Why are you a MN fan?

[Ewert86PC]

I grew up in a Gopher family. Mother, Aunt and family friends went to the U. I followed Gopher sports long before the pro sports teams in town.

Because of this family connection, I went to the U and graduated.

As far as "complaining" goes, first universities are built on academic thinking, the finding, examining and describing smaller parts of a whole. This means any sport could be broken down and examined in smaller parts of the game.

These smaller aspects of the game give rise to unique questions that if addressed properly helps the team. Questions get formulated like the following. Why is a basketball team that misses half of it's free throws more likely to lose a game? Why does a football team with faster defensive linemen give up more running yards?

This kind of analysis is something that helps not only teams, but the sports in general. In my opinion, many academics fail to realize this aspect of athletics and dig their heels in against athletics on solely political and moral grounds, which is a huge mistake.

The problem in the Twin Cities is that we have a large media market, and it acts as an echo chamber for complaints, valid or not, about athletics, athletes and their contribution to "traditional academics". This market size also means there are elements, communities and organizations that try to direct stories into the public mind which inflame and blister their agendas. It is the reason that criticism is a political ball that gets kicked around. If you think the criticism is valid then it is being supportive. If you think the criticism is useless, then it is negativity.

This media echo chamber also allows political weight to be created and used against the University since athletics is such a popular endeavor and political issues are the "meat and potatoes" of the schools main source of funding, the State Legislature.

I'll bleed Maroon and Gold even after I've shuffled off this mortal coil.

 

[Gold Vision]

Not a die hard golfer, but we all use different clubs based on our skill level and comfort with a particular club.

Oh I’m totally kidding. I’m a terrible, throw my clubs, once a year type golfer.

 

[T-Bonegopher]

I became a Gopher fan the 70’s. My dad would take me to games and I was lucky to see the likes of Mychal Thompson,Ray Williams, Kevin McHale, Jim Brewer etc.....
Needless to say It was easy to become a huge fan back then. Listening to Ray Christiansen for so many years kept me a fan. The interesting thing about him was you could tell very quickly how the Gophers were doing by the way he was calling the game. I have stayed a fan all these years and still have faith they will be relevant sometime in the near future.

 

[GopherPoke]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to this Q. What a great way to start a Monday. The stories on here are great.

 

[MplsGopher]

I'm in Madison and it is a very common complaint that Wisconsin kids have a hard time being admitted to the Flagship University.
In WI, it is clear that the ratio of spots available to WI kids versus out-of-state, mostly from the Northeast kids, is affected by funding from the legislature. Obviously, the out-of-state kids pay much more--and the University has the option of increasing tuition for out-of-state kids. For many years tuition for in-state kids was frozen--which sounds great, but, along with declining state funding, it had the effect of starving the University for money.
The University could jack up the tuition for out-of-staters, or change the ratios and admit more out-staters. With less or stagnant funding from other sources, they didn't have other choices. Unfortunately, that reduces the number of spaces for Wisconsin kids which causes more complaints which causes legislative critics to reduce funding further. I do believe that the Madison campus has some kind of quota, but the out-of-state kids are just worth more money to the University.

I'm sure it's exactly the same situation in MN.

And the U of MN president, like the U of WI president, can say "look, we have other campuses that are happy and proud to serve the graduates of [state] high schools and provide them with a top-notch education, blah blah blah"

 

[skiumah1]

I'm a younger guy, grew up going to bed listening to Rick Rickert and Kris Humphries led teams. I'd go into every game in my youth convinced the Gophers were going to win. My vivid memory of emotional heartbreak highlighted by when we blew the lead late to Dee Brown led Illini team that woulda put us as a near lock for the NCAA tournament.
I was too young to know what was happening during the Clem years, so the best thing that happened to me was when Vincent Grier finally broke through and we were one and done in the tournament. That was a heck of a year in my book.
The Tubby hire was amazing at the time. I went to his camp during his first year here. That was when I began to really think we could be a high level program as he brought in both Rodney and Royce right away, with Royce of course never to play a minute for us.
I'm a U graduate and am a lifer for all things Gophers. Dad took my brother and I to a lot of games at the Dome as well, highlight being Rhys Lloyd jumping over the badger bench to reclaim the axe on the game winning field goal. Also broke my heart when we fumbled the punt away to lose to the Badgers a couple of years later I believe.
Gophs are in the blood!

 

[kix4kix]

Honestly, I think my first memory of being a fan was the NIT run with Quincy, I forget the game but he hit a last second shot to win/send game into OT and have been a fan ever since, I couldn't have been older than 10 lol

 

[VolitileGopher]

Researchers talk about two interesting group phenomenon. When folks are "loosely" attached to a group, we find that when the "group" finds success the loosely connected will speak and act in a way that affirms their limited connection to the group. This is called BIRGing--Basking in Reflected Glory effect. These folks use pronouns like "we" and "our" and "us" when the group says makes a New Years Day Bowl or the round of 64.

When the team experiences failure or falls short, the loose connects will emphasize their separation from the team. They will "Boo" and "Troll" on message boards. They won't buy or wear team gear. This phenomenon is called CORFing--Cutting-Off Reflected Failure.

I wish I wasn't so provincial in my fandom. I could just random or convenient team like Gonzaga or Baylor, but we tend to get invested. I just wasted 20 minutes on a message board to follow what will likely be a long 21-22 season on the hardcourts. Anyway, losing builds character and these message boards provide a nice chance to observer human behavior when we win or lose.

 

[VolitileGopher]

I'm a younger guy, grew up going to bed listening to Rick Rickert and Kris Humphries led teams. I'd go into every game in my youth convinced the Gophers were going to win. My vivid memory of emotional heartbreak highlighted by when we blew the lead late to Dee Brown led Illini team that woulda put us as a near lock for the NCAA tournament.
I was too young to know what was happening during the Clem years, so the best thing that happened to me was when Vincent Grier finally broke through and we were one and done in the tournament. That was a heck of a year in my book.
The Tubby hire was amazing at the time. I went to his camp during his first year here. That was when I began to really think we could be a high level program as he brought in both Rodney and Royce right away, with Royce of course never to play a minute for us.
I'm a U graduate and am a lifer for all things Gophers. Dad took my brother and I to a lot of games at the Dome as well, highlight being Rhys Lloyd jumping over the badger bench to reclaim the axe on the game winning field goal. Also broke my heart when we fumbled the punt away to lose to the Badgers a couple of years later I believe.
Gophs are in the blood!

Oh man. You make me feel young. You grew up on Rickert & Humphries and think you are still young. I did too, but I see a burgeoning geriatric in the mirror. I need your optimism.