How do we honor the past in the new stadium?

[re3886]

This University has 6 National Championships in football. I know many young people who have never heard this. At the dome it was hard to see the banners on the front of the luxury boxes, unless the place was empty. We need to bring our history to the fore front. I would like some relative or player to hold a flag with the year and National Champions on it, and have it a part of the gauntlet the players run though on to the field. Instill some honor and pride in the past. I know all of them were from a long time ago, but they still happened. Let's revel in them not ignore them. I would like to hear some thoughts on this.

 

[BleedGopher]

Great topic. I am a firm believer in the importance of honoring the past. And, unfortunately the U does a very poor job with this. One good thing is that Brewster immediately jumped on the importance of our history, has consistently touted the importance of our 6 national championships, has engaged the likes of Bobby Bell, Judge Dickson, Murray Warmath, etc.

I hope we have an on-site Gopher football HOF. I know we have this at Gibson-Nagurski, but very few people get down there to enjoy it so hopefully this is part of the plan at TCF Bank Stadium. Ideally we'd have statues of Nagurski, Bruce Smith, Warmath, Bell, etc. although that can get costly.

We should prominently display flags of our national championships and honor the many All-American's we have had in our program.

Go Gophers!!

 

[maroonfive]

There is plenty of room

for statues to ring the stadium.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ski U Master]

Brewster said a while ago (maybe a year) that there will be flags to honor each B10 team and a flag/banner for each nat'l championsip. I hope that's still the plan!

 

[GoAUpher]

I hope we have an on-site Gopher football HOF. I know we have this at Gibson-Nagurski, but very few people get down there to enjoy it so hopefully this is part of the plan at TCF Bank Stadium. Ideally we'd have statues of Nagurski, Bruce Smith, Warmath, Bell, etc. although that can get costly.

There will be a HOF, it is in the same corner of the stadium as the team store (open end of the bowl press box side). It will be open whenever the store is open (or so I was told) but on my tour they said that it may not be accessible on gamedays because the entrance to the HOF is the same doors that the suite/club level folks enter in.

To my knowledge there are not any immediate plans for statues.

 

[Schnoodler]

Hopefully we'll get a great big huge screen where maybe we could show short clips about the past greats. that would be great. how will we ever get such a thing?

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

There will be a HOF, it is in the same corner of the stadium as the team store (open end of the bowl press box side). It will be open whenever the store is open (or so I was told) but on my tour they said that it may not be accessible on gamedays because the entrance to the HOF is the same doors that the suite/club level folks enter in.

To my knowledge there are not any immediate plans for statues.

GoAUpher - this is not directed at you personally, but you have to be f-ing joking right?! what einstein came up with that plan if in fact your statement is accurate? they need to figure out a way that the gopher football Hall of Fame is always open on game days when gopher and opposing fans are in the stadium. not having it open on game days because it shares part of a common entrance with the suite/club level would be absolutely ri-f-ing-dic-u-lous!!

i hope whoever told you that is wrong.

 

[DL65]

My Two Cents . . .

I'd like to see a large statue of football player(s) in action atop a large base, which would have the years of the national championships (large numbers) listed on the base. The monument would be outside the stadium on a plaza as a focal point. Lights would illuminate the monument at night.

The statue would be selected from the creations/submittals of art students, faculty, alumni, etc. It should be representative and recognizable and not ultra-modern. Also engaged in the important project would be students, faculty, alumni, etc. of the U's Landscape Architecture Department. The stadium and statue must be complementary and aesthetically pleasing. It's important to have both disciplines involved in the project.

Although the statue would be honoring and recognizing the six national championship teams, the statue should be representative and honor all the football players that have donned the maroon and gold uniform.

Those are my thoughts, FWIW.

Go Gophers!!

 

[mggoph]

I too think there should be bronze statues of a few former greats (i.e. Bierman, Bronko, etc.) out on the plaza. Another thought I had would be bronze statues of each of the trophies that we play for, maybe in the HOF. As always, the hard part will be figuring out how to pay for all of this.

 

[mnboiler]

I agree with all of you that the Athletics Department needs to honor the past in some way. I think a statue of about 4 generic players(meaning you couldn't say hey that is Bronko or that Bruce Smith) honoring the evolution of Minnesota football with a simple inscription like "For those who have ever worn the Maroon and Gold, Thank You". IMO it would fit really great in the open ended plaza behind the scoreboard have the players walk past it during the Gopher walk, do all the fun marketing stuff.

Then after that you could put a FEW statues around the stadium honoring the greats. I will say they will need very careful on who they choose to immortalize because nothing is worse than a too many statues or what ever it lowers the meaning. Coming up with a certain criteria to be able to be considered for a statue would be good too. I would simply recommend at each game have 20 flags flying USA, Minnesota, POW-MIA, the eleven Big Ten flags and one flag for each of the 6 NC's and make them big so those outside can see them.

GoAUpher you are right on have the HOF closed on game day that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. That is when you get the most traffic. If they do close it for game day is says to the average fan you are less important than these high level donor(well even have suites say that but needs it own thread). Think about it you are bring you 5 year old son to his first game you show him the HOF, Smith's Heismen Trophey, 6 NC trophey's, etc. then walk over to the connected team store and buy him his first "real" Gopher jersey. Then you go to your seats and teach him about the game and the day ends with the Gopher's running over to the Michigan sideline to talk back the Little Brown Jug. What could be better than that.

 

[grunkiejr]

I agree with all of you that the Athletics Department needs to honor the past in some way. I think a statue of about 4 generic players(meaning you could say hey that is Bronko or that Bruce Smith) honoring the evolution of Minnesota football with a simple inscription like "For those who have ever worn the Maroon and Gold, Thank You". IMO it would fit really great in the open ended plaza behind the scoreboard have the players walk past it during the Gopher walk, do all the fun marketing stuff.

Then after that you could put a FEW statues around the stadium honoring the greats. I will say they will need very careful on who they choose to immortalize because nothing is worse than a too many statues or what ever is lowers the meaning. Coming up with a certain criteria to be able to be considered for a statue would be good too. I would simply recommend at each game have 20 flags flying USA, Minnesota, POW-MIA, the eleven Big Ten flags and one flag for each of the 6 NC's and make them big so those outside can see them.

GoAUpher you are right on have the HOF closed on game day that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. That is when you get the most traffic. If they do close it for game day is says to the average fan you are less important than these high level donor(well even have suites say that but needs it own thread). Think about it you are bring you 5 year old son to his first game you show him the HOF, Smith's Heismen Trophey, 6 NC trophey's, etc. then walk over to the connected team store and buy him his first "real" Gopher jersey. Then you go to your seats and teach him about the game and the day ends with the Gopher's running over to the Michigan sideline to talk back the Little Brown Jug. What could be better than that.

If by 11 Big Ten flags you mean flags for all 18 Big Ten Championships I agree. I don't care about waving a flag for Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc as much as I would like to immortalize the players that wore maroon and gold and won Big Ten championships at the University of Minnesota.

 

[GoAUpher]

Well, I got the info from Phil Esten on my tour...It didn't sound like it was completely final, but it was the word I got as of last October. It was hard to tell how things would come together because that part of the stadium was a little less "together" than other interior areas at the time I took my tour.

If you take a look at the "Premium Lobby" virtual tour (http://stadium.gophersports.com/multi_virtual_tours.html) you'll see what I'm talking about. Both the "M Club" (for U letterwinners) and the Hall of Fame have doors that are behind the premium area. When you watch the virtual tour the doors that are straight ahead of you once you've gone through the premium seating entrance are doors to the HOF (its a little hard to read but you can make out the words "Gopher Sports Hall of Fame"). Will that be the only HOF entrance? That I don't know. As I think it through a bit I realize that I think I'm wrong about the store entrance...it should have its own entrance. So maybe the HOF will be connected to the store? I don't know. It would be easier to tell with a copy of the schematics. I have to figure out where I saved the ones that were on Gophersports.com. The one's they have up now can't be enlarged (see link: http://www.gophersports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?SPSID=38605&SPID=3280&DB_OEM_ID=8400&PALBID=7020). I'll edit the post and add the big versions once I find them.

I sure hope I'm wrong and there is an additional entrance besides the one in the premium section.

 

[mnboiler]

Sorry GrunkieJr but we are going to have to disagree on this on. I think TCF should have the colors of all 11 Big Ten teams flying. Looking at other Big Ten Stadiums I was basically able to confirm that Ohio Stadium, Beaver Stadium, Michigan Stadium, Spartan Stadium, Ross-Ade Stadium, and Memorial Stadium(UI style) all have the colors of the other Big Ten teams flying. I also think that Northwestern does and Iowa does but I could be wrong-if some knows that these are either true or false please chime in. I'm not sure about IU or UW and really didn't check on the Dome because the Gophers no longer play there . Overall I think it is a classy touch and something simple that can really add to TCF. Personally I would put them on 11 flag poles equally spaced on the side across from the press box. As for the 6 NC banners put them on really tall poles on the closed end and have huge pennants/flags flying almost so big they are overkill.

As for the 18 Big Ten Championships there are many other places to honor those and other parts of the tradition that is Minnesota football. One thing place that should be used is the space between the outer columns of the prominade and the outside wall of the stadium itself. Large banners with a team photo and something like "1900 Big Ten Champions" would look really nice and use a space that wouldn't be used otherwise. Also looking at the fly though it looks like there is quite a bit of room between the upper seating bowl and the concourse that could be used. Just some ideas that I could come up with off the top of my head to honor the past greats of Gopher football.

 

[MrGopher]

Sorry GrunkieJr but we are going to have to disagree on this on. I think TCF should have the colors of all 11 Big Ten teams flying. Looking at other Big Ten Stadiums I was basically able to confirm that Ohio Stadium, Beaver Stadium, Michigan Stadium, Spartan Stadium, Ross-Ade Stadium, and Memorial Stadium(UI style) all have the colors of the other Big Ten teams flying. I also think that Northwestern does and Iowa does but I could be wrong-if some knows that these are either true or false please chime in. I'm not sure about IU or UW and really didn't check on the Dome because the Gophers no longer play there . Overall I think it is a classy touch and something simple that can really add to TCF. Personally I would put them on 11 flag poles equally spaced on the side across from the press box. As for the 6 NC banners put them on really tall poles on the closed end and have huge pennants/flags flying almost so big they are overkill.

As for the 18 Big Ten Championships there are many other places to honor those and other parts of the tradition that is Minnesota football. One thing place that should be used is the space between the outer columns of the prominade and the outside wall of the stadium itself. Large banners with a team photo and something like "1900 Big Ten Champions" would look really nice and use a space that wouldn't be used otherwise. Also looking at the fly though it looks like there is quite a bit of room between the upper seating bowl and the concourse that could be used. Just some ideas that I could come up with off the top of my head to honor the past greats of Gopher football.

I completely agree with just about all of this!! This guy has the right idea. Of course we should have flags for all the big ten teams! And I love this idea of the big ten champs banners.
The only thing i would change is that I think the National Championship Banners should fly on the open end of the stadium, so that just about everyone inside can see them the entire game. Also it would be nice if they were visible to the traffic going through the university.

I also think it would be spectacular if we introduced (commemmorated) these national champs banners during the first big ten game. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact that wisconsin is the opponent, and that they don't have any Ntnl. Champs, wink, wink!

 

[mnboiler]

MrGopher you are right open end would be a much better place. Prehaps have the poles tall enough so they can be seen over the new scoreboard. Insane huge banners with just the year on them. On the other side of the scoreboard have the generic statue with the four players or what ever. Then raise the flags at the Gopher Walk as the team walks by. That would be pretty cool. Just thoughing it out there.

Just remember to plan for #7

 

[GoGophers2005]

From what I have seen the only flags are going to be for the Big Ten teams (which will be up high on the stadium across from the suites and press box side) and then large flagpoles for the American flag and the MIA flag which will be located in the open end in front of the veterans memorial.
I believe they are going to be putting in quite a bit of the 'mural' stuff similar to what they have done in Mariucci Arena(the all americans). The student section end will have the widest concourse and I believe this is where the majority of these murals will be located. They will but above the concessions.
There will be no statues at the opening of the stadium.

Not quite sure how they are going to celebrate the retired numbers. I believe these are important and should be out in the seating bowl somewhere. If Williams Arena has huge 'awkward' looking posters of the men's basketball team retired numbers (6 in total) how on Earth cannot the football team get similar treatment with a much much glorious past with only 4 in total? Even better question is how can the women's bb team have just as many retired numbers as the football team? Something doesn't add up.

 

[at the bar]

Won't have statues on plaza

There will be no room for honoring any MN football past on the open end of the stadium on the plaza because that is where the Mystic Lake teepee and other Indian stuff will be. That area will be a giant ad for Mistake Lake. A MN run casino would bring in enough $ to build stadiums and fund other good causes but we don't want to expand gambing in our pure state.

 

[GoAUpher]

There will be no room for honoring any MN football past on the open end of the stadium on the plaza because that is where the Mystic Lake teepee and other Indian stuff will be. That area will be a giant ad for Mistake Lake. A MN run casino would bring in enough $ to build stadiums and fund other good causes but we don't want to expand gambing in our pure state.

And what teepee would you be referring to? Others can feel free to correct me, but I don't recall any teepee in the plans. The area will NOT be a giant ad for Mystic Lake (see links from MPR: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/10/19/stadmoney/ and the U: http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/NS_details.php?release=071019_3591&page=NS). Do you have any idea how much trouble the U would get into with the NCAA if they allowed gambling to be promoted? There won't be any gambling ads. The key quote is "build a plaza that will exhibit and celebrate the history, presence and cultural contributions of American Indian tribes in Minnesota."

I've attached one of the TCF renderings that I've edited. See the green space that I've circled? That's the Shakopee Mdewakanton plaza.

Putting your nonsense aside, your overall point about there not being statues in that area is probably correct. As part of the conditions of the $10 million dollar gift the U received, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) have some significant control over the plaza's design. How much control and how far the "plaza" they have input on extends I do not know. But I suspect that statues of former U players won't be placed on any section of the SMSC plaza.

 

[at the bar]

If the circled green area is the only area the tribe purchased then there would be plently of room for statues and others items to honor MN football past. While there may not be a Mystic Lake ad on the plaza, the indian stuff has nothing to do with MN football and will look totaling out of place to me. I'd rather have a Mystic Lake ad in the stadium next to the Coke, Best Buy, Bank, and other ads than have the indian plaza but that's just me. Hopefully it won't be too big.

 

[DiehardGopher]

this is how we honor the past each and every home game - Show a video of the destruction of the metrodome on every screen in the place!
Ps I know that they will not blow up the metrodome, at least not entirely, but it would still be cool. CGI is amazing these days!

 

[GoAUpher]

If the circled green area is the only area the tribe purchased then there would be plently of room for statues and others items to honor MN football past. While there may not be a Mystic Lake ad on the plaza, the indian stuff has nothing to do with MN football and will look totaling out of place to me. I'd rather have a Mystic Lake ad in the stadium next to the Coke, Best Buy, Bank, and other ads than have the indian plaza but that's just me. Hopefully it won't be too big.

I can't say for sure if this is the whole area of the SMSC plaza...that section was what was pointed out to me on my tour.

 

[Maximus]

If the circled green area is the only area the tribe purchased then there would be plently of room for statues and others items to honor MN football past. While there may not be a Mystic Lake ad on the plaza, the indian stuff has nothing to do with MN football and will look totaling out of place to me. I'd rather have a Mystic Lake ad in the stadium next to the Coke, Best Buy, Bank, and other ads than have the indian plaza but that's just me. Hopefully it won't be too big.

Feel free to whip out your check book....remember the seven zeroes after the one and then you can complain about what the Mdewakanton have planned. I on the other hand am grateful for their gift.

 

[GoAUpher]

Feel free to whip out your check book....remember the seven zeroes after the one and then you can complain about what the Mdewakanton have planned. I on the other hand am grateful for their gift.

Exactly. Largest private gift to the Athletic Dept ever.

 

[FarmGopher]

Here's a link to some info on the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza.

U Article: http://www.ur.umn.edu:16080/uns-archive/view.php?id=5025

Pictures: http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/photos/tribal_nations_plaza.html

I think the plaza looks good, not over the top by any means. Much better than a "Sprint Moble to Moble Plan Plaza - Now with Rollover"

GO GOPHERS!

 

[FarmGopher]

I think that on the bottom lip of the upper deck (the part that the LCD ribbon is attached to) in the each corners of the stadium should have sign with one of the 4 retired players' "Face - Last Name - Number" painted in maroon and gold, and in the middle of the student section should say "University of Minnesota", "GOLDEN GOPHERS" or both, in big maroon and gold letters.

 

[GoAUpher]

Here's a link to some info on the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza.

U Article: http://www.ur.umn.edu:16080/uns-archive/view.php?id=5025

Pictures: http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/photos/tribal_nations_plaza.html

I think the plaza looks good, not over the top by any means. Much better than a "Sprint Moble to Moble Plan Plaza - Now with Rollover"

GO GOPHERS!

I've edited the model image of TCF to include what I think will be the location of the sky markers (see red line). I believe that will be their approximate location based on the pictures FarmGopher linked to. In those images the markers appear in a line right in front of steps and you can clearly see the curve of the field area. It looks like space on the entire open end will be part of the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza.

I also think that this will likely be a pretty classy design.

 

[mnboiler]

Having a face would be a bad idea. It would just look really cultered and not clear. Just having the last year and the number would be much better.

I agree with you on having something saying like "University of Minnesota" or "Golden Gophers" but then add "Ring of Honor" or "Ring of Fame" or something along with those lines.

Also if there are 11 18 foot towers those are really going to dominate the plaza to the point that the Veterans Memorial Area won't even be noticable. Now when the Mdewakanton added 7 zero's to that check they for sure bought a large area and they should be honored for ther donations. But IMO the athletics department almost gave away so much that they lost out on potential to honor the history of Gopher football. But that is just after I looked at the designs quickly.

 

[GoAUpher]

I took a closer look at the design sketch in the final image linked to by FarmGopher and I think I have an even better sense of where everything comes together. In the 1st image I attached below the red box encompasses the 11 sky markers (the 11 small circles in the steps). In image #2, the green box encompasses what appears to be all the elements of the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza.

Also if there are 11 18 foot towers those are really going to dominate the plaza to the point that the Veterans Memorial Area won't even be noticable. Now when the Mdewakanton added 7 zero's to that check they diffently bought a large area and they should be honored for ther donations. But IMO the athletics department almost gave away so much that they lost out on potential to honor the history of Gopher football. But that is just after I looked at the designs quickly.

I don’t disagree that the U may have given up than they could have (or should have?). It’s what concerned me about the deal when it was first reported. But what I like about the design is that the markers will be glass as opposed to something opaque like concrete. I wish they weren’t as tall as they are, but I still think it will look classy overall.

 

[mnboiler]

I've edited the model image of TCF to include what I think will be the location of the sky markers (see red line). I believe that will be their approximate location based on the pictures FarmGopher linked to. In those images the markers appear in a line right in front of steps and you can clearly see the curve of the field area. It looks like space on the entire open end will be part of the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza.

I also think that this will likely be a pretty classy design.

GoAUpgher, I agree with you on the locations of the poles in your second post. I think you are dead on also with the entire plaza too.

Also if you look at the rendering you can clearly see 11 flags poles across from the pressbox which leads me to think that they are for the Big Ten teams.

 

[Foster]

I would like to see some type of wall with the names of all the All Americans and All Big 10 players from the U. I like the idea of honoring Bronko, Smith, Bierman, etc but it would be cool to see the names of all of the other players that we may not know of. Not to mention they would be able to come back and see their names on the wall next to all of the greats. Just a show of appreciation to what they did, even if it wasn't on such a larger national scale.

The idea of the trophies would be cool too. Maybe have a replica of each trophy with a history of how it began.

They are selling bricks for $1,000 to put your name on them but I would like to be able to get one for $100 or something reasonable. Maybe a plate to put on a brick around the entrances with your names on it for $50. Would be an easy way to make money for the school and would not have to ruin the look of the stadium.