Thursday, November 11, 2010


UNIVERSITY of MINNESOTA

Gophers Need to Stop the Insanity?

In Academics as Well As Football...




A full-page advertisement questioning University of Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi's ability to hire the next football coach was taken out by several former Gophers players to run in today's Minnesota Daily, according to former Minnesota tight end Doug Kingsriter.

Kingsriter, who is involved with the Save Gophers Sports fundraising organization, said members of the group hope the university considers their request to take a different approach to the hiring process than when Maturi hired Tim Brewster as head football coach in 2007. Brewster was fired Oct. 17 after a 1-6 start to this season.
"As a group of former players, because of our love for the university and our care for the program, our care about those players that are out there now, we're looking forward to some different process than what brought the last coach," said Kingsriter, who played for the Gophers from 1970-72.
The advertisement's headline reads, "President (Bob) Bruininks: How much will Maturi cost us this time?" At the top of the page is a receipt listing the buyout payments to former Gophers men's basketball coach Dan Monson and football coaches Glen Mason and Brewster that totals more than $4 million.


What’s happening at the University of Minnesota is the very definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
[This could also be said of our dealings with the state legislature...]

That’s a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, and Steve Thompson of Cold Spring has no such delusions of grandeur. He’s simply one of a group of former Gopher football players who don’t want to see their alma mater stumble down the same path yet another time.

Thompson’s group is working on a Web site (www.savegopherfootball.com, coming soon) and trying to lobby the university administration to fix things and revive the program.

“We’re trying to shake the tree right now,” Thompson said. “To get good results here, what we need is pressure on (University President Robert) Bruininks.
“We want some changes. The administration is at fault: They’ve got to take their end of it.”

"Gopher football should never be where it is today and the team needs our support. We have to change how we hire the head coach. And the $26 million athletic department drain on U of M resources the past 5 years makes it an issue for all students, faculty and taxpayers."

—Bob Stein, 1966–68

Robert Allen Stein is a former American football linebacker. He played collegiately for the University of Minnesota and was both Football and Academic All-American in 1967 and 1968.

Stein at age 21 was the YOUNGEST player to ever play in a Super Bowl. Stein graduated in the top 10% of the University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School, having attended while playing full time for the Chiefs.

Stein was the first president and CEO of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, a position he held until 1995. He was a long-time sports agent before becoming President of the Timberwolves, and is a licensed attorney. Additionally, he was appointed to the Minnesota Boxing Commission in December 2007.

Stein is a member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Park (MN) Athletic Hall of Fame and the University of Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame. He was a HS All-American and a two-time All-American for the Minnesota Gophers in 1967 and 1968. 


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