Does anyone remember the first Gopher game at the MetroDome?

[Gold Rush]

There was a lot of excitement for that game, too as we ushered in a new era with 56,168
onlookers (including me) watching the Gophers open in the new stadium.

We pounded on Ohio U 57-3 and everyone left feeling pretty good as the new
era started off with a bang. Smokey Joe Salem was on the billboards around town with a
Rose in his teeth and I seriously thought we were going to be national contenders in the
very near future.

Well, you know the rest. After a couple more impressive victories which got us ranked in the top 20, Tim Brewster and his Illinois buddies helped give us our first loss in the Dome and it was all downhill after that. Hopefully, Brewster can help give us our first WIN in the new stadium this time around!

I guess the point is that the first game was really a meaningless blip that meant very little in the grand scheme of things years later. Whatever happens today, win or lose, it's just a small step of a large journey. I am excited to see the new stadium and it's also nice to get out of the Dome that really wasn't half the home field advantage I thought it would be. I would really like this place rocking and turning into another Austen Stadium (Oregon) that would give us a significant edge over the opponents. It all starts today, and may this new era be a helluva lot better than the last one!!!

 

[year of the gopher]

There was a lot of excitement for that game, too as we ushered in a new era with 56,168
onlookers (including me) watching the Gophers open in the new stadium.

We pounded on Ohio U 57-3 and everyone left feeling pretty good as the new
era started off with a bang. Smokey Joe Salem was on the billboards around town with a
Rose in his teeth and I seriously thought we were going to be national contenders in the
very near future.

Well, you know the rest. After a couple more impressive victories which got us ranked in the top 20, Tim Brewster and his Illinois buddies helped give us our first loss in the Dome and it was all downhill after that. Hopefully, Brewster can help give us our first WIN in the new stadium this time around!

I guess the point is that the first game was really a meaningless blip that meant very little in the grand scheme of things years later. Whatever happens today, win or lose, it's just a small step of a large journey. I am excited to see the new stadium and it's also nice to get out of the Dome that really wasn't half the home field advantage I thought it would be. I would really like this place rocking and turning into another Austen Stadium (Oregon) that would give us a significant edge over the opponents. It all starts today, and may this new era be a helluva lot better than the last one!!!

GREAT perspective on the first game. I agree, win or lose today (hopefully win), let's make the place an uncomfortable place for opponents to play.

 

[balds]

I was 9

My dad and his neighbor took a few kids from the neighborhood. It was awe inspiring to a 9 year old to see the dome for the first time. The thing I remember most vividly is my dad's station wagon breaking down on the way home from the game on Highway 13 in Burnsville and having to walk quite a ways to get to a pay phone. How times have changed.