Basketball season, and Twitter blackout, nears at U of M

We could probably all take a lesson from Richard Pitino, the coach of the University of Minnesota men’s basketball squad.

Pitino doesn’t want to know what Twitter thinks of him or his team, so he goes on a Twitter vacation when it’s time to go to work.

If you’ve got some coaching advice, this is the day for it.

Last day on twitter. If u have any coaching suggestions shouting at me from a far in the grocery store is always popular. Emailing my boss is also a favorite 😜 Go Gophers. Let’s have fun this year gopher fans! #Gophers #SkiUMah

— Richard Pitino (@MNCoachPitino) October 31, 2017

Pitino encourages his players to give up social media during the season, too. Why add to the pressure by exposing yourself to the rants of people who’ve never played the game?

So far, so good. His team improved by 16 wins last season. He took the team to the NCAA tournament last year and the Gophers start the season ranked #15 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

About the blogger

Bob Collins

bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.