Game Day atmosphere at TCF Bank Stadium

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My one and only complaint is a minor one. I always loved watching the student section between the third quarter with the Zombie Nation, Jump on it, and either living on a prayer or sweet caroline. The energy they showed jumping around, singing, and dancing always got me excited. The "Do the Goldy" thing was lame in my opinion.

Probably a good chance I will not have a beer in the stadium. I have enough tailgating and don't love beer enough to walk down and buy one. I sit in 105 and the band is at times hard to hear, but I can live with it. I think every year TCF gets a little bit better. Just my 2 cents.
 

gopherguy05 said:
Rupie....

You don't need any help destroying yourself over on the bucky board. Trust me, its not him, its you. In fact, any time you want to go make an ass out of your self back over there instead of over here would probably be greatly appreciated by the vast majority of us.
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Listen pal, I'm not going to get in a pissing contest with you, but if you are so inclined to accuse I would suggest you look at the posts for the last 12 months. I haven't been on there. It is your buddy Schnauzer who has been sleeping with the enemy.
 

Well I just talked a few more people into coming to the game on Saturday and bought the $25 coke deal tickets for them. I know I could have probably waited for the U to drop the price to $10 but I wanted to get these people committed to the idea that they are going whether they like it or not. If Will Call screws this up they will have soured 3 potential new fans and disapointed me again - I stood in line for 45 with 2 potential new fans waiting to get into the Air Force game. That was sad.
 

Gopherdrummer, is it true that the percussion (drums, cymbals, etc.) are the only instruments in any band that never plays a stray, off key note?

I have always wondered this.
 

Isn't there an option to print the tickets out yourself, at home? I bought an extra ticket last week and chose the option to have it "emailed" to me, where I printed it before leaving for the game and had no problems with will call. Perhaps that option isn't always avaialble?
 


Schnauzer said:
Isn't there an option to print the tickets out yourself, at home? I bought an extra ticket last week and chose the option to have it "emailed" to me, where I printed it before leaving for the game and had no problems with will call. Perhaps that option isn't always avaialble?
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If you have a mygophersports account you can reprint/transfer tickets if purchased through the site.
 

Grant said:
I stood in line for 45 with 2 potential new fans waiting to get into the Air Force game. That was sad.
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To be fair, it was the first game. There were long lines for everyone that day since nobody had done it before - fans and stadium staff alike. Bugs got ironed out quickly, IMO.
 

Dr.Don said:
Gopherdrummer, is it true that the percussion (drums, cymbals, etc.) are the only instruments in any band that never plays a stray, off key note?

I have always wondered this.
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Percussion instruments have stray notes. Off key is a stretch since they don't really have one. The stray notes I was referring to were actually cymbal crashes that the microphones would pick up during the anthem. You would hear a crash on the field, and then on the speakers. Got to the point where the cymbals couldn't play during the anthem.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
Percussion instruments have stray notes. Off key is a stretch since they don't really have one. The stray notes I was referring to were actually cymbal crashes that the microphones would pick up during the anthem. You would hear a crash on the field, and then on the speakers. Got to the point where the cymbals couldn't play during the anthem.
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Thanks, that makes sense to me.
 



In regards to National Anthem. Coach has them lined up in a straight line, helmets under arm looking at flag. Other teams are usually a blob around their sideline. A detail and discipline I like.
 

Dr.Don said:
Gopherdrummer, is it true that the percussion (drums, cymbals, etc.) are the only instruments in any band that never plays a stray, off key note?

I have always wondered this.
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Don, it's pretty easy to hide a stray note in a 300 piece band. Unless you play trombone.
 

I'm seeing a lot of chatter here about concessions and the band but, quite frankly, I'm surprised it stops there.

THE GOOD:
Looking back to the first season in the "Bank", I can say that stadium officials have done a pretty good job of rectifying many of the problems we experienced at the first few games. One of my biggest disappointments was missing the kickoff vs. Air Force because we spent about an hour in line to get into the stadium. That was unacceptable to me as I've attended games at Ohio State and Michigan, which seat twice as many fans, and walked right in. This issue seems to have been resolved. Another issue we experienced was ridiculous waits for concessions. In the first season I went out to get waters and snacks during halftime and didn't make it back to my seat until midway through the 3rd quarter and WITHOUT water because they RAN OUT. I've since stopped going to concessions because, quite honestly, I'm there to watch a game and I can do without concessions or anything else that is competing with the game. From what I've heard, the concession lines have improved as well. Are they still using calculators to tally up your bill? That's a joke.


THE BAD:
I think the number of empty seats in the stadium is still very concerning. I cringe every time I hear someone state that they will start going to the games once the team starts winning. That is such a Minnesota thing to say. Win or lose (mostly lose), I've been a loyal Gopher football fan and season ticket holder since I attended the U back in the mid-nineties. As far as I'm concerned, you're either a fan or you're not. Period. And honestly, I could care less if thin-skinned, fickle fans ever decide to start attending Gopher football games. I'd rather attend the games with 30,000 die-hard fans than 30,000 + 22,000 bandwagoners who are going to jump ship at the first sign of possible disappointment. I say let the Viking have these "fans". They deserve fans like these after holding them hostage for the past several years and threatening to leave if we didn't build them a billion $ stadium. News for you folks, the Gophers aren't going anywhere.


THE UGLY:
Here I am compelled to recycle something I submitted on a related post a few weeks ago. I had been bottling this rant up over several years of attending Gopher football games. While I agree that a great college gameday experience evolves over time and involves the traditions and pageantry you don't get with professional sports, here at Minnesota our "traditions" seem to be comprised mostly of things we've stolen from other teams over the years or marketing gimmicks like Tires Plus Tire Races, or Hormel Hotdog Rows of Fame or Subway Sandwich Guy slinging hoagies into the crowd. The number of sideshows at Gopher football games has gotten to the point where it has rendered the game virtually unwatchable. I've been to most of the BigTen stadiums for games and I can say with a high level of confidence that none of them come close to offering the level of grab-a$$ during games that we do. It's embarrassing. I can understand if you're the Saint Paul Saints and you have come to accept that the fans do not and will not ever take your team seriously, so you need the sideshows to keep them entertained through 3 hours of insufferable baseball. I would expect the University of Minnesota to have a little more dignity than that. If anyone expects Gopher football to ever return to national prominence and to be taken seriously by the rest of the conference/league, we really need to stop acting like a minor league program. Make college game days at TCF Bank Stadium less about your sponsors and more about football and let the team entertain the fans, not the Mall of America mascots running around on the sidelines or Goldy Gopher and his t-shirt cannon.


GO GOPHERS!
 

If you complain about corporate partnerships (and I mean the existence of vs. not the existence of; more vs. less is a different discussion), you forfeit your right to complain about the Gophers being bad on the field.
 



dpodoll68,

I fail to see your point. What does one have to do with the other. Most of the BigTen teams seem to be able to put an entertaining team on the field without all the marketing-related sideshows interrupting the game. Please enlighten me.


dpodoll68 said:
If you complain about corporate partnerships (and I mean the existence of vs. not the existence of; more vs. less is a different discussion), you forfeit your right to complain about the Gophers being bad on the field.
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hoialmen said:
I fail to see your point. What does one have to do with the other. Most of the BigTen teams seem to be able to put an entertaining team on the field without all the marketing-related sideshows interrupting the game. Please enlighten me.
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Most of the other Big Ten teams make more money from football than Minnesota does. If you want Minnesota to remain competitive in all of the things that affect a football program's quality (recruiting, strength/fitness training, marketing, etc.) you have to be understanding of their attempts to close that gap somehow. Minnesota isn't going to pull from its general fund to up its recruiting budget or its salaries for strength coaches. They don't sell marketing opportunities just for funsies and/or to piss you off.
 

MNfootballfan said:
My one and only complaint is a minor one. I always loved watching the student section between the third quarter with the Zombie Nation, Jump on it, and either living on a prayer or sweet caroline. The energy they showed jumping around, singing, and dancing always got me excited. The "Do the Goldy" thing was lame in my opinion.

Probably a good chance I will not have a beer in the stadium. I have enough tailgating and don't love beer enough to walk down and buy one. I sit in 105 and the band is at times hard to hear, but I can live with it. I think every year TCF gets a little bit better. Just my 2 cents.
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Enjoyed the "Jump Around" too but it's possible they just got tired of all the complaining about how they "stole" the idea from Wisconsin. People use to roar when the Caddyshack "Gopher" was shown at the Dome. Maybe they just want to do something that is completely "Gopher".
 

OK, first of all, I never suggested that Minnesota should do away with their corporate partnerships. I'm not a smart guy but even I know that they are a necessary evil and every BigTen program has them. Hell, our entire stadium is a giant billboard and, to the best of my knowledge, the only corporate-named stadium in the conference. So, in terms of selling ad space throughout the stadium, I have no problem with that and, as a fan, I'll gladly accept the advertising revenue to help fund and improve the program. And that certainly doesn't "piss me off".

Now, back to what I DID say. My gripe with the gameday environment at TCF Bank Stadium (the topic of this thread) is that the University and stadium officials allow their marketing gimmicks and sideshows to become a distraction and interfere with gameplay. I can't tell you how many times the officials have had to wait for a bunch of marketing goofballs to clear their crap off the field so that gameplay could resume. AS a football fan who paid good money to see the GAME, that DOES piss me off. But this has nothing to do with the existence of corporate partnerships and everything to do with the University's approach to managing them. And, while I'll agree with you (only to a certain extent) that our corporate partnerships are necessary for us to remain competitive, I assure you that there are other programs in the BigTen (Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern to name a few) that face the same challenges and somehow manage to entertain their fans with football and keep the grab-a$$ off the field.


dpodoll68 said:
Most of the other Big Ten teams make more money from football than Minnesota does. If you want Minnesota to remain competitive in all of the things that affect a football program's quality (recruiting, strength/fitness training, marketing, etc.) you have to be understanding of their attempts to close that gap somehow. Minnesota isn't going to pull from its general fund to up its recruiting budget or its salaries for strength coaches. They don't sell marketing opportunities just for funsies and/or to piss you off.
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Iceland12 said:
Enjoyed the "Jump Around" too but it's possible they just got tired of all the complaining about how they "stole" the idea from Wisconsin. People use to roar when the Caddyshack "Gopher" was shown at the Dome. Maybe they just want to do something that is completely "Gopher".
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I have been to every game at TCF but one, and I don't think they ever played Jump Around. Wisconsin plays Jumps Around, we played Jump On It.
 


MNfootballfan said:
I have been to every game at TCF but one, and I don't think they ever played Jump Around. Wisconsin plays Jumps Around, we played Jump On It.
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They played Jump Around when Wisconsin came here at least once. Both sidelines were creeping onto the field doing it along with the entire student section.
 

Didn't think about printing on line via my gopher account. May look into seeing if I can still do it. However another question has come up. The trio that I talked into going (all u grads who have never been to tcf) have now decided that they can't arrive until noon. Anybody know how long will call stays open? Positive is the wait should be under an hour by then. Thanks!
 

So they want to get there for half time? Get there at noon for an 11:00 AM kick off? Yikes. I would guess that will call would be staffed for the entire game but that is just a guess. I gotta be honest. If someone told me they wanted to arrive at a game around half time (assuming they will want to leave early to beat the traffic too), I'd tell them they are on their own.
 

My group will be there at 8am. These are 3 friends who are recent u grads who I talked into trying a game. They are football fans but not really gopher fans. Anyway 2nd quarter will be starting at noon. As for will call, I never underestimate the stupidity of gopher gameday operations.
 

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