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Gopherchase

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Sorry if it’s a dumb question but has the cannon post TDs been gone for awhile? Gone now get some small fireworks after each score instead.
 

Gone for a long time.

I’m not sure if it even made it to TCF… if it did it wasn’t long.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Gone for a long time.

I’m not sure if it even made it to TCF… if it did it wasn’t long.
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It did, but I heard it was a booster or influential alum or something who pushed for it at the games and owned the canon. He passed and his family didn't continue it I believe....
 

Taji34 said:
It did, but I heard it was a booster or influential alum or something who pushed for it at the games and owned the canon. He passed and his family didn't continue it I believe....
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The Cannon Man was Rod Wallace. He passed in 2017. His claim to fame was that he owned the Thunderbird Motel in East Bloomington
 









I also noticed it was missing last night watching the game. I didn't realize it was missing since 2017. Is there 3,200 GopherHole members? $5 each....We can donate it to the school.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
This is correct.
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I was on the board of the Goal Line Club at the time. Rod Wallace was in that club for many years and he donated the cannon from the Minnetonka Yacht Club if memory serves. The cannon was not something that the University wanted at the games for insurance and other reasons, so it was cancelled before Rod passed. His family had nothing to do with why we don’t have the cannon anymore. Incidentally, the cannon was suggested by the Goal Line Club back in the Dome as a means to try to reinstate some old traditions. If you recall, the ROTC used to fire a cannon in front of Cook Hall in the good old days of Memorial Stadium.
 

Gopherchase said:
Sorry if it’s a dumb question but has the cannon post TDs been gone for awhile? Gone now get some small fireworks after each score instead.
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Gone for quite some time, and I don't miss it one bit. It made absolutely zero sense and was completely out of place.

The people on the sidelines all breathed a collective sigh of relief when that thing went away. More than once it was "shot" with people in close proximity directly in front of the barrel.

The pyrotechnics are fine, plus considerably more reliable. Cannon Man was good for 1 or 2 duds a game, or shooting the thing at the wrong time.
 

Gopher417 said:
I also noticed it was missing last night watching the game. I didn't realize it was missing since 2017. Is there 3,200 GopherHole members? $5 each....We can donate it to the school.
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It's been missing longer, I was in the marching band from 2013 to 2017 and it was gone that whole time.
 



DarthGopher is correct. I don’t miss the cannon and it misfired a lot. In my opinion… it was dumb. I don’t remember the exact year that they retired it but it has been gone a LONG time.
 

This is why you don't do that (stolen from reddit):

www.johnsoncitypress.com

ETSU rolls to win over Mars Hill in Quarles debut

Getting big plays in all three phases of the game, the George Quarles era of East Tennessee State football got off to a rousing start Thursday night.
www.johnsoncitypress.com www.johnsoncitypress.com

>Saylors broke free on a 40-yard gallop down the left sideline on the Bucs’ first drive. The cannon used to celebrate was fired early on the extra-point attempt, which caused a miss.
 

Taji34 said:
It's been missing longer, I was in the marching band from 2013 to 2017 and it was gone that whole time.
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Oh wow. Then I guess I must be having memories of the Vikings cannon crossing over. For some reason I was waiting for it to go off last night.
 

Gopher417 said:
Oh wow. Then I guess I must be having memories of the Vikings cannon crossing over. For some reason I was waiting for it to go off last night.
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At one point I remember being confused if it was the Vikings cannon or Gophers and they both just used the same or ... wut?

I like the fireworks better.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
At one point I remember being confused if it was the Vikings cannon or Gophers and they both just used the same or ... wut?

I like the fireworks better.
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Yeah Fireworks work too. The cannon was nice becuase it's identifiable sound to the people watching on TV. They dont show the fireworks on the TV broadcast. Maybe they should add salutes to the fireworks. I am think ONE per score and maybe 5-10 for a win.
 


Gopher417 said:
Yeah Fireworks work too. The cannon was nice becuase it's identifiable sound to the people watching on TV. They dont show the fireworks on the TV broadcast. Maybe they should add salutes to the fireworks. I am think ONE per score and maybe 5-10 for a win.
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The pyrotechnics include salutes and crackles. They are shot out of dedicated turrets at the top of the stadium stage left of either end zone (as you would be standing in the end zone looking out over the field). One set per TD on the side they score. At the end of a win, they fire multiples (it is either 2 or 3 rounds) out of both locations.

Nothing obnoxious and a nice touch imho, and I'm not all that big a fan of pyrotechnics normally.
 

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