So I spent two weeks in Arkansas...

Donate To GopherHole
Gopher Bandanna Guy

Gopher Bandanna Guy

Irascible Skeptic
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
1,806
Reaction score
0
Points
36
...for work last month. Spent my time in Fort Smith, AR. And the nature of my work allowed for me to listen to plenty of sportstalk radio.

As much as we gripe about KFAN and 1500, let me assure you, we have it pretty good when it comes to sportsradio. Yes, KFAN is not the bastion of smart Gopher football discussion we'd like it to be, and AM1500 is still a cesspool of idiocy and stupid takes. But at least we have radio personalities trying to be interesting.

In Fort Smith, I was able to pull in 6, count 'em, 6 sports radio stations (most not located in Fort Smith). Aside from the National ESPN station, the other 5 were (not surprisingly) all SEC football, all the time. And when it wasn't SEC football, it was the Tulsa and Memphis programs, and then high school. Baseball didn't really exist in their minds (despite the ongoing Playoffs and WS). And the discussion was so strictly 'sports, sports, sports, is your whole life just sports' (to paraphrase from Common), that it left me almost nauseous.

Despite all kinds of very entertaining Bielema hand-wringing and growing complaints, there were hyper-detailed sessions on kids 4-5 deep on the depth chart, people calling in with 'recruiting advice' on high school underclassmen and middle schoolers, and lots of whining about other SEC programs.

Most notably though, there was also no joy or fun. Everything broadcasted was so serious and morose. The gravity they allow football to have over them is almost oppressive.

As much as I want the Gophers to become a dominant program, and interest in them to reach the forefront locally, I also don't want people calling in to radio shows sobbing because 'Coach missed on Recruit X or Y', or feeding leads on their 7th grade nephew who plays nose-tackle. That said, I doubt I have much to worry about, given the multi-team market and distribution of disposable income for sports teams.

Mostly, I just thought the contrast in sportsradio coverage was fascinating.
 

Thanks for sharing that. Good read.

I totally get the "is your whole life sports" KFAN bit because I know a lot of stations are like that. I do like KFAN and although the lack of Gopher coverage frustrates me at times, I do like the energy and humor within their programming.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
...And the discussion was so strictly 'sports, sports, sports, is your whole life just sports' (to paraphrase from Common), that it left me almost nauseous.

Most notably though, there was also no joy or fun.
Click to expand...

Your writing is often very enjoyable to read and you present your perspectives well. Most of my life was sports, sports, sports and it was good, but I didn't have much to say about any other topic. With balance comes a greater appreciation for life and the ability to enjoy conversations with people who are not sports, sports, sports. I'm enjoying following the evolution of Gopher football. Joyful when they win and do well, but not angry when they don't.
 

In college I travelled to Arkansas to play a playoff game there my Senior year, not far from Pickles Gap and Toad Suck, Arkansas.

Good gawd, what an oppressive place. Just depressing....
 

killme said:
Your writing is often very enjoyable to read and you present your perspectives well. Most of my life was sports, sports, sports and it was good, but I didn't have much to say about any other topic. With balance comes a greater appreciation for life and the ability to enjoy conversations with people who are not sports, sports, sports. I'm enjoying following the evolution of Gopher football. Joyful when they win and do well, but not angry when they don't.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is a high compliment. I don't want to disparage the 'sports, sports, sports' lifestyle too much, as I still sometimes feel like I do at times (though this trip to Arkansas made me realize I'm not nearly as bad as some people, yikes!).

But I think you nailed it when you stated: "Joyful when they win and do well, but not angry when they don't." I've evolved from 'angry' to 'dejected' when we lose. It doesn't ruin my day (except when we lose to Wisconsin or Iowa), and I its good to know there are plenty of well-adjusted and balanced Gopher fans out there.
 


It is worse in parts of TX where that same kind of zealotry is placed on HS football.
 

Gopherbandana guy there are Hockey parents in Minnesota that are just as obsessive about there 7th grade wing or center and recruiting or pro potential as they are about football in the South or SEC. Fortunately for us our local media and radio stations do not go ad naseum to cover this stuff.
Go to any high school game or even bantam level games in your area or a prominant program and you will see the morose and the serious to the point of absurdity by some of the parents and student athletes. Sports is not always life or death, and losing is not the end of the world as we know it, if there is no fun what is the point of participation or even being a fan.
Some of the parents behavior towards the coaches is just as absurd as you see at an NFL game even the girls hockey games. Not just the dads, Hockey moms, some of them are worse than the dads with their comments towards the referees and coaches. Minnesota has SEC like behavior in high school and college Hockey as well as at Wild games(wow there are fans that chart things and take notes like there a scout or writing a national blog or for the media).
I'm sure cost and the expense of the sport and ice time has something to do with it, but jeez, some times you just have to let the kids have fun and not criticize or yell at the kids, even I realize that, and I let the negative far to loose some times. I just have to remind myself don't act like the Hockey parents to reign it in.
 

Did anyone mention that Bert BigEnema has replaced Coach Kill as the coach who most resembles their mascot?

bret-bielema-topless.jpg

TuskMascot2.JPG
 

Just do some google searches on MN youth hockey and you will find sites that produce rankings for Bantam B teams and squirt teams. People literally writing articles like it is sports illustrated about hockey games played between fourth graders. There is the absurdity you speak of but I am not sure if it is quite as widespread and common as you suggest.

I can't rip on it too much though. I played basketball my entire youth into college and I now have a basketball player and a hockey player for kids. Hockey is a lot of fun if you can deal with the expenses and tolerate the occasional hockey helicopter parent. The game is a lot of fun at the youth levels and the community based MN system is also fun to be a part of.
 




Good read. I was down in TX about a month ago for business, and listened to some sports radio in Houston. You're right, it was almost like a cult down there, and nothing but football. some NFL, but mostly Longhorns the times I was listening.

I was down in Arkansas years ago to look at some equipment. This company wanted to sell us a system to make an FDA regulated product. The pole barn this contraption was in had a dirt floor. In the middle of the test a stray dog wandered in and peed on the equipment. Which was ironic because the thing they were trying to sell us was a complete PoS. The only bright spot from that trip was they took me to lunch at the greasy spoon diner right by the Little Rock airport that was supposedly Bill Clinton's favorite lunch spot. I can see why he needed a triple bypass.

P.S. I agree that this makes you appreciate KFAN (a little bit) more, but it doesn't change the fact that most of the azzclowns on the air on the 'FAN are provincial rubes
 

I had a wonderful experience in Arkansas a few years ago. Went whitewater canoeing with some friends on the Mulberry River in northwest Arkansas. It wasn't too much like Deliverance, but I'll say it was colorful. My favorite non-canoeing memory was lunch at a buffet in the town of Ozark on the day left. I think it was a Shoney's, but I'm not sure. But the treat wasn't the food or the restaurant (fried everything, yuck!), it was the beautiful young lady who sat with four middle-aged rednecks at the table next to ours. I was pretty young at the time (19 or 20), so this girl really got my attention. I started listening in to her conversation with these older dudes, one of whom was apparently her daddy. She was telling them about her sex ed class at school.

The best moment of the conversation was when she was relating what she had learned about VDs. She related about a friend...."Denise, she's blonde you know, and she asked 'Do them thangs jump like fleas?'" I think some fried okra went up in my sinus and I almost fell off my chair. This teen beauty queen looked at me, winked and smiled sweetly.
 

The Arkansas fans are always working Frank Ragnow on Twitter. I mean jesus christ - he's a three star kid from Minnesota. Obviously we'd love to have him (and our fans have done the same for other recruits) but for some reason this case just crosses the line for me.
 



Thanks for sharing Bandana Guy and putting a little perspective into things. I have always been a little curious about certain Southern cities (Little Rock, Oxford MS, Nashville) partly because the culture is so much different. One of the things that are great about the Twin Cities is the abundance of arts as well. I don't frequent the ballet or opera, but it is nice living in a city where there are people who do.

How long does Brett have before his seat gets hot?
 

everybody knows my name said:
I had a wonderful experience in Arkansas a few years ago. Went whitewater canoeing with some friends on the Mulberry River in northwest Arkansas. It wasn't too much like Deliverance, but I'll say it was colorful. My favorite non-canoeing memory was lunch at a buffet in the town of Ozark on the day left. I think it was a Shoney's, but I'm not sure. But the treat wasn't the food or the restaurant (fried everything, yuck!), it was the beautiful young lady who sat with four middle-aged rednecks at the table next to ours. I was pretty young at the time (19 or 20), so this girl really got my attention. I started listening in to her conversation with these older dudes, one of whom was apparently her daddy. She was telling them about her sex ed class at school.

The best moment of the conversation was when she was relating what she had learned about VDs. She related about a friend...."Denise, she's blonde you know, and she asked 'Do them thangs jump like fleas?'" I think some fried okra went up in my sinus and I almost fell off my chair. This teen beauty queen looked at me, winked and smiled sweetly.
Click to expand...

hmmmmmm...
 

Youth hockey that feeds in to private schools

Schnauzer said:
Just do some google searches on MN youth hockey and you will find sites that produce rankings for Bantam B teams and squirt teams. People literally writing articles like it is sports illustrated about hockey games played between fourth graders. There is the absurdity you speak of but I am not sure if it is quite as widespread and common as you suggest.

What I have witnessed is more common place at the catholic private school level for youth hockey then the public school Family's players I know.
Let's just say some of the crap the coaches put up with at the high school level and the politics in youth hockey does reach the SEC level of obsession in some of these schools. Even the youth coaches get some parents that have a really twisted vision of reality of the talent of their own kids. You could say that about quite a few youth sports that parents invest time and money in, there are more than a few odd ducks out there. Most are level headed a good parents, but there are a few out there that try to relive there youth through their kids that are the worst. Just pointing out that we have some of what the South is as it relates to football for Hockey. Not saying the culture is the same as Texas high school football, but we do have some parents here that are like that too.
Click to expand...
 

In my opinion if Minnesota wasn't "the" hockey state in this country there is no way it would be on the level of the SEC. Hockey isn't as big around here as football or basketball but I believe that group of people have a us against the world mentality. This is the only state where hockey has any foot hold and they are extremely loyal maybe the most of any sport in our state.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom