The state of...

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book said:
The phrase that MN is the State of Hockey assumes, too much in my opnion, the hockey rules everbody's atetntion all the time.
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That's not at all how I take the phrase. To me, it it isn't a comment on hockey compared to other sports. Itis a comment on the relative importance of hockey in this state compared to others states.
 

Unregistered User said:
And by that, I'm assuming you mean what we call soccer, right. Because if we're talking globally, nothing touches soccer.
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You are correct. People around the world would be laughing at this discussion. IMO, both sports are a niche.
 

Goldy, you are correct about my 2011 reference. I was in downtown Saint Paul when the Gophers were playing (BC? BU?) for a chance to return to the Frozen Four this spring.

I remember the mania during Clem's run with the Gopher Basketball team in San Antonio, and the contrast between that and what happened this spring in St. Paul clarifies this issue for me. It is an absolute joke that the building was half full for Minnesota playing five minutes from Campus for a chance at the FF. Blowing the budget on the WCHA tourney does not cut it; in fact that excuse again shows how different Hockey fans are from CFB and CBB fans. I guarantee you all those Iowa Hawkeye football fans that travel to every bowl game are not rolling in the six figures of income. (or those 65,000 Badger fans at the Rosebowl this year)

Less than 10K showed up five miles from Campus the see our beloved Gopher Hockey team possibly return to the the top. More than 10K of Gopher BB fans made it to San Antonio to see us destroy Temple and someone else in '97.

That day made me think again about this issue, and reminded me what a odd Sports Marketing Niche all hockey resides in.

I accept the fact the "The State of Hockey" is not mean to speak to the other sports , but is a comment on the importance of Hockey in Minnesota relative to other places.

The problems begin when TV commentators and fans of other teams grab onto this State of Hockey thing and start making silly assumptions about the ability of Minnesota to compete in Big Ten BB and FB.

A lot of this BS gets turned into Gospel for anti Minnesota FB and BB recruiting. For the record, i watched the 2002NC game at Alary's and watched the whole 2003 game from my balcony in PV Mexico (with beers and Cigars), so I do marginally support Hockey in my back yard.
 


oak_street1981 said:
Goldy, you are correct about my 2011 reference. I was in downtown Saint Paul when the Gophers were playing (BC? BU?) for a chance to return to the Frozen Four this spring.

I remember the mania during Clem's run with the Gopher Basketball team in San Antonio, and the contrast between that and what happened this spring in St. Paul clarifies this issue for me. It is an absolute joke that the building was half full for Minnesota playing five minutes from Campus for a chance at the FF. Blowing the budget on the WCHA tourney does not cut it; in fact that excuse again shows how different Hockey fans are from CFB and CBB fans. I guarantee you all those Iowa Hawkeye football fans that travel to every bowl game are not rolling in the six figures of income. (or those 65,000 Badger fans at the Rosebowl this year)

Less than 10K showed up five miles from Campus the see our beloved Gopher Hockey team possibly return to the the top. More than 10K of Gopher BB fans made it to San Antonio to see us destroy Temple and someone else in '97.

That day made me think again about this issue, and reminded me what a odd Sports Marketing Niche all hockey resides in.

I accept the fact the "The State of Hockey" is not mean to speak to the other sports , but is a comment on the importance of Hockey in Minnesota relative to other places.

The problems begin when TV commentators and fans of other teams grab onto this State of Hockey thing and start making silly assumptions about the ability of Minnesota to compete in Big Ten BB and FB.

A lot of this BS gets turned into Gospel for anti Minnesota FB and BB recruiting. For the record, i watched the 2002NC game at Alary's and watched the whole 2003 game from my balcony in PV Mexico (with beers and Cigars), so I do marginally support Hockey in my back yard.
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I remember people thinking the X would be sold out like the week before since both UND and Minnesota were back there playing again like the week before, but neither teams fan bases were near what they were the week before for the WCHA tourney when the arena was split about 50/50 between them and I really don't know why the didn't show up. It was quite the disappointing attendance considering UND and Minnesota may be the biggest college hockey rivalry in the nation and as long as both won their 1st game they would face each other for a chance to get to the frozen 4. I heard that there was a big price increase by the NCAA from the week before but stilll figured the arena would be relatively full. The NCAA moved hockey regionals off campus sites to neutral sites to try to make it more "fair" and the attendance for the regionals has gone down drastically since then so I wonder if they would ever move them back to campus sites. I agree I think it is stupid people think because its the state of hockey they can't compete in other sports or try to use it as a negative thing for other sports.
 


brucekaupa said:
That's not at all how I take the phrase. To me, it it isn't a comment on hockey compared to other sports. Itis a comment on the relative importance of hockey in this state compared to others states.
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That's how I've viewed it as well.
 

brucekaupa said:
That's not at all how I take the phrase. To me, it it isn't a comment on hockey compared to other sports. Itis a comment on the relative importance of hockey in this state compared to others states.
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Exactly. Well stated.
 

brucekaupa said:
That's not at all how I take the phrase. To me, it it isn't a comment on hockey compared to other sports. Itis a comment on the relative importance of hockey in this state compared to others states.
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A. Minnesota is The State of Hockey.
B. Minnesota is a hockey state.

Two statements that have far different meanings.
Both have been often used.
 

station19 said:
A. Minnesota is The State of Hockey.
B. Minnesota is a hockey state.

Two statements that have far different meanings.
Both have been often used.
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The State of Hockey inside the outline of the state of Minnesota is called "marketing". Many of you are too young to remember the devastation people felt when the North Stars left. This marketing is related. Having the State - us - feel ownership is key to the health of a franchise.
 



wel around 7,000 fans just showed up tonight for a prospects scrimmage, how many people showed for midnight madness last year?
 


Unregistered User said:
Open your eyes, and feel free to reply when you've researched the links contained within:

http://www.topendsports.com/world/lists/popular-sport/index.htm
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.....did you read the links? They agree with me. It's not just the sheer number of people watching and playing basketball, it is the popularity on every single continent. Argentina, Spain, Israel, Japan, austraiilia, basketball is everywhere.

Hockey has its diehards that will show up to a prospect game, but it will always be niche, even in most of Minnesota compared to basketball due to the need for pads and ice. Face the facts. Basketball has more than twice the number of players in youth or adult leagues and overall viewership of basketball will always crush hockey.
 

AO54 said:
.....did you read the links? They agree with me. It's not just the sheer number of people watching and playing basketball, it is the popularity on every single continent. Argentina, Spain, Israel, Japan, austraiilia, basketball is everywhere.

Hockey has its diehards that will show up to a prospect game, but it will always be niche, even in most of Minnesota compared to basketball due to the need for pads and ice. Face the facts. Basketball has more than twice the number of players in youth or adult leagues and overall viewership of basketball will always crush hockey.
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I think you're just getting confused. You're reply to 4four4 saying "open your eyes" when that poster was commenting on soccer being more popular globally than ANY sport. He was responding to a post I made asking for clarification from something pages ago. It has nothing to do with fans/participants/viewers or anything to do with hockey vs. basketball.
 




Unregistered User said:
I think you're just getting confused. You're reply to 4four4 saying "open your eyes" when that poster was commenting on soccer being more popular globally than ANY sport. He was responding to a post I made asking for clarification from something pages ago. It has nothing to do with fans/participants/viewers or anything to do with hockey vs. basketball.
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not quite.
4four4 said:
You are correct. People around the world would be laughing at this discussion. IMO, both sports are a niche.
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We can all obviously agree that Soccer is #1, but that doesn't make everything else "niche". Basketball is widely played and followed around the world. There are professional leagues everywhere. Hockey is not niche in Minnesota, but it is almost everywhere else.
 

oak_street1981 said:
Get Real! Hockey is definitely a niche sport, and certainly popular for the front runners at times here in Minnesota. \A classic big fish in a tiny pond situation.

Hockey is only big here because the Gophers won a bunch of Titles. When the Gophers are not riding high, all these huge hockey fans practically ignore the NCAA Frozen Four. Attendance at the WCHA games at the X are an embarrassment if the Gophers are not playing. This year 10K showed up for a Gopher Game at the X. Wouldn't huge hockey fans die to see the elite teams in their own backyard, Gophers or no Gophers if Hockey is so big here?

The facts suggest not so much.


As far as the Frozen Four, do not hear people talking about BC, BU, Michigan or Maine when the Gophers are not in it. a lot of these fans probably do not even know what happened later, if their beloved Gophers were not in it. I like watching Big Ten teams in NCAA games, I know a lot of these local hockey fans do not watch the NCAA games if there isn't a Gopher presence, not even to see rivals UND or Wisc.

Meanwhile everyone is talking NCAA Basketball brackets regardless of what the Gophers did in Basketball. Heck even when UMD won it, which actually excited me, most of these Gopher die hard fans could not have cared less.

The UMD titile was on par with a St. Paul Saints Northern League title in the 90's for an average Twin Cities Hockey "fan".



Many die hard Gopher Hockey fans do not even care about the FB team. I mentioned the 2005 Football team's win over Michigan to a couple of hockey die hards later that Saturday, and they had not interest and were almost dismissive of anything about that great win.

It is a very odd fan base, very out of step with the mainstream and insanely loyal, until the team doesn't win the WCHA.

This is a Vikings town and always will be. When the the Twins win they are big. If Jerry Kill gets the Gophers going to BCS games it will be huge.

We all know the hysteria Clem Haskins created in 1997 and Hockey cannot get to 25 percent of what that was and will be again if Tubby could put a few NCAA wins together.

I heard that silly State of Hockey song on the Sid show the other day, and I was sort of embarrassed by the provincialism. The Suter and Parisee signings were big though, and there is no doubt those 17,000 suburban/Exurban, white families (2-4 young children who probably all play the sport w/ stay at home MILF, plus hockey obsessed father) will start skipping Applebees and eating at home, and keep the SUV a couple extra years so they can afford to blow $4k to 8K on tickets again that they had given up after the team stopped winning.

Maybe this time they will stop backing up the Kellogg exit for a mile and figure before all 41 plus games that there is more than one exit leading to downtown St. Paul.

Loyal, obsessed, and compact defines the marketplace for hockey.
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For every Gopher hockey/basketball argument/rationalization you can make, I can make one for the Wild and T'pups. If basketball is so big, why do the Wild sell over 100% seating capacity since the franchise has started (even though they've only had one division title), but the Wolves still range in the 24-27th category for average attendance, even though both teams have had similar records/results since the Wild franchise has started? I don't think there is any question that the hockey fans are more passionate than basketball in this state.
 

oak_street1981 said:
Goldy, you are correct about my 2011 reference. I was in downtown Saint Paul when the Gophers were playing (BC? BU?) for a chance to return to the Frozen Four this spring.

I remember the mania during Clem's run with the Gopher Basketball team in San Antonio, and the contrast between that and what happened this spring in St. Paul clarifies this issue for me. It is an absolute joke that the building was half full for Minnesota playing five minutes from Campus for a chance at the FF. Blowing the budget on the WCHA tourney does not cut it; in fact that excuse again shows how different Hockey fans are from CFB and CBB fans. I guarantee you all those Iowa Hawkeye football fans that travel to every bowl game are not rolling in the six figures of income. (or those 65,000 Badger fans at the Rosebowl this year)

Less than 10K showed up five miles from Campus the see our beloved Gopher Hockey team possibly return to the the top. More than 10K of Gopher BB fans made it to San Antonio to see us destroy Temple and someone else in '97.

That day made me think again about this issue, and reminded me what a odd Sports Marketing Niche all hockey resides in.

I accept the fact the "The State of Hockey" is not mean to speak to the other sports , but is a comment on the importance of Hockey in Minnesota relative to other places.

The problems begin when TV commentators and fans of other teams grab onto this State of Hockey thing and start making silly assumptions about the ability of Minnesota to compete in Big Ten BB and FB.

A lot of this BS gets turned into Gospel for anti Minnesota FB and BB recruiting. For the record, i watched the 2002NC game at Alary's and watched the whole 2003 game from my balcony in PV Mexico (with beers and Cigars), so I do marginally support Hockey in my back yard.
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You only cite one year in which the Gophers had a good basketball following on the road. When else have Minnesota fans flocked to a postseason basketball game? Just citing one example of a time the basketball team reached a level they hadn't ever reached doesn't mean that the sport is more popular than hockey.
 

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