Author: alaskaadmin

From a morning crowd-surf to a field-storming celebration with the Little Brown Jug, this is the oral history of P.J. Fleck’s unforgettable day. P.J. Fleck arrived at Huntington Bank Stadium dressed for the occasion. Gopher maroon pants. Brown preppy loafers. A navy blue sport coat. A maroon tie and pocket square. On his left lapel, a Minnesota “M” pin. It was well before 9 a.m., and Fleck was already in his element. Since his first head coaching job at Western Michigan in 2013, Fleck’s relentless energy, booming voice and unwavering belief in his teams have become trademarks of his career. At Minnesota, that personality can be summed up in one phrase: Row the Boat. It’s about resilience. The idea that every individual in the program has a role in moving the boat forward. At his introductory press conference at Minnesota back in 2017, Fleck offered a glimpse into the mentality he would bring to the program. “My entire life has been about running into the fire, not away from the fire.” On Saturday, the fire was Michigan. And Fleck was ready to run in head first. ACT I: THE SHOW 9:15 A.M. CT Fleck appeared on the set of FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” shortly after 9 a.m. CT. He sprinted to the set, slapping high-fives with fans as he ran through a spirit tunnel filled with Minnesota supporters dressed in maroon and gold. He leaped onto the stage, dapped up Brady Quinn, Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer and host Rob Stone, and immediately became the center of attention. Quinn had a question for him. The previous week, after Minnesota’s win over Washington, Fleck had wiped linebacker Maverick Baranowski’s blood across his own face in one of the stranger postgame moments of the season. FOX Sports’ Brady Quinn:”Talk to me about the blood-brother relationship you have with him (Baranowski) and your players?” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck:”You can’t go out there and bleed with them and play with them anymore as players. So, the way to show that is, ‘I got your back.’” Then Fleck, being, well … Fleck … took the story in another direction. Fleck:”It’s Minnesota. It’s hunting season, and if you get your first deer, you’re supposed to take a bite out of the heart, so I didn’t do that.” Ingram erupted in laughter. Then the BNK Crew convinced Fleck to do something even more Fleck-like. Crowd surf. He leaped into a sea of Minnesota fans outside the set, pumping his fists and screaming, “Let’s go!” as supporters lifted him above their heads and carried him through the crowd. When Fleck finally made his way back to the stage, Stone had seen enough. FOX Sports’ Rob Stone:”Best guest ever.” Kickoff was still nearly two hours away. ACT II: THE MOMENT GETS REAL Fleck changed out of his Saturday-best outfit and into a maroon Minnesota quarter-zip. He led his team onto the field with a sea of gold chrome helmets sprinting out of the tunnel behind him. The stadium was rocking. FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft:”The hype is real. You can hear how excited this place is.” Fleck had a theme for this game. Last week against Washington, it was frontiersmen heading west. Against Michigan, the message was darker: Darth Vader. The Evil Empire. Taft:”The message is simple: Feel the force. Use the energy from a sellout crowd and get the job done.” Then the game started. And the first half was far from perfect. Minnesota trailed 14-7 at halftime after quarterback Drake Lindsey threw a late second-quarter pick-six. As Fleck prepared to lead his team back onto the field, Taft caught up with him. Fleck:”We played 30 minutes of really good football. We gotta get some takeaways, have some long drives go our way. It’s 0-0. Let’s go!” The second half would belong to the Gophers. ACT III: THE COMEBACK Minnesota’s defense took over in the second half, holding Michigan scoreless. The Gophers intercepted Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood twice. They held the talented sophomore signal-caller to 101 yards passing and 20 yards rushing. Michigan had opportunities. Minnesota kept taking them away. Then the clock hit zero. MINNESOTA 20, MICHIGAN 14. For the first time since 1977, Minnesota had beaten Michigan at home. Fans poured over the railings and onto the field. Players sprinted toward the Little Brown Jug – the historic trophy awarded to the winner of the contest. “Mr. Brightside” — the song traditionally played at the Big House during Michigan football games — blared over the speakers. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos was Fleck. Taft found him for a postgame interview. Taft:”Minnesota has not beaten Michigan at home since 1977. How and why did the Gophers do it today?” Fleck:”This team, their heart, their spirit, our community, our spirit, our state. They never stopped believing. This team is resilient. There’s pandemonium in Minnesota right now.” Taft turned her attention to the defense. Taft:”Your defense was so suffocating today. What was the highlight for you?” Fleck couldn’t wait to reply. “They swarmed to the ball. They played complementary defense. They played structured downs. They shrunk the pocket. They tackled. They trusted one another.” Then Taft asked him about the players who had bought into that philosophy. Taft:”Coach, your program is all about development, guys who want to stick around and be here and believe. How proud are you?” Fleck paused before delivering the quote of the day. Fleck:”I couldn’t be prouder. Besides my marriage and my kids being born, this might be the best day of my life. ROW THE BOAT!” FOX Sports’ Gus Johnson:”Oh, wow, Coach Fleck. What a coach!” ACT IV: WHY IT MATTERED The field eventually began to clear. It was time for Fleck to speak to the media, addressing what he told his players following the historic win. Fleck:”I told them in the locker room that they make my life amazing. When you’ve got everyone feeling really good about themselves, really good about their lives, that’s what it’s all about.” When reporters asked him what beating Michigan meant, Fleck talked about the memory his team had created. Fleck:”You want to create the memory so bad for other people because it’s not about you.” He mentioned the players. He shouted out the administration. He spoke about fans. He harped on the student body. And last, he spoke about the state of Minnesota. Fleck:”I want everybody to have such great pride in it.” And then there was the Little Brown Jug. Fleck:”Winning one of the oldest rivalry trophies. It’s special.” The victory belonged to everybody associated with the Minnesota football program. ACT V: ROW THE BOAT By now, fans had begun to empty out of the stadium. The coaches had spoken to reporters. The players had hugged their loved ones and made the walk to the locker room. But Fleck’s celebration was far from over. He grabbed the Little Brown Jug, hoisted it over his head and poured water all over himself. He handed the trophy off and sprinted toward the locker room. Another crowd surf. His hands went up. Water rained down around him. This was his time to celebrate with his players. No stage. No nerves ahead of kickoff. Just Fleck, his players and the historic trophy they had spent 12 years chasing. His team embraced the moment. They ran into the fire. And on Saturday afternoon, in front of 50,000-plus fans dressed from head to toe in Minnesota marron and gold, they rowed the boat.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles) – After firing six innings of one-run ball in his first playoff start for the Dodgers, delivering exactly what the back-to-back champions envisioned when they traded for the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner at the deadline, Tarik Skubal returned to his home dugout on a scorching Saturday afternoon and asked his teammates a question. “Has it been this hot all game?” At the time of Skubal’s departure, the video board over the left-field pavilion read “103.” The official temperature at first pitch of Game 1 of the National League Division Series was 100 degrees, making it the second-hottest postseason game in Dodger Stadium history, behind only Game 1 of the 2017 World Series. “It’s amazing what your brain can do in certain circumstances and moments,” Skubal said. “It’s amazing what you can control and kind of eliminate. So, I actually didn’t think it was horrible when I was pitching.” It was hot, Skubal eventually conceded. Nothing he hadn’t dealt with before, though. “I played a Little League game in 127,” claimed Skubal, who moved from Northern California to Arizona as a kid. “Lake Havasu.” So, rather than withering in the sweltering heat, he melted the Braves’ bats in a 5-3 win. Skubal knew how to handle the adverse conditions, doing his best to stay hydrated and out of the sun as often as possible. Quick innings would help. He delivered plenty. After Braves designated hitter Drake Baldwin led off the game with a single, Skubal retired the next 15 Atlanta batters he faced, including seven by strikeout. “That’s why you acquire a guy like him,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said. Skubal got eight whiffs with his changeup. His fastball played up, as expected with the added adrenaline of postseason baseball. Five of his 15 fastest pitches this season came Saturday afternoon, including a 101.1 mph that was his hardest since last year’s American League wild-card series. “I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there,” Skubal quipped. As the sun beamed down in the sixth inning, a beacon of light finally appeared for the Braves offense. After getting ahead 0-2 on Sean Murphy, Skubal left a sinker up at the top of the zone. The Atlanta catcher sent it 421 feet out to center field for a solo shot. The Braves continued to threaten later in the inning after Skubal walked two batters, but the left-hander navigated around the traffic and prevented the inning from spiraling. He bought time for the Dodgers’ offense to break out, which it eventually did with home runs from Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy in the middle innings. By the time Skubal departed, the Dodgers led 5-1. “He was as advertised,” Muncy said. “It was really fun to see him go out there and do his thing.” Skubal had aced his first test, one he considered a privilege. He was informed he would start Game 1 right after he left his final start of the regular season in San Francisco on Sept. 25. The left-hander was only at 75 pitches after striking out 10 Giants in seven innings, so he figured he was going to keep going. Instead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came out, shook Skubal’s hand and delivered the news. “Get ready for Game 1.” Skubal was fired up, but he was also deferential. Many had expected Yoshinobu Yamamoto to get the Game 1 start, and Skubal knew what Yamamoto meant to the team after winning World Series MVP honors last season with a herculean effort in Games 6 and 7. “Tarik was very respectful of Yoshinobu,” Roberts said, “but we have thoughts on why we do things, and all these guys are all in for whatever we decide.” In a short time, Skubal has also garnered respect in his new clubhouse, not just because of his talent and production but because of how he has embraced his new surroundings, for however long he might be a Dodger. “I just feel like he’s into it,” Rojas said. “It’s really refreshing when you get a guy in the middle of the year and get so much more than just performance. You get a guy that’s helping the rest of the guys in the clubhouse.” Rojas noticed that after Skubal’s day was done Saturday, the pitcher didn’t go to the training room. Instead, Skubal stayed in the dugout, wanting to support his teammates. “The person that he is, the player that he is, the way he works, it just has been awesome,” Hernandez told me. “Not only for him, but for everybody in the clubhouse and the organization, to see the way he goes about his business and the dedication he puts in every day.” This winter, Skubal is due to become one of the highest-paid pitchers in MLB history, yet Muncy said he hasn’t heard Skubal mention free agency once. Muncy has also noticed how badly Skubal wants the ball in any scenario, despite that looming payday. After his first playoff start as a Dodger on Saturday, Skubal said he is “absolutely” willing to pitch on short rest or in relief should the situation call for it, much like Yamamoto did last year. “He’s a bull,” Rojas said. “He’s one of those guys that you want in the front of your rotation.” Luckily for the Dodgers, they have a few of those. On Sunday, another two-time Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, will take the mound for the Dodgers in Game 2. Yamamoto will likely follow in Game 3. For the Braves, the heat won’t let up after Saturday’s sweltering opener. “We’re in a good spot,” Roberts said. “It all starts with winning Game 1.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

David Ortiz is all in on the Dodgers winning a third consecutive title, but not everyone on the MLB on FOX crew is ready to crown L.A. just yet. Dontrelle Willis, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Ortiz split their picks evenly between the two franchises, with Jeter and Rodriguez taking New York and Willis and Ortiz siding with Los Angeles. The segment also came with some playful ribbing over who on set got a call from the Yankees’ front office. Willis got things started with the Dodgers, picking them to beat the Tampa Bay Rays and leaning on the strength of their rotation and overall roster. “Dodgers over Rays. I know I got a couple Yankee faithfuls up here, but the Dodgers win,” Willis said. “They have that rotation, timely hitting, and most important, experience.” Jeter, the first of those Yankee faithfuls, went with New York to win it all, riding its pitching staff past a surprise National League contender. “I got the New York Yankees riding their pitching staff over the surprise team, the San Diego Padres,” Jeter said. Rodriguez agreed on the champion but chose a different opponent, calling for a rematch of the Yankees-Dodgers World Series from a couple of years ago. His reasoning came down to the arms on both sides. “I’m gonna go with the Yankees beating the Dodgers in a rematch from a couple of years ago,” Rodriguez said. “Best two pitching staffs in the game — I’m going with pitching and defense.” With two of his three desk-mates rocking with the men in pinstripes, Willis couldn’t let it slide. “(Brian)Cashman called both of y’all already. I know the deal,” he said. Ortiz had the last word and used it to side with Willis, picking Los Angeles over New York. He admitted the Dodgers’ dominance hasn’t gotten old for him, even if it probably should have by now. “We’ve been watching the Dodgers whooping everybody every year, man, and I still don’t get enough of it. I guess we don’t learn,” Ortiz said. “Come on, man…Dodgers over the Yankees. I believe the Yankees have good pitching, but the Dodgers are still the same. Three-peat. Let’s go.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports