Who is No. 3?

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I wear my Gopher shirts more often than not, people don't give me a hard time about it. I see more of the Vikings and Packers fans giving each other a hard time. I've never met these Gopher haters, except for a few vocal trolls online. Sure, I've talked to a few Hawkeye and Badger fans, and had some generally good natured back and forth, but I've never really encountered these anti-Gopher fans. Most people are FOR something, very few dedicate themselves to being against something.
 

I think to question the NBA's popularity IS silly. The "decision" was THE biggest thing to happen in sports this year. ESPN was talking about it for days and days. It was bigger news then #4 coming back. When Rubio comes to MN the T'wolves will take over 3rd place to being the most popular team. They were in that place for years until KG left. Heck KG could come back tomorrow and instantly make them the 3rd most popular team. I gaurentee when they retired his number in a few years the target center will sell out that night. The Wild will never be number 3 to me. Even if this is a "hockey state" the NHL is just garbage. Everything about it. College hockey is way more fun to watch. I'd say gopher football is number 3 right now. If the Tubby can take the gophers to the sweet 16 then that could be enough to create a huge buzz in the twin cities.
 

It does seem like the NBA has different foul rules for the star players than it does for the other players. And then there's the running about half the length of the court with the ball when going up for a slam dunk.
 

I like how we're all debating pro Basketball on a college Football board.
 

SPCPrice21 said:
The Wild will never be number 3 to me. Even if this is a "hockey state" the NHL is just garbage. Everything about it. College hockey is way more fun to watch.
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I love college hockey. I watch every gopher game on TV, get to a few games and try to watch every game the BTN shows. That said, the NHL is way more fun to watch. Even high quality WCHA hockey. The tape to tape passing in the NHL and the skill of the skaters is so fun I'll watch any NHL game on TV. VS is on in my house all the time.
 


I think I've heard interesting take from Mark Rosen on this topic. If I remember right, he says he would throw the Packers in the mix as a close number two. The NFL is way more popular than other ball sports. Star Trib at one time had Judd Zullgad as a beat writer---for the Packers. KFAN still has a weekly talk show ---- for the Packers.

Maybe Doogie could chime in with actual facts on popularity based on Arbitron, Nielsen or anecdotally how many calls they get when they bring up different teams? What does Wisconsin versus Minnesota in a 2:30 time slot draw for a Nielsen share in the local market? I think it's about an 8 share. A Packer game in the TC market does better I think. It's tough to say whether or not BTN and ESPN contracts are good for the U popularity in the local market. I know a lot of guys who don't get BTN (or don't think to flip to the channel). If we get put on ESPN U its almost worse. Filling the 11:00 a.m. slot for the ESPN/BTN contracts doesn't help generate casula fan interest either. The core hockey people are rabid (both Wild and Gophs), but general public---even in Minnesota---does not follow or watch hockey.
 

I'm going to cover a bunch in this post so just stick with me.

1. Of course the NBA drew big numbers for the Game 7 of the Finals with Boston and LA playing. It's an easy match up to sell if you are the NBA and ABC. There are many people out there that will watch the NBA Finals and that's it.(Including me, give me college basketball any day.) On the other hand think if it was Spurs-Bucks series, they would be lucky to get 15 people.

2. I've been to Target Field 3 times and after Twins gear the logo I saw the most was the U's. Easy.

3. Big Gophers Fan, the reason I used BCS to describe the Athletic Department had nothing to do with the quality of the football team, it had everything to do with the size and scope.

To further prove my point about how hard it is for all the sports team to have the money to be successful the only small media market with all of the "Big 4" plus a BCS athletic department WITHIN the metro area is Miami. And look how well the Hurricanes are drawing right now, not to mention their basketball program is very average at best. The other media markets with the Big 4 plus a BCS school are San Francisco(Stanford and Cal), Boston(BC), Atlanta(Georgia Tech), and Phoenix(ASU).

Here is the Wikipedia list I used to figure that out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._cities_with_teams_from_four_major_sports
 

The comments about being at Twins games and elsewhere and seeing a lot of Gopher gear ring true to me as well. Whether it's worn for basketball, hockey, football, or just to support the U, I don't really care. But is is undeniably on the rise. 10 years ago we saw a lot less people sporting the maroon and gold around town.
 

SPCPrice21 said:
I think to question the NBA's popularity IS silly. The "decision" was THE biggest thing to happen in sports this year. ESPN was talking about it for days and days. It was bigger news then #4 coming back. When Rubio comes to MN the T'wolves will take over 3rd place to being the most popular team. They were in that place for years until KG left. Heck KG could come back tomorrow and instantly make them the 3rd most popular team. I gaurentee when they retired his number in a few years the target center will sell out that night. The Wild will never be number 3 to me. Even if this is a "hockey state" the NHL is just garbage. Everything about it. College hockey is way more fun to watch. I'd say gopher football is number 3 right now. If the Tubby can take the gophers to the sweet 16 then that could be enough to create a huge buzz in the twin cities.
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Of course ESPN talked about 'the decision' for days and days. They were the one's televising it. I think ESPN really crossed a line in journalism by reporting about that whole thing in the 3rd person. They are the one's who set it up.

Brett never left, so he didn't come back. This was all just anonymous sources (Brett) making stuff up so he didn't have to go to training camp again. It was covered for a month, and shouldn't have even been given a minute because there was never any doubt what was going to happen.

The Timberwolves can't even get their whole schedule on TV, so they are a long ways from being #3 right now. You forget that they had trouble drawing fans with KG. Adding him back in just makes them a 35 win team instead of a 15 win team.

The NHL playoffs are the best post-season in sports. If you want to talk smack about the regular season, I will listen, but the playoffs are as good as it gets in sports. The Wild aren't a very interesting product, and don't figure to be in the mix for several years, but they are still closer than Gopher hockey has been to a title in the last 5 years and that saddens me.

Gopher football probably is #3, but it is a very distant #3. There is no question that the football team is far more popular than the basketball or hockey team is in terms of number of fans. Even if the basketball or hockey teams win, the buzz for them will be short-lived. How long did Gopher hockey get a bump from back-to-back titles? 3 years? They can't even get the season ticket holders to show up to a game. The same would happen with the basketball team.
 



SPCPrice21 said:
I think to question the NBA's popularity IS silly. The "decision" was THE biggest thing to happen in sports this year. ESPN was talking about it for days and days. It was bigger news then #4 coming back. When Rubio comes to MN the T'wolves will take over 3rd place to being the most popular team. They were in that place for years until KG left. Heck KG could come back tomorrow and instantly make them the 3rd most popular team. I gaurentee when they retired his number in a few years the target center will sell out that night. The Wild will never be number 3 to me. Even if this is a "hockey state" the NHL is just garbage. Everything about it. College hockey is way more fun to watch. I'd say gopher football is number 3 right now. If the Tubby can take the gophers to the sweet 16 then that could be enough to create a huge buzz in the twin cities.
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You're probably right, but there's a big "if" in there. There will be initial hype if/when he arrives, but he better be good enough to help the team and get them back in the win column consistently or it's not gonna matter.
 

ruralgopher said:
I love college hockey. I watch every gopher game on TV, get to a few games and try to watch every game the BTN shows. That said, the NHL is way more fun to watch. Even high quality WCHA hockey. The tape to tape passing in the NHL and the skill of the skaters is so fun I'll watch any NHL game on TV. VS is on in my house all the time.
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I fully agree with this.

Basketball is a great sport but the NBA is horrible. College hoops is significantly better.

Hockey is a much better sport, and the NHL is great (aside from too many teams south of St. Louis). College hockey will always be a niche sport, but for those markets who love it (Minn/wis/ND, Michigan, East Coast/New England), it is really something special. Gopher hockey has a very solid metro and state-wide fanbase (if it's not exactly gigantic) it won't ever be lower than 5th place.

As far as #3 in the Twin Cities... I don't ever see it being the twolves. That leaves the Wild, and Gopher football and hoops. Gopher football has the best chance for staying power at third, because it is football, and football is king in any city which has it, except New York and Boston. The Wild (like Gopher hockey) will always have a very strong built-in fanbase (because hockey will always be important to Minnesotans, regardless of the teams' records).

Gopher Basketball has a great following lately, but it will take a national championship or two for them to ever cement their place higher than 4th (behind Twins/Vikes/GopherFootball).

Give the Wild a Stanley Cup victory, and you will see support for the Wild explode and remain steady for years. Give Gopher football a Rose Bowl victory or two, and support will rise hugely, even taking quite a bit from the Vikings presence. Give Gopher Football another National championship and they will completely pass the Vikings, and become either #1 or #2.

Right now, I rank them: 1.Twins 2.Vikings 3.GopherFootball 4.Wild 5.Twolves (should be about 10th) t6. Gopherhoops t6. Gopherpucks
 


Omega015 said:
Of course ESPN talked about 'the decision' for days and days. They were the one's televising it. I think ESPN really crossed a line in journalism by reporting about that whole thing in the 3rd person. They are the one's who set it up.

Brett never left, so he didn't come back. This was all just anonymous sources (Brett) making stuff up so he didn't have to go to training camp again. It was covered for a month, and shouldn't have even been given a minute because there was never any doubt what was going to happen.

The Timberwolves can't even get their whole schedule on TV, so they are a long ways from being #3 right now. You forget that they had trouble drawing fans with KG. Adding him back in just makes them a 35 win team instead of a 15 win team.

The NHL playoffs are the best post-season in sports. If you want to talk smack about the regular season, I will listen, but the playoffs are as good as it gets in sports. The Wild aren't a very interesting product, and don't figure to be in the mix for several years, but they are still closer than Gopher hockey has been to a title in the last 5 years and that saddens me.

Gopher football probably is #3, but it is a very distant #3. There is no question that the football team is far more popular than the basketball or hockey team is in terms of number of fans. Even if the basketball or hockey teams win, the buzz for them will be short-lived. How long did Gopher hockey get a bump from back-to-back titles? 3 years? They can't even get the season ticket holders to show up to a game. The same would happen with the basketball team.
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ESPN IS SPORTS. Without ESPN sports is way less... umm. (i can't think of a good word) covered. My point with the whole decision thing was because someone previously stated how the NBA is dying. Just having this aired and talked about for days upon days proves its not. That was my point.

Brett Favre never came back? Alright fine... When he showed up after skipping all the off season manatory camps and the training camp. Better? Again Lebrons decision was more covered then Favre.

Ever since the NHL had their hold out it hasn't had nearly the same popularity or coverage. I honestly don't think it will ever become as popular as the NFL, NBA, MLB, or even NCAAF or NCAAB.
 



dpodoll68 said:
Hmm...
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Good catch!

I was projecting a bit when I said that Gopherpucks should be no lower than 5th. The twolves are (criminally) getting more respect than Lucia's boys.

I really think the twolves will drop off the map soon. And with any improvement at all, gopher hockey will get more press respect than the twolves immediately.

I guess the distinction I am trying to make is that the press coverage of the twolves is way too much relative to how many people care to hear it. And conversely, Gopher Hockey does not get enough press coverage.
 

SPCPrice21 said:
ESPN IS SPORTS. Without ESPN sports is way less... umm. (i can't think of a good word) covered. My point with the whole decision thing was because someone previously stated how the NBA is dying. Just having this aired and talked about for days upon days proves its not. That was my point.

Brett Favre never came back? Alright fine... When he showed up after skipping all the off season manatory camps and the training camp. Better? Again Lebrons decision was more covered then Favre.

Ever since the NHL had their hold out it hasn't had nearly the same popularity or coverage. I honestly don't think it will ever become as popular as the NFL, NBA, MLB, or even NCAAF or NCAAB.
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ESPN is not sports. ESPN is tabloid journalism for men that happens to show sports. It's full of nonstop gossip and trash talk reactions. It's unbearable, and the network is full of former athletes that need to shut up.

You couldn't pay me enough to watch the 6pm Sportscenter. I am so sick of all their talking heads saying football 700 times an hour. Everyone knows its a football field, you can just say field. Feel free to use NFL every once in a while instead of saying National Football League. Ugggh... I hate ESPN.

As for the NBA, it is strong in a few markets, but that's it. In those markets it's huge, but there are a number of teams that are really struggling right now. People who think MLB has no parity should check out the NBA.

You can't compare the coverage of LeBron to Favre. They weren't the same thing. ESPN had a show to promote for LeBron, so they had an interest in giving it more coverage than Favre. Plus, Favre has been doing the same tired act for 3 years now. It still didn't stop them from talking about him every day for the last month.

The NHL doesn't have as much coverage on ESPN now because ESPN got out of the NHL and therefore doesn't dedicate as much time to it. You'll notice that they suddenly cover soccer all the time now that they show a bunch of European league games. It's not rocket science, they give more coverage to the leagues and teams they are paying for.

The NHL is a regional sport, just like college hockey. The quicker they realize that, the better off the league will be. People in the south don't even know who the Blackhawks are, but the Hawks are still going to have 18,000 people show up to a practice next week.
 

My biggest problem with ESPN is that they are not just a provider of sports news, updates, and even games. They control what the perception is on particular teams, players, conferences, or sports in general. Talking about certain teams or players NON-STOP bothers the heck out of me, and certainly crosses the line from delivering what people want to telling people what they want. Add in the fact that ESPN doesn't just play games or talk about teams, they then sign contracts with sports or conferences. That big SEC deal from a few years ago.. don't you think that ESPN has a stake in how well the conference does and therefore how popular it is? Take that a step further to the point that athletes and teams from teams NOT in the SEC could easily be slighted from Heisman or national title contenders because the major media source for sports (nationally on ESPN1/2/3/etc + ABC + magazines and then locally on radios) focus in on them. Creates a disparity and unfair disadvantage for other markets/teams/players.

Just my take.

Now, who is #3 in the TC market? I'd like to think it's Gopher football, but I really don't know. As terrible as the Timberwolves are they seem to get just as much attention... And while people make jokes all the time about how bad they are, it's not nearly as malicious or condescending as I hear from non-diehard Gopher football fans.
 

Without ESPN the sports market isnt nearly as huge as it is today period
 

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