Ski-U-Blah

English: Logo for the University of Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The University of Minnesota football team finished this season at .500.  That's six wins and six losses.  These days, that's good enough to go to a post-season bowl game, whether the Gophers deserve one or not.

Four of Minnesota's six wins came against non-conference opponents such as Nevada-Las Vegas and Syracuse.  All six losses came against Big Ten conference opponents such as Nebraska and Wisconsin.  For the umpteenth year, the Gophers were shut out of such trophies as Floyd of Rosedale by Iowa, Paul Bunyan's Axe by Wisconsin, and the Little Brown Jug by Michigan.  It's a sign that they simply cannot compete with the big boys of college football.  But then, we knew that.  It's been 50 years since the Gophers last went to a Rose Bowl.

In his second season, coach Jerry Kill deserves credit for doing the most with what he had.  Take the quarterback situation.  Star senior MarQueis Gray went down with an injury.  When backup QB Max Shortell also got injured, Kill took freshman Phillip Nelson off redshirt status and made him starter.  After Gray returned, he was relegated to the backfield where NFL scouts figured he might be more useful.

Off the field, it's been a different story.  At the strong urging of Kill, new athletic director Norwood Teague defined himself as a yes-man by agreeing to cancel a two-game, home-and-home series with North Carolina, because apparently the Tar Heels aren't the pushovers the coach would have liked.  Instead they signed New Mexico State.  The decision cost the University $800,000.  Gee, wouldn't it be weird if, for some reason, North Carolina were to join the Big Ten?

Then there's A.J. Barker, who was the Gophers' wide receiver before leaving the team in a huff.  He took to social media complaining about how Kill and his coaching staff were treating him, alleging that they were abusive and that one of the coaches yelled a gay slur at him.  Until further details emerge, it's just Barker's word against Kill's.

Finally, there's the elephant in the room concerning Kill's health.  He's epileptic and has been known to have had seizures, sometimes during games.  He had one of those episodes recently at halftime of the Michigan State game, and didn't come out for the second half in the game the Gophers ultimately lost to the Spartans. 

Like we said before, Kill deserves credit for bringing Gopher football to something resembling respectability.  The University is standing by him now in the wake of his latest epileptic episode.  But how long can they afford to keep Kill around when his health is a day-to-day issue, which becomes a big distraction when it comes to his players, his recruiting and the program's reputation?  Epilepsy may be a manageable physical condition, but perceptions speak louder than words.

The Minnesota Gophers have one more football game to play this season, and it will likely be in either Dallas or Houston.  Neither of them are Pasadena on New Year's Day.  But it's a start.

The Big 14 Conference

English: Big Ten Conference logo since 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's time once again for the major powers in college sports to do the conference shuffle.  This time, it's the Big Ten Conference. 

Having just added Nebraska in 2011 and splitting itself into "Leaders" and "Legends" divisions (because "East" and "West" are so 20th century), the conference decided it needed to become more relevant in a world where the best talent is staying in the south and west, and because they have a financially lucrative TV channel to program.

So the Big Ten is looking east, adding Maryland from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Rutgers from the Big East starting in 2014.  This means the conference will soon grow from 12 to 14 schools (the name "Big Ten" long ago lost its meaning when Penn State became the 11th member in the mid-1990s).

If the rumors are true, there may be more members on the way.  Kansas, Georgia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina are being mentioned as possible additions.

Maryland and Rutgers aren't exactly on a par with Michigan and Ohio State as far as athletic prowess goes.  (More like Purdue and Northwestern)  Instead, those schools were chosen for their proximity to major TV markets such as New York, Washington and Baltimore.  Oh, and both Maryland and Rutgers' athletic programs were having financial problems before the Big Ten gravy train came around.

To be brutally honest, the Big Ten is compensating in numbers for what they could not have in prestige.  By that, we mean that they failed to get Notre Dame.  They recently signed on as a member of the ACC in  every sport except football and hockey.  It's the football part Notre Dame wants to keep independent, so they can keep playing what they consider to be "quality" institutions of learning such as the service academies and Southern California, as well as having NBC pay millions to televise the Irish's home games.  It must be working, because Notre Dame is apparently going to play for the BCS national championship in January.

The Big Ten ought to think more about the competitiveness in its own back yard when it comes to football.  It's not as balanced as, let's say, the Southeastern Conference.  Its best team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, just completed an undefeated season.  But they can't go to a bowl because some former players got caught exchanging uniforms for tattoos.

Neither can Penn State, which surprised everyone this season by playing as well as they did under the shadow of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  They won't be bowl-eligible for five years.

Instead, in the conference championship game at Indianapolis Saturday, we have Legends division winner Nebraska battling for a spot in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin, who finished behind Ohio State and Penn State in the Leaders division.

Most of all, the more schools the Big Ten keeps adding, the more ridiculous its name sounds.  They should just call themselves The BIG Conference, and be done with it.

License To Get Gouged

Minnesota Vikings logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Months after Governor Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Legislature worked out a deal for a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis, and months before construction is scheduled to begin, storm clouds are gathering over the nearly billion dollar stadium.

The Governor is upset because the Vikings are considering charging thousands of dollars more for certain seats to help pay for the new stadium, undermining his vision of a "people's stadium".  He's threatening to undo the deal itself if nothing's done about it.

The plan is called Personal Seat Licenses (PSL), also known as a Stadium Builders' License.  It's a one-time fee that gives the holder the right to buy season passes for, let's say, seats around the 50-yard line before he even purchases the season passes.

PSLs are just standard operating procedure in the National Football League, with 17 of its franchises using it to help pay for their new or refurbished football palaces.  Some teams, such as the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys are charging up to five or six figures.

What's strange about this is that Dayton and the Vikings had already agreed to PSLs in the stadium bill, so he doesn't really have a leg to stand on..  The team hasn't even decided if they want to do this or not, because they're in the middle of a survey asking season ticket holders what they think of it.

Should the Vikings decide to issue PSLs, they would first have to get permission from the newly-created stadium bill (which is made up of political appointees chosen by Governor Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak).  If they get the go-ahead, the team likely won't charge as much as the Jets, 49ers and Cowboys.

Another issue the Governor has a bone to pick with the Vikings about is the team's apparent willingness to take its home games on the road, which takes money out of the state's pocket.  The Vikings are scheduled to play a regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in London next year, part of the NFL's ongoing marketing of American football in Europe.  (The Buffalo Bills already play two games a year in nearby Toronto.)  The league would like to expand the number of games in London to two a year, so the Vikings may be asked back in 2014.

Zygi Wilf, who owns the Vikings, has every right to conduct his business as he sees fit.  But charging for an artificial concept and taking your act across the Atlantic Ocean doesn't endear you to the folks who already pay hefty fees for tickets, parking and refreshments while being forced to sit behind a drunken dolt in purple makeup who stands and yells the entire game.  Not to mention sitting on your hands during endless time outs for TV commercials and replay reviews.

That's why most of us who won't be able to afford to go to a game in the "people's stadium" are perfectly content to park ourselves in front of giant high-definition screens, even though we'll be paying for the stadium ourselves through taxes.  When you get right down to it, isn't this really what the NFL is all about?

Vikings 2012: Much to Ponder

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 23: Christian Ponder #7 of the Minnesota Vikings passes the ball against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter on October 23, 2011 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Packers defeated the Vikings 33-27. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The Minnesota Vikings headed into their midseason bye week Sunday with a 34-24 win over the Detroit Lions at the soon-to-be-demolished Metrodome.  They have a 6-4 record in the NFC North, good for third place behind the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.  Not bad for a team that's supposed to be in a rebuilding year.

Coach Leslie Frazier's team has done some odd things on their way to their surprising record.  The Vikings could claim a "signature" victory over the San Francisco 49ers, yet flop against two of the NFL's leading rookie quarterbacks--Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts and Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins.  One game the defense comes up with big plays, the next they take too many stupid penalties that results in points for their opponents.

The biggest question mark the Vikings have is what to do with quarterback Christian Ponder, whose performance Sunday against the Lions should quiet the critics at least temporarily.  The team's coaching staff is committed to keeping Ponder as a starter for the remainder of the season, as this is the man they drafted to be their quarterback of the future.  This week notwithstanding, how much longer can the Vikings (or their fans) tolerate Ponder's uneven play when he (A) throws interceptions and (B) waits too long to throw the ball, enabling the other team's defense to knock him down?

No such problems with Adrian Peterson, who came back from a debilitating injury last season to lead the NFL in rushing this season.  Percy Harvin had been doing a good job on his own, until he suffered a sprained left ankle during a game at Seattle against the Seahawks.  But those two can't be the whole offense, and this is where Ponder is having problems.  Or maybe it's just the fault of the offensive coordinator?

After the bye week, the Vikings face a rough stretch down the rest of the schedule.  They're done with Detroit, so now they have to face the Packers and Bears twice.  Both of those teams have their vulnerabilities, but are still considered playoff material.  If the Vikings want to join them in the post season, they need to prove that they can stay on the same field with Chicago and Green Bay.  Let's see if Christian Ponder is up to the challenge.