Brewster Street

My family’s first home was on the corner of Durkee and Brewster back in lovely Appleton, Wisconsin. Both streets were named after semi-prominent Appletonians who have largely faded from memory. There isn’t a Brewster Street in Minneapolis. One wonders if Tim Brewster, the new Gopher football coach, will be able to get a street, or a building, or something, named after him.

The challenge is daunting. The Gophers haven’t won a Big 10 title since 1967 and they haven’t been to Pasadena since 1960. In those 47 years, the Gophers have rarely been in the first division of the Big 10. The days when the Gophers owned Iowa and Wisconsin, their two largest, most natural rivals, are long past. Meanwhile, the league has become a tougher neighborhood since eastern power Penn State joined in 1993. A parade of coaches have come to town promising to return the Gophers to glory. It hasn’t happened.

Can Brewster be the guy who does it? Who knows – his resume lists positions with successful football organizations, but never a leadership role. He understands the Big 10 well, having competed on a Rose Bowl team as a player at Illinois. He’s clearly a high-energy guy and he seems to understand that public relations will be a big part of his job, especially in repairing the frayed relationships between his new employer and the network of high school coaches throughout the state. It galls many Minnesotans to see kids like John Stocco (of Holy Angels) leading the Badgers to 29 career wins and James Laurinaitis (of Wayzata) earning All-America status for Ohio State. Neither kid seriously considered staying home. And there are others.

I’m a Badger fan, so having the Gophers in a submissive position is fine with me. But as a long-time Minnesota resident, I recognize it’s not in the university’s interest to have a mediocre football program. I remember well the dread I would feel as the Badgers lined up to take their annual drubbings from the Buckeyes, Wolverines, Spartans, etc. back in the day. I hope Tim Brewster gets a street named after him someday. It wouldn’t necessarily make Minnesota a better place, but it would be a lot of fun for the long-suffering Gopher fans to have a chance to go someplace warm and westerly on New Year’s Day.