The Other Side of the Beer Argument

[oak_street1981]

Alright read the article, checked out this fool's website as he was running for Three Rivers Park Commissioner or some *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#, and I had an epiphany. This guy likes going to parks and reading history about wood FOR FUN. All we need to do is get all the people who think that doing the aforementioned activities are entertaining and remove them from TCF!!

TCF SHOULD be a party, its a celebration of sport in a philosophical sense (but we'll leave the philosophizing to the former Minnetonka City Manager) and it should be treated as such! Get some brews, some fellow revelers and get after it at TCF. I haven't been blessed with an opportunity to see a game live from the new stadium yet, (followed every game by TV tho) and my last memory of live Gopher football was Nov. 22 2008 when we turned the page on the Dome forever. Let's make TCF a damn party every weekend! We get to sit outside in the elements, drink a brew or "double fist" as our boy John likes to say, and cheer on the squad to victory!

Great Post WCG!

This Gunyou guy, who has most certainly sucked blood from the taxpayers for years, exemplifies everything that is wrong with the Gopher fan base, if he really was at the game and even part of his story was true.

There was drinking at the awful Metrodome for 28 years of Gopher Football. In most of those years, the fan base was not exactly worked into a lather Since \ TCF opened things have become even more quiet, so I am not sure how possibly drinking between one and four $7.25 beers in the first half changed anything. The most explosive environment at the dome was when the Iowa and UW games were tight and everyone was drinking (our fans tended to drink more when confronted by the energy of the black or red clad invaders), and even then then the beer was not a huge issue. Apparently John G from Minnetonka knows something we do not about the recent carnage.

We actually had a 10 to 11,000 seat student section in the 2003-2006 era who drank heavily in the Washington Ave lots. The excessive student drinking continued in the Metrodome after the game started. The general fanbase also had tailgating and three quarters of access to beer and some liquor at the Metrodome and no real trouble occurred.

Now we are supposed to believe there is some sort of beer and wine related crisis at TCF??????????????? This is a total crock and I bet if any of us spent five minutes with this blood sucking "servant of the people" we would all see his agenda regardless of our political leanings.

This tool needs to be exposed for what he is. This fraud need to be called out on multiple social media for being part if not most of the problem.

This teat sucking pencil pusher has a huge agenda and his story is 100% B.S. Unfortunately as a Minnesota unionized govt. employee, he probably will retire in his late 50s with a six figure retirement that will be drawn for 30 plus years, or until the whole ship sinks. (so he will have a lot of time on his hand to write letters to editor complaining about this and things like the MPlS bike Co-ordinator being pictured without a bicycle helmet. - thank you P. Kahn)!

 

[GophersInIowa]

If these folks would have gone and spent their time at the game finding security and tattling and pointing out people, but then still sent in a letter to the editor, some of you would still be whining and looking up these people's salaries, criticizing their twitter pictures, etc.

I think things have been quite tame at the first two games - but I don't doubt that some people may have experienced what these folks say they have and that's unfortunate. Their response is reasonable - they dealt with it while they were there and then decided it's not a place they want to return to. That's fine.

Some people would rather run and tell the rent-a-cops that johnny is being a bad boy and get more people riled up. Wouldn't be my tactic, but I guess that's probably reasonable. Another reasonable option would have been to tell the offending parties what you thought of them and when they made a threat, launched an attack on them. I might prefer that method.

Nonetheless, essentially deciding not to return, but being pissed off about it, doesn't seem outrageous to me. It certainly doesn't motivate me to determine the background of the people who don't enjoy sitting by rowdy drunks who are screwing with them at a college football game.

I don't have a problem if he's upset with what happened. If what he says is true, then I would be too. The fact that he didn't contact security that day, contact the school afterwards to see if they can be more alert the next game, and went straight to writing a letter to the editor basically saying that TCF Bank Stadium is now a drunk fest due to the beer being served at the stadium tells me he has an agenda. There were drunk people at the games before this year.

A few bad apples doesn't make it a bad place. He's making it look like his experience is happening all over the stadium. The average person reading that would certainly think so.

 

[husker70]

I have been to going to Gopher games since 1973. I have had beer spilled down my back at the dome by an Iowa fan. While he was obviously drunk, he appologized and that was that. As far a fight over visor, or sweatshirt, or t shirt I have never witnessed one. The security is ample, and if there was a fight, they would have ejected the fan or fans, and I can imagine you would lose the priviledge to buy ticket. This is an attempt to draw attention to themselves as victims, which they were not. Go back to Minnetonka and listen to the game if you care to.

 

[highwayman]

Well, I'd say some were reeled in by these pansy-assed morons. If someone is being an asshole at the game--do something about it.

I didn't want beer in the main stadium, but here we are. The consequences of the original legislation banning liquor sales in the Bank penned by the esteemed Tom Rukavina have come full-circle. Remember--none of this would have happened if Rukavina had not been busted for DUI. This was a thinly cloaked means to stop ALL sales in the stadium. The residents of Minnesota had to suffer for his sins. Now we have this jury-rigged solution as a consequence.

I'll go as far to say that this whole incident likely didn't even happen remotely the way it was described.

These are the kind of folks that want to go to the game, never be spoken to, would not like the people around them making any noise (heaven forbid stand), and want to drive to and from the game without any traffic. Babies, absolute babies. Well, now they get what they want--watching the game from their living room. He can read the paper and she can knit.

They were looking for an excuse to get rid of their tickets and found one. I'd say I have a very high probability of being correct. Maybe I'm just the asshole.

 

[tjgopher]

I don't mean to pile on, but I truly have a hard time believing that this story is 100% true. The very idea that this guy had beer spilled on him "three times" is crazy enough. Minnesotans by nature are a cheap lot. If it was the same guy spilling the beer, no way is a Minnesota beer drinker careless enough to spill some or all of his $8 beer, not once, not twice, but three times onto somebody, especially if he only gets two beers at a time. If it was different people spillling, I find it even more hard to believe that there would be three people right around this guy careless enough to spill this liquid gold.

On top of that, the guy should go find security if its that big of an issue. There are security people everywhere. Text the number that is provided. If it makes this guy mad enough to write a letter when he got home, certainly he was angry enough to walk the no more than 50-100 yards it would have taken to find an usher. And, has been mentioned, there were 10,000+ empty seats. Go find a spot that is more to your liking.

I can say that I've been to no fewer than 300 sporting events in my life at major stadiums where beer was served. I can say that in all the times I've been to many, many different venues - I can NEVER remember having beer spilled on me, not once. I will say I remember my wife having beer spilled on her once. I don't remember a single fight breaking out in the stands at any event I've ever been to...ever. Sure, I've been around some rowdy people who were overserved, but never anything like this guy describes. And, to think, it happened at TCF Bank Stadium, a place that most people believe isn't rowdy enough.

So, basically, this poor guy is one unlucky SOB, to not only have beer spilled on him THREE TIMES, but to be near a fight breaking out, too!!! All at a stadium that is generally regarded as tame as it gets. Amazing story, to say the least.

 

[station19]

I figured this had to be a joke with the last name "Gunyou."

Sounds like something Parski would say to 19. Or is it the other way around?

Better chance of 2 vs Broke.

This is a political issue, isn't it?

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Thoughts on this look to be divided, with many people on this, "these people are lying, no good gov't employees with massive agendas against Gopher football" trip. If you want to believe that, go for it. However, I'll add just a few more thoughts because the "anti-square, c'mon bro it's time to booze!!" crowd is outweighing the "uhh, this family's comments are fine" view so heavily in this thread.

+ On the allegation that these people wrote the letter just to complain.

The U has tried to paint a picture of them being Saintly and it's complete b.s. They changed their "principles" on this issue for money and then have gone on to pat themselves on the back - U officials told the papers, and the papers printed, that incidents were fewer than normal and a things went so well in large part to the U taking the admirable step of having extra security and limiting the number of sales-points in the stadium.

Perhaps in direct response to something already in the paper, these folks shared their differing experience - specifically, security was nowhere to be seen where they were and where the beer is sold isn't the issue - there are a lot of people double fisting beers back at their seats. (Since others are doing a lot of hypothesizing in this thread, I'll tell you the percentage of people double fisting beers at TCF out of total beer drinkers is higher than at most sporting events - whether that is actually smart on the part of people who want to down two or more beers during the game isn't the issue - it's that the U has dumb policies (which I'd argue are not in line with the dumb state laws) that are influencing this behavior.

Again, I don't believe these are people writing a letter to a paper just because they're pissed. They read the paper and the U praising the beer experience as all good and wonderful and they're calling b.s. on it.

+ "They should have gotten security"

C'mon. That's wussy talk. If there's a security guy walking through, yeah, go ahead and say, 'hey - talk to these jack$$$$$ in row 12, they can't keep the beer in their cups and mouths', but to expect a family to run into the concourse, get a security person, bring them down to the seats, point out people... that's just involving yourself in stuff more.

They did something reasonable - along with others, they tried to keep the peace as best they could. It sucked to deal with, and after seeing the U talk about how lovely everything was, offered up their very different experience.

+ "We don't want squares at the game!"

Hey bro, instead of worrying about Doing the Gopher after the 3rd quarter ends, let's pass out shots of Wild Turkey and the stadium slams that down! Hell yeah dude, ski-u-mah brah.

Come on. Sadly, a reasonable response to these people from those of you who say, "tough luck" would be: Sorry folks, but there are beer sales here and yeah, sometimes crappy things can happen. You may never have an experience like that again if you keep coming to Gopher games for the next 5 years.... but, you never know. If you don't like it, sorry, but don't come to games.

These people apparently considered this - and they acted accordingly. They didn't like it, so they are not going to return. Makes sense.

+ "Unrealistic story, no one gets billed spilled on them, there are no fights/arguments"

I've got about a million stories of "rough" incidents at sporting events over the years. You're naive if you think their story sounds far fetched. For me, it goes with the territory - I accept that there are idiots I may encounter and need to handle. Some people don't accept it and therefore don't go to games.

Minnesota is the only Big Ten school that invites one and all, including students, to purchase beer and wine (w/proper ID, limit 2) and is one of the very few football programs in the nation that allows this on their campus. They have spoken out against the idea as being inconsistent their mission and principles... a couple years later, influenced by cash, they have changed their tune. Now, they are praising the "non-issue" that their change in stance has been - thanks of course to their well thought out policies and procedures.

Someone has a crappy experience and says, "no - everything isn't all wonderful - in fact, we have such an issue with it we're not returning to the stadium."

I say that's too bad - the Gophers need (paying) fans. Maybe the U will consider a family section where beer consumption is not allowed (I would have zero interest sitting there, for the record). Maybe the U will speed up their eventual move to selling at more than two locations in the stadium. Maybe the U will lessen their praise of themselves & consider changes to security's presence.

Or maybe people will just continue to pile on a family of Gopher fans as lying nerds who should stay the hell away from the party of beer showers and brawls.

 

[WilliamsArenaGuy]

Well we all know YOU don't have an agenda. Jeez.

If you don't see this as an unlikely story, fine, but it is. Where we're all these problems in the dome, may I ask? Even if it is all true, it probably has next to nothing to do with the new beer rule. People that are going to get drunk are going to have to do it before the game.

 

[Rescooter]

If I was stuck next to this Mr. Crabby Pants, I'd get drunk too.

 

[gophmeister]

If anything the guy is exaggerating what happened. He could be mistaking regular crowd banter for an argument. He should try walking down the street before a game in Madison and here some of the comments people make to opposing fans. Furthermore studies show that alcohol in the stadium leads to fewer incidents of overly intoxicated fans. End of story.

 

[Maximus]

U officials told the papers, and the papers printed, that incidents were fewer than normal and a things went so well in large part to the U taking the admirable step of having extra security and limiting the number of sales-points in the stadium.

Let me guess, Lyndon Johnson killed Kennedy too.

The committee that oversees the booze includes University police, Parking and Transportation Services, the Office for Student Affairs and Facilities Management. I guess they are all willing to lie to the media/public.

The Minnesota Daily includes a report directly from the U police that there were just four alcohol related incidents during the first game which is lower than usual. I guess the U police are in on the conspiracy too.

If you knew anything about the U, you'd know that "U Officials" typically means massive committees with as many different points of view and opinions making sure that all the academics on campus aren't offended thereby leaving the entire process mostly inept and neutered.

 

[GopherRock]

If I was stuck next to this guy, I'd get drunk too.

+1000

 

[Sparlimb]

The writer should know that they serve booze in those hermetically sealed skyboxes as well, so the administrators are in no way "safely ensconced."

You can't please everybody. Nobody is getting THAT drunk off of the beer served in the stadium. If they were having such a major problem they could have easily gotten security or moved to any of the myriad of empty seats in the stadium. I usually just ignore spilled beer and visor color fights.

Who could afford to get that drunk at the game? No one. So that means these are people who showed up already blasted, which they were doing last year too. They can be turned away at the gate if they are too drunk. That said, me and my buddy went and got 4 beers for us and the wives at the end of the first quarter and I didn't see anyone intoxicated, walking sideways or standing out in any way. Line moved fine, they had registers in the tents (a positive) and we made it back to our section without incident. I haven't see one altercation in the stands nor anyone telling anyone else to ever sit down (like some of you have said). Maybe it's because I didn't pay the blood money for the middle seats, but it is loud and fun in my section, but no drunks...

 

[Ole]

This writer to the strib is IMO lying.
I personally know one the student disciplinarian types that are paid to deal with student infactions(passing out, puking, fights, complaints). She said the NH game was amazingly tame, not one student had been in trouble through 3 quarters when we saw her. The rest of the stadium was also very tame, i didn't even see any griping between gopher fans.
I wish there was a way to fact check the author of this OP.

 

[Iceland12]

Well, I'd say some were reeled in by these pansy-assed morons. If someone is being an asshole at the game--do something about it.

I didn't want beer in the main stadium, but here we are. The consequences of the original legislation banning liquor sales in the Bank penned by the esteemed Tom Rukavina have come full-circle. Remember--none of this would have happened if Rukavina had not been busted for DUI. This was a thinly cloaked means to stop ALL sales in the stadium. The residents of Minnesota had to suffer for his sins. Now we have this jury-rigged solution as a consequence.

I'll go as far to say that this whole incident likely didn't even happen remotely the way it was described.

These are the kind of folks that want to go to the game, never be spoken to, would not like the people around them making any noise (heaven forbid stand), and want to drive to and from the game without any traffic. Babies, absolute babies. Well, now they get what they want--watching the game from their living room. He can read the paper and she can knit.

They were looking for an excuse to get rid of their tickets and found one. I'd say I have a very high probability of being correct. Maybe I'm just the asshole.

Hey, that guy sits in front of us! Though, to be fair, he probably gets tired of me yelling at the bleeding cover guys to "TURN AROUND!" and look for the ball.

 

[highwayman]

Hey, that guy sits in front of us! Though, to be fair, he probably gets tired of me yelling at the bleeding cover guys to "TURN AROUND!" and look for the ball.

We have a couple in front of us that never does a goddamn thing the whole game, and glares at you if you cheer, yell, or even say "c'mon!". He really hates third down. A lot. We call him "Crabby Guy".

He does stand up sometimes, but never says a word. No, he's not mute, I hear him complain to his wife about the stadium noise sometimes.

And oh, he always leaves early and doesn't show up for games when the temp is under 55 degrees...

 

[Formo]

Well we all know YOU don't have an agenda. Jeez.

If you don't see this as an unlikely story, fine, but it is. Where we're all these problems in the dome, may I ask? Even if it is all true, it probably has next to nothing to do with the new beer rule. People that are going to get drunk are going to have to do it before the game.

Yup. GW seems to miss the part where those against Mr. CrabbyPatty gubment employee aren't the ones with an agenda.

If I was stuck next to this Mr. Crabby Pants, I'd get drunk too.

Hahahaha!!

 

[Formo]

Well we all know YOU don't have an agenda. Jeez.

If you don't see this as an unlikely story, fine, but it is. Where we're all these problems in the dome, may I ask? Even if it is all true, it probably has next to nothing to do with the new beer rule. People that are going to get drunk are going to have to do it before the game.

We have a couple in front of us that never does a goddamn thing the whole game, and glares at you if you cheer, yell, or even say "c'mon!". He really hates third down. A lot. We call him "Crabby Guy".

He does stand up sometimes, but never says a word. No, he's not mute, I hear him complain to his wife about the stadium noise sometimes.

And oh, he always leaves early and doesn't show up for games when the temp is under 55 degrees...

WOW! We are lucky we don't have to deal with that in our seats. We got 1st row seats this year because my uncle and his friend both are older and have terrible knee issues. While it's hard enough for them to walk down to our seats, they don't have to stand to see the play, especially on 3rd downs because we are obviously in the first row.

 

[gopherguy05]

Maybe a proper respose to this should be a response letter to the editor co-signed by a bunch of people here who have season tickets stating they haven't seen any issues thus far at either of the first two games, and think the U is doing a quite fine job at thier alcohol sales and monitoring situation.

 

[GophersInIowa]

+ "They should have gotten security"

C'mon. That's wussy talk. If there's a security guy walking through, yeah, go ahead and say, 'hey - talk to these jack$$$$$ in row 12, they can't keep the beer in their cups and mouths', but to expect a family to run into the concourse, get a security person, bring them down to the seats, point out people... that's just involving yourself in stuff more.

That doesn't even make sense. So going out and finding someone is "involving yourself in stuff more" but pointing out the rowdy group to security right in front of them isn't? I would think telling security right in front of them would be much worse. Either way, this guy wanted security to get involved, yet didn't do anything to make it happen. So I guess you can include him in the "wussy talk" group.

Hell, just go up to a security guy and tell him to watch your area because a few guys are drunk and obnoxious. Then if something happens again, security gets involved.

They did something reasonable - along with others, they tried to keep the peace as best they could. It sucked to deal with, and after seeing the U talk about how lovely everything was, offered up their very different experience.

Again, for me it's about the steps he didn't take that make it so suspicious. He didn't tell anyone that day. Didn't report it to the university. Just skipped over all that to make it sound like the U is lying and that beer being served in the stadium is the only reason he had a bad experience. It just seems to me that he had a predetermined opinion on the matter. "Enough is enough" usually means that other things have happened prior to this. Which was probably that he didn't like beer in the stadium to begin with.

 

[DLguy]

First, if an actual fight broke out in the stands, security would have been on that like flies on sh!t. And I highly doubt these people were threatened with violence.

 

[Golden Elephant]

One of the main reasons I love going to Gophers football games is it's a fun, family atmosphere. Even in the dome, where you saw the occasional drunk, it was few and far between (except for Iowa games). It's very different from NFL games, where it seems between 1/2 & 1/3 of the crowd is plastered and yelling profanities.

That said, I haven't seen any bad behavior this year in the 2 games so far. My guess is this guy really didn't want the beer in the stadium, then had to sit by a few obnoxious guys who made him miserable. So then he's mad about it and makes it a bigger deal than it needed to be and exaggerates (in his mind, in his letter, or both) the situation. Incidents like this will happen even if you ban alcohol as people get lubed up ahead of time and bring in their flasks, but my guess is the number of alcohol-related incidents this year is similar to last year.

I sympathize with the guy, but I think if he didn't have an ax to grind about the policy, he would've easily solved the problem at the game by either 1. calling security or 2. moving seats. As another poster pointed out, there were tons of empty seats to choose from, and in pretty much every section in the stadium.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

if someone truly had a bad experience at a Gopher game, that is very unfortunate. BUT, I smell agendas in the letter to the editor and Gopher Warrior's responses. Let's face it - if you were opposed to beer being sold at the games, you are pre-disposed to expect/look for negative results.

Personally, if I'm at a game and someone is being a butt-hole, my first reaction is to tell them to shut the bleep up. If the behavior continues, I have no qualms about grabbing an usher or a security guard and telling them to get the SOB out of there. But, just because I have one bad experience at a game, I am NOT going to quit going to games, and I am NOT go to announce it publically in a letter to the editor - UNLESS I have an axe to grind, or I'm looking for attention.

Or, to put it another way, I was at a movie a while back. The guy sitting behind me was talking loudly. I turned around and asked him to keep it down. He reacted by repeatedly kicking the back of my seat. I was pissed, but I didn't stop going to movies because of one bad experience.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

I have not seen any issues so far at either game. People are still very friendly and civilized (maybe a little too civilized!).

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Oops - forgot to add something. Gopher Warrior keeps talking about people "double-fisting" beers. Let's see - you have to walk a long way to the beer stand, and you're allowed to buy two beers at a time. So - you can buy one at a time and keep walking back and forth, OR you can buy two beers, bring them back to your seat, and nurse them so you can watch the game without having to keep making trips to the beer stand. That's what I would do if I was still drinking. Just because someone buys two beers, that doesn't mean they are chugging the beers in order to get drunk.

 

[Goldmember]

It chaps the ass of the Twin and Vikings that there have not been more problems. They want alcohol out of the suites very badly.
Dozens of arrests and altercatios happen at Vikings and Twins games; they were counting on the same thing happening at TCF, and a media-circus to ensue.

It is astounding how much media attention has been given to this issue. Every media entity in this market was at the UNH game waiting for alcohol-related problems. It didn't happen. The result of this was that, for the entire next week, we were subjected to "stories" about how there is beer being sold at TCF (!!!?) and that you can pretty much buy a beer just like you would at any other public event (!!!?).

Saturday evening every local station lead with a "beer at TCF" piece ( zzzzzzzzzz) before they actually covered the results of the game that day. Amazing.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Security is non-existent? I like how this one turd in the sea of 1000s thinks that his experience is reflective of the entire crowd. Security comes up and down the aisles all game long in my section. On WMU's last possession, we had to ask the security guy to crouch down so we could see. Therefore, I should write a letter letting the Star Tribune complaining that there's too much security and I'm not able to properly ruin the in-game experience for everyone around me.

 

[Goldmember]

(The U has) spoken out against the idea as being inconsistent their mission and principles... a couple years later, influenced by cash, they have changed their tune. Now, they are praising the "non-issue" that their change in stance has been - thanks of course to their well thought out policies and procedures.

Total myth. The "cash" generated by alcohol sales is an afterthought. The objective was to return alcohol to the premium seating (where it has been on campus for decades, and is served in the venues of the programs the U is tasked with competing against), which was a 100% necessity. Alcohol sales is a nice take, but generally not worth the trouble and change in atmosphere (which is why every significant collegiate AD in the US does not offer it outside of premium seating... duh).

TCF was designed to include suites. At the 11th hour the legislature intervened (at the urging of someone). It threw an enormous monkey-wrench in the plan for selling premium seating in this market. The U essentailly underestimated how dysfunctional, easily co-opted, and illigical the state government of Minnesota could be. TCF may not have been built if it were not for the component of the plan that allowed a competetive premium seating product. If the lagislature were a private entity they would be on the hook for about $50+ million in damamges against the U for their part in this fiasco.

The U has never waivered from its stance that it would orefer to offer alcohol in premium seating areas only, much like the rest of the college athletics universe. It is the legislature, media and "public opinion" that have beenmanic and inconsistent on the issue.

After decades of this being the policy at the U, what suddenly changed everyone's mind????????

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Oops - forgot to add something. Gopher Warrior keeps talking about people "double-fisting" beers. Let's see - you have to walk a long way to the beer stand, and you're allowed to buy two beers at a time. So - you can buy one at a time and keep walking back and forth, OR you can buy two beers, bring them back to your seat, and nurse them so you can watch the game without having to keep making trips to the beer stand. That's what I would do if I was still drinking. Just because someone buys two beers, that doesn't mean they are chugging the beers in order to get drunk.

As many have in this thread, you're making things up.

I don't have a problem with beer being sold by a school at a sporting event.

I don't like a school contradicting themselves and trying to pretend they are righteous and all-caring. I especially don't like a school claiming they are doing something because of their principles and mission... then doing a complete 180 because their product isn't good enough to bring in the desired number of fans.

I also don't like stupid rules that help to put on the all-caring front (such as only having two locations that serve beer & wine to the general public currently). They'll likely change it in the future and it makes sense to change it - so change it. Stop trying to act like the good guy when you're not. You want to make money and are willing to go "against your principles and the school's mission" - fine, I get it. But save me the sugar coating nonsense and understand that some people won't like it and some people will have negative experiences as a direct result of the decision. The two locations are arguably not convenient to the general public even though the law requires and the limited locations absolutely do encourage double fisting (which does, on average, result in quicker consumption).

I also know people act like dumb***es sometimes. If the family that wrote a letter had a bad experience, that's unfortunate. I don't find their story to be shocking or amazing or far fetched in the slightest... if they want to write a letter, go ahead. Big deal. If it's that bad, then stop going to games. That's what they did.

I also don't have a big problem with a response of, "those people are being babies. wah wah, don't go to a football game if you can't handle some rowdy behavior."... but the "these people are lying, these people have worked at xyz company/government, are making $X a year, they go to Twins games - I checked the lady's Twitter picture, he's running for office, I don't want stupid people like this at games, etc" crap is sad.

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Total myth. The "cash" generated by alcohol sales is an afterthought. The objective was to return alcohol to the premium seating (where it has been on campus for decades, and is served in the venues of the programs the U is tasked with competing against), which was a 100% necessity. Alcohol sales is a nice take, but generally not worth the trouble and change in atmosphere (which is why every significant collegiate AD in the US does not offer it outside of premium seating... duh).

TCF was designed to include suites. At the 11th hour the legislature intervened (at the urging of someone). It threw an enormous monkey-wrench in the plan for selling premium seating in this market. The U essentailly underestimated how dysfunctional, easily co-opted, and illigical the state government of Minnesota could be. TCF may not have been built if it were not for the component of the plan that allowed a competetive premium seating product. If the lagislature were a private entity they would be on the hook for about $50+ million in damamges against the U for their part in this fiasco.

The U has never waivered from its stance that it would orefer to offer alcohol in premium seating areas only, much like the rest of the college athletics universe.

No - you are confused - again, you're making things up (who said anything about cash generated directly by alcohol sales?!). The objective is cash, through ticket sales (especially premium ticket sales). The U could have sold beer to the general public on day 1, as they do today. They decided against that and in no uncertain terms the U, including its President, said the decision was based on the U's principles and cited all the normal crap (bad for students/underage drinking, no other Big Ten schools do it, it's not in line with our mission etc).

When the ticket sales suffered and they started to really feel it in the pocketbooks, they flip flopped and said, "OK, we'll serve to everyone... that's OK with us now." They did it for cash.

Again, I am fine with selling beer at college sporting events - it's the line of b.s. that I don't like. It's the "we've got a 'beer garden' and an 'overflow' because we care so much!". It's the "well, the state has made us do this!" Look, you want to generate more revenue and so you're going to change an earlier decision that you made. Fine. Own it.