Not Gopher football related, but an image of downtown Minneapolis too fantastic not to share.
minneapolis downtown night on Flickr.
MINNEAPOLIS
I can’t wait for Fall Saturdays…
An aerial view of the University of Minnesota, including TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena, and Mariucci Arena.
Photo by MeetMinneapolis
National Signing day is the day that every fan of college football is happy. Whether your incoming recruits are collectively ranked at the top of their conference or the bottom, there are always reasons to be excited. Ranked 1 of 12? We out-recruited everybody and got a class full of studs. Booyah! Ranked 12 of 12? We got the overlooked late-bloomers who will help this program take the next step in 2-3 years. Booyah!
Falling in line, Gold Country is here to celebrate Minnesota’s class of 2012 recruits. It’s closer to the latter “Booyah” in that doesn’t feature the most top-end talent in the country, ahem, but it does have a good amount of depth. Good lord, I’m drinking the Kill-Aid. Anyway, much of that depth comes from Minnesota — something previous MN head coaches have failed to accomplish.
There are plenty of summaries of the players/class available across the interwebs, so I’ve avoided doing a big list. Also, I haven’t seen film of all these guys, so instead of regurgitating other people’s content to make the post longer, here are Gold Country’s Top 5 favorite recruits (note: the term favorite is relative and not necessarily indicative of their expected impact next year).
- Phillip Nelson, QB — Although the “we stole him from Wisconsin” hype is a little overdone, I couldn’t be more excited about Philip’s enrollment at the U of MN. Actually, that’s not true. Had he spurned dozens of helmet schools on national TV by ripping off the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a Minnesota “M”, I suppose I would be more excited, but that’s neither here nor there. What is here and there is the fact that the Gophers, in all likelihood, secured the commitment of their Quarterback of the future. Tossing in a little hyperbole for good measure, Nelson earned every conceivable award in route to destroying every conceivable record for a Minnesota High School QB, and looked darn good doing it. With his combination of size, speed, and arm, the Gopher O will be in good hands when Nelson is given the reigns. But seriously, this kid will make Bret Bielema weep.
- Isaac Hayes, C — Shaft! Chef! Chocolate Salty…I’m so f-ing original. On film, Mr. Hayes looks nasty and very explosive. He fills a relatively immediate need at the Center position, and he’s from Minnesota. Love it.
