In-state fan base question & Gopher Road Trip

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WestTexasGopher

WestTexasGopher

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So, I noted on the Gopher Road Trip schedule that there is no visit to Duluth (my home town). This year's Gopher Road Trip is going to: Spicer, Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids, Winona, Rochester, Mankato, Hutchinson. No Duluth. Outside the Cities, Duluth is our 2nd largest city (with area town like Germantown and Proctor, well over 100,000 in population). Curious as I don't recall any of the previous Gopher Road Trips coming to Duluth (I could be wrong there).

So, my question is whether this is because the fan base there is so strong there is no need to "stoke the fires" (unlikely) or that perhaps it just doesn't have enough interest (more likely). So many of my friends and classmates attended the U so it's not like nobody there has connections. Curious about everyone's thoughts.
 

I can't imagine it has anything to do with lack of interest. Duluth is much larger than many of those cities.
 

Maybe it has to do with UMD? Maybe not though since mankato is on the list
 

bottlebass said:
Maybe it has to do with UMD? Maybe not though since mankato is on the list
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UMD is part of the University of Minnesota System, Mankato is part of MNSCU.

Could that be a factor?
 

MrC said:
UMD is part of the University of Minnesota System, Mankato is part of MNSCU.

Could that be a factor?
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I was thinking more of a rival school in other sports (hockey) might be a deterrent.
 


They have to start hitting the Range cities. Lots of Gopher fans North of Grand Rapids.
 

WestTexasGopher said:
So, I noted on the Gopher Road Trip schedule that there is no visit to Duluth (my home town). This year's Gopher Road Trip is going to: Spicer, Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids, Winona, Rochester, Mankato, Hutchinson. No Duluth. Outside the Cities, Duluth is our 2nd largest city (with area town like Germantown and Proctor, well over 100,000 in population). Curious as I don't recall any of the previous Gopher Road Trips coming to Duluth (I could be wrong there).

So, my question is whether this is because the fan base there is so strong there is no need to "stoke the fires" (unlikely) or that perhaps it just doesn't have enough interest (more likely). So many of my friends and classmates attended the U so it's not like nobody there has connections. Curious about everyone's thoughts.
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I still live in Duluth. They had an event here two years ago and one in Hibbing last year. Both were well attended. Despite that, northeast Minnesota in general doesn't have a ton of interest in the Gophers. I think there are several factors at work. As mentioned by another poster, a lot of UMD hockey fans have an irrational hatred of Gopher hockey, and that feeling carries over somewhat to other sports (even though UMD doesn't play the Gophers in other sports). Another issue is that NE Minnesota is not a football area. HS football has been downright awful in this area for a long time. There have been a few guys that have played at NDSU, UND, etc, but none at the Big Ten level. Last one from the general area I remember was Tom Burke from Maple, WI (30 miles east of Superior), who was an All American DL at Wisconsin in the late 90's. If you go around town in the fall, there are plenty of bars showing Viking and Packer games. I know of NONE though that advertise that they show Gopher or Badger games.
 

TacMan said:
I still live in Duluth. They had an event here two years ago and one in Hibbing last year. Both were well attended. Despite that, northeast Minnesota in general doesn't have a ton of interest in the Gophers. I think there are several factors at work. As mentioned by another poster, a lot of UMD hockey fans have an irrational hatred of Gopher hockey, and that feeling carries over somewhat to other sports (even though UMD doesn't play the Gophers in other sports). Another issue is that NE Minnesota is not a football area. HS football has been downright awful in this area for a long time. There have been a few guys that have played at NDSU, UND, etc, but none at the Big Ten level. Last one from the general area I remember was Tom Burke from Maple, WI (30 miles east of Superior), who was an All American DL at Wisconsin in the late 90's. If you go around town in the fall, there are plenty of bars showing Viking and Packer games. I know of NONE though that advertise that they show Gopher or Badger games.
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I'd wondered if it might be some sort of spill-over effect from the UMD-Gopher hockey rivalry. That and it seems there is a lot of pro-WI sentiment in the area, thus perhaps dampening potential for Gopher fandom. Though HS football is not a huge thing, UMD has a decent following. And, as you note, Vikings fans are in high numbers.

But, as the old story goes, two shoe salesmen return from a remote third-world county. The first one reports, "Boss, forget it. Complete lack of market. No one there wears shoes." The second one busts in the office-"Boss, this is great. What a market! No on there wears shoes!" Looks to me like a great market opportunity! And the Range too.
 

Rochester is bigger population size then Duluth, and it's also a city that's continuing to grow.
 



I'm gonna throw out a theory here that has to do with why they aren't going to duluth AND why fans outside the twin cities area aren't as rabid in general.

I think hockey ruins it for us. Fans of Saint Cloud, Mankato, Duluth, Bemidji and the surrounding areas hate the U because of hockey. I know fans of those schools want to see the U do poorly in all sports. So they are not going to support Gopher football because they want to see the U do poorly.
 


Personal opinion is they're trying to hit all areas of the state and the route will change every year. Coach Kill is doing what Brew never did and is endearing himself to all of the state, not just when there's a good athlete and that involves going to all corners of the state even if they aren't hitting the most people each and every time. To rebuild passion for the program is going to take closer to a decade in the out state areas and we need everyone from all corners of the state to buy in. Has nothing to do with hockey. The team has just sucked and people would rather follow the Vikings when both teams are mediocre.
 

There are a lot of Gopher fans in Ely. Trust me, we have a cabin there. Also in Babbitt where Buzz Schneider is from ( The Babbitt Rabbit ) The guy with 7 posts who said there are no fans in the Northeast doesn't know dick.
 



ruppertflywheel said:
There are a lot of Gopher fans in Ely. Trust me, we have a cabin there. Also in Babbitt where Buzz Schneider is from ( The Babbitt Rabbit ) The guy with 7 posts who said there are no fans in the Northeast doesn't know dick.
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A bit sensitive there, are we? I'll trust you that you and the other cabin owners in Ely (most of those who live there two months per year) are huge Gopher fans. And there might be a few among the 1400 residents of Babbit (per Wikipedia). Beyond that, not so much. There are a few diehards like myself, but talk to the average person in Duluth-Superior or in Hibbing/Grand Rapids/Virginia and many are barely aware the Gophers have a football team. I wish it were different, but you're delusional if you think this area is a hotbed of Gopher fans.
 

TacMan said:
A bit sensitive there, are we? I'll trust you that you and the other cabin owners in Ely (most of those who live there two months per year) are huge Gopher fans. And there might be a few among the 1400 residents of Babbit (per Wikipedia). Beyond that, not so much. There are a few diehards like myself, but talk to the average person in Duluth-Superior or in Hibbing/Grand Rapids/Virginia and many are barely aware the Gophers have a football team. I wish it were different, but you're delusional if you think this area is a hotbed of Gopher fans.
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Kevin McHale from Hibbing. and Dusty Rychart from Grand Rapids. You're going on pure conjecture, plus you must live in a cave.
 

fraternity2017 said:
I'm gonna throw out a theory here that has to do with why they aren't going to duluth AND why fans outside the twin cities area aren't as rabid in general.

I think hockey ruins it for us. Fans of Saint Cloud, Mankato, Duluth, Bemidji and the surrounding areas hate the U because of hockey. I know fans of those schools want to see the U do poorly in all sports. So they are not going to support Gopher football because they want to see the U do poorly.
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Without a doubt.

I've known many students and alumni from St. Cloud that feel just as you say. Another reason to dislike hockey.

To them the U is just another rival school. To me, and my generation, the U was the team/school of the state.
 

TacMan said:
A bit sensitive there, are we? I'll trust you that you and the other cabin owners in Ely (most of those who live there two months per year) are huge Gopher fans. And there might be a few among the 1400 residents of Babbit (per Wikipedia). Beyond that, not so much. There are a few diehards like myself, but talk to the average person in Duluth-Superior or in Hibbing/Grand Rapids/Virginia and many are barely aware the Gophers have a football team. I wish it were different, but you're delusional if you think this area is a hotbed of Gopher fans.
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ruppertflywheel said:
Kevin McHale from Hibbing. and Dusty Rychart from Grand Rapids. You're going on pure conjecture, plus you must live in a cave.
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We could be talking different age groups here boys.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Kevin McHale from Hibbing. and Dusty Rychart from Grand Rapids. You're going on pure conjecture, plus you must live in a cave.
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And you must not have read my post very carefully, as I said FOOTBALL....and we are on the FOOTBALL board. I played basketball against Dusty Rychart (now you can probably figure out my age). He's easily the best basketball player I ever played against, but that's a completely different topic. There have been several high level basketball players out of this region in the past 10-15 years, but none for football.

Back to the point...you can go into any bar in Duluth or the Iron Range and they may have the game on TV, but you will rarely find very many people watching and you'll be lucky if they'll put the sound on for you. I even had to ask a bartender in a very popular joint in Duluth to put the Gopher-Michigan game (2012) on TV before, as they didn't have it on and nobody had asked before I got there. I wish it were different, but people up here in general don't really care about Gopher football.
 

TacMan said:
And you must not have read my post very carefully, as I said FOOTBALL....and we are on the FOOTBALL board. I played basketball against Dusty Rychart (now you can probably figure out my age). He's easily the best basketball player I ever played against, but that's a completely different topic. There have been several high level basketball players out of this region in the past 10-15 years, but none for football.

Back to the point...you can go into any bar in Duluth or the Iron Range and they may have the game on TV, but you will rarely find very many people watching and you'll be lucky if they'll put the sound on for you. I even had to ask a bartender in a very popular joint in Duluth to put the Gopher-Michigan game (2012) on TV before, as they didn't have it on and nobody had asked before I got there. I wish it were different, but people up here in general don't really care about Gopher football.
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No, my point is they played for the Gophers. I don't care if it was basketball, or football. You would be hard pressed to find Gopher fans that don't like both sports.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
No, my point is they played for the Gophers. I don't care if it was basketball, or football. You would be hard pressed to find Gopher fans that don't like both sports.
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And you won't find a ton of Gopher BB fans up here either. Sure, there are a few (myself included). But the vast majority of people...not so much. For that matter, you'll find even fewer people at bars and restaurants watching Gopher basketball than football. There has been a few good basketball players in the last 15 years or so from this region, but Rychart (Grand Rapids) and Rickert (Duluth East) are the only two I can think of that have played for the Gophers. Prior to that, you're probably going all the way back to McHale. Now please enlighten us why you think that NE Minnesota is littered with rabid Gopher fans (was talking about football, but I'll go with basketball as well since you changed the subject)? The only thing you've offered is to trust you because you have a cabin in Ely.
 

All right...Another pissing contest. Go4 it boys!!!
 

If this out-state hate for the U is true, it will change now that Kill & Co. are locking down the borders and keeping most of the best talent at home. The sure way to win over the competition is to take the best of what they have and make it yours. Provided we continue to win, just about everyone will start cheering for the U and claim it as their own. Everyone loves a winner and especially if they can identify with a player on a successful team.
 




In-state fan base question & Gopher Road Trip

Great points in this thread. As a lifelong Duluthian who moved out of state 15 years ago but stays closely connected to Duluth, I will offer my opinion. #1 There are plenty of people who hate the U because of the college hockey thing, piggy backing on this, is the outstate vs metro mentality from pee wee's on up. #2 Is the last 45 years of same old Gophers #3 Kill is an extremely rare and unique individual when it comes to the last 45 years of Gopher Football and has the character and likeability to win over fans. That, combined with a competent U president and AD is starting to change things. Some of my buddies have started to take notice. But the hatred because of the hockey thing and the instate outstate thing is so irrational and drives me crazy! Like posted by someone earlier, most people like a winner, a consistent winner.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

station19 said:
Without a doubt.

I've known many students and alumni from St. Cloud that feel just as you say. Another reason to dislike hockey.

To them the U is just another rival school. To me, and my generation, the U was the team/school of the state.
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This might be the case with hard-core college hockey fans, but that's a pretty small % of overall sports fans in out-state MN.
 

Growing up in Duluth, it always seemed to me that at the lower levels (high school-down) hockey was always the most popular sport. Way more people attending HS hockey games than did HS football games. Our hockey pep band (in which I played) was always as big as our football and basketball pep band. I know currently that UMD's attendance at hockey games basically doubles their football attendance. But, I'd be really curious to see tv ratings. Does anyone know how to dig around on the inter-webs and find local tv ratings for Duluth, Hibbing, Grand Rapids, etc.? I've looked a bit but can't seem to find anything.
 

Case in point. Was at Zupps in Ely looking for the college rags ( Lindy's Athelon, etc.) Mike Zupp, the owner came up and asked what I was looking for. When I told him and said I was a big Gopher fan he said: "Will have them in next week. Lot's of interest this year in the Gophers"
 

howeda7 said:
This might be the case with hard-core college hockey fans, but that's a pretty small % of overall sports fans in out-state MN.
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I would bet about 5% of people in Duluth can name the conference they play in for hockey.
 

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