The empty stadium

Donate To GopherHole
beavergopher

beavergopher

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
Messages
5,667
Reaction score
785
Points
113
A picture worth a thousand words. What a disgrace! If it wasn't for the band, the student section would have been empty. Easily less than 20K in our beautiful new stadium. The irony is that the people who did not show up missed the best overall performance of a Gopher team in years. The D played great and tackled better than any group I can remember. All the empty seats are Joel M's legacy. This is Big 10 football? More fans at most Texas high school games.

Great job by Coach Kill and staff. Fantastic job by the kids. Punter?
 

You have to remember that this is Thanksgiving break for the students. I'm not sure if they are allowed to stay the night before or tonight in the dorms, I know my school we can't be in the dorms til tomorrow. Also, even if they can stay in the dorms, going back up early means sacrificing another day or 2 of work, an extra night with HS friends, or a night with the significant other.
 


How many of the students LIVE in the Twin Cities? Don't make excuses for them zambam. With the U of M student section: what you see is what you get. Our student section certainly consists of a lot of 1 * recruits. I guess the empty seats represented the 0 * student section recruits. Not many of them are Big Ten level student section members, that's for sure...

; 0 )
 

Win more and they will fill the joint. Very simple!
 


imthewalrus said:
How many of the students LIVE in the Twin Cities? Don't make excuses for them zambam. With the U of M student section: what you see is what you get. Our student section certainly consists of a lot of 1 * recruits. I guess the empty seats represented the 0 * student section recruits. Not many of them are Big Ten level student section members, that's for sure...

; 0 )
Click to expand...
That is true. I guess for me being 2 hours away from the Cities and 8 hours away from my school that is just what I think of.
 

I agree Johnny. The weather was NO ISSUE. I hate when people blame the weather. We wanted out of the dome. If you buy season tickets, you know what you are getting into. Show up for the damn game.
 

Lets stop with the moronic bashing.

We are going to blame Maturi for the students not showing up during Thanksgiving break? He can be blamed for many things but getting the student population to supprt Gopher football isnt one of them. It was always said that University of Minnesota Students didnt come to Gopher games because the team played at the Dome for years and it was to hard to get to the games. Then they moved on campus to the new stadium and then the excuse was the games were to early at 11:00 AM to get a good turnout by the students. Lets face facts when the Gopher program wins like a big time program maybe the students will show up.
 

Thanksgiving weekend was the issue, I'd bet.
 




Can't just blame the students when there are over 6,000 of unsold seats in the general public sections. So much for the loud talk a couple of years ago, about how difficult it was going to be for opposing fans to get tickets in the new stadium.
 

Bitch. Bitch. Moan. Moan. Whatever, at least I hope those who went enjoyed the game.

Until Minnesota integrates itself into the lives of it's fans and it takes precedence over shopping and hanging up christmas lights, nothing will happen. It was thanksgiving weekend in all other stadiums across the country as well and MANY had attendance issues.

If any more of these threads are started about attendance, program excuses, etc. they should be promptly deleted or moved into one thread we can ignore.
 




Well, to he.# with anybody who didn't show up. I drove 250 miles round trip the way I always do and it was a GREAT game. I would have HATED to have missed the great effort and execution that the Gopher Players gave us! I was lucky to be there and am really greatful that the Coaches and the Players gave me another Big Ten win to savor as 2011 winds down and turns into 2012. (You played one hell of a game Mr. Gray! Congratulations on breaking Mr. Cockerham's qb. rushing record. Well done Mr. Gray....VERY well done!) Thanks to Coach Kill, his staff and the great leadership and heart showed by this years seniors. And, Mr. Royston was EVEN playing on the kick-off team! HEART and LOVE OF THE GAME! Plus being an outstanding tackler! That's only a part of what #3 has brought to the University of Minnesota Football Program. Another OUTSTANDING Student Athlete! Thanks for coming to the U! And fantastic leadership by example. I thought a number of our seniors playing their final games really brought it as the season progressed. They have helped this program to start to build and to begin to get stronger. Thanks...and "...hats off to thee..." Seniors!

And, the younger players stepped up to join the seniors to help give them the GREAT send off that they deserve.

This was Big Ten win #2 for our Gophers in 2011. Each and EVERY Big Ten win is a thing to be treasured. It is not a gift. It must be fought for and earned. Each Big Ten win will help this program get better.

Coach Kill had a FANTASTIC first season by getting his 2nd Big Ten win in his first season. That hasn't been done around here in a while! It IS a BIG deal!

Back off reusse and all you other local sports media types. Coach Kill is doing JUST FINE!

; 0 )
 

While I would love to see the place packed every game there are some obvious factors at play for the bad turnout today.

1. Holiday Weekend - lots of people traveling. Most students out of the dorms and at home with family.
2. Prospect of crappy weather - Not an excuse but probably kept some people away
3. Disappointing season - Flip the record and the Bank would have been packed.
4. General fan apathy - This is a major problem that unfortunately won't change until team wins on a regular basis. We hate it in here because we all care a great deal about the team, but for most of the state Gopher football is still an after thought because the team has not been relevant since the 60's.

I agree with another poster that said if you buy tickets you should show up but we all know that just is not the way it works with our fan base. We all want it to change and with a consistent winner I think it will but until then Minnesota fans are just not going to get on board no matter how much we all wish they would.
 

I was more disappointed in the amount of people leaving with 4-5 minutes left. Why wouldn't you stick around and cheer on the team after the best performance in a long time? Why wouldn't you stick around to show respect to the seniors who have been through a ton?
 

Re the weather conditions: This is OUR kind of November home game advantage! This kind of weather will someday help the Gophers win a couple late season November Big Ten games that will place the Gophers in the BigTen Championship game. It will be part of the "everything falling right" scenerio that we will need to pull it off. Illinois will want NO part of playing in Minneapolis after the end of October. This is two novembers in a row where the Gophers held up better to the "weather" than the opposition did. Last year it was iowa. This year it was Illinois.

The Minnesota Gophers NEED to be a team that November Big Ten Games were built for. A Big Ten Team that can win when the snows fall, the winds blow, the temperature drops and the cold rains challenge the players and the fans. Big Ten Teams that win in the elements in November have a shot at doing something special.

TCF BANK STADIUM is starting to show us that our Gophers DO recall how to thrive in the rain, wind, cold and snow and when too many fans wimp out due to the weather! And THAT is a very good thing!

; 0 )
 

The significant other and I (both student season ticket holders) were both absent, but we live 4 hours from the metro area and haven't been home since August. Last year over break for the Iowa game, but only because it was the Iowa game. I wish I could have been there today, but I valued being at home more. I think this sentiment was shared by several others.
 


I know a lot of people that go to the U. They said weather was an issue and also we were playing Illinois. No one really cared to the fact of attending the game.

If you win, they will come
 

I'm a student who lives 30 minutes away in Lakeville. Also, I am one of the few people who had not missed a minute of action at TCF before this game. However, I decided to stay with my extended family in southern Minnesota. I haven't had to opportunity to see any of them since school started, so I decided to take the opportunity and sacrifice the game.

Don't just stereotype all students as being undevoted fans, because there is a good group that really care. You also need to realize how big of a deal thanksgiving is. Even if students live in town, they don't want to go back to campus until Sunday or Monday in order to "recharge" for finals. Yeah, a lot of students don't care, too, but just realize that Thanksgiving is a bigger deal than you may think.
 

Disappointed in the turnout, but I did enjoy sitting right behind the Gophers bench on the 50 yard line in the second half. Plenty of premium seats for the taking.
 

Season ticket holder here. I drive 280 miles r/t to see a game. The weather forecast was absolutely crappy with high winds predicted out of the NNW. So no, I wasn't at the game. Only one I missed this year. If I live in the metro, I'm at the game.

The hearty outdoor fan of the 60's and 70's is either dead or in a nursing home. You guys still own a typewriter, a tube TV, and shop downtown at mom and pop stores? I didn't think so. Stop worshipping a archetype.

BTW, how does the attendance per game for the first three years at TCF stack up against the last three years at the Dome?
 

Weather was not a big deal - clothing works. I think it has worked to our advantage having a late game in Minnesota. Colder weather, visiting teams don't seem to want to play and our guys come out fired up (Iowa 2010, IL 2011). Winning solves lots of problems including attendance. We are not going to win any games between now and Sept 1 so what is the U going to do to market this team and get more bodies in the Bank for next year? In the survey they would send out to season ticket holders the last two years that was my "additional comments"- what are you doing to increase student attendance during the off season?
 

I've yet to miss my first Gopher game in TCF Bank Stadium. 21 for 21. 100%.
 

ButchNashGuy said:
Weather was not a big deal - clothing works. I think it has worked to our advantage having a late game in Minnesota. Colder weather, visiting teams don't seem to want to play and our guys come out fired up (Iowa 2010, IL 2011). Winning solves lots of problems including attendance. We are not going to win any games between now and Sept 1 so what is the U going to do to market this team and get more bodies in the Bank for next year? In the survey they would send out to season ticket holders the last two years that was my "additional comments"- what are you doing to increase student attendance during the off season?
Click to expand...

I agree completely. Having an outdoor stadium and late season (COLD) home games is going to be a huge advantage over time. We beat Iowa in 2010 and Illinois yesterday because the opponents didn't want to be here, and played that way for large chunks of the game.

It took only a couple of years for Minnesota football fans to get pussified in the luxurious MetroDump. It will take several years for the average bandwagon-jumping fan to embrace the cold-weather games. Michigan State is next year's victim--I hope for 30 degrees and sleet.

Those of us that never miss a game and own a long sleeve shirt and a pair long underwear and a hat already get it.

The student thing will take time. Various U administrations actively tried to destroy the football program. I was a student from 1977-1979, and the student council had members that were campaigning to eliminate football. Presidents like Moos, Magrath, Keller and Haselmo hated the football program, as it could undermine their own self-perceived popularity. It will take time--a popular guy like Kill, a self-deprecating and supportive President like Kaler, and a pro-active and dynamic new AD to pull it off. A new culture needs to be built.
 



Apparently it was not Thanksgiving weekend at all the packed stadiums I saw on TV the last three days. My point was that Maturi's inexplicable hiring of Brewster killed the momentum of the opening of TCF. Winning will cure this to an extent, but this presents a huge challenge until Gopher football becomes a cool thing to go to. Butts in seats=dollars. Perhaps the revenue brought in from the woman's rowing team will make up the lost money used to fund all the other programs.
 

tap said:
Very Original-spoken like a true bandwagon fan!
Click to expand...

began didn't say "win and I'll show up." He said "win more and they [the fans] will fill the joint."

So he isn't a bandwagon fan; he's a realist about other peoples' attitudes.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom