No shades of gray in judging the U's Maturi

Chip Scoggins had an analysis Saturday that was about as incisive as "the Pope is Catholic."

Chip writes for the Star Tribune. There was a time when the Star Tribune was a beacon in this state. Today "the media" have a whole new definition.

I like looking at this relic of a media institution when I have my morning breakfast at DeToy's Restaurant. That's why I can comment on Mr. Scoggins' commentary on Gophers football that appeared Saturday. His headline: "Undo bad fit - bid farewell to Maturi."

The reference is to Joel Maturi, U of M athletic director.

Maturi is way too easy a target. We Minnesotans deserved better than what we got Saturday afternoon on KSTP-Channel 5. It was the U's Homecoming and we should have anticipated a decent football game.

Instead we tuned in expecting something unpleasant, like tuning in for the Jerry Springer program. You watch to see how bad someone can get bludgeoned.

This has been going on way too long in Gophers football.

It's anything but a revelation now to read that maybe the overmatched Maturi should just mosey on down the road. But scribe Scoggins felt it should be splashed on Page C1, as if maybe the light bulb might just be going on.

He had his facts right. There was nothing sloppy about the piece. But he went too far out of his way to be diplomatic. He seemed to see shades of gray where none existed.

It's politically incorrect to be overwhelmingly negative especially when you're writing about the state's flagship institution of higher education. But sometimes the Pope really is Catholic.

This is the second time in a couple of weeks I have taken to task someone named Chip. First it was Chip Cravaack, our new tea party Congressman.

It's a little sad because "Chip" was one of my favorite characters in the classic TV show "My Three Sons." I especially liked that show in the early years when it was black and white and William Frawley played "Bub." That show belongs in baby boomer nostalgia just like the Gophers being a premier team in college football.

Chip (the writer) looks a little young to have any first-hand recollections of that. I do.

But college football has evolved into a behemoth since then, greased by big money and big TV deals. Our state of Minnesota should be up to the task. Chip strives to pull back the curtain and he states the obvious. But he hedges way too much.

He strives to show deference. It's hard to say the emperor has no clothes when the emperor, in this case the University of Minnesota president, has academic credentials of the highest stripe. And yes, the president has to get drawn into this, regardless of the notorious buck-passing that can happen in large, cumbersome institutions.

Chip begins by quoting Maturi saying "he doesn't know whether he will return next year as Gophers athletic director."

The second sentence makes reference to the U's new president, saying Eric Kaler "still has not announced whether he will offer Maturi an extension after taking time to evaluate him."

Can we really be sure the Pope is Catholic?

Chip then cites a "general sense around campus" that Maturi's tenure will end with a "mutual parting of ways."

Why does it have to be mutual? People leave jobs in non-mutual ways all the time, jobs that pay a fraction of what Maturi hauls in.

Yes, Maturi is bombarded with his share of "angry emails," as Scoggins writes, but he probably has a compensation package that cushions the blow. Us suffering fans who watched the Gophers get buried by Nebraska in the first half Saturday have no mitigating reward.

Simply knowing the Gophers were about to play Nebraska conjured up visions like the lions eating Christians. This has gone on for a while now.

Scoggins writes that the atmosphere around U football and Maturi is "toxic."

Really? The writer suggests a contract extension would cause an "uproar." Why oh why is this scenario even in the cards?

"The Gophers need a big-picture CEO type," Scoggins continues.

We have read before about Maturi going out of his way to make low-profile sports feel important at the U. That's nothing but quaint. We're not in the year 1960. Like it or not, Division I athletics have become a behemoth type of proposition. Scoggins' conclusions represent a given.

That Kaler would even hedge, saying he needs more time to evaluate the AD, is puzzling. Is Kaler "just another victim" in a series of U presidents that struggle to stabilize U sports? Or, who are fundamentally uncaring about them? Who pays mere lip service?

The Gophers were so manhandled in the first half Saturday, we wondered how Nebraska would even approach the second half. They were here to play football. They took the field for the second half probably wondering if they'd be perceived as "running up the score."

What a sad spectacle at our still-new TCF Bank Stadium. Why was it allowed to get this way? OK, let the buck-passing start.

But there's a bottom line here like acknowledging the religious affiliation of the Pope.

Scoggins finally makes solid contact: "The Gophers might be the worst football team in Division I-A."

Scoggins is careful to write "Joel Maturi is a good man."

The AD is "honest to a fault," Scoggins continues, but the same can be said of the lead character in the movie "Our Idiot Brother."

You're playing among heavy hitters in Division I-A. These guys succeed the way car salesmen sell cars.

Maturi "cares deeply about his department and athletics," Scoggins writes.

I certainly wouldn't suspect otherwise. If there were evidence to the contrary, that would be quite the scandal, wouldn't it?

So all of this misses the point. Maturi may seem like a charming grandfather - he's age 66 - but he's a charming grandfather who I'm sure pulls down a big salary. It isn't necessary for Scoggins and others to be so delicate judging him.

"We shouldn't forget the mess he inherited after the academic scandal," Chip writes, again going out of his way to be balanced.

Well I've forgotten about it. That happened a long time ago.

Nebraska has academics too. Somehow it's not an impediment there, nor at Michigan and Purdue, who beat the Gophers by a combined score of 103-17 earlier this season.

The worst embarrassments, though, were the losses to New Mexico State and North Dakota State, both at home. Nebraska had a bushel-full of points at halftime Saturday while "our beloved rodents" had donut.

"The product on the field appears to be getting worse and, frankly, is hard to watch," Scoggins writes, projecting a tone that should have dominated his whole column.

It's also a little scary going to a game if you get squeamish about watching someone go into an intense seizure, as our head coach Jerry Kill did.

I continue to be struck by how the media seem not to want to question Kill and his staff. I feel sorry for Tim Brewster, Kill's predecessor. The media seem to feel Kill is just digging out of a hole that came about because of Brewster. Brewster was hired by Maturi.

Brewster, a good man and good football person, didn't have the background to get established as a successful Division I coach. I remember vividly that when he was hired, I thought to myself "that's a curious decision."

It was a gamble. At this level you're vying with too many heavy hitters, those car salesmen, to expect to succeed with a decision like this.

Does Kaler understand this? He'd probably just pass the buck.

"College football is the window to a university," Scoggins wrote.

Kaler had better understand that. The clock is ticking.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com