After reading Sid's column today, well listen

Donate To GopherHole
R

Rog

Active member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
1,017
Reaction score
1
Points
38
The column was great but the responses brought up something that has been bugging me for some time. WHY WITHIN THE GOPHER FAN BASE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOTHING BUT DARN RIGHT NEGATIVE ABOUT EVERYTHING. Their cup isn't half empty, it is completely empty! It happens in football and now you are seeing it in basketball. To them - get a life and shut up!
 

To many are just to in love with their own issues to see or appreciate anything else!
 

Rog said:
The column was great but the responses brought up something that has been bugging me for some time. WHY WITHIN THE GOPHER FAN BASE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOTHING BUT DARN RIGHT NEGATIVE ABOUT EVERYTHING. Their cup isn't half empty, it is completely empty! It happens in football and now you are seeing it in basketball. To them - get a life and shut up!
Click to expand...

i honestly don't believe that even half of the "negative" responses one might find in the comments section of local newspaper stories on the gophers are from legit gopher fans. they are generally from the following segments who are trying to get the ire of gopher fans:

1.) becky and hogeye alums living in the minneapolis/st. paul area now.
2.) fans of those or other big ten teams who read the minneapolis papers.
3.) likely former residents of surrounding states who live in MN now.
4.) plain old message board trolls trying to "flame"
 

Also, some just do not like Sid. Granted, the guy should retire but at least he is a fan who is willing to write positive stuff about MN teams. It takes a miracle for guys like Ruesse, Barriero and some of the others to write anything positive (occasionally Souhan does)
 

calminnfan said:
Also, some just do not like Sid. Granted, the guy should retire but at least he is a fan who is willing to write positive stuff about MN teams. It takes a miracle for guys like Ruesse, Barriero and some of the others to write anything positive (occasionally Souhan does)
Click to expand...

but don't you see. being the negative F is their "bit". otherwise they would be irrelevant because they don't have any redeeming qualities and they all know it.
 


I think all the negativity is a defense mechanism: you can't get your heart broke if you don't care.

One thing I've noticed with the media nay-sayers is that they don't like be on the record as being constantly wrong. If they play up the gophs and and are constantly wrong, they are going to get the rep as not knowing what they're talking about. If they bash the gophs and are constantly wrong, they will also get that same rep.

The problem is that the gophs haven't done much to prove them wrong until recently...
 

I have long held the belief that most of the posters on the Strib are Hawkeye and Badger fans.
 

people come on

the football team hasnt contended for 40 some years

and the basketball is coming out of the gawd awful monson era

it's been nothing short of pitiful
 

Bronko Nagurski Gopher said:
i honestly don't believe that even half of the "negative" responses one might find in the comments section of local newspaper stories on the gophers are from legit gopher fans. they are generally from the following segments who are trying to get the ire of gopher fans:

1.) becky and hogeye alums living in the minneapolis/st. paul area now.
2.) fans of those or other big ten teams who read the minneapolis papers.
3.) likely former residents of surrounding states who live in MN now.
4.) plain old message board trolls trying to "flame"
Click to expand...

Bronko you nailed it. This is exactly who this is. It is some loser hogeye and becky fans. Most of them read the strib because they live here now.
 



get a life and shut up!

I love Sid but stopped reading after he stopped writing, about 7 years ago. As time has passed, his intern or whom ever is writing now, does ZERO research before publishing. His sources are poor.
 

Goldteam nailed it. TC people are apathetic when it comes to Gopher football. I've had that belief for years. The only time the damn dome has sold out is when Wisky and Iowegians, and when we give the Fargo crowd the chance, thought it would be cool to go to a game and the Mall of America the same day.

Sorry Rog but Gopher sports is not the life for a lot of Minnesota folks. Lets hope that ditt1605 is correct and the time will come when its cool to be a Gopher fan once again and its the in thing.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Goldteam nailed it. TC people are apathetic when it comes to Gopher football. I've had that belief for years. The only time the damn dome has sold out is when Wisky and Iowegians, and when we give the Fargo crowd the chance, thought it would be cool to go to a game and the Mall of America the same day.

Sorry Rog but Gopher sports is not the life for a lot of Minnesota folks. Lets hope that ditt1605 is correct and the time will come when its cool to be a Gopher fan once again and its the in thing.
Click to expand...

mostly disagree in regards to who are the actual people that post the "negative crap". as butch nash guy wrote there are way too many becky & hogeye fans living in minneapolis now and most if not all of them read the minneapolis tribune and/or st. paul pioneer press. often they pose as gopher fans when posting their filth.

playing around on these message boards the last year or so i have learned that folks from wisconsin and iowa seem to have an unbelievable amount of extra time on their hands to go around "flaming" on the internet. it is unbelievable where you find some of these tools!
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Goldteam nailed it. TC people are apathetic when it comes to Gopher football. I've had that belief for years. The only time the damn dome has sold out is when Wisky and Iowegians, and when we give the Fargo crowd the chance, thought it would be cool to go to a game and the Mall of America the same day.

Sorry Rog but Gopher sports is not the life for a lot of Minnesota folks. Lets hope that ditt1605 is correct and the time will come when its cool to be a Gopher fan once again and its the in thing.
Click to expand...

Bayfield you are correct that there has been way to much apathy. There has been too much mediocrity over the years in regards to the product on the field (chicken or the egg..). Give me 50000 Bayfield's and our problem would be solved! In any case, apathetic people would not bother to go to Sid's article and comment the way they do. IA/WI grads that live here because of better jobs are those making the comments. Those comments are not coming from apathetic MN fans.

I look forward to the day that it will be the "in" thing to do. When it becomes REALLY important to people of this state. That means we have a quality program that is winning championships and we have a game-day atmosphere that will be a blast. I believe that will happen otherwise I would not be a season-ticket holder.
 



1. There are attention deficets looking for a forum.
2. Too many Burrito and Fat A$$ Clones
3. They are not welcome in the Gopher Hole nor Gopher Nation. Not now, not later. They have chosen their bed and must live in it. See point 2, neither of those clowns should be given credentials in TCF in order to spue their sarcasm either in print or on the air.
4. There are too many doubting Thomas's. Too many that not only tell you their glass is empty but also tell you yours is too. I being of the glass is overflowing crowd have no time for these naysayer.
 

Before you throw Gopher football fans under the bus for being apathetic. Look at the reason. 40 years of being mediocre or bad. There is not one college football fan base that has endured such mediocrity and supported there team as much as MN. Not one. Furthermore, not one college sports team that I can think of has had 40 years of not contending for a title and continued to draw. Even in Iowa City, where there is absolutlely notihng for students to do during the winter but go to basketball games has had to give tickets away to half fill their arena. Win and Gopher fans will return with a vengence. Winning is the key, not the fans.
 

minngg said:
Before you throw Gopher football fans under the bus for being apathetic. Look at the reason. 40 years of being mediocre or bad. There is not one college football fan base that has endured such mediocrity and supported there team as much as MN. Not one. Furthermore, not one college sports team that I can think of has had 40 years of not contending for a title and continued to draw. Even in Iowa City, where there is absolutely nothing for students to do during the winter but go to basketball games has had to give tickets away to half fill their arena. Win and Gopher fans will return with a vengeance. Winning is the key, not the fans.
Click to expand...

While what you say is true, IMO other programs have had better fan support. While we have been mediocre for years and years we typically have not been bad. I remember Iowa games at Memorial Stadium with bad Iowa teams. In particular, I remember a game in the late 70's where the Iowa place kicker was hurt and, at one point, Iowa had a defensive lineman trying a short field goal (he was unsuccessful). To top it off, the weather was not good. Iowa was bad but they had a very large contingent of cheering fans. I think there are so many teams in town here that people tend to jump on the bandwagons of the ones that are winning. I have only been going to Gopher football games for a little over 30 years and can remember only a brief period where we actually had large quantities of loud, cheering fans at the games and that was when Holtz was here (plus the first year or so of Gutekunst).
 

You know, there's a difference between being apathetic and being downright negative about anything, even things that are CLEARLY a positive move for the program.

You know there's gonna be those people who, if we sign a top 10 recruiting class, will harp on the "Whatever, still gotta win", "Doesn't matter", "Brewster must have paid these guys", because they can't be positive about ANYTHING. These are the same people who, if we go to the Rose Bowl, will be saying, "Whatever, we aren't in the championship game", "Yeah, we won one Big Ten title, but the Big Ten sucks this year", "Does USC celebrate going to the Rose Bowl?". You just will never be able to please these kinds of people, so I just don't bother with them, and just ignore them.
 

Harry, I am sure your memory is correct, but the stats just don't back you up. Iowa's average attendance for football was in the upper 40,000 area before 1979. This when Hayden Fry arrived and changed the program. Many games in Iowa City were much less attended than the official attendance numbers just like today's basketball games.

Minnesota fans have many choices with all 4 pro sports and a major university. Believe me when I say, that Minnesota fans should be commended for their support for Gopher football. Even the slightest hint of success has drawn enthusiasm and support. Wisconsin, after one poor season (by their standards) had a reduction in interest last season and actually had some student sections not sellout for football for the first time in years. Prior to Alvarez, they were cutting sports such as baseball because football revenues were so poor.

Winning is the key to attendance. I don't care where you are from or what team you support.
 

minngg said:
Harry, I am sure your memory is correct, but the stats just don't back you up. Iowa's average attendance for football was in the upper 40,000 area before 1979. This when Hayden Fry arrived and changed the program. Many games in Iowa City were much less attended than the official attendance numbers just like today's basketball games.

Minnesota fans have many choices with all 4 pro sports and a major university. Believe me when I say, that Minnesota fans should be commended for their support for Gopher football. Even the slightest hint of success has drawn enthusiasm and support. Wisconsin, after one poor season (by their standards) had a reduction in interest last season and actually had some student sections not sellout for football for the first time in years. Prior to Alvarez, they were cutting sports such as baseball because football revenues were so poor.

Winning is the key to attendance. I don't care where you are from or what team you support.
Click to expand...

Actually the numbers do back me up. Iowa won Big Ten titles in 1960 and not again until 1981. In 1960 they averaged 56,288 per game. For the years between 1961 and 1980, they averaged 53,457. For that same period, they had five years where they averaged less than 50,000 (the lowest being 1968 when they averaged 47,381).
 

harrys ghost said:
Actually the numbers do back me up. Iowa won Big Ten titles in 1960 and not again until 1981. In 1960 they averaged 56,288 per game. For the years between 1961 and 1980, they averaged 53,457. For that same period, they had five years where they averaged less than 50,000 (the lowest being 1968 when they averaged 47,381).
Click to expand...

So you're comparing 21 years with 41 (and counting)?
 


I don't buy the claim that all negative posters are true Badger or Iowa fans. I would agree with a majority though.

Two examples: Wren and the Loon. They are still pouting over the Mason dismissal and both want Brewster to fail. They promote a 100% negative theme with the garbage they post on the Star blog.

My first hand experience may be unique but I have a good number of family in the TC area. Getting them to go to a Gopher game is an extremely difficult task but, being sports minded, they take in Wild and Twins games and an occassional Queens game. For many people, Gopher football is not important. Like someone said, 40 years of losing will do that. I do think however, that Brewster with the help of TCF may be on the vergo of changing all that.
 

harrys ghost said:
Actually the numbers do back me up. Iowa won Big Ten titles in 1960 and not again until 1981. In 1960 they averaged 56,288 per game. For the years between 1961 and 1980, they averaged 53,457. For that same period, they had five years where they averaged less than 50,000 (the lowest being 1968 when they averaged 47,381).
Click to expand...

Simply not true. In 1971 they averaged 46,000 in 1972 they averaged 44,000 and in 1973 they averaged 43,000. You might want to make sure you are looking at home attendance, not all games.
 

harrys ghost said:
No. My point is that, IMO, Iowa's fan support is and has been (through some long periods with some very bad teams) better than ours.
Click to expand...

And, again, it's not an apples to apples comparison, because many of the Hawkeye fans during the time period you're talking about were actually alive the previous time Iowa won the Big Ten. I don't personally know very many Gophers fans who can say that.
 

harrys ghost said:
No. My point is that, IMO, Iowa's fan support is and has been (through some long periods with some very bad teams) better than ours.
Click to expand...

iowa fans dont have a pro football team, pro hockey team, pro baskeball team and a pro baseball team right next door

iowa football and basketball are it in that state.........no matter how bad, they are it
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom