Old Gophers Recruiting Video

Donate To GopherHole

For me, this is the most detailed color footage I have ever seen of the old Memorial Stadium, and of the Gophers before I began watching them on TV in the later '80s

But the old weight room with the paneling (around the 4:30 mark) is the star of the show

It looks like a couple of small low rent apartment building gyms I've worked out in
 

I always get a kick out of videos like this. Takes me back to being a kid when the Metrodome was featured as the big savior of Gopher Football. It is also interesting how the fans really didn't wear "team gear" to games in big numbers until as recently as 25 years ago.
 

fmlizard said:
For me, this is the most detailed color footage I have ever seen of the old Memorial Stadium, and of the Gophers before I began watching them on TV in the later '80s

But the old weight room with the paneling (around the 4:30 mark) is the star of the show

It looks like a couple of small low rent apartment building gyms I've worked out in
Click to expand...
🤣 Thankfully, things have evolved.
 




What a time capsule! Being too young to experience Memorial Stadium, it's striking how much it looks/feels like the Bank. Loved seeing those vintage shots of the Lakes and downtown too. The pace and content of the video feels almost foreign to what we'd see in today's world. Simpler times.
 





Spaulding!No! said:
This is why I come here.
Click to expand...
Now I notice the other game shown was the ‘79 Illinois game. IiRC, the Gophers were 4-2 with impressive wins against Purdue and at Iowa (Hayden Fry’s first year) the previous week. Mark Carlson was playing well quarterbacking the “run & shoot” offense. Minnesota was a significant favorite. The offense struggled in the second half and Illinois tied the game but the Gophers recovered a fumble in Illinois territory in the last minute of the game. Uncharacteristically, Paul Rogind shanked the game-winning field goal attempt when he kicked the ball into the long snapper’s rear end. I believe it was homecoming before a good-sized crowd of about 48,000.
 

GVLCGopherFan said:
I remember the U of M booth at the state fair always had a movie room where you could watch videos like this.
Click to expand...
I think that was up in the Grandstand before they moved down to the main drag. I remember the room and I remember to having a great conversation with baseball coach John Anderson.

I don't remember a lot of team gear being available in the 1980s, but the poster above is right. If there was team gear, not many people wore it back then.
 

jonnyganas said:
What a time capsule! Being too young to experience Memorial Stadium, it's striking how much it looks/feels like the Bank. Loved seeing those vintage shots of the Lakes and downtown too. The pace and content of the video feels almost foreign to what we'd see in today's world. Simpler times.
Click to expand...
Memorial wasn't a terrible stadium. It was old, but the sight lines were good. I don't know if it could have been updated, but the move to the Metrodome, while not a complete disaster, didn't contribute to the program the way a lot of bigwigs (or maybe I should use Sid's term "brain wizards" except Sid was one of the "brain wizards" that foisted the Metrodome on us) thought it would.
 

50PoundHead said:
Memorial wasn't a terrible stadium. It was old, but the sight lines were good. I don't know if it could have been updated, but the move to the Metrodome, while not a complete disaster, didn't contribute to the program the way a lot of bigwigs (or maybe I should use Sid's term "brain wizards" except Sid was one of the "brain wizards" that foisted the Metrodome on us) thought it would.
Click to expand...
I marched in the band during the Mason years. The dome sucked all the fun of college football out of the game (via the revolving doors, presumably)
 



50PoundHead said:
I think that was up in the Grandstand before they moved down to the main drag. I remember the room and I remember to having a great conversation with baseball coach John Anderson.

I don't remember a lot of team gear being available in the 1980s, but the poster above is right. If there was team gear, not many people wore it back then.
Click to expand...
That’s where I remember it being too - in the grandstand. Got suckered by some cheerleaders into buying tickets to an early game against Ohio University.
 

The thing about the dome though, was despite all its shortcomings (and there were soooo many of them), the student section during the later Mason years was actually pretty good. Despite shuttle busses and being off campus, the student section was actually better in the Metrodome than it was at the new Bank up until just a couple years ago.

The great news is although it took a while, it seems like the student section situation has rebounded nicely at the bank now. That is obvious just looking how full it is week in and week out, now. But it is also becomes apparent in less obvious ways. For example, nearly every time I see a "cool kid" UofM college experience tik tok, these days - It almost always features plenty of photos taken on gameday both in and out of the stadium. It seems to be a valued activity again, amongst the kiddies.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom