Your favorite (lesser known) Gopher moments

Donate To GopherHole
One of my favorite games was the 2nd Iron Five in 1985 or '86, when Dutcher was forced to resign. The 5 were Shasky, Hanson, Gaffney and I forget who else. The 1st or 2nd game after Madison and the forfeit was at home with Iowa. It was either the only win that Iron 5 got or one of two. But anyway, they led Iowa most of the way but it was close. In the 2nd half Iowa shot a pair of FT, the 1st went halfway down and popped out, the 2nd went in. The scorekeeper put up 1 point. About 30 seconds later, another point went up on the Iowa side. The crowd saw it and started yelling to the point that the officials stopped play to see what was going on. They approached the scorekeeper who said he was correcting his error in not counting the 2 FT. Well, everybody except the scorekeeper saw the 1st one pop out. The scorekeeper insisted that it went in, and the game officials said, That's the scorekeeper's decision. The point stayed on the board and the Gophers eventually won by about 5 points. It would have been a hell of a thing if they had lost by 1.
 

Great Thread

The first thing that pops into my head for lesser known moments are little parts of games, like John Thomas taking it coast to coast against Purdue at Mackey arena and dunking it home. I still have no idea how he never got the ball stolen.

Other favorite memory was beating Purdue in Mackey for Gene's last home game. Loved it.
 

Most fun I ever had was in the worst seats I have ever had. Late 80's against #1 Illinois and I was two rows from the top in the corner. Loudest, most constant crowd noise that I remember.
 

Minnesconsin fan said:
Most fun I ever had was in the worst seats I have ever had. Late 80's against #1 Illinois and I was two rows from the top in the corner. Loudest, most constant crowd noise that I remember.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

I was in student section (where the parents now sit) and it was the absolute best Gopher game in Williams (for me). The best Gopher game ever (for me) was the Clemson game in San Antonio. I had crappy seats, but the best seats!
 

Miles Tarver coming out for the pre-game warm up with tape over his mouth after Clem Haskins told him he couldn't speak to the media. He was a funny guy.
 


In the thread of OT games, I remember a game, think it was against Iowa, where I expected us to crush them (think it was senior night) and Voshon Lenard hit an insane 3 pointer at the end of the 1st OT to tie it and he was instrumental in us winning in the 2nd OT. For a guy that was NBA average, he sure was a very good collegiate player...
 

Clem's run of "road" games on the way to the NIT final four-- IIRC, Williams arena (home game), Met center and Target Center.
 

gopheralum2000 said:
Playing a pick game against Bobby Jackson, Eric Harris, Miles Tarver and Hosea in the Super Block. Bobby dunked over my buddy with his nuts on his head.
Click to expand...

Man, that's funny. I remember my first game at the Barn, it was Musselman versus Knight. Wow, loud and packed. Obviously I liked the way Ray Williams played. I recall McHale saying that Ray would come strolling into the gym with his backpack on and street shoes and they would toss him the ball and he would dunk like that. Cool memories, nice thread. Oh yeah, like the poster said earlier on the first page Martin just worked Coleman over in the Syracuse game. That was special.
 

BJ.Bickerstaff

Who were we playing?
We were down by 3 with seconds to go - Bickerstaff at the line. BJ shoots and makes one, and then purposefully misses the second - banking the shot back to himself and makes the basket, sending the game into overtime!
And we win!
 



Moonlight said:
BJ shoots and makes one, and then purposefully misses the second - banking the shot back to himself and makes the basket, sending the game into overtime!
And we win!
Click to expand...

Is this a Freudian Slip, Moonlight? John Blair is blushing somewhere...... ;)
 

GopherLady said:
I still say the entire student section having a picture of Brian Butch in the bra vs. WI was awesome - and the fact that his Dad asked for a copy was even better.

Oh, everyone dressed up in hunting gear for Bobby Knight was classic too.

Loved all the texting/cellphone signs for Kelvin Sampson...I need to stop, I could be at this all night. I have laughed and had way too many good times in The Barn!
Click to expand...

Too bad the BARNYARD BOARD now prohibits singling out players. If we had something clever to chant/hold up about a player, they'd try and kick us out. Fantastic.
 

Also, I'm a youngin', so my only Gopher memories are from the past three seasons (including this one).

"These refs suck" chant from last year. Thunderous.

"F*** Bo Ryan" chant from last year. Awesome.

Beating Wisconsin.

Having Evan Turner absolutely beside himself upset and frustrated b/c of the chants and taunts he was getting from the student section.

Having Ted Valentine tell my friend he'd "throw [his] ass out of here" if he said one more thing after he said "Hey Ted, don't screw Tubby like you screwed Bob Knight"
 

Great thread. Reading these brought two to mind, both against Illinois. The 1989 game when they were #1, which is one of my first Gopher memories. My dad is a U of I alum, but not much of a sports fan. He started out trying to support them, but had pretty much gotten caught up in the moment by the end.

#2 is in 1996 when we went into Champaign and beat Illinois to end the season. Everyone said it clinched our NCAA birth. It was huge. Nevermind the screw-job we recieved from the Selection Committee the next day. For one day it was a great win.
 



Back in 1989-90, my 7th grade basketball coach was also a full-time maintenance worker at the U of MN that had access to Williams Arena. Our coach pulled some strings and we were allowed to practice there twice. In our second practice, we had about 5 minutes left when suddenly we saw the Gophers emerge from the locker room to begin their own practice. Willie Burton, Melvin Newburn and Kevin Lynch all huddled underneath the west end hoop and watched us practice. It was absolutely the coolest thing ever. My idol, Willie Burton, was actually watching me play basketball. I remember having a putback shot where I slapped the backboard (for no reason other than to show off) and Burton and the guys smiled and sort of laughed. It was by far my most memorable moment in the Barn!
 

1993 a hose-job

Howeda, not getting a bid in 1996 was a tough one to swallow, but I still think the Gophers got hosed even more in 1993. That Gopher team beat Memphis & Penny Hardaway on New Year's Eve at The Barn and Santa Clara & Steve Nash on the road. Both of those teams made the NCAA Tournament; that was the year Santa Clara became one of the few #15 seeds to win a NCAA game (vs. Arizona). We also beat NCAA teams Illinois, Iowa & Purdue. To this day, that snub really bothers me, much moreso than the one in '96, though in hindsight I think the '96 team would have had a better chance to do some damage in the NCAA with the way they finished the season.
 

burton34 said:
Back in 1989-90, my 7th grade basketball coach was also a full-time maintenance worker at the U of MN that had access to Williams Arena. Our coach pulled some strings and we were allowed to practice there twice. In our second practice, we had about 5 minutes left when suddenly we saw the Gophers emerge from the locker room to begin their own practice. Willie Burton, Melvin Newburn and Kevin Lynch all huddled underneath the west end hoop and watched us practice. It was absolutely the coolest thing ever. My idol, Willie Burton, was actually watching me play basketball. I remember having a putback shot where I slapped the backboard (for no reason other than to show off) and Burton and the guys smiled and sort of laughed. It was by far my most memorable moment in the Barn!
Click to expand...
Love stories like that. All the ones about pickup games with the late 80's and 90's teams in the SuperBlock, and chance encounters in the Barn are all great stuff. Wish I would have had an experience like these.
 

Sparlimb said:
In the thread of OT games, I remember a game, think it was against Iowa, where I expected us to crush them (think it was senior night) and Voshon Lenard hit an insane 3 pointer at the end of the 1st OT to tie it and he was instrumental in us winning in the 2nd OT. For a guy that was NBA average, he sure was a very good collegiate player...
Click to expand...

The game was against Iowa in 1994 and I will never forget it. It was senior night at the barn and Voshon was playing what he thought to be his last game at Williams (after testing the NBA waters a bit he did return for a final year). What made the three point shot amazing was that there were only a few seconds left in the first OT as the Gophers, down by 3, were inbounding the ball. Everyone in the arena, everyone watching or listening in Minnesota or Iowa knew it was going to go to Voshon. He launched it over at least 2, maybe 3 players and the horn sounded as it went in.

I do not remember Voshon being an outwardly emotional guy for the most part - more of a "steady Eddie" personality. But what I also remember, almost as much as the shot, was after the Gophers won (I thought it was 3 OT's, but could easily be mistaken) Voshon erupted into a near ecstatic display of of joy and exuberance. He danced around the court, bending down to "high-five" as many fans as possible and cheering the rest of us on. I thought to myself that, in watching this performance, there could never be a better way to say thank you and good-bye to your fans.
 

cemba99 said:
The game was against Iowa in 1994 and I will never forget it. It was senior night at the barn and Voshon was playing what he thought to be his last game at Williams (after testing the NBA waters a bit he did return for a final year). What made the three point shot amazing was that there were only a few seconds left in the first OT as the Gophers, down by 3, were inbounding the ball. Everyone in the arena, everyone watching or listening in Minnesota or Iowa knew it was going to go to Voshon. He launched it over at least 2, maybe 3 players and the horn sounded as it went in.

I do not remember Voshon being an outwardly emotional guy for the most part - more of a "steady Eddie" personality. But what I also remember, almost as much as the shot, was after the Gophers won (I thought it was 3 OT's, but could easily be mistaken) Voshon erupted into a near ecstatic display of of joy and exuberance. He danced around the court, bending down to "high-five" as many fans as possible and cheering the rest of us on. I thought to myself that, in watching this performance, there could never be a better way to say thank you and good-bye to your fans.
Click to expand...

You posted the same thing I was going to here.

Voshon Lenard had 38 points in a triple-overtime game against Iowa on March 5th, 1994. Voshon ended this game with an off the backboard to himself reverse dunk. I was 10 years old and remember it perfectly.

This and 1991 game 6 are my 2 favorite games of all time.
 

"The Voshon triple OT game" would be near the top of my list as well. If my memory is correct, Jess Settles was fantastic in that game as well. They were both warriors that night.
 

gopheralum2000 said:
Knowing the girl that back wacked by Courtney James with a phone book.

Having a class with Courtney James, although he never attended class and somehow managed to pass. He showed up the first and last day. Wasn't even there for the final.

Being a student-athlete at the U during the academic scandal. I had Jan Ganglehoff as one of my academic advisors. R.I.P. Poor woman went through hell.

Playing a pick game against Bobby Jackson, Eric Harris, Miles Tarver and Hosea in the Super Block. Bobby dunked over my buddy with his nuts on his head.
Click to expand...

My buddy had a class with almost the entire basketball team. He came home one day, was all excited (He was a big b-ball fan) & I went to the class with him one day because I was thinking of taking it as well. When I went the only player who showed up was Nate Tubbs (They used to talk non-stop about what a great student-athlete he was). He came in late & was wearing overalls with one side un-done & the word "Gangsta" airbrushed down the back of one leg. He put his books down, put his head down & slept until the bell rang. My buddy said that was the routine the rest of the quarter & then the whole team showed up the day of the final exam.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
My buddy had a class with almost the entire basketball team. He came home one day, was all excited (He was a big b-ball fan) & I went to the class with him one day because I was thinking of taking it as well. When I went the only player who showed up was Nate Tubbs (They used to talk non-stop about what a great student-athlete he was). He came in late & was wearing overalls with one side un-done & the word "Gangsta" airbrushed down the back of one leg. He put his books down, put his head down & slept until the bell rang. My buddy said that was the routine the rest of the quarter & then the whole team showed up the day of the final exam.
Click to expand...

Another example of why Clem needed to go.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom