Friday Randomness Rants Against IHOP

OK, so I had every intention of posting three, four or more times this week. I wanted to get the Your New Gophers series off to a fast start. I wanted to make fun of Harold Howell's tenure on the Gophers. There were other topics that I wanted to hit on, but alas IHOP struck me down.

Came home from eating a greasy, not-very-appetizing breakfast at IHOP on Memorial Day and after a few hours of an upset stomach I developed a temperature around 102. No fun. This was accompanied by IHOP trying to get out every which way possible. A day later the temperature was gone, but now I had the worst stomach cramping I've ever experienced, so much pain that Miss PJS wanted to take me to the emergency room on multiple occasions.

Went to the doctor on Wednesday and they said I most likely had food poisoning. They took some tests, the results of which I'm still waiting for, but in the meantime wrote a prescription for Cipro, the antibiotic they give people with anthrax poisoning. That's right, they were treating what they believed to be food poisoning from IHOP the same way they'd treat anthrax poisoning.

I'm never eating at IHOP again. Perkins yes, IHOP no.

That was probably too much information for some of you... Now on to other things.

*** The headline of this AP article hits the nail on the head. It reads: "Over-hyped Howell makes quiet exit."

I couldn't have said it better. The "athlete" from Florida that Tim Brewster convinced many was the next Devin Hester, had a horrible 2007 season and now has been dismissed from the team for "academic reasons."

The AP looks back at old Brewster quotes where he called Howell "one of the most dynamic high school players in the country," and one of "the most electrifying" high school players he'd seen in years.

Brewster's desire to hype everything needs to end. The AP article by Jon Krawczynski goes on to note that Brewster has hyped incoming freshman Marquies Gray (comparing him to Vince Young) and Sam Maresh (comparing him to Brian Urlacher). This ridiculousness is putting far too much on these kids--they are kids--too fast. Who can live up to the Vince Young comparison as a college QB?

The Howell situation should be a lessons for Brewster. Somehow I doubt he'll recall this situation the next time he has a chance to make some positive press hits over-hyping one of his recruits.

*** Thought Tubby Smith's 2008 recruiting class was completed? Think again. USC decommit Malik Story, a 6'5 guard who has a "money stroke" according to Rivals, is looking closely at Minnesota, Georgetown, Oregon and Wake Forest. A California native, Story is a three-star shooting guard according to Rivals.

Story is more likely to become a wing player than a point guard in the college game, though his obvious position remains at shooting guard. With Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph likely taking minutes at those positions, it would be somewhat surprising to see Tubby ink another two-guard with the team's lack of depth at point guard and in the front court.

*** Other names to be learning if you follow Gophers basketball recruitment are Glen Rice Jr., the son of the former NBA star, and Harrison Barnes, a standout from Iowa. Barnes, who has been favored to be heading to Iowa State, is a 2010 prospect. He's a 6'6 small forward and is being heavily recruited. A 6'4 shooting guard, Rice's recruitment is picking up. He has offers from Alabama, Georgia Tech and Minnesota, but with interest from many other southern schools. Rice is playing for the same AAU team that RSIII played for in Georgia. Rice is a Class of 2009 prospect.

*** Gopher football fans are clearly none too pleased about the University's decision to jack up ticket prices. The Wizard of Odds has the story, replete with the best picture of Goldy I've ever seen.

*** Rivals' basketball recruiting whiz Jerry Meyer in his mailbag took a question about Ralph Sampson III. Meyer said Sampson might not be "the guy" like a Kevin Love, but he should be part of a winning formula. Meyer state Devoe Joseph might have an even larger impact.

*** Finally, if you haven't yet, check out my weekly column over at 10,000 Takes. This week I wrote about Tubby Smith's position on recruiting very young kids. As many of you know Billy Gillispie at Kentucky recently received a verbal commitment from an 8th grader. All of my columns at 10k Takes can be found here.

For The Record

As some of you might now, Tom at Gopher Nation has been diligent this season in keeping track of all the football picks made by members of the Big Ten bloggers group. I bring this up not because I'm winning this esteemed contest. I'm not. I rode the Tim Brewster bandwagon to far too many losses earlier in the season.

Still mathematically alive in the contest, I made the following selections this week. Here's the email I sent to the group.

Ohio State over Michigan
PSU over MSU
Indiana over Purdue
Minnesota over Wisconsin (Timmy Brewster gets his first conference win!!!)
Illinois over NW
Iowa over WMich

Whew.

PJS

I bring this to your attention because the Gophers are one half away from pulling the upset against Wisconsin and, I imagine some of you who insist I'm too hard on Tim Brewster would have never believed I made this call.

I will say I was impressed with this: Mike Dunbar came out in the first quarter, already down 3-0, and decided to run the football. The Gophers marched down the field--keeping our inept defense on the sidelines--and tied the score. I hope to see more as the second half goes on, and maybe, just maybe, Brewster will have the Gophers crawling back into the locker room with an axe on their backs!

** 4th Quarter/Harold Howell Update: The Gophers offense did the job it had to do, marching down the field. Ernie Wheelright came out of his shell. Adam Weber was throwing with confidence. Then, the defense came up with three stops. The Gophers were going to be in a position to drive the field for a game-tying store with the axe on the line. But it wasn't to be. Harold Howell, who has made me cringe all season, looked like an 8th grader on an attempted punt return, muffed the catch, and gave the Badgers the ball in the redzone with about 5 minutes left. The Badgers, of course, quickly converted for 7.

Brewster had paid a big price this season as he's played kids like Weber, Howell and basically an entire secondary filled with underclassmen. In this instance, it would have been wise for Brewster to put a veteran out on the field for that punt return like Eric Decker. This has been an entertaining game. And I'm sorry to see the Badgers take control late after a boneheaded play by Brewster's prize recruit Harold Howell.

Grading Minnesota's Defense

Much like the Minnesota offense last week, the defense started out in such a way that enabled BGSU to jump out to an almost insurmountable lead.

Like the offense, Tim Brewster promised a different defense. He brought in Everett Withers to coordinate and both suggested the defense would attack instead of play on its collective heels. So, during BGSU's first two possessions, Withers came after Falcons quarterback Tyler Sheehan. The result? The Falcons scored quicker than anyone ever did on Glen Mason.

So, on to a numerical grade on the Gophers' defense. Later tonight I'll take a look at what to expect from Miami (Ohio) tomorrow.

Coaches: 4 out of 10
Blitzing doesn't solve everything and it certainly doesn't make up for a lack of talent or team speed. The Falcons could very easily have put the Gophers away in the first half or early in the third if it wasn't for a slew of dropped passes and offensive penalities. Withers' defense deserves some credit for closing the floodgates in the second half, but the first three minutes were quite discouraging for the Minnesota fans in attendance on Saturday. The defense was able to capitalize on the Falcons miscues in the second half, but when the game was on the line, Withers and Brewster coached themselves out of a win. In the fourth quarter, the Gophers were putting sufficient presure on Sheehan. But as the Falcons drove for a tying field goal, the Gophers decided to sit back in a prevent. Withers didn't go to this defense until it was third-and-long with less than two minutes to play. The Falcons were on the ropes and Brewster and Withers decided to let up. They get graded down because of that.

Secondary: 2 out of 10
I'm feeling generous today because that grade should probably be a one. Other than decent play by Dominque Barber, the Gophers' secondary looked completely incompetent in the first half, struggling to keep BGSU's spread at bay. Brewster's big plan to have former wide receiver Mike Chambers play corner didn't pan out. Now Chambers is heading back to the receiver position. Senior Desi Steib is losing his starting job to true freshman Ryan Collado this week. Gopher fans shouldn't expect much from this group as the season goes on. Collado will join two other true freshman--Kyle Theret and Curtis Thomas--in the secondary. The Gophers against BGSU gave up 512 yards--412 through the air. It's going to be a long, learning year for this group.

Linebackers: 5 out of 10
If there was one member of the Gophers' defense who stood out to me in a positive way it was linebacker Mike Sherels. The Gophers are hurt by what I see as a lack of team speed at the position, but Sherels was everywhere, especially in the second half. While I have no doubt the former walk-on busts his butt on every play, it's also clear that when Withers sends an extra attacker from his linebacking corps, they can't reach the quarterback fast enough to make it worth while. Sherels is too slow. So is John Shelvin.

Defensive Line: 3 out of 10
When Withers didn't blitz, the defensive line didn't put any pressure of its own on Sheehan. Willie VanDeSteeg, described by many as a bonafide star, wasn't heard from agaisnt BGSU. If he's really a bonafide star, he needs to make his prescense felt against a MAC team. I'll be honest that I was paying far more attention to the linebacking corps and secondary then I was the D line. I was waiting and waiting for VanDeSteeg to emerge and it never happened. To mask our secondary weakness against pass-first teams, the D-Line needs to do its part and it starts with Willie V.

Special Teams: 5 of 10
Just throwing this in here quickly. Coverage on kicks was great. But punt returner Harold Howell scares the living shit out of me. He didn't communicate with his teammates when he let a punt hit the ground and fumbled another punt before recovering it. Howell has reportedly replaced Eric Decker as the #2 receiver behind Ernie Wheelright. That should be interesting and perhaps eventful. Though I'll say this about Howell: He does look shifty and quick.