Badgers and St. Cloud State

[Iceland12]

Remember the St. Cloud fans who came here to complain about the Gopher football program? Comparing levels of support? Now, they were probably KFAN bleeps, but still.

There was an announced crowd of 7,182 last night at the X for the NCAA Hockey playoffs. It's not that they couldn't get tickets. It was as bad as a non-conference basketball game at Iowa.

It raises three points:

1. This is a football state first and a basketball state second. The NCCA Basketball Tourneys played here have always put people in the stands. Hockey fans are more vocal and have had WAY more to cheer about through the years, but as supporters of the sport itself they are a distant third in numbers and willingness to travel to see their "team" play.

2. Where were tens of thousands of Badger fans who live within an hour of Downtown St. Paul. Hockey must really be a very minor sport for them.[/B]

3. I hope that the vast majority of kids who have played hockey for St. Cloud have been Minnesota kids. Otherwise the money being spent on scholarships is really being pissed away.

 

[Brew_recruit]

the wild's sell out streak begs to differ.

 

[Iceland12]

the wild's sell out streak begs to differ.

Only at a superficial level or if you ignore every other relevant factor. Something that you're very familiar with.

 

[GopherHomer]

Do you think that there would be more fans for a St. Cloud VS Wisconsin football or basketball game? Maybe so, but I think that tells us more that Wisconsin is not a hockey state than it says anything about Minnesota. And, obviously I understand that these theoretical matchups make zero sense. It never amazes, though, just how jealous non-hockey fans are of the sport. I'll give you football just because of the infrequency of the games and the importance that the infrequency creates. Football will always have an edge, because hockey takes such a nuanced understanding of the game, that only comes with being involved at a young age. Football is an everyman's sport that simply takes a set of eyes and an inflated, alpha-male personality to appreciate (I like football, too so if any of this is insulting, I'm including myself). Basketball, though is not even close to hockey in this state. Look no further than the respective state tournaments and their relevance to our culture.

 

[vinko bogataj]

Do you think that there would be more fans for a St. Cloud VS Wisconsin football or basketball game? Maybe so, but I think that tells us more that Wisconsin is not a hockey state than it says anything about Minnesota. And, obviously I understand that these theoretical matchups make zero sense. It never amazes, though, just how jealous non-hockey fans are of the sport. I'll give you football just because of the infrequency of the games and the importance that the infrequency creates. Football will always have an edge, because hockey takes such a nuanced understanding of the game, that only comes with being involved at a young age. Football is an everyman's sport that simply takes a set of eyes and an inflated, alpha-male personality to appreciate (I like football, too so if any of this is insulting, I'm including myself). Basketball, though is not even close to hockey in this state. Look no further than the respective state tournaments and their relevance to our culture.

I was just going to make the same comment on HS level interest. I live in the south metro and can tell you that a local HS hockey game garners more fans and attention than a HS hoops game. Our HS had a #1 section seed in hoops and was ranked in and out of the Top 10 metro schools all year long. Our hockey team was a nice team, ended up at state, but was not too terribly above a .600 winning percentage. Still, hockey outdrew hoops on a regular basis. I attended the AA tournament for both hockey (I coach youth in our assn) and hoops (wife is a De La Salle alum) and there is ZERO comparison in attendance and interest. There may be more general interest in hoops in Minnesota, but the gap between hard core fans is very significantly tilted towards hockey. Not many fans from non-playing hoops schools to be found at Target Center and it was a piece of cake to find a seat in the lower bowl near mid-court. At AA hockey, I sat in the top row upper deck behind the net because that was all there was to be had. I don't think pointing out that UW and SCSU couldn't fill the X says anything other than those schools fanbases suck (at least for hockey- yeah thats right Skunks and Jan Brady). Wondering where the vaunted UW "We travel so well" machine was? FWIW, I saw plenty of empty seats at Conseco for BigTen tourney games and also at certain first round NCAA sites. If the OP's point is that there are more basketball fans than hockey fans across the nation, then congrats to Ice on realizing what the entire US of A has known for several decades. One things for certain, Ice will never be accused of being "too quick on the uptake".

 

[mplsbadger]

It was a weird set of circumstances.

I went over to the stadium hoping to buy a scalped ticket, thinking there would be a heck of a market because the Gophers weren't in the regional, and two teams had been sent home. There was almost nobody selling tickets outside the stadium. I watched a guy get $60 a ticket for some center ice seats five minutes after the game started. The 'Want Tickets' guys looked stunned that there was no market. The only way into the game was to pay $53 for an upper deck seat. It was very weird.

We had an idea that we'd pay $30 because that was about a third of the three day package and we thought that there would be Gopher, Vermont, or Northern Michigan tockets. There was nothing, not even singles. The bars on 7th ended up full of Badger and Huskies fans. We ended up having dinner and watching the first two periods in a bar and the third period at home.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Hockey fans, unlike basketball or football fans, seem very provincial to me. If the home team isn't involved, seats will be empty. That being said, the lack of SCSU fans is shocking. It's not like it's a 5 hour drive to St. Paul from St. Cloud.

 

[Iceland12]

I was just going to make the same comment on HS level interest. I live in the south metro and can tell you that a local HS hockey game garners more fans and attention than a HS hoops game. Our HS had a #1 section seed in hoops and was ranked in and out of the Top 10 metro schools all year long. Our hockey team was a nice team, ended up at state, but was not too terribly above a .600 winning percentage. Still, hockey outdrew hoops on a regular basis. I attended the AA tournament for both hockey (I coach youth in our assn) and hoops (wife is a De La Salle alum) and there is ZERO comparison in attendance and interest. There may be more general interest in hoops in Minnesota, but the gap between hard core fans is very significantly tilted towards hockey. Not many fans from non-playing hoops schools to be found at Target Center and it was a piece of cake to find a seat in the lower bowl near mid-court. At AA hockey, I sat in the top row upper deck behind the net because that was all there was to be had. I don't think pointing out that UW and SCSU couldn't fill the X says anything other than those schools fanbases suck (at least for hockey- yeah thats right Skunks and Jan Brady). Wondering where the vaunted UW "We travel so well" machine was? FWIW, I saw plenty of empty seats at Conseco for BigTen tourney games and also at certain first round NCAA sites. If the OP's point is that there are more basketball fans than hockey fans across the nation, then congrats to Ice on realizing what the entire US of A has known for several decades. One things for certain, Ice will never be accused of being "too quick on the uptake".

..and that HAD a point?

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

I also think the point is the amount of locals that buy tickets for the NCAA 1st and 2nd rounds or sweet 16 at the Metrodome is much larger than for hockey either at Mariucci or the X. That means that NCAA basketball is more popular than NCAA hockey. Nothing more, nothing less.

But I still think that the lack of SCSU or UW fans buying tickets for Saturday is telling for those schools.

 

[vinko bogataj]

I also think the point is the amount of locals that buy tickets for the NCAA 1st and 2nd rounds or sweet 16 at the Metrodome is much larger than for hockey either at Mariucci or the X. That means that NCAA basketball is more popular than NCAA hockey. Nothing more, nothing less.

But I still think that the lack of SCSU or UW fans buying tickets for Saturday is telling for those schools.

I would somewhat agree with you. I guess my thought is that the value of a post stating those things is akin to starting a thread saying "Bears crap in the woods". While correct, is there really any value to it?

Where I get tired of ridiculous posts like the original can be summarized in three points.

1. Stupid generalizations based off of a single event. Ice cites one event featuring a team from another state and a regional school to draw conclusions regarding sport overall. Look up his post its pretty simple to see. Then, when challenged, he immediately resorts to the same logic my kids use. "Well you must not get it". Using Ice's methodology, it would be correct to say this is a much larger Gopher hockey state than Gopher basketball state. There is a waiting list for hockey tickets of over 2,000. I've moved up a grand total of 98 places since 2001. I am now at 1,600 or so. Gopher basketball still needs to sell its season ticket allotment up until tip off each year and has not had the capacity crowds of hockey, therefore, the sport is not as popular. Ridiculous comment, but it fits the argument put forth in the original post.

2. Why the need to run down another sport? Is he jealous that a hockey player stole his girlfriend, that his wife dreams of a threesome with Eddie Shore and Stan Mikita? You know what, if you ask people who follow college hockey, they will tell you they know its a niche sport. Does anyone believe that someone is going to read a post like the OP and say... "WOW, I really learned something here!"? This kind of nonsense is what I would expect out of some sort of loser like C-Note Hawk.

3. As a Gopher football fan who has only missed one home game since 1994 and has some great planes, trains and automobile stories to throw out about efforts to make sure to get to them, I find it slightly sad and embarrassing that other fans on this board seemingly wait in the weeds to rip UW or SCSU fans. I am a U alum and like nothing better than giving loads of crap to my neighbors, friends and co-workers who are alums of those schools but stuff like the OP comes off as pathetic. Did someone really wait for them to lose a game and post something like this? Really? It annoys me because it makes all Gopher fans look pathetic.

Been a long week and I gotta go to Detroit for work this week, so maybe I am a bit crabby or oversensitive, but the OP is about as sad and pathetic as any I've seen outside the infamous Pantherhawk. Anyways, as always, I support Coach Brew and am looking forward to attending the spring game (right after I coach a spring 3 on 3 hockey league game ).

 

[vinko bogataj]

Only at a superficial level or if you ignore every other relevant factor. Something that you're very familiar with.

Please expound... (not on Brew_recruit either )

 

[Brew_recruit]

go to a t puppies game then go to a wild game. Wild tickets are so much more expensive and they are not in the playoffs this year and they still sell out every game. T puppies have like 25 people at each game and they basically give away tickets.

 

[Iceland12]

I would somewhat agree with you. I guess my thought is that the value of a post stating those things is akin to starting a thread saying "Bears crap in the woods". While correct, is there really any value to it?

Where I get tired of ridiculous postslike the original...

1. Stupid generalizations based off of a single event. Ice cites one event featuring a team from another state and a regional school to draw conclusions regarding sport overall. Look up his post its pretty simple to see. Then, when challenged, he immediately resorts to the same logic my kids use. "Well you must not get it". Using Ice's methodology, it would be correct to say this is a much larger Gopher hockey state than Gopher basketball state. There is a waiting list for hockey tickets of over 2,000. I've moved up a grand total of 98 places since 2001. I am now at 1,600 or so. Gopher basketball still needs to sell its season ticket allotment up until tip off each year and has not had the capacity crowds of hockey, therefore, the sport is not as popular. Ridiculous comment, but it fits the argument put forth in the original post.

2. Why the need to run down another sport? Is he jealous that a hockey player stole his girlfriend, that his wife dreams of a threesome with Eddie Shore and Stan Mikita? You know what, if you ask people who follow college hockey, they will tell you they know its a niche sport. Does anyone believe that someone is going to read a post like the OP and say... "WOW, I really learned something here!"? This kind of nonsense is what I would expect out of some sort of loser like C-Note Hawk.

3. As a Gopher football fan who has only missed one home game since 1994 and has some great planes, trains and automobile stories to throw out about efforts to make sure to get to them, I find it slightly sad and embarrassing that other fans on this board seemingly wait in the weeds to rip UW or SCSU fans. I am a U alum and like nothing better than giving loads of crap to my neighbors, friends and co-workers who are alums of those schools but stuff like the OP comes off as pathetic. Did someone really wait for them to lose a game and post something like this? Really? It annoys me because it makes all Gopher fans look pathetic.

Been a long week and I gotta go to Detroit for work this week, so maybe I am a bit crabby or oversensitive, but the OP is about as sad and pathetic as any I've seen outside the infamous Pantherhawk. Anyways, as always, I support Coach Brew and am looking forward to attending the spring game (right after I coach a spring 3 on 3 hockey league game ).

Where I get tired of ridiculous posts ..and yet you continue to post them.

You're on a waiting list for hockey? Did it affect your reading comprehension skills?

The original post referred to how sad the turnout was from two supposedly rabid fan bases. Not the overly sensitive and overreacting local fan base. It least as you represent them. It also mentioned the hockey/basketball support which you said everybody knew and then you went on to rant completely unrelated to the "op".

CRANKY? Maybe you can find a hooker in Detroit that won't bite, the one you've been using locally must have taken a big chomp out of you.


Maybe this is simple enough for you: *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#bag.

 

[Iceland12]

Please expound... (not on Brew_recruit either )

Okay, How about this? You also seem deeply offended that the post came after last night's game. Unlike yourself Kreskin, I didn't know how few Huskie and Badger fans would show-up until after the game.

That flight to Detroit wouldn't be one-way by any chance would it?

Oh and this "I don't think pointing out that UW and SCSU couldn't fill the X says anything other than those schools fanbases suck (at least for hockey- yeah thats right Skunks and Jan Brady). Wondering where the vaunted UW "We travel so well" machine was? F.

Followed of course by this: I am a U alum and like nothing better than giving loads of crap to my neighbors, friends and co-workers who are alums of those schools but stuff like the OP comes off as pathetic

So your rivals "come to Jesus" moment came about during the thread?

 

[vinko bogataj]

Ice: Where I get tired of ridiculous posts..and yet you continue to post them.

Yeah- re-read your original post and you know what, you're right. I read a bit too quickly and plugged out a poorly thought out post. Mea Culpa. I will admit when I over-react and in this case, I did. My apologies.

Ice: You're on a waiting list for hockey? Did it affect your reading comprehension skills?

That didn't affect it, but see above. When I'm wrong, I can admit it. And I was.

Ice: The original post referred to how sad the turnout was from two supposedly rabid fan bases. Not the overly sensitive and overreacting local fan base. It least as you represent them. It also mentioned the hockey/basketball support which you said everybody knew and then you went on to rant completely unrelated to the "op".

Agree with sentence one. I might need to brush up on the reading comprehension to understand the rest. No offense, but that stuff is as unreadable as some of my stuff.

Ice: CRANKY? Maybe you can find a hooker in Detroit that won't bite, the one you've been using locally must have taken a big chomp out of you.

Gotta admit, this made me laugh. Nice work. That said, if you think you can find a hooker in Detroit that won't bite you, well... you haven't been to Detroit


Ice: Maybe this is simple enough for you: *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#bag.

That was very straightforward. Luckily for me, I've been called worse (roughly half of it being true). Peace.

 

[mplsbadger]

1. This is a football state first and a basketball state second. The NCCA Basketball Tourneys played here have always put people in the stands. Hockey fans are more vocal and have had WAY more to cheer about through the years, but as supporters of the sport itself they are a distant third in numbers and willingness to travel to see their "team" play.

2. Where were tens of thousands of Badger fans who live within an hour of Downtown St. Paul. Hockey must really be a very minor sport for them.[/B]

Regarding #1, basketball is more popular than hockey everywhere but Canada. The point I think is that Minnesota's support of high school, college, and professional basketball is ordinary. Minnesota's embrace of and support for high school, college, and pro hockey is extraordinary. Does the fact that the Miracle on Ice team had about a dozen Minnesotans on it not stir any emotions in you? Do we have an equivalent distinction in basketball (or any other sport)?

Regarding #2, Wisconsin led the nation in attendance by nearly 75,000. They also sold a lot of seats a the Target Center a month ago. And they played in St. Paul last weekend. You read too much into a single game.

I can't speak for St. Cloud state fans and I don't know how numerous they are.

College hockey attendance figures for 2009-2010.

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendance.php

 

[Iceland12]

1. Non sequitur. Doesn't anybody read before they reply anymore.

2. They didn't show-up because they went to a game in town last month? The game last night was to get them into the Frozen Four. That "single" game? Spin all you want, it was a very lousy turnout.

 

[mplsbadger]

2. They didn't show-up because they went to a game in town last month? The game last night was to get them into the Frozen Four. That "single" game? Spin all you want, it was a very lousy turnout.

Hockey is the third most popular sport in Madison behind football and basketball - just like at the U. Your comment was that 'Hockey must be a very minor sport for them'. I think you even bolded it in your original post. If by very minor you mean 3rd most popular on campus behind football and basketball, but leading the nation in attendance while outdrawing the second most attended team by 30%, and while outdrawing the D1 basketball team in a neighboring state, then yes, it is very minor.

Smart post.

 

[Iceland12]

Hockey is the third most popular sport in Madison behind football and basketball - just like at the U. Your comment was that 'Hockey must be a very minor sport for them'. I think you even bolded it in your original post. If by very minor you mean 3rd most popular on campus behind football and basketball, but leading the nation in attendance while outdrawing the second most attended team by 30%, and while outdrawing the D1 basketball team in a neighboring state, then yes, it is very minor.

"blah, blah, blah" They'll walk across campus to attend a game. Bully for them.

TENS OF THOUSANDS of Badger football fans travel across the country to watch them play. You couldn't even get a few thousand to show up yesterday for the NCAA Playoffs! Do you think that thousands of Badger basketball fans wouldn't have showed-up in St. Paul if 10,000 plus tickets were available?

That translates to Badger fans thinking hockey's a minor sport, a minor event or not worth half a day's time.

"Just a single game"?

 

[mplsbadger]

"blah, blah, blah" They'll walk across campus to attend a game. Bully for them.

Try as you might to diminish it, outdrawing every other program by 30% is significant.

TENS OF THOUSANDS of Badger football fans travel across the country to watch them play.

This is true of bowl games, Hawaii, UNLV, and Minnesota. I doubt >10,000 have attended any other road games in recent times. Maybe Northwestern.

You couldn't even get a few thousand to show up yesterday for the NCAA Playoffs! Do you think that thousands of Badger basketball fans wouldn't have showed-up in St. Paul if 10,000 plus tickets were available?

That translates to Badger fans thinking hockey's a minor sport, a minor event or not worth half a day's time.

Hockey comes third behind football and baskeball as I stated.

"Just a single game"?

The sixth hockey game in the twin cities in 22 days. With a basketball trip to Jacksonville inbetween.

It is what it is. I'm sorry you're so disappointed in our fans. I was really hoping that they would move the UW & UND series to TCF next year and in future years but if we're such lousy fans and can't be counted on to show up, maybe that's a bad idea.

 

[The Ghost of Bierman]

Regarding #1, basketball is more popular than hockey everywhere but Canada. The point I think is that Minnesota's support of high school, college, and professional basketball is ordinary. Minnesota's embrace of and support for high school, college, and pro hockey is extraordinary. Does the fact that the Miracle on Ice team had about a dozen Minnesotans on it not stir any emotions in you? Do we have an equivalent distinction in basketball (or any other sport)?

Regarding #2, Wisconsin led the nation in attendance by nearly 75,000. They also sold a lot of seats a the Target Center a month ago. And they played in St. Paul last weekend. You read too much into a single game.

I can't speak for St. Cloud state fans and I don't know how numerous they are.

College hockey attendance figures for 2009-2010.

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendance.php

ahhh....no they didn't. we were at that friday night game at the target center (the one where the gophers won, but the refs completely f-ed up the entire game to take a sure win away from them) and there were sparse pockets of red-clad losers. 90-95% of the 14-15K in attendance that night were gopher fans. stop telling your silly becky lies bro.

 

[The Ghost of Bierman]

Try as you might to diminish it, outdrawing every other program by 30% is significant.



This is true of bowl games, Hawaii, UNLV, and Minnesota. I doubt >10,000 have attended any other road games in recent times. Maybe Northwestern.


Hockey comes third behind football and baskeball as I stated.


The sixth hockey game in the twin cities in 22 days. With a basketball trip to Jacksonville inbetween.

It is what it is. I'm sorry you're so disappointed in our fans. I was really hoping that they would move the UW & UND series to TCF next year and in future years but if we're such lousy fans and can't be counted on to show up, maybe that's a bad idea.

you are right. it is a bad idea. a horrible one. in fact we will invite michigan instead. a hockey school most of us respect much more since they.....you know.....actually produce and recruit their own hockey talent in michigan. unlike the bobos in north dakota and cheese-dique-land who rely almost entirely on minnesotans and canadians to field competitive teams.

 

[ulfr]

Not too supprised by the lack of fan support from UW

Growing up less than an hour from the UW campus, allow me to say that hockey (college or otherwise) is a very minor sport in SE Wisconsin. The written press rarely did more than check in from time to time on the team [think Gopher baseball coverage].

I cannot remember them being on local cable television ever and I was only a county away. Hell, the UW basketball team rarely was on TV and was far more popular. Granted a lot has changed in the last decade regarding an increase in broadcasting of all sports. The Badgers, however. still get caught up in these TV deals with local Madison stations that have very limited coverage areas especially compared with the relatively far-reaching (in terms of area) and robust relationship the U has with FSN (albeit now endangered by Tony Lapanta's verbal flailing, but that is another kettle of fish)

 

[mplsbadger]

you are right. it is a bad idea. a horrible one. in fact we will invite michigan instead. a hockey school most of us respect much more since they.....you know.....actually produce and recruit their own hockey talent in michigan. unlike the bobos in north dakota and cheese-dique-land who rely almost entirely on minnesotans and canadians to field competitive teams.

Bummer if coach Brew hears about this. Might br tough to win with only Minnesota kids. By the way, where is Grant Potulny from? Shall we discredit the '02 Gopher title?

 

[mplsbadger]

ahhh....no they didn't. we were at that friday night game at the target center (the one where the gophers won, but the refs completely f-ed up the entire game to take a sure win away from them) and there were sparse pockets of red-clad losers. 90-95% of the 14-15K in attendance that night were gopher fans. stop telling your silly becky lies bro.

I was there. Plenty of red. The Gophers otplayed UW but all of those goals were rightfully disallowed.

Regarding UW hockey support it is, as I said, the 3rd most popular sport on campus. I just think calling it minor when, in 2008 it likely outdrew Gopher football, basketball and hockey is dumb.

Make fun of Badger fans for drinking, which I find amusing, or for being rude hosts, which I find embarrasing, but don't make silly statements about them lacking fan support. It's pathetic.

 

[Iceland12]

", but don't make silly statements about them lacking fan support. It's pathetic.

Not as pathetic as their showing Saturday night or your attempts to change the subject.

There are thousands upon thousands of former and present Wisconsin residents OVER HERE that didn't bother to show-up. Something that you choose to ignore when you focus again and again on the support that the have within 30 miles of Dane County.

If Badger Hockey fans were anywhere near as fanatical as Badger football or basketball fans or your attempts to excuse them they would have made the relatively small effort to show up for the second round of an NCAA Tournament game.

They didn't.

Taking everything that you posted about the support they show to the team on campus it would have been a lot easier and intellectually honest to have said " Yeah, I don't get it either", rather then being intensely offended by the adjective "minor".

Did I use it in a pejorative manner? Yep, but it's still true.

Now go ahead and quote the number of fans who go to games on campus. It's not germane to the issue but it appears to be all you got.

Enjoy the day.

 

[dpodoll68]

Why is this thread still on the football page?

Go argue about your irrelevant sports on the "Other Gopher Sports" forum...

 

[Iceland12]

Why is this thread still on the football page?

Go argue about your irrelevant sports on the "Other Gopher Sports" forum...

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Why is this thread still on the football page?

Go argue about your irrelevant sports on the "Other Gopher Sports" forum...

I tend to agree. From the heading, I was expeting to read that the Badgers had added the Huskies to their non-conference football slate.

 

[mplsbadger]

Why is this thread still on the football page?

Go argue about your irrelevant sports on the "Other Gopher Sports" forum...

Agree. I'm done. I apologize if I offended any Gopher fans.