Reusse: That buzz you hear? Must be mosquitoes, not interest in Gophers

dpodo do you really want to compare what has more fans growing up in their state, Wisc or Minn? I am a huge gopher fan but even I am not that much of a kool aid drinker.
 

dpodo do you really want to compare what has more fans growing up in their state, Wisc or Minn?

That's not even part of the conversation. What does that have to do with anything?

What a random non-sequitur.

Do you really want to compare which compound has more oxygen, carbon dioxide or water?

I am a huge gopher fan

(Stifling laughter.)
 






Wow. Just wow.

I wonder if he knows that not everyone in the world is a front-running bangwagon-jumper.

Oh- and by the way, Brew hasn't done anything resembling "bloviating" in years. Way to stay in touch.

That punk Mackey is what's wrong with "Sports Radio." Taking his cues from Fatrick. I had hopes for ESPN1500, but will never listen again.
 

I grew up in Wisconsin. Was the biggest Badger fan ever. It got pounded in my head to love everything Badgers and Packers. Remember watching the 98/99 Rose Bowls like it was yesterday. I got accepted to both the U and Madison. I chose the U. It was hard because I loved going to Badgers games growing up and saw how much fun they were, and always dreamed of being in that student section one day doing all those chants and cheers. When I was a freshman, I rooted for the Gophers, but also rooted for the Badgers. When Rheis Lloyd made the FG in 03 I was happy. I wanted the Gophers to win. It took me a couple years to fully hate the Badgers. The dropped punt in 05 put me over the edge. I had friends from Madison visiting, and all the crap they talked about making fun of the Gophers and our program after that game made me swear to myself to never even for a split second cheer or root for anything University of Wisconsin. I hate them. I hate Red. I hate Beliema. I hate Bo Ryan. I hate their Hockey program. I hate their rowing team. I hate their club equestrian team.

So I can see where it takes time for some of the students that go to the U from Wisconsin to truly love the Gophers and root against Wisconsin. However, I do know and have met some students (mostly girls, dunno why?) that will always love the Badgers more. That makes me sick. But I'll be lucky to find any students that attend Madison that are from Minnesota, that still show their true allegiance to Minnesota. They go to that first Badgers football game, and they're hooked. For some reason, when I chose the U, I thought that maybe I could help change the atmosphere at Gopher Football games to be more fun and the "thing to do" on campus in the fall. Gopher Basketball and going to the Barn in the winter has reached that point IMO. Everyone has fun. It's the thing to do. Students have a great time. The Barnyard is getting crazy again like I heard it was in the 90's. I naively thought I could help change the student section and atmosphere at football games when I attended the U. It sucks that me and my buddies could sit around and come up with 10 ideas off the top of our heads that could improve Gamedays at football games, but the whole marketing department at the U (where this is their full time jobs), collectively can't come up with anything. But hopefully with the new stadium, and a few more wins, the atmosphere and gamedays will change in Dinkytown and Stadium Village on fall saturdays at the U. Hopefully the base of young alumni that have graduated in the past 5-7 years, can lead the charge of a loyal alumni base for decades to come. I know I'll be one.




/End of rant


And oh yeah, I still bleed Green and Gold :D
 

A bit on Wisconsin students at the U of M.

These numbers are from 2006 (couldn't find anything newer in a quick search). In that year, there were 5,745 Wisconsin residents at the U of M. There were about 11,600 Wisconsin students who attended any Minnesota public school.

Going the other direction, there were 3,082 Minnesotans going to UW-Madison. Overall there were about 13,600 Minnesotans going to any school.

The biggest difference between the two is that there are more schools other than Madison that Minnesotans choose. There were more than 2,000 Minnesotans at Eau Claire, River Falls and Stout. Going the other direction, Winona State is the only other Minnesota school that attracted more than 1,000 Wisconsinites.

Link:
http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=1405
 



The biggest difference between the two is that there are more schools other than Madison that Minnesotans choose. There were more than 2,000 Minnesotans at Eau Claire, River Falls and Stout. Going the other direction, Winona State is the only other Minnesota school that attracted more than 1,000 Wisconsinites.

UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout are all pretty close to the Twin Cities, that might account for their popularity with Minnesotans. For both sides of the border, the closest to the home state, the more people are crossing the border. UMD has 962 students from Wisconsin, Bemidji has
67. Moorhead has still less.
 

I don't think it is so much that they are hooked at their first football game. It's something quite different. At most schools, if you attend school X, but root for team Y, the rival of team X, you are going to be SHUNNED. Not here. Too much Minnesota nice for that.
 

I grew up in Wisconsin. Was the biggest Badger fan ever. It got pounded in my head to love everything Badgers and Packers.

This is the main difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, you are brought up to love both teams unconditionally. In Minnesota, you are considered "uncool" if you support the Gophers. This is the paradigm that needs to change.
 

This is the main difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, you are brought up to love both teams unconditionally. In Minnesota, you are considered "uncool" if you support the Gophers. This is the paradigm that needs to change.

I teach at a large suburban high school. Although I see more gopher apparel than anything else, badger apparel comes in a close second. The badger fans are more vocal than the gopher fans. It seems that going to Madison is the "cool" thing to do vs. going to the U. I do think, though, that with the help of some big wins, the culture could be changing in the right direction.
 



we shall see what happens after #4 quits, the teams better players scatter due to the pending labor disaster and so on. I predict the vikings will do well this year but next year could be the beginning of a long slump. The Twins face the same issues... The bottom line is we need to win more games and blow to pieces the obviously inferior teams. By the way, where are all the dorks that were begging for a more attractive and tougher schedule?
 

We are in the last few days of the "season where wins and losses don't really matter". In the real season it becomes really hard to watch your favorite team lose games, sometimes by ugly scores. In the real season wins are very good, losses are very bad.
 

interesting topic.
my 2cents.
my father is one of these U sports hater..
he is proud of everything about the state.. a life long resident... quality of life, low crime, unions, etc...
he hates U sports because they cannot complete in hoops or football nationally... but the South can.
by dismissing U sports, he dismisses the Southern dominance of 'Sota... and hence, the South.. which he hates.

Me?
Give TCF a few more years..
i went 3x last year.. loved it! I plan on at least 3x this year... vs once in the past 20 years (the Michigan meltdown).
a perfect way to spend a Saturday in Sept / Oct...
 

This is the main difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, you are brought up to love both teams unconditionally. In Minnesota, you are considered "uncool" if you support the Gophers. This is the paradigm that needs to change.

Beating the Badgers on a regular basis would change that.
 

This is the main difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, you are brought up to love both teams unconditionally. In Minnesota, you are considered "uncool" if you support the Gophers. This is the paradigm that needs to change.
I don't think that's why people think you're uncool.
 

interesting topic.
my 2cents.
my father is one of these U sports hater..
he is proud of everything about the state.. a life long resident... quality of life, low crime, unions, etc...
he hates U sports because they cannot complete in hoops or football nationally... but the South can.
by dismissing U sports, he dismisses the Southern dominance of 'Sota... and hence, the South.. which he hates.

It's hard for one school to compete with an entire region. The average southern team loses about as many games as it wins, after all.
 




Top Bottom