This is a results-oriented world. Winning is all that matters. PJ Fleck is paid to win football games; fans care only about winning football games and sometimes we get so caught up in just the results that we fail to enjoy the elite moments when they occur.
In PJ Fleck’s postgame press conference, this was a dominant theme. Winning is the job and we should never take winning for granted.
Fleck celebrates every win. He was extremely excited after Saturday’s 20-14 win over Michigan. Videos of Fleck pretending
to chug water from the Little Brown Jug before sprinting into the locker room and diving into the arms of the team. He does this swan dive into the team after EVERY win; this one just had the added flourish of the Jug. When they beat the Zips of Akron, he celebrated that win, because every win matters and you should never take them for granted.
For Fleck, this tradition began in 2013 during his first season as a head coach. His Western Michigan Broncos were 0-8 and he finally earned his first career win over UMass. Saturday’s win over Michigan was Fleck’s 100th win and he celebrated it in the same way.
We celebrate every single win just like that, we just happen to have a trophy in this one. Because I never take winning for granted, and we’re never ever gonna discount fun and put fun aside, ever. Still a game, so it seemed like a lot of the other ones. We had a trophy though.
Many fans love Fleck and many fans find Fleck’s antics annoying, but the enthusiasm is unwavering and the mindset of appreciating every win is valuable.
Of course, some wins are bigger than others. Beating UMass to improve to 1-8 was certainly not Fleck’s biggest win of his careeer. But it was important. It was a memory. It was a moment that was created and cemented. Saturday’s winning of the Jug was also a moment. For Gopher fans that win was special. Not because this was against an elite Michigan team, but because it has been extrodinarily rare.
You want to create the moment and memory so bad for other people because it’s not about you, but you want to create it for the players, you want to create it for the administration, you want to create it for the fans and the student body and the state. You want everybody to have such great pride in it, and winning one of the oldest rivalry trophies out there. Special. So that’s why I said besides the birth of my kids and marrying my wife, it’s the best day of my life.
Tomorrow we’ll look to change our best, see if we can make tomorrow the best day of our life. But that’s why I said what I said, and I meant it. It’s pretty special.
Saturday was one of those special moments. It was unforgettable. This is what makes being a fan so much fun. There are lows, Gophers fans are well aware of this. There are some good seasons, there are some mediocre seasons. But sometimes you get a special moment. And nothing can take that away. Winning the Jug for only the fifth time in the last 49 attempts is not something we should take for granted and it should be celebrated.
Fleck took one question from Dave Shama, one of the senior members of the media who is at every game throughout the years and he asked about the celebration in the locker room.
We had a lot more tears from people at your age, and some youth that haven’t seen this happen in a long time. So I hope, and again, I know you have a job to do, but I hope you feel good about it. It’s a pretty cool moment, has to be for you because you are our statistician, and you always bring up years and what we haven’t done since whatever, and you told me in the press conference, this is the most important to you and a lot of people you talk to, so I hope you enjoy it.
I can only imagine how Sid Hartman would have reacted on Saturday. But the passion for this program, the recognition of the decade’s-long struggles and appreciating for what happened on Saturday is in all of us.
That win was already two days in our rear view mirrors. It doesn’t define the season. But I challenge you all to not let the rest of the season alter this moment that was given to us on Saturday. We get these once in a while.
There is a time and a place to look at the rest of the schedule and try to determine what defines a successful season. But TMP isn’t ready for that yet. Still basking in this win and feeling OK to look ahead to Purdue. And only Purdue. The goal is to be 1-0 during Purdue week. The Purdue result doesn’t add nor does it take anything away from winning the Jug.
No result from this season takes away the Jug. Eventually we’ll judge this team by its record, because that’s how this works. But don’t forget this moment. Because Saturday afternoon was elite.
