All about the Minnesota Golden Gophers: An Oregon Ducks fan guide to the Big Ten Conference

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Ryan:

Amid snowdrifts in two bustling, interconnected cities, the musical stylings of Prince and Bob Dylan echo through the decades. And frigid weather is paired with longstanding food, drink and sporting traditions.

The University of Minnesota’s main campus, located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, was once the home of vice presidents, wrestlers, musicians and basketball stars. Above freshly plowed fields and frozen rinks, 29 NCAA-recognized championship banners hang proudly.

As the Oregon Ducks prepare for a move to the Big Ten Conference in 2024, The Oregonian/OregonLive is taking a look at all of their newest conference rivals. While Ducks fans might be deeply familiar with fellow Pac-12 departees Washington, USC and UCLA, they have 14 new teams to get to know this year.

Next up is the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Nickname: Golden Gophers

Location: Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota


School founded: 1851

Joined Big Ten: 1896

Type: Public

Enrollment: 54,890

Endowment: $3.1 billion

Athletic department spending (2021-22): $130.3 million

Athletic department revenue (2021-22): $135.2 million

Football spending (2021-22): $40.8 million

Football revenue (2021-22): $72.8 million

Football stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium

Capacity: 50,805

Varsity sports: 21 (9 men’s, 12 women’s)

Mascot: Goldy Gopher

Fight song: “Minnesota Rouser”

Notable alumni: Bob Dylan, Ric Flair, Henry Fonda, Hubert Humphrey, Brock Lesnar, Kevin McHale, Walter Mondale, Mychal Thompson

Famous coaches: P.J. Fleck (football), Bernie Bierman (football), L.J. Cooke (men’s basketball), J Robinson (wrestling)

Biggest rivals: Iowa, wisconsin

Essential movies: Purple Rain (1984), The Mighty Ducks (1992), Fargo (1996)

Team national titles: Baseball (3), men’s basketball (2), football (7), men’s golf (1), men’s ice hockey (5), women’s ice hockey (7), men’s track and field (1), wrestling (3)

Did you know? The Gopher Way is a series of underground tunnels and skyways on the University of Minnesota campus, allowing students and faculty to navigate between buildings while avoiding the brutal Minnesota winter weather.

www.oregonlive.com

All about the Minnesota Golden Gophers: An Oregon Ducks fan guide to the Big Ten Conference

Minnesota's history is one rich with music, food, drink and sports. Particularly around the Golden Gophers, who boast 29 NCAA-recognized championships.
www.oregonlive.com www.oregonlive.com

Go Gophers!!
 


OK, it is odd but I am trying to confirm Dylan went to the U. Anyone know for sure? Had a class with him? Smoked a J out back?
 




Robert Zimmerman attended the U for 1 year, Sep '59 - May '60, studying art. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Mu fraternity. He reportedly wasn't much of a student.
It was during this time that he began using the stage name Bob Dylan.
 


USAF said:
Robert Zimmerman attended the U for 1 year, Sep '59 - May '60, studying art. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Mu fraternity. He reportedly wasn't much of a student.
It was during this time that he began using the stage name Bob Dylan.
Click to expand...
Same with Ric Flair, are you considered an alum if you don't graduate. Couple famous baseball alums left out.

Overall, cool quick synopsis of UMN. Though they also could have mentioned Goldy's and the dance team's national championships. They're our dynasties!!
 




Nokomis said:
...are you considered an alum if you don't graduate.
Click to expand...
According to Merriam-Webster, yes:

: a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
 


HopHead said:
According to Merriam-Webster, yes:

: a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
Click to expand...
How can someone graduate without attending? The graduated part seems unnecessary in the definition.
 

two quick Dylan things (Me being both a reasonably long-time contributor here, and being a long time Dylan fan).

1) When Dylan first came back on tour to Minnesota, it was the fall of 1978 (my freshman year at the U, for what it's worth). He came to the old St. Paul hockey arena. It was a good show. The local alternative newspaper (I think it was called the Twin Cities Reader in those days, but could have been City Pages) got ahold of Zimmerman/Dylan's college transcript and published it. He attended the -U- for three quarters 1959-1960. Fall quarter 1960 was all incomplete (he had headed to New York City sometime in that juncture - I am too lazy to go look up the exact date he split). His grades were as you might imagine, pretty indifferent, though I think he did okay his first quarter at the -U- in the fall. Remember, this was a very different time and newspapers were allowed to do crap like that (violating privacy) way back then.

2) He was definitely on campus in the fall of 1959. My aunt lived there (Centennial Hall for what its worth) and attended the -U- at the time. Mr. ZImmerman spent a short period of time hitting on one of her best girlfriends. Aunt Nancy's rememberance "He thought that he was God's gift to women. Had a very high opinion of himself. Was obviously a musician-type, but hadn't done anything at that point to really stand out". Remember, he was only 18 at that point; my aunt would have been 21 that year and a young kid may have been less than impressive.

She is not a huge fan but will allow that "Bobby obviouslly did allright for himself."
 
Last edited:



The Dylan "lore" references that he spent more time at the 12 O'Clock Scholar (store/music venue) in Dinkytown than he ever did at school. But he obviosuly did well enough to get grades in stuff. My admittedly chaotic memory says he did pretty well in freshman English classes, as you might expect.
 

BleedGopher said:
Per Ryan:

Amid snowdrifts in two bustling, interconnected cities, the musical stylings of Prince and Bob Dylan echo through the decades. And frigid weather is paired with longstanding food, drink and sporting traditions.

The University of Minnesota’s main campus, located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, was once the home of vice presidents, wrestlers, musicians and basketball stars. Above freshly plowed fields and frozen rinks, 29 NCAA-recognized championship banners hang proudly.

As the Oregon Ducks prepare for a move to the Big Ten Conference in 2024, The Oregonian/OregonLive is taking a look at all of their newest conference rivals. While Ducks fans might be deeply familiar with fellow Pac-12 departees Washington, USC and UCLA, they have 14 new teams to get to know this year.

Next up is the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Nickname: Golden Gophers

Location: Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota


School founded: 1851

Joined Big Ten: 1896

Type: Public

Enrollment: 54,890

Endowment: $3.1 billion

Athletic department spending (2021-22): $130.3 million

Athletic department revenue (2021-22): $135.2 million

Football spending (2021-22): $40.8 million

Football revenue (2021-22): $72.8 million

Football stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium

Capacity: 50,805

Varsity sports: 21 (9 men’s, 12 women’s)

Mascot: Goldy Gopher

Fight song: “Minnesota Rouser”

Notable alumni: Bob Dylan, Ric Flair, Henry Fonda, Hubert Humphrey, Brock Lesnar, Kevin McHale, Walter Mondale, Mychal Thompson

Famous coaches: P.J. Fleck (football), Bernie Bierman (football), L.J. Cooke (men’s basketball), J Robinson (wrestling)

Biggest rivals: Iowa, wisconsin

Essential movies: Purple Rain (1984), The Mighty Ducks (1992), Fargo (1996)

Team national titles: Baseball (3), men’s basketball (2), football (7), men’s golf (1), men’s ice hockey (5), women’s ice hockey (7), men’s track and field (1), wrestling (3)

Did you know? The Gopher Way is a series of underground tunnels and skyways on the University of Minnesota campus, allowing students and faculty to navigate between buildings while avoiding the brutal Minnesota winter weather.

www.oregonlive.com

All about the Minnesota Golden Gophers: An Oregon Ducks fan guide to the Big Ten Conference

Minnesota's history is one rich with music, food, drink and sports. Particularly around the Golden Gophers, who boast 29 NCAA-recognized championships.
www.oregonlive.com www.oregonlive.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
An addition of the “Who Hates Iowa” chant to this list could be huge for any B1G first-timers.
 



Has anyone ever noticed that any tourist guide to Minnesota must mention the skyway system downtown in the first couple sentences? Or any guide to the U campus must always mention the Gopher Way tunnels?

While I appreciate how on-brand a series of tunnels are for the Gophers, I think i used the Gopher Way 1 time in my 4 years of living on campus. For a final exam when it was -20 outside. I can't imagine visitors using them.

This was similar to my usage pattern with the skyway downtown.
 



Add Loni Anderson and Linda Kelsey to the list.
 


fmlizard said:
Has anyone ever noticed that any tourist guide to Minnesota must mention the skyway system downtown in the first couple sentences? Or any guide to the U campus must always mention the Gopher Way tunnels?

While I appreciate how on-brand a series of tunnels are for the Gophers, I think i used the Gopher Way 1 time in my 4 years of living on campus. For a final exam when it was -20 outside. I can't imagine visitors using them.

This was similar to my usage pattern with the skyway downtown.
Click to expand...
Yes. I'd assume most cold-weather cities have something like this but national media folk like to portrait Minnesota as some year-round frozen tundra with 3 weeks of summer.
 


fmlizard said:
Has anyone ever noticed that any tourist guide to Minnesota must mention the skyway system downtown in the first couple sentences? Or any guide to the U campus must always mention the Gopher Way tunnels?

While I appreciate how on-brand a series of tunnels are for the Gophers, I think i used the Gopher Way 1 time in my 4 years of living on campus. For a final exam when it was -20 outside. I can't imagine visitors using them.

This was similar to my usage pattern with the skyway downtown.
Click to expand...

Gopher Way would be much easier to use on the East Bank if it crossed Washington. I don't think I ever used it over there. We used it all the time on the West Bank during bad weather.
 

Whiffing on Herb Brooks was a travesty since he's arguably the most famous former University of Minnesota coach... I mean, he was portrayed in a major motion picture by Kurt Russell! When they (obviously) get around to making a movie about PJ Fleck, who plays him?

Ric Flair? He and his favorite U. of Michigan shirt can go hang out in Ann Arbor. His love for Michigan (and Jim Harbaugh) is well-known. He's a Wolverine...
 

Kind of surprised they didn't mention Minnesota's bowl history with Oregon, two close wins for each team in the post season.
 


HopHead said:
According to Merriam-Webster, yes:

: a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
Click to expand...
GophersInIowa said:
How can someone graduate without attending? The graduated part seems unnecessary in the definition.
Click to expand...
Exhibit A: basketball, North Carolina.
 

FredCoxRocks said:
Yes. I'd assume most cold-weather cities have something like this but national media folk like to portrait Minnesota as some year-round frozen tundra with 3 weeks of summer.
Click to expand...
I went to the University of North Dakota in the late 90s, and they had (still have?) a tunnel system. You could get from your dorm to the dining hall without having to go outside. They also had some tunnels leading the way to the old Engelstad Arena, but I'm a little foggy on the details of that one (most of the time I was plenty of cocktails into the night and just tried my hardest not to lose my group).
 

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