University of Minnesota: Is There a Problem in Gopher Nation?

The timing couldn't be worse for Tim Brewster.  He's coaching against one of his school's most heated rivals in the first conference game in a new stadium and the media can't stop talking about his squad. 

The problem is that the media isn't focusing on the game, they're focusing on a string of recent run-ins with the police that have his players in some hot water.

The Gophers took care of business on the road against Northwestern last Saturday.  The focus should have quickly turned to preparing the Gophers to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. 

Instead, the news came down that starting defensive end Cedric McKinley and backup safety Tim Dandridge had been suspended for two games for violating team rules.  A minor blow to the team, but these things happen in college football all the time.

Then came the news that backup linebacker Gary Tinsley had been arrested.  Apparently, Tinsley had been sighted participating in a brawl early Sunday morning.  Accounts state that several other Gopher football players were also present during said brawl, but none could be identified. 

Tinsley drew attention to himself by swinging a board during the fracas and when the police arrived, he was charged with underage drinking and fleeing police.  At last check, Tinsley hadn't been suspended or asked to leave the team, but that could be coming.

Like a snowball rolling down a hill, the Gophers' off-field problems just kept getting bigger. 

The Gophers' recent problems prompted media outlets to do a little more digging.  They discovered that last November, Gophers' running back Kevin Whaley had been arrested after an altercation with police that lead to Whaley being tasered. 

This incident is particularly disconcerting because at the time, Whaley had been recovering from an incident in his hometown in Virginia Beach, VA., in which he was shot in the leg while leaving a nightclub. 

Athletic Director Joel Maturi commented that Whaley's incident had already been dealt with, but it's still not a positive mark for the program.

Look around college football; these type of problems plague almost every program. One or two isolated incidents here and there aren't a big deal.  Of course, you'd like every student athlete to behave like a saint, but in the real world, things don't work like that.

I'm not going to sit here and preach about what these players are doing wrong, I was once young and foolish myself, but I'll write more about that once I'm certain that the statutes of limitations have all expired.

These student athletes just need to make better decisions.  Everyone makes mistakes, but you have to learn from them or you're doomed to make them again.  There's nothing wrong with having a little fun in college, but some of the Gophers need to realize that they are magnets for attention.  As an athlete, you're always going to be more closely scrutinized than the rest of the student population.

Hopefully this string of incidents will be the end of the Gophers' off-field problems. Coach Brewster needs to steal a line from Barney Fife and "nip it in the bud." 

I'm relatively certain that the coaching staff has already had a frank talk with the team and you won't be seeing any more Gophers in the police blotter.  Just keep winning football games and these incidents will be easily forgotten.