Reusses: Gophers briefly knocked Vikings off Minnesota sports perch

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Pat:

The Gophers upset Auburn 31-24 in the Outback Bowl last Wednesday to conclude an 11-2 season. This made P.J. Fleck’s football team the talk of our sports scene for 72 hours.

Then, the Vikings went into the Superdome in Sunday’s playoff game, upset New Orleans 26-20 in overtime, and the Purple presence as the sports king of Minnesota was restored.

The Vikings are in San Francisco on Saturday for a second-round playoff game, and the date — Jan. 11 — marks the 50th anniversary of their first Super Bowl, a 23-7 loss to heavy underdog Kansas City.

That short carry-over into the 1970 calendar marked the end of a 1969 sports season that dramatically changed the Minnesota landscape.

The Twins and the Vikings had arrived simultaneously in 1961. Baseball was the prize that made an area “big league’’ back then.

The Twins contended as soon as 1962, went to a World Series in 1965, and put rookie Rod Carew in a lineup with Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva for the American League’s Great Race in 1967.

Gophers football had been the overwhelming presence here in the 1950s. And when the Twins and the Vikings showed up in 1961, they did so in between consecutive Rose Bowl appearances for Murray Warmath’s Gophers.

Seventy-two hours on top, Coach Fleck. Congrats. We’ve had coaches and managers spend a lot less time enjoying that lofty status.

www.startribune.com

Gophers briefly knocked Vikings off Minnesota sports perch

The bowl win stole the spotlight from the Vikings for one of few times ever.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Gophers made a dent in the Vikings stranglehold on this market this season. The Auburn buzz was going to die fairly quickly no matter what the Vikings did because the college season was over and the pro one was still going.

For the first time in a long time though the local sports stations were giving a ton of coverage to the Gophers during the season. There was genuine interest in what the team was doing from people that usually could give a crap about college football like PA and Common.

I would expect that to pick up again in the fall since the team should start the season with a nice ranking next to their name.
 




Possumlad said:
I think I'm among a pretty small group on this board who actually enjoys Reusse. It's a curmudgeonly, sarcastic brand, but one I enjoy.

And he's absolutely a Gopher fan.
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I think he tries way too hard to be a contrarian little shit to troll people. He can do what he likes but I stopped clicking on his articles long ago.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
I think he tries way too hard to be a contrarian little shit to troll people. He can do what he likes but I stopped clicking on his articles long ago.
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And he tries way too hard to be the wise old sage with secret historical insight that nobody else possesses.

To a certain extent, I think it's true that the tide turned here in a big way when the Vikings started, and it's been harder for the Gophers to compete for fan interest ever since. On the other hand, I'll buck conventional wisdom and say that, considering how many more people live in this area than did in 1961, there should be enough sports dollars and butts for seats that both teams can have their fan base. And there are plenty of casual fans that can follow both teams with vigor.
 

Possumlad said:
I think I'm among a pretty small group on this board who actually enjoys Reusse. It's a curmudgeonly, sarcastic brand, but one I enjoy.

And he's absolutely a Gopher fan.
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Hi Pat. I see that you've started a new account on Gopher Hole.
 

Possumlad said:
I think I'm among a pretty small group on this board who actually enjoys Reusse. It's a curmudgeonly, sarcastic brand, but one I enjoy.

And he's absolutely a Gopher fan.
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I don't get worked up about his act because I get it. His goal is to piss people off most of the time and he is good at it.

I agree that he is a Gopher fan deep down but I do get the impression that he legitimately can't stand Fleck.
 



MNVCGUY said:
I don't get worked up about his act because I get it. His goal is to piss people off most of the time and he is good at it.

I agree that he is a Gopher fan deep down but I do get the impression that he legitimately can't stand Fleck.
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Agreed, he definitely can't stand Fleck
Livingat45north said:
Hi Pat. I see that you've started a new account on Gopher Hole.
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The only difference between me & Pat is ~40 years and a college degree.
 

Bad Gopher said:
And he tries way too hard to be the wise old sage with secret historical insight that nobody else possesses.
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He does beat the history angle into the ground but there's a reason for it. He can sit at home and write his columns and not have to make the rounds and the connections like he once did. Get the feeling he really doesn't know the current Minnesota sports people like he once did: Tom Kelly, Clem, Bud, Kirby, Jim Dutcher, etc.
 

He’s a talented writer who can produce good articles when he tries. It seems like these days most of the stuff he writes is just formulaic bit garbage. Nice to see this Pat.
 

Nice of him...but he still hates the U. Let's put both him and Mike Max in a corner together....maybe they can make each other happy
 



He writes garbage when people dont like it, and is ok when he writes something nice lol...

I listen to him on and off, I do believe he is a Gopher Fan and I also believe that he thinks Fleck is a good coach, he just personally is not a fan.
 

Reusse was so down on the Gophers he predicted in August that they would average 30 points per game in the Big 10. Turns out they averaged 34.5 per game.
 


Pat brings up an interesting point; can the Twin Cities sports marketplace be fanatically supportive of the Vikings and the Gophers — simultaneously?

If the Vikings pull off another upset this Saturday, this town will be wall-to-wall purple.
 

RememberMurray said:
Pat brings up an interesting point; can the Twin Cities sports marketplace be fanatically supportive of the Vikings and the Gophers — simultaneously?

If the Vikings pull off another upset this Saturday, this town will be wall-to-wall purple.
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I know it's a little different with the Gophers and Vikings playing less than 3 miles apart, but if Wisconsin can be fanatically supportive about both the Badgers and Packers I don't see why Minnesota would not be able to do the same (with similar on field success).
 

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