Gopher football

[Gophergrandpa]

disco is right, Columbus is in fact the largest city in Ohio, verified by the Google

Columbus metro area is about 2,200,000. Not a little a college town by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[W404613]

The multiple decades of neglect at the top to nurture revenue sports did long-lasting damage to the potential fan base for the Gophers. Couple this with the arrival of the Vikings, and then the greater professional sports teams all eating into the disposable income pie, combined to probably make the potential Gophers fan base smaller than it should be.

This for sure!!!

But I still think the University of MN doesn't embrace athletics like the big-time helmet schools. The lack of support from the University is what I think holds this program back. That's not me saying this program can never get 'there' whatever 'there' looks like. However, the University adds an unnecessary hurdle that I don't think you get in Columbus, or Athens, or Ann Arbor, or heck even Madison and Iowa City.

Here's an example. I believe the tailgate lots open at 2PM tomorrow for a 7PM kickoff. If this was a Saturday evening game, the lots would open at 1PM. I'm not going to cry over spilt milk (in this case I'm not complaining about not having an extra hour to tailgate). But, that's one of those little drops in the bucket from the University that does add up in my humble opinion. My group is traveling to Eugune for that Friday night game in Oregon. They don't have the same restriction that day. I get there's probably logistical reasons why the lots open at 2 instead of 1. But I think at Universities where they understand the importance of Athletics, they just shut the academics down for a day (within reason).

Mason was on KFAN yesterday talking about the financial ripple Indiana is benefiting from right now. I just don't think the University will ever recognize the importance athletics has on the campus. Won't change my love for the Gophers, I've grown to accept it now.

Go Gophers!

 

[DEGopher]

Will anyone be able to?

Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan (probably), Georgia, USC, Oregon. These schools because they have NIL budgets around $30MM / year. Texas actually has about the same budget as OhSt ($35MM), they put a lot of eggs in the Arch Manning basket.

Revenue sharing will be interesting. It will show up next season. I think it will have an inflationary effect between schools in B1G and SEC, but everyone will be left behind. Probably won’t shift the Gophers place within the B1G, but it will give us an advantage over every team outside the B1G and SEC.