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GopherFan88

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Vikings are trash and the Gophers are up and coming! Time to tell everyone the Gophers are Minnesotas new football team!
 

I think we have the same exact thread every week.
 

Weak, this is the wrong attitude and approach. If the Gophers can't compete for buzz when the Vikings are decent.... the gophers won't have the buzz in the long run. The Vikings are going to be in a playoff race more often than not, it's the nature of the NFL.
 

People are so funny here. Half want to close the bandwagon because you weren't already on it and then turn around and whine that no one takes notice of our team. Then the others somehow think the popularity of the Gophers is somehow based on how the Vikings do. Which is a joke. People will pay attention and notice the Gophers IF AND WHEN they earn that interest. Win a Big Ten championship and you'll sell a lot more season tickets. That's how it works...
 

The peak year of the Miami Hurricanes was during the Marino years, it can be done in a pro town
 


Both programs can be successful. It's not an either or situation.

Having said that, O lord do the Vikings suck. I'm just glad the Gophers are making this fall a little bit interesting. Wolves start in a few days!
 

I'm not going to rip the Vikings but having a bad quarterback(1 read Ponder) with a defense that cannot get off the field on third down, and porous offensive line is the worst recipe for disaster in the NFL. I don't care if people want to jump on the Gopher bandwagon, the more Gopher fans in the stadium the better even if they are Johnny come lately's. We need more fans and need to sell more tickets to potential Gopher backers. For me the Gopher bandwagon is wide open and everyone is welcome to jump on board and be big Gopher fans, they need to just keep coming back. Over the long haul if we can sustain some success these people will turn in to people that keep buying tickets once they realize the ticket is good value and College football is entertaining football. Go Gophers. The better the atmosphere the better the recruits and success breeds success. Gophers just need to keep the turn going.
 

The first, second, and third thing the Gopher fanbase needs to do is drop the massive and obvious inferiority complex it has with the Vikings. It's unbecoming and by far the worst thing I see on this board.

It's the NFL. Teams rise and fall very quickly. It takes an extraordinarily inept franchise (it takes the Browns, is what I'm saying) to stay down for decades like college teams do. If you're hoping a down year by the local pro team is going to be the shot in the arm this program needs, you're going to have a hard time.
 

BBQ Platypus said:
The first, second, and third thing the Gopher fanbase needs to do is drop the massive and obvious inferiority complex it has with the Vikings. It's unbecoming and by far the worst thing I see on this board.

It's the NFL. Teams rise and fall very quickly. It takes an extraordinarily inept franchise (it takes the Browns, is what I'm saying) to stay down for decades like college teams do. If you're hoping a down year by the local pro team is going to be the shot in the arm this program needs, you're going to have a hard time.
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This. The hatred of the Vikings on this board is sad and pathetic. It has zero to do with whether the Gophers beat Indiana on Saturday or anything else. Just stop already.
 



GopherFan88 said:
Vikings are trash and the Gophers are up and coming! Time to tell everyone the Gophers are Minnesotas new football team!
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Appreciate the sentiment but it's misguided and won't do any good. This should not be an Us vs. Them situation because this town can support both teams. Our issue is that the general public in this market has shown they will only support you if you win consistently over time. Sure, it's possible to develop year-to-year interest if a team gets off to a good start or wins a big game, but it goes away quickly. See 2003 just before and just after the Michigan game for the perfect case study. Tons of legitimate buzz and interest from the public and the media, but all you heard after the 4th Quarter collapse was, "Looks like the same old Gophers." The buzz and public interested died very quickly after that.

The Vikings have the fan base they do because they win enough to stay relevant and keep people excited. Even though they haven't been to a Super Bowl in years, they have gone to the NFC championship game about once every ten years since the last Super Bowl appearance and they make the playoffs fairly often in between. It's this consistency over time that has garnered them the support they enjoy. If they had been a perennial doormat for the last 40 years, things would be a lot different.

Increasing the number of passionate, hardcore Gopher fans will take time because the Gophers have been bad for so long. It's going to take 8 or 9 win seasons every few years with decent bowl games. You also have to be in legitimate contention for a conference title late in the season once in a while. Do this for 15-20 years and you'll have grown your hardcore fan base to the point where that addition will need to be built at TCF.
 

Hatred for the Vikings is misguided, but anyone who thinks the NFL hasn't, and doesn't have an impact on the Gopher football program is just naïve.

I've got to hand it to the NFL, they have set up and marketed a tremendous product over the years. Perfect example, the KC Chiefs go from basement dwellers to 8-0 in the blink of an eye. Almost 40% of the teams make the playoffs and thus have a chance at a championship, 75% of them still have a realistic shot at the postseason in November. Keeps hope alive, keeps the casual fan interested. Even still, most games are very competitive because the disparity in talent from one team to the next is not that great. Fantasy football has even brought the most extremely casual fan into following the league.

Compare that to the NCAA. One or two losses and not only is a NC out of the question, so is a major bowl like the Rose Bowl. By October, most teams are done. You can see drastic differences in talent gaps. The rich get richer - the poor get....well, take Grambling for example. They can barely even fund their program. For programs with diehard fans, no problem. Doesn't matter. For programs like the Gophers who need casual fans, the NFL has an impact.

Not saying we can't be successful, but this dismissal of the NFL as having no impact on the Gophers has to stop. Thinking the NFL has no impact is just as stupid as saying the Vikings are the only thing holding the program back.

It's perfectly OK to embrace the reality that the NFL is one of the things (not the only thing) hurting the program.
 


Worthless post...Many states have both winning college and pro teams that get big fan support for both.

GopherFan88 said:
Vikings are trash and the Gophers are up and coming! Time to tell everyone the Gophers are Minnesotas new football team!
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With all the people from others states, Iowa, Wisconsin, Dakotas, Illinois etc., the Vikings have fans who will never be Gopher fans. Now throw-in the Minnesotans who have allegiance to other state schools, UMD, Mankato, St.Thomas etc. and the past success and exposure of the Vikings and it's easy to see why the disparity exists.

If the Gophers stay on a roll a whole lot of those fans will get on the bandwagon. Good, welcome, come on down, but they'll always be a bunch that won't come with. This ain't Ames, Lincoln or Madison. Might want to have an asterisk attached to that last one. There's probably a small group of Gopher/Viking fans at UW. Usually bet they have to stay quiet. But go to a Bucks or Brewers game in Milwaukee and you'll hear a whole lot of Sconies complaining about the fans from Chicago and Minnesota in their stadium?

:drink:
 

The little darlings are still getting there usual 7 pages of coverage in the Strib. Jarod Allen gets a hang nail, we get 3 paragraphs on it. AD? Great core values. What is the count now? 5 children from 5 different women? He is just such a great role model. Ziggy is such a honest and hard working owner. There is a very SMALL percentage of Viking fans who are also Gopher fans. Totally different fan base. A great majority of Gopher fans are baby boomers. The majority of Viking fans are new generation. Most of these fans are hard drinking party animals who go for the event and think the NFL is the cats meow. These fans will NEVER change their aligence. If you asked them who Sandy Stephens was they would give you that drunken, deaf and dumb look. New Gopher fans have to come from the casual fan base. I agree with the posters that say the Gophers need 3-4 banner seasons to change the mindset of support in the State. I've stated this before, that when I start seeing banners
in front of Bars/Sport Bars,etc that say: " Your place to watch Golden Gopher Football" Then I'll know
we're making some progress. And Hey, I support the US against THEM. F...the Purple!!!
 

ruppertflywheel said:
There is a very SMALL percentage of Viking fans who are also Gopher fans. Totally different fan base. A great majority of Gopher fans are baby boomers. The majority of Viking fans are new generation. Most of these fans are hard drinking party animals who go for the event and think the NFL is the cats meow. These fans will NEVER change their aligence.
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This might be true of the people who actually go to Viking games, but in my experience it’s not true of Viking fans in general. Most of the Viking fans I know are also interested in college football. Many of them aren’t primarily Gopher fans because they aren’t from here and/or went to school elsewhere, but they don’t ignore the Gophers because they want to be blind drunk and scream obscenities at senior citizens and children in order to have a good time. Some of them have been my guests at a game or a tailgate. A few have even started buying their own tickets. Beware, they are among you!!!
 

Gopher_Ace said:
Weak, this is the wrong attitude and approach. If the Gophers can't compete for buzz when the Vikings are decent.... the gophers won't have the buzz in the long run. The Vikings are going to be in a playoff race more often than not, it's the nature of the NFL.
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+1

Sitting in the stands (standing) on Saturday, my smile was bigger than it ever was.. so happy for my Gophers. That said, I was still watching the Vikes game last night, (or most of it) and while upset wtih this season, still wanting them to do well.

Why do folks have a complex about the Vikes? I like both and am proud of it...
 

Rouser said:
+1

Sitting in the stands (standing) on Saturday, my smile was bigger than it ever was.. so happy for my Gophers. That said, I was still watching the Vikes game last night, (or most of it) and while upset wtih this season, still wanting them to do wel

Why do folks have a complex about the Vikes? I like both and am proud of it...
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No offense, but it is probably how you were raised in your household. We were raised as Gopher fans. The Vikings were after thoughts. Our kids were raised Gopher fans. NEVER took them to one Viking game. They're now adults and hold the same views. As my son said: " Anybody can be a Viking fan, it takes someone special to be a Gopher fan " we sit in section 143. The guy and his wife next to us are in their mid 60's. He said he watches the Vikings, but has never attended a game. Here's is the way he put it. " The Vikings don't tug at my heart "
 

Iceland12 said:
With all the people from others states, Iowa, Wisconsin, Dakotas, Illinois etc., the Vikings have fans who will never be Gopher fans. Now throw-in the Minnesotans who have allegiance to other state schools, UMD, Mankato, St.Thomas etc. and the past success and exposure of the Vikings and it's easy to see why the disparity exists.
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You do understand that in a world without the Vikings, many of those people from Minnesota who went to or follow other schools like UMD, Mankato, St Thomas, St Johns, SCSU, etc etc would follow the Gophers, right? I'm not saying all. Many of them might let their hockey rivalries cloud their ability to get behind the only DI football program (ie you can root for UMD AND UM-TC football, they don't compete). But some (and in a metro with 3+ million people, it adds up) would take their energy, dollars, and interest and follow Gopher football much closer. Some might buy a single ticket they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford (time or money). Some might even buy season tickets. Others might actually just tune in to the game on a Saturday. Those people may be less apathetic about the program than they are today (ie call in to radio shows to b!tch about the team/coach/etc that, by the way, cover Gopher football much more extensively without the presence of an NFL franchise in town), helping keep pressure on the AD to keep a winning program. Local advertisers have more money to put into Gopher football, raising the awareness level to casual sports fans and citizens. Free tickets for radio shows, group packages for kids, etc etc all shift (to a certain extent) to the Gophers. It ALL adds up, with a more than negligible increase in fans paying attention and revenue to the U.

As Josh says, ignoring or writing off the Vikings presence is madness, just like blaming all the Gophers' ills on the Vikings is madness.
 

GopherFan88 said:
Vikings are trash and the Gophers are up and coming! Time to tell everyone the Gophers are Minnesotas new football team!
Click to expand...

Most people with this thought process are just Packer trolls that at least got there college choice correct.
 


RailBaronYarr said:
You do understand that in a world without the Vikings, many of those people from Minnesota who went to or follow other schools like UMD, Mankato, St Thomas, St Johns, SCSU, etc etc would follow the Gophers, right? I'm not saying all. Many of them might let their hockey rivalries cloud their ability to get behind the only DI football program (ie you can root for UMD AND UM-TC football, they don't compete). But some (and in a metro with 3+ million people, it adds up) would take their energy, dollars, and interest and follow Gopher football much closer. Some might buy a single ticket they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford (time or money). Some might even buy season tickets. Others might actually just tune in to the game on a Saturday. Those people may be less apathetic about the program than they are today (ie call in to radio shows to b!tch about the team/coach/etc that, by the way, cover Gopher football much more extensively without the presence of an NFL franchise in town), helping keep pressure on the AD to keep a winning program. Local advertisers have more money to put into Gopher football, raising the awareness level to casual sports fans and citizens. Free tickets for radio shows, group packages for kids, etc etc all shift (to a certain extent) to the Gophers. It ALL adds up, with a more than negligible increase in fans paying attention and revenue to the U.

As Josh says, ignoring or writing off the Vikings presence is madness, just like blaming all the Gophers' ills on the Vikings is madness.
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Uh, what? "Madness" is taking something completely out of context and responding to it as if that was the point to begin with.

My post was about the present situation your's is about some hypothetical past/present where the Vikings don't exist. So I guess you didn't agree with this:
If the Gophers stay on a roll a whole lot of those fans will get on the bandwagon. Good, welcome, come on down, but they'll always be a bunch that won't come with

Why are you a troll? An Iowa or Wisconsin fan who never wants the Gophers to succeed? Or a self-hating Gopher fan who always wants to wallow in their sorrow?

I mean as long as we're misrepresenting things..
 

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