guard positions. Sean Haluska is the real wild card to start - he's looked pitiful in regular season play and has had trouble hitting the jumper.

Both Garrett and Petersen will run the point Garrett is silky smooth with an unpredictable shot. Petersen is undersized with a nice shot. Clark is by far our best defender and is an aggressive rebounder. He has a decent shot at times from beyond the arc and will also throw down the occasional big time dunk. Brackins is the highest rated recruit to come to Ames since Marcus Fizer. Has a good outside shot and can face up down low, but needs work with his back to the basket. Gets easy rebounds, but not the tough ones. Fun to watch, but McDermott doesn't like to give him a ton of minutes.

Hubalek is coming off injury, and appears to be a lot closer to the guy that frustrated us his sophomore year than the guy that matched up against guys like Maric from Nebraska. Has the occasional urge to shoot the jump shot, which he usually misses. Incredibly frustrating guy to watch. Off the bench, the main guard sub will be Charles Boozer, younger brother of Carlos. He basically shoots a knuckleball but can catch fire. Really hard worker, but was also a redshirt candidate, so he still has flaws. Cory Johnson, Duluth native, is the backup at the forward position. Has a nice shot and will look to score, but is undersized. Max effort guy.

Alex Thompson (Iowa transfer) and Clayton Vette will be the big man subs. Alex Thompson makes me cringe every time he comes in, pretty much worthless. Vette has impressed me with his nose for the ball down low. Carries weight, but not quite tall enough. Overall, we are going to need big games from our big guys to win. We can't be depending on our backcourt for the scoring like we did at Bradley.

With the students gone for break, the homecourt advantage will be somewhat diminished too. Minnesota may have been bad last year, but I tend to think we're bad this year. Not having Wes hurts a ton, because it's losing a double-double from the shooting guard position. I expect Minnesota to win a close game, probably in the high 50s or low 60s. I can't get a proper read on this team right now, but I'm leaning more towards a team that will miss the NIT than one that will make it.

Links: Clint Brewster Grabs Headlines

With a 1-11 season now in the rear-view mirror, there has been plenty of Internet discussion on Tim Brewster's first year at Minnesota. In this assortment of linkage, I'll bring you a host of takes on Brewster (Tim and son Clint), Gophers football, Tubby's recruiting class compared to Kentucky's and our standard potshot at Dan Monson.

We'll start with the Tim Brewster discussion.

** In looking for a silver lining for the 2007 Minnesota football season, PiPress columnist Tom Powers takes a few typical shots at Brewster:

You're probably wondering what good came out of all this. Where is the silver lining? After all, the team went 1-11 after the coach had visions of Rose Bowls dancing in people's heads. So you're rehashing Year 1 of the Brewster regime in search of that elusive bright spot.

Exactly.

People are thinking about Gopher football. They are talking about Gopher football. Maybe what they're saying is: "That Tim Brewster is an idiot." Nevertheless, the program is on their minds. And that's tangible progress in what had become a sea of apathy.

And ...

Some of the more jaded will insist they won't allow themselves to be suckered in by the hype again. They'll give 10 reasons why they're done with the Gophers. Then they'll give 10 more. And if no one interrupts, they'll keep talking nonstop about the disappointing season. Talking about Gopher football. Discussing Gopher football. All this, even as they are gritting their teeth.

So folks will keep on eye on Brewster's recruiting. After all, he says he's really good at it. Let's see if he is for real.

"I'm so driven to make us great again," he said.

And when they tee it up to kick off the 2008 season, everybody will be watching. How can that be terrible?

** We all have come to learn that Tim Brewster likes to talk. But I didn't learn until now that his son picked up the jabbering gene. A couple media reports indicate Clint Brewster had a little post-game altercation with Wisconsin's kicker. The STrib's report can be found here. Meanwhile Sunday Morning Quarterback and Badgercentric take the younger Brewster to task for his role in the spat. Here's a pull-quote from the STrib.

Wisconsin kicker Taylor Mehlhaff also accused Gophers freshman quarterback Clint Brewster, son of the head coach, of jawing at him after the game.

"I just went over to say good game to their kicker and this kid, the coach's son, comes over and I don't want to say what he said, but he just said, 'You guys are terrible' and this and that, we're 1-10 and we should have beat you and this and that," Mehlhaff told Wisconsin reporters. "I'm just like, 'Wow.'

"I was giving their guys high-fives ... and telling them good game. I just couldn't believe anyone would come up and be like that. And then he said, 'How many kicks did you miss today?' That's pretty bold. I just said, 'I've got to go celebrate the axe.' "

According to team policy, Clint Brewster is not available for interviews until he plays in a game.

You know, we really have to hand it to these Brewesters. They really know how to grab a headline.

** In this Scout.com article, Tim Brewster remains "relentlessly optimstic."

** In this AP article hosted by The Sporting News, I acutally like the way Brewster comes off. He expresses discontent, yet remains positive about the team's youth. His quotes in this article strike me as honest and sincere. That-a-boy, Timmy. The AP writer leads with a fact lost at times by many pundits--including myself--that his tenure started off with a public relations disaster that was completely out of his control. Think Videophone Sex Gate.

** Tim Brewster's team-worst 1-11 record also wasn't lost on Denver Post writer Terry Frei. But in this column, Frei makes a solid argument for why Minnesota fans should give Brewster at minimum 5 years. I agree, but as I've said before, Brewster needs to deliver on his recruiting promises and show growth in the coming years as our general on the sidelines.

OK, now on to other matters. ...

** It took overtime against Idaho State, but Dan Monson now has his first victory of the season.

** I've been waiting for an opportunity to bring your attention to a new Minnesota Gophers blogger. From The Barn , as the name would suggest, concentrates on the happenings inside Williams Arena. The blog is still young, but off to a very nice start. Here is the blog's latest post, in which the writer calls the Minnesota-Iowa State game tomorrow "the most important game since the Gopher’s NIT loss to Cincinnati a few years back."

** There were a few links to choose from for this final topic. But some Kentucky fans find it unfathomable that Tubby Smith's first recruiting class at Minnesota could even be discussed in the same breath as Billy Clyde's first class at Kentucky. The fact that Kentucky fans are even discussing this should be considered great news for Minnesota basketball fans. Ski-U-Mah!

Guest Post: Tubby's Up And Down Tenure At UK

PJS Note: Tru from A Sea of Blue was kind enough to author this guest post for Gopher fans, giving us an insight into the melodrama that surrounded Tubby Smith's tenure at UK, and what to expect from Tubby Smith on and off the court as his tenure in Minnesota begins. I thank Tru for taking the time to put this together, and highly recommend A Sea of Blue for intelligent discussion of UK basketball.

Guest Post
By Truzenzuzex

Allow me to introduce myself. My blog-name is Truzenzuzex, and I am the proprietor of A Sea of Blue, a University of Kentucky Wildcat blog which is part of the SB Nation group of sports blogs. PJS has been kind enough to ask me to write a guest blog entry for about the former Wildcats and new Golden Gophers coach, Orlando "Tubby" Smith.

I am honored to be asked, and proud to do so. I am sure most of you know Tubby Smith's bio, so I won't recite that at all. What I'd like to do instead is to give you a perspective on how Tubby Smith was perceived here and why, along with some of the things that you may not know about his coaching style, personality, and his tenure in the Bluegrass. When Smith came to Kentucky back in 1998, there were happy people and unhappy people, but mostly happy. I was among the happy -- I wanted Smith. In retrospect, though, he was not a good fit for Kentucky. But we will get to that. Rick Pitino had just won the national championship in 1996, and lost in overtime in the national finals in 1997.

For years, rumors of Pitino's interest in returning to the NBA were rampant around Kentucky, and every year after the season there would be media and fan speculation, denials from Pitino and from the athletic administration and a great deal of hand-wringing around the state. This had been going on for at least 5 consecutive years, and many fans (myself being one of them) were getting tired of this act. Yes, Pitino was a great coach and we were proud to have him, but this constant speculation about when (not if) he was leaving to the NBA was causing some hard feelings, and many of us wished for more stability. We don't take kindly to coaches who use us as a springboard. But who could argue with success? Well, after the 1997 season, Rick Pitino left to coach the Boston Celtics and a quick search was done. Tubby Smith was offered the Kentucky job. Smith was a former Pitino assistant at UK from 1989-1991, and he came to Kentucky after a successful three-year run at Georgia.

Smith was well-received in the Commonwealth, although there were a significant minority of fans (perhaps as many as 20%) who were unhappy with the hire at the time and were very vocal about it. Then came the fateful 1998 season. When Pitino left, he left behind what looked for all the world like a rag-tag crew with some talent, but a lot of holes. That perception turned out to be wrong, as there are no less than 4 NBA draft picks on that team, ultimately. We figured to have a good year, but nobody really expected us to contend for the national championship, let alone win it. But that is what happened.

Of course, the Big Blue Nation was ecstatic, and Tubby Smith was hailed as a kindler, gentler version of Pitino. That perception was short lived, however. Over the ensuing four years, Kentucky found itself in a state of semi-relevance, losing ten games almost every year. Now, that may not sound like that many, but at Kentucky, single-digit loss seasons had long been the norm. Pitino had double-digit losses only once in his tenure, his very first year when UK was on probation. Losing ten games three years in a row was intolerable to many in the Commonwealth despite the changes that were happening in college basketball -- Kentucky simply didn't lose 39 games in 4 years.

The grumbling began anew, and this time it was louder and more widespread. The nickname "Ten Loss Tubby" was created, and found a voice on the budding Internet sports sites. It wasn't as if the team was totally unsuccessful in the post season, even during this tumultuous period. Kentucky went to the final eight once and the Sweet Sixteen twice, even during this run of ten loss seasons. But here in Kentucky, Final Fours are expected and demanded. Smith hadn't been to one in five years, and the grumbling was getting very loud. "For Sale" signs were occasionally found in Smith's yard, and his weekly call-in show was becoming filled with hostile fans demanding answers. 2001-02 is known around Kentucky as "Team Turmoil" for the numerous off-the-court problems and subsequent dismissal or transfer of several high-profile players after the season.

Keep in mind, folks -- this was six years ago. Then came the 2002-03 season. Kentucky went through the pre-season with a loss to an exhibition opponent, and 3 more losses in the out-of-conference portion of the schedule, including to the University of Louisville, a hated rival. By this time, anticipating another ten losses or more and a "below par" year, there were numerous calls for Smith's job all around the commonwealth. Then came the conference schedule, and in the second SEC game of the year on the road at Vanderbilt, something unexpected happened. I'll never forget it as long as I live. The Cats went into the locker room at the half in Nashville down 16 points after being thoroughly outplayed by the Commodores.

That team never returned to play for Kentucky again. What came out of the locker room in Memorial Gymnasium after halftime was a team nobody in Kentucky had ever seen before. The Wildcats came out of the visitor's locker room and emasculated Vanderbilt University's men's basketball team. The huge Vandy lead evaporated in minutes, to be replaced by a 30+ point Kentucky bulge, and by the time the Cats left the floor, there was nothing left of the Commodores. Kentucky's domination of them defensively was beyond rational description, and the Wildcats' offensive efficiency was pure James A. Naismith perfection. It was as if all 12 Wildcats had morphed, Michael J. Fox-like, into Teen Wolf in front of everyone's eyes, and disembowled an entire SEC basketball team in front of the home crowd. It was ... magnificent in it's cruel, utterly merciless efficiency.

Something had clicked in this Wildcat team, a frightful switch had been thrown. The players had bought completely into Tubby Smith's system, and they raged through the SEC doing carnage, crushing good teams by embarrassing margins. That Shermanesque rampage took the traditional UK domination of the SEC was taken to heights previously unknown when they won all the SEC games, and the SEC tournament -- a perfect conference season. It wasn't just that they won, it was the way they won -- the team was utterly indomitable, and it was not unusual to see well-coached opponents simply give up against their onslaught.

Kentucky fans were delighted, yet somehow terrified. How could this have happened? Who was this team, and what had they done with the Wildcats? Kentucky's domination continued as they went into the NCAA tournament ranked #1 in the country by every major service. But an injury to Keith Bogans and a hot Duane Wade ended that run in the final eight against Marquette, ironically enough, in the Twin Cities where Tubby Smith now resides.

Tubby Smith was again a hero after 2003, but that same hard-core minority of 20% or so saw only the failure of the team to get to the Final Four. Discord grew among the hard-core Smith doubters and the Smith supporters, and many vicious Internet flame wars ensued on the message boards. The Smith detractors were forced into retreat, having no answer for the "but for Bogans' injury, we would have won the national championship" argument and the undefeated SEC season. But the very next year, the team again lost to Louisville and flamed out in the Sweet Sixteen, and the fan unhappiness was again quickly to pre-2002 levels. Then came the great recruiting class of 2004. One of the many gripes dissatisfied Kentucky fans had regarding Tubby Smith was uneven recruiting. The members of that 2002-03 team (the Suffocats, as they are known) were largely unheralded players, and despite their success, this alarmed many in the Big Blue Nation. Randolph Morris, Joe Crawford, Ramel Bradley and Rajon Rondo made the "Smith can't recruit studs" skeptics look like fools, and once again, the supporters and detractors of Tubby Smith clashed angrily.

Locked threads were everywhere in message boards, and wholesale banning of angry members was common. It was a virtual bloody time in Kentucky online fan history. The Tubby Smith radio call-in show began refusing critics access, outraging the Smith detractors even more when they were denied a forum to embarrass a coach they saw as damaging the program.

By this point, anti-Smith sentiment had reached critical mass. There were two camps now firmly entrenched in Kentucky, and hatred began to divide the fan base. That's right, I said "hatred" because that's what it was, and believe it or not, still is. Those who wanted Smith gone fashioned themselves as defenders of Kentucky's basketball heritage, and hated those who were willing to give him a chance. Each accused the other of either racism or race-baiting, and the fan base at Kentucky became bitterly divided. Internet wars were everywhere, and the online community divided itself into Smith supporters and Smith detractors, with very few crossing over into enemy territory except to post outrageous comments and be banned themselves.

The ensuing three years saw many events each group would point to in order to defend their position. There was a pitched battle being waged in Kentucky, brother pitted against brother, in a rancorous civil war with Smith squarely in the center. The Smith detractors mounted a media campaign against him, attempting to run an anti-Tubby Smith ad in the University of Kentucky student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, in June of 2006. This created a firestorm of controversy, and Smith quickly became seen as embattled by the national media.

Many rose to his defense, and notably, some did not. Finally, in March of 2007 after two very poor seasons in a row by Kentucky standards, Tubby Smith left the Wildcats to coach at the University of Minnesota, which of course, you know. Now that you know how (and to some extent, why) he got to the Twin Cities, here are some things you will learn:

** Tubby Smith is a family man above all else. He treats his players more like his kids than anything else, and truly cares about their well-being and future success.

** Smith is not fond of the media. This is one of the many things that generated discontent for him. Smith is a poor public speaker, and he isn't comfortable in a media environment. Because of Kentucky's high national profile in basketball, this was simply not a good thing while he was in the Bluegrass. It will not be near the problem at Minnesota that it was in the Commonwealth.

** Smith's system emphasizes defense. Smith uses a variant of the ball-line defense, which essentially helps closer to the basket, and has the weakness of leaving players open on the wing on a ball reversal for a three-point shot. Played properly, even this can be largely overcome, as the Suffocats dramatically proved, but it takes a level of commitment I have seen only one time.

** Smith employs a variant of the flex offense, and prefers a disciplined, half-court approach. He also professes to want to run to anyone who will listen, but somehow, we never did that very well in Kentucky under Smith after his first year. This is a point of serious contention among Smith detractors and supporters in Kentucky.

** Tubby Smith is an outstanding community member, philanthropist, and all around human being. Even those who hated Smith heart and soul were reluctant to say anything against his character, and for good reason -- their credibility would have vanished. Tubby Smith is a good man.

** Smith is notoriously stubborn. He runs his system, and will do so even if it doesn't work. He will make changes, but they tend to be incremental and on the margins.

** Smith has some strange tendencies in recruiting. He is less about talent than how he thinks a player will fit into his system. He rejects the idea that he can't coach average players to excel. Overall, this will work out better at Minnesota than Kentucky. Kentucky fans expect to recruit on the very highest level, and to always have at least one top 25 player in the class each year. Smith did not recruit the top players in the nation well at Kentucky most of the time he was here, but Minnesota will not normally be involved at that level. That's just a fact of life. Smith recruits players in the 30-120 range very well.

** Smith values loyalty above talent. If a player has worked hard in his system and stayed with him, he will reward that as long as he is in the same universe as other players, talent-wise. It is a laudable characteristic, but it does have its drawbacks, and caused significant consternation in the Bluegrass. Perhaps it will work out better at Minnesota.

** Tubby Smith is not a subtle man. He is just what you see -- no more, no less. He is a basketball coach, not an innovator or a deep thinker. But he will be successful, because he knows how to be successful and has done it everywhere he has been.

** Smith seems to be satisfied with a lower level of success than Kentucky fans. He would often laud his many trips to the Sweet Sixteen as an accomplishment, and he never figured out that most Kentucky fans see that not as an achievement, but as a failure. There was simply a huge disconnect between Smith's expectations for his team and the expectations of the fans.

Many of you may wonder why Kentucky would put so much pressure on a fine coach like Smith, and I can tell you that the very fact you ask that question disqualifies you from any understanding of the answer. An Alabama football fan would not ask that question. Neither would a Florida football fan, or a Notre Dame football fan, or a North Carolina basketball fan.

This isn't a put down -- just because most Minnesota fans aren't pathologically obsessed with the team does not cast any aspersions on their character. To the contrary. Many of you will note that some Kentucky fans are blaming Smith for our recent loss to Gardner-Webb. If this surprises you, it is simply because the gulf between your perception of college basketball and that of Kentucky fans is much wider than you might believe.

Fortunately, this thinking doesn't represent the thinking of most Kentucky fans, but only a few who would gladly blame Tubby Smith for global warming, high gas prices and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa if they could find even the thinnest connection. If Kentucky does not win a national championship within a few years, these same people will claim that Tubby Smith permanently destroyed Kentucky basketball to the extent that nobody could ever resurrect it again, or has set us back so far that it will take decades of futility to overcome. Whatever.

I think you know what to think of such people without me having to suggest it. I am sorry for the length of this piece, but quite frankly, the Tubby Smith tenure in Lexington was a complicated affair, filled with love, hate, pathos, ecstasy, quixotic angst, and almost every other human emotion you can describe on a very large scale. If it makes Kentucky fans seem less than totally sane, I suppose that is a fair conclusion -- we are nationally renowned for our obsessiveness with college basketball, and Tubby Smith had no small part in bringing that obsession to the forefront of the national consciousness.

With all that said, keep in mind that this is just the perception of one Kentucky fan, and we are hardly a homogeneous group. We love our college basketball here, and we love the tradition that Kentucky represents, and the place that buys us in the national spotlight. Kentucky is not famous for a lot of things, but we are proud of our national celebrity in college basketball, and most UK fans are determined to defend the place we have carved for ourselves.

In the end, it seems in retrospect that Tubby Smith was always a poor fit for Kentucky. There were simply too many inconsistencies between how Smith saw the Wildcats, and how the fans see them. Part of it was caused by having to follow the now-legendary Pitino success, and part of it was just a disconnect between the realities of Smith and the fan base. But now both Smith and UK have moved on, hopefully both to better places.

The lingering resentments represent nothing more than the lunatic fringe, something that every large fan base must unhappily deal with. I wish you well, Golden Gophers, and Tubby Smith as well. I think he will do you proud, and I think you will enjoy each other.

Pledge: No Iowa Potshots

In any typical year--you know, those glory years under Glen Mason when the Gophers managed to attend a trivial bowl game--the matchup with our incestous friends to the south would be excellent fodder for Internet watering holes like this one.

But Tim Brewster's coaching genius has left "Gopher Nation"--the 18 of us, not my blogging brother--at a loss for words. Taking potshots at Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeyes seems almost juvenile, even if Oops Pow Surprise at Black Heart Gold Pants is doing his utmost to triple-dog-dare us gentlemanly Minnesota bloggers into a war of words.

So, to my friends in Iowa who wear camoflauge when a party invitation suggests attire is black tie optional, I say I will not lower myself to taking cheap shots at your state, your football team, your sexual deviancy at 4-H events or Steve Alford and his infamous hair gel. It's just not going to happen. PJS is making like Dennis Green and taking the high road.

Brewster Is Very, Very Easy To Make Fun Of

My time away from the blogosphere left me with a lot of catching up to do today. And there was one item that I simply had to pass on to you.

Iowa bloggers at Black Heart, Gold Pants had what looks like a very, very real interview with Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster. In the must-read, Brewster talks about how the Gophers are on the verge of greatness, how Charlie Weis is indeed fat, among many other things. It's a fun read, even for those of you who defend Brewster's penchant to say completely insane and outlandish things. Very, very outlandish things.

Link is here.

Science And Football

Jon at The National Anthem Before A Cubs Game put together a marvelous scientific breakdown comparing the embarrassing loss by Michigan to Appalachian State and Minnesota to North Dakota State University.

I thought about stealing some of it and using it here, but instea you should just go over to TNABACG and check it out. Great stuff, Jon.

Blogs, Brewster's Kool-Aid And The Return Of Zombie Nation

I've added a few new items to the sidebar and I thought I'd fill you in on what I've done. And at the bottom of this post, I'll point you to a blogger who has been on the blogroll for awhile who desrves another look.

A new fixture on the right sidebar is the Big Ten Bloggers feed, where you will see the latest posts authored by members of the Big Ten Bloggers alliance. The feed is a nice addition, I think. The Big Ten is lucky to be represented by some great bloggers. Having their content ready and available at PJS can only be a good thing for readers.

I've added two new links to the "Big Ten Foes" blog roll. One of my favorite Big Ten bloggers, Hawkeye State, turned out the lights at his shop only to join a new venture dubbed The Hawkeye Compulsion. At the Hawkeye Compulsion, the former Hawkeye State blogger will join the former author of Steve Alford's Hair Gel, which itself turned out the lights when Alford was run out of town. The Hair Gel was fantastic and Hawkeye State was damn good too. The combination should be great for those who clamor to read all things Hawkeye.

The second new blog in the Big Ten foes section is Inside the Hall, a Hoosiers blog dedicated to Kelvin Sampson's team. The blogger took a nice potshot recently at Illinois head coach Bruce Weber's new recruiting tactics. Take a look here.

In other sidebar news--I know how you all yearn to read about these things--I've replaced the standard Minnesota "M" with a jug of maroon kool-aid. For Minnesota football fans who have followed our new fearless leader Tim Brewster, this should need no introduction. For others who don't know, it's real simple. Brewster has proven one thing since he came to Minneapolis: that he can convince a crowd of reporters and alums that he can turn the program around. Most are convinced the man with a propensity for exaggeartion--"Gopher Nation," "Minnesota football tradition," and "Rose Bowls"--will improve upon Glen Mason's medicority. Few people--though the Star Tribune's Patrick Reusse deserves credit for being among them--realize all Brewster has done so far is talk a big game. So, the kool-aid represents many strangely giddy Minnesota fans who have been completely swayed by a smooth talking salesman.

And finally, a colleague and friend of mine, who started his blog about Penn State around the same time I began this blog is finally back. The author of Zombie Nation, who I saw for the first time in a month-plus last week, lost probably 25 pounds due to a horrific battle with Crohn's Disease, which had him in and out of the hospital. Mike's a great writer and one of the most knowledgable college football fans I know. Glad you're back, Mike.

Blogroll

Over the next few months I'm going to try and highlight some of the blogs linked to on the right side bar. I see the blogroll as an endorsement of sorts. And I am trying not to add every blog that could possibly be linked to, because I sort of feel that each additional link devalues the others. That's not to say I'll never add blogs, in fact at some point I hope to expand and provide links to bloggers representing teams from other BCS conferences.

I've also removed a couple links over the past couple months. I had linked to a couple other Minnesota sites, which seem to either be defunct or on a permanent hiatus. I don't want to send readers to a blog that isn't current. That said, I understand some bloggers take vacations, so I'll try to be cautious about removing a blog.

For now, I've linked to some of the best Big 10 bloggers, Minnesota bloggers I read on a regular basis and some general college sports Web sites.

I'd like to take a minute to highlight three of these sites today, and I'll continue to do this as the summer drags on.

I'd like to start with a personal story. A journalist colleague of mine, who runs Zombie Nation, a Penn State blog, was off to a fine start. But my friend, Mike, is battling the sometimes-brutal Crohn's Disease. Mike might be the biggest college football fan I've ever met. He can recite specific plays in Minnesota-PSU games better than I can. He's a wealth of PSU football knowledge. As he battles on in and out of the hospital, my thoughts and well wishes are with him. I hope some of you will stop by his blog and wish him well. When he's healthy, Mike at Zombie Nation will be a great addition to the many great PSU blogs. Get well, buddy.

Another blogging community with a slew of great blogs is Ohio State. Today, I'd like to highlight Pfef's Sports Blog. The writer, a high school junior, is currently breaking down the OSU football team position by position. Pfef is a blunt, honest and a young writer with great potential. A high school junior!

And finally, I bring your attention to a blog I just recently added. Lake The Posts, at least as far as I can tell, is the only blog in the college sports blogosphere dedicated to Northwestern University sports. The blogger is currently counting down from 25 the best NU football games.