Rog, A Question . . .

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DL65

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I began following Gopher football in 1955. I've been an avid fan since.

I know your interest began quite a bit earlier and you witnessed some great teams and players. Is there any particular team, game or player from those special days that stands out? Would you care to relate some of your memories from the Golden era?

Thanks,


Go Gophers!!
 

Going back in time as a gopher football fan

My interest started around 1937 when I was 10 years old. Grew up in a small town if SW Mn (Lakefield) never was in Mpls until later so my connection to Gopher football was WCCO. My Dad had a Hardware store in town and Saturday was always a busy day. On a Sat afternoon when the Gophers were playing all the stores in town had their radios on with their front doors wide open. You could follow the Gophers from any where on main street and of course in the stores.
The following Wednesday night at the local theater, the "news" before the main attraction would always have the high lights of the previous Sat game.
The Gophers were minnesota's team and everyone knew it.

Of course this was the Bierman era and we seldom lost. It seemed like it was always between Mn or Pittsburg for the best team in the country. The eastern sports writers made it Pittsburg until we played them and we usually beat them big time. Michigan was always the "big" game as the Jug was
the most valuable thing to have in your trophy case. Tommy Harmon was the all american at Michigan just before the war BUT all four years he played Minnesota won. Bruce Smith was our star.

Luverne gave the Gophers Dick Wilden a great all american linemen. Our High School played Luverne when Dick was in High School and the rumor is that Lakefield gave Dick one of our football letters because he was in our backfield as often as our own running backs.

The "boarder wars" didn't seem to be prevalent because Mn was always in the national spotlight.

Bierman did have some trick plays which are not now allowed. His gold uniforms seemed to always hide the ball. Once one of our players appeared to go off the field but stopped short of the out of bounds line and was wide open for a pass. Bierman had always secretly told the officials before hand so there would be no problem.

This is after the war but I was in the stands when Mcnamara ran through the whole Iowa team (with his brother blocking) against Iowa for a win. I think it was a punt or kick off return.

i could go on and on but this sure brings back memorys. Thanks for asking!
 

I think you should go on and on.....it makes for interesting reading.
 

Rog,

Thank you for sharing!!! I can only imagine the memories that you have of Golden Gopher football when Minnesota was king of the collegiate ranks. A plethora of great players would be an understatement.

Your remarks about the store doors being opened and the sounds of Gopher football on the store radios brought back memories for me, too. Almost every store in my hometown, Detroit Lakes, during the 1950s and 1960s would have the game on, via a feed either from WCCO or WLOL. It seems as though everyone, win or lose, cared about the Gophers then. Wish it were that way now!

Although not Gopher-related, I recall after Minnesota lost to Michigan State on November 16, 1957(A hugely disappointing season that started with great promise), I was in a downtown department store getting fitted with new shoes and the store's radio was still on, but the game being played was Notre Dame versus Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It was the final minutes of what turned out to be a monumental upset. Notre Dame defeated the Sooners, coached by Golden Gopher alumnus, Bud Wilkinson, 7-0. The defeat ended Oklahoma's winning streak at 47 consecutive wins. (From the 3rd game of the 1953 season until the eighth game of the 1957 season - which still stands)

It was a different era, and radio was king. Oh yes! I also remember the news/sports clips that were shown prior to the start of the movie. The outstanding football games from the previous Saturday and profiles of the season's All-American teams were memorable and exciting.

Again, thank you for sharing and stirring up some additional memories.

Go Gophers!!
 

I too remember the pre-movie high lights of the previous Saturday Gopher games at my local theatre. What I remember most was the ticket into the movie for an under-12 kid like me at that time was 12 cents, and when I turned 12 the price went to 25 cents. That, my friends, is a long time ago!!!!!!!
 


Thanks Rog, Dr. Don, and DL65. I only go back to the Sandy Stephens.
 

Rog, DL, and Dr. Don - I think I speak for most of the younger generation (I am 25) feel free to share any stories like that whenever you want. Very interesting!
 

Thanks for the memories, Rog. My memories of Gopher football games began in 1951, when my dad and I, along with a friend and his dad, would drive up to the Gopher football games from Fairmont for every home game. Of course, in those days all games were played at 1:30 p.m. (1:00 p.m. later in the season when the sun set earlier), so we could make the round trip in one day, stopping in St. Peter on the way home after the game for dinner.

My favorite memory from that era was the 1955 game at Memorial Stadium against USC and All-America running back Jon Arnett. The game was played in late October in a blizzard and the Gophers won, in an upset, 25-19. Perhaps the Gophers will duplicate that result when USC returns to the schedule in 2010!
 

It would be very cool if the U could somehow cut a deal to put Gopher Football highlights on before the movies at non-metro Minnesota movie theaters. They would probably have to partner with a sponsor ... but it could be a throwback cross-marketing kind of thing.
 



This is awesome, thank you for the stories! I only go back to the mid 80's and unfortunately have only witness home games at the Big Inflatable Toilet.

I think that the new stadium should have something like this at each game. Interview fans that have been around and share their experiences for those of us who have never had the chance. I for one love hearing all of these stories and hope you continue to share with the rest of us at GH:clap:
 

I grew up in So. Mn in the 60's and remember in 1967 when the Gophs. played USC and in the starting lineup there was Del Jessen, Luverne, Walt Pribyl, Heron Lake , Dennis Hale, Jackson and Noel Jenke, Owatonna.
 

littlebigboy said:
I grew up in So. Mn in the 60's and remember in 1967 when the Gophs. played USC and in the starting lineup there was Del Jessen, Luverne, Walt Pribyl, Heron Lake , Dennis Hale, Jackson and Noel Jenke, Owatonna.
Click to expand...

Walt Pribyl was the son of a Pribyl who grew up in Lakefield. his Dad had a Drug store in Heron Lake.
I was a good friend of his Dad's brother Adrain who roomed with me at the U in 1948, 49.
If I remember correctly Walt was a kicker.

I also may mention that the late 30's teams of Bierman were essentially all Minnesota boys. With them Bierman won the National championship a number of times.
 

I was playing pop warner football in Denver, and Saturdays were reserved for the radio. I remember laying on the kitchen counter with the radio tuned to The Golden Buffalos vs. The Oklahoma Sooners. I think it was 1956. The Buffs had a tall QB from Wyoming named Boyd Dowler the Sooners had Bud Wilkinson. From that afternoon on the counter I knew I wanted to play. My Dad was transfered from Denver to Chicago and with my interest he took me to a Northwestern game vs. Minnesota. He regailed me with stories of Minnesota vs. Nebraska rivalry of the 30's. Seeing players like Tommy Meyers, Paul Flatley for Northwestern and Carl Eller and Bobby Bell for Minnesota gave me a better idea of what it took. The watershed year for Minnesota and Nebraska was 1962. Nebraska had some success from 1962 -1966 with several Minnesotans. La Vern Allers, Llyod Voss were All Americans, Larry Kramer was all Big 8 and the best one that got away was Dennis Claridge. The exodus of talent began shortly after the 1961 Championship. I could not be more excited with the selection of Coach Brewster and his ability to close the borders. And his ability to go to Wisconsin and recruit a top player speaks volumes. I earlier said he was a salesman and if I had any eligiblity left I would accept an offer.
 



PLEASE MORE STORIES

My memories started in the late 70's. Am I the only one that remembers Bob Hope doing a halftime homecoming? I loved going to Memorial with with my dad a few times and saw us beat Michigan and Ohio State.
 

That Bob Hope Homecoming Appearance

Was in '80 vs. Michigan. Was a chilly mid-October day. Hope was on his last legs, as I recall. I remember Anthony Carter and Haji-Shiek (K) having big days. The Daisy Dillman band was playing on outdoor gig on the west end of the old Mariucci, IIRC.

Ahhh, college days . . .
 

In this thread, a few posters mentioned their fathers as introducing and influencing their interest in Gopher football. And so it was with me.

A little family history. which has played a big role in my interest in Gopher football. As mentioned earlier, I became an avid fan and follower of Gopher football in 1955, when I was a third grader. My father was a medical doctor and a graduate of the University of Minnesota as well as its medical school (1936). He saw Bronko Nagurski play for the Gophers when he was an undergraduate and the 1934 and 1935 national championship seasons under Bernie Bierman as a medical student. He missed the 1936 championship season because he had graduated and was doing his internship in Chicago.

Our bloodlines to the U and Golden Gopher football, however, go back even further. My dad's oldest brother, Joe, was a halfback on the 1915-16 teams coached by Dr. Henry L. Williams. His teammates included Bernie Bierman, Bert Baston, Shorty Long, etc.. (Bierman and Baston are in the College Football Hall of Fame) My uncle scored Minnesota's touchdown in a six-six tie with Illinois in 1915, which was the Gopher's only blemish that year. The Gophers were conference champs that season. In 1916, the Gophers had a special, special team. They gave up only 28 points in the seven game season while scoring 348 points. (They shut out four opponents: South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Chicago) In the Iowa game, my uncle scored four touchdowns in the 67-0 rout. Unfortunately, however, a monumental upset occurred the following Saturday. Illinois shocked the football world as the Illini defeated the Gophers 14-9. My uncle, as he did the year before against the Illini, scored Minnesota's only touchdown. (It was the only game in which my grandparents saw my uncle play for the Gophers) The following week, Minnesota defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 54-0. They then met a strong Chicago team for the season finale and won going away, 49-0.

My uncle was a true scholar-athlete. In addition to his football exploits, he also was a letterwinner with the track team. He was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal in 1917. (Bernie Bierman won the coveted award the previous year.) My uncle went on and had a distinguished medical career in St. Paul.

My father shared his many memories as Gopher football fan as well as the exploits of his brother. He influenced and played a major role in my development as a Gopher fan! More importantly, however, he played an even greater role in my development as a person and the values that I cherish!!


Go Gophers!!
 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful connection with Gopher sports!
 

I remember the Bob Hope halftime show.

My favorite all-time Memorial Stadium memory was defeating Ohio State 35-31 with Hohensee and Schlicter both have big days. Hohensee threw 64 passes (completed 37) with 5 for touchdowns. Last TD went to Jay Carroll on a tipped pass in the end zone.

The thing I remember most is that it was unseasonably warm (or maybe I was just sloshed) and it was the first game after the end of daylight savings time. With both QBs throwing the ball around and all the scoring, the game must have gone close to 4 hours and the sun was really sinking in the open end of Memorial Stadium by the end of the game.
 

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