Hello, and welcome to my new blog.
I'm Joe Christensen, the new Gophers football beat writer for the Star Tribune. I swapped places with Phil Miller, who is moving to the Twins beat this year, joining La Velle Neal.
I've spent the past 15 years covering Major League Baseball, including the past eight at the Star Tribune. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it became tougher and tougher to be gone so many nights with a wife and two young kids at home.
Last summer, I went to my editors requesting a change, and I don't think it could have worked out any better. College football always has been a passion of mine, dating to my time covering Jim Wacker's Gophers for the Minnesota Daily in 1994.
After graduating from the University in 1996, I covered prep football for Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise. And later, during my time on the Dodgers beat, I had chances to cover USC, UCLA, as well as the Rose Bowl. That said, I've got a lot to learn before I'll consider myself an expert on college football.
While covering baseball, I viewed my Around the Majors blog as a chance to take the readers along for the ride. I'll post breaking news here, when something happens with the Gophers. And I'll work to bolster our coverage with bonus items that I find interesting or amusing along the way.
Thanks for stopping by. You can also follow along on Twitter -- @JoeCStrib.
