How many times since Holtz have we had a coach who put himself in position to be pirated away?
I have a feeling Coyle won't be the one making the next football hire, whether it's because Fleck stays long term or everything falls apart and he's canned.
Scarlett Johansson in my bedroom in a slip bringing me a salami sandwich.
Well, you have chosen a pretty tough ask...you need diligence in your quest. But most of all you need patience. She is married. BUT, she is on her third marriage so there's a chance.Scarlett Johansson in my bedroom in a slip bringing me a salami sandwich.
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60's Guy, your theory is a crock of crap!
I think he’s meaning in the new super conference era we should have more money to throw and options to court as well be more desirable so we don’t have to end up with an unknown like Ben.
I think success and building a true loyal following that you see in Iowa City or Lincoln are quite different. I don't know if there has been more than a couple of stories about Gopher football since the start of Spring Ball. Maybe a few news jottings, but can't think of many true stories.
I totally agree about IC and Lincoln and I think a key driver to that is the fact that all of our smaller D2 schools compete against us in hockey which cannibalizes our fanbase because MSU/UMD/Bemidji/SCSU have rivalries/hate us in hockey and it bleeds over. Everyone I've ever met that went to a smaller NE/IA/WI school roots for the major D1 school in their state.
I agree with most of everything you said. I think the U of M would have a larger fan base statewide if it was in Rochester, Mankato, etc. You'd have a true college town to escape to. I think in the Twin Cities the Vikings always get the attention and then whoever has the hot hand will be the second team in town.
The only thing that would change if our campus was in Rochester or Mankato is fewer fans would attend games due to the longer drive to get there.
You think cities with metro populations of 100k-200k wouldn't draw enough people to games from the community when there is nothing else going on in the area? Are the twin cities the only place with football fans in the state? Your logic makes no sense.
UMD won a couple of national titles in football in 2008 and 2010, their success in a 100k+ area didn't create any kind of explosion in interest or attendance - and their stadium only seats 4500. The logic isn't absurd. There's a whole bunch of things to do before and after a Gopher game in the Cities. Driving to Rochester is like driving to Minot, bigger city in the middle of nothing. There ain't shit to do there. Duluth arguably has a nicer area with more things to do than Rochester and Mankato combined, still nothing after winning national titles. The Gophs live and die with the metro, it's where the resources are and its a driver for attendance, not a detriment.
I've said it before, if the outcome of a coaching hire is that they are so successful they get hired away by a top tier program, I'll take that.
There are many examples of similar sized communities with P5 teams that have no trouble packing a 70k + seat stadium to see the only show in town. The fact that these places are otherwise boring as hell makes it more likely that people from close radius would attend home games in my view. You and the OP make it sound like the vast majority of attendees would come from the twin cities and I'm saying that wouldn't necessarily be the case.
So if the campus is in Mankato we gain a bunch of fans in that relatively small community, keep all the fans that are in the metro, increase attendance and fan interest? I’m not seeing it. The most popular team in Mankato is still going to be the Vikings.
Minnesota is a geographically isolated state that is surrounded from the east, west, and south by low population density states around it (two of which contain rival programs) and a different country to the north. Most other programs that are the only show in town have a ton of significantly sized cities to draw people from within a reasonable driving distance, IE the south, east coast, Ohio Valley, etc. MSP is a huge Midwestern hub people go to, there are no major population centers to draw from around it. My argument is that there would be no logic to move from the cities because it's a centralized location with tons of amenities for hundreds and hundreds of miles, and the best access for non-Cities fans if traveling by air. I'd argue that greater than 3/4 of attendees live in the metro anyways. And this is coming from a guy who drives from the Range on weekends to watch home games. I would love to see the Gophers play in Duluth for convenience, for example, but attendance would drop like a bomb. This seems like a cart before horse thing. You've gotta be really good for a really long time if you want to draw people to Timbuktu.
It will always be the Vikings even if we win several consecutive national titles. The pro game is and always will be king. We need to lose the inferiority complex over it, and hope for the U to try to use having the Vikings in town as leverage, especially with NIL. We should be doing soemthing creative with the Vikings to draw players. If we were to do that, I guarantee we'd see our first five star sooner than later. I have no idea how that would work but we're really ignoring a golden goose by not trying to do something with them, especially now.
IF UCLA truly chose Foster when PJ was an option they are out of their minds stupid. I have no inside info but I would be shocked if Foster was plan A.
Another thing that factors into all of this is that hockey is huge in MN, and there's a huge hockey footprint among smaller colleges across the state. If the U was the only hockey team, I'd bet fandom would trickle outwards to other sports, including footvall. Instead, the U is a rival to most of those outstate programs and most people would rather look at the U generally as a rival if I'm UMD, Mankato, Bemidji, SCSU, etc. That might not be a major factor but I think it factors into people choosing to not follow any other U sports, because they're an opposing school. I got shit on relentlessly when I went to UMD for being a Gopher football fan just because it was the U. People don't care that it's the only D1 football program in the state, they're still the bad guy in a lot of people's eyes.
This is definitely a thing with a lot
2019 did create a ton of momentum for us among the "casual" fans. I have more friends reach out to me to talk about the Gophs now than I did before that season. 8/9 win seasons do catch peoples' eyes, it just doesn't always equate into attendance/committed fandom. I had a lot of "What the fuck is up with the Gophers?" questions last season from people who never used to care one iota. Those of us on this board are in the vast minority in terms of commitment to the team
agreed entirely. but they also know you're the person who is more hardcore (I get similar text messages from people). Has to hit a tipping point of enough of a string of those "big" types of years or winning one at some point and you will get them in the seats or more engaged. 9 win seasons will get people to check box scores (maybe), but a conference title bid would've done so so much more for this team statewide that's been title hungry for decades.
LA or Lake Minnetonka, I know which one I would choose...
Honestly I think the Madison to Milwaukee comparison to Minneapolis and Rochester is pretty legit.
Covid took away any momentum Fleck had from 2019. Let’s hope we can have another 11 win season and can take advantage of it for recruiting and fan enthusiasm.