Gophers 2014 season

[THEsocalledfan]

Blaming the Vikings on the Gophers ineptitude is ridiculous.

You have to admit the correlation of B1G football titles and when the Vikings started in MN is quite remarkable.

[EC8CH]

Correlation does not imply causation.

[GreenfieldBison]

Correlation does not imply causation.

Very true. It may well have more to do with the main UM campus being what they call “a commuter campus” meaning that most students live will off campus.

It may have something to do with the football Gophers having shared the tent in downtown Minneapolis for their games for so many years rather than playing them on campus. I would like to think that TCFBank has enough run time now for that factor to have been at least somewhat equalized.

Whatever it is though it seems to me there is no glory to be had by being a college football player in this town. Any given Gopher player could walk by me on the street and I wouldn’t give him a second look. Contrast that with Fargo where many of the players are near celebrities - certainly the skill position players.

I don’t have any studies or actual data for my assertion. It is just something I “feel” is true. Here is a bit of anecdotal evidence: my son is an actual Gopher alum. He and his crew (~ 10 or so) are all very successful and well off. They have been out of school now for fifteen years or so. They mostly are scattered to the wind - my son lives in California. They return to the cities as their rallying point nearly every year and they usually try to coordinate a football game. But that game will be a Vikings game, not a Gopher game. And these guys shared a house on a side street just outside the main gate of the Minneapolis campus for three years. They should have as much “Gopher pride” as anybody other than the athletes themselves. Hell the hockey team used to frequent their weekend kegs.

Yeah maybe it is “unfair” to place causation on the Vikings alone but rather it should be assigned to the totality of the professional sports teams who share this little town with the Gophers. I just pick the Vikings because they play the same sport as the hapless football Gophers and there is that timing correlation.

The failure to alter the program results is now nearly sixty years running. I will never be sold that this is a failure of just administration or coaching. Something much larger is at work here. My null hypothesis is “The presence of the Minnesota Vikings in the Minneapolis sports market is responsible for substandard performance of the Minnesota Gophers Football program.”

Apologies for the windy post.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[EC8CH]

Apologies for the windy post.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Gopher football just lacks a fan culture. Plenty of people are rapid fans of both a college and pro football team.

First step to build one would be winning but it takes more to sustain it through the rough times. I agree all the time games were played at the Metrodome probably did a lot of damage and not having any real success since moving to TCFB stadium hasn't allowed for any improvement of the culture.

[BisonTeacher]

Correlation does not imply causation.

correction. It might imply...but does not prove causation.

[EC8CH]

correction. It might imply...but does not prove causation.

Yes. Thank you.

[JMB]

Very true. It may well have more to do with the main UM campus being what they call “a commuter campus” meaning that most students live will off campus.

It may have something to do with the football Gophers having shared the tent in downtown Minneapolis for their games for so many years rather than playing them on campus. I would like to think that TCFBank has enough run time now for that factor to have been at least somewhat equalized.

Whatever it is though it seems to me there is no glory to be had by being a college football player in this town. Any given Gopher player could walk by me on the street and I wouldn’t give him a second look. Contrast that with Fargo where many of the players are near celebrities - certainly the skill position players.

I don’t have any studies or actual data for my assertion. It is just something I “feel” is true. Here is a bit of anecdotal evidence: my son is an actual Gopher alum. He and his crew (~ 10 or so) are all very successful and well off. They have been out of school now for fifteen years or so. They mostly are scattered to the wind - my son lives in California. They return to the cities as their rallying point nearly every year and they usually try to coordinate a football game. But that game will be a Vikings game, not a Gopher game. And these guys shared a house on a side street just outside the main gate of the Minneapolis campus for three years. They should have as much “Gopher pride” as anybody other than the athletes themselves. Hell the hockey team used to frequent their weekend kegs.

Yeah maybe it is “unfair” to place causation on the Vikings alone but rather it should be assigned to the totality of the professional sports teams who share this little town with the Gophers. I just pick the Vikings because they play the same sport as the hapless football Gophers and there is that timing correlation.

The failure to alter the program results is now nearly sixty years running. I will never be sold that this is a failure of just administration or coaching. Something much larger is at work here. My null hypothesis is “The presence of the Minnesota Vikings in the Minneapolis sports market is responsible for substandard performance of the Minnesota Gophers Football program.”

Apologies for the windy post.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Living down here there as well I have a couple of thoughts on the plight of the Gophers.

1) Vikings - This is very much a Viking state. Hell KFAN is the home of Gopher's football, and they get minimal coverage on their flag ship station. NDSU has more local media coverage.
2) The media coverage they do get can be vicious. I lived in Iowa for 10 years. The Hawkeyes get treated with kid gloves. The Bison, unless something really notable happens, they generally get supportive coverage. Down here? Ruesse tears them apart. Barreiro is constantly on them. NDSU fans look at Fleck and roll our eyes, so does the local media.
3) The D3 schools. Minnesota has a lot of successful D3 schools in the cities. They have good attendance at their games as well. Granted they are generally ignored by the media types, but there is a lot of those colleges spread around the cities.

4) The Hockeys - Just like the school up north, Minnesota is a Hockey school.

[bisonaudit]

Living down here there as well I have a couple of thoughts on the plight of the Gophers.

1) Vikings - This is very much a Viking state. Hell KFAN is the home of Gopher's football, and they get minimal coverage on their flag ship station. NDSU has more local media coverage.
2) The media coverage they do get can be vicious. I lived in Iowa for 10 years. The Hawkeyes get treated with kid gloves. The Bison, unless something really notable happens, they generally get supportive coverage. Down here? Ruesse tears them apart. Barreiro is constantly on them. NDSU fans look at Fleck and roll our eyes, so does the local media.
3) The D3 schools. Minnesota has a lot of successful D3 schools in the cities. They have good attendance at their games as well. Granted they are generally ignored by the media types, but there is a lot of those colleges spread around the cities.

4) The Hockeys - Just like the school up north, Minnesota is a Hockey school.

Everyone outside of one corner of Michigan and the Gopher athletic department have been rolling their eyes at Fleck for years.

[Herd]

If the gophers had a legitimately solid coach and staff (like a Klieman and his staff), they would be light years ahead of where they currently are. They seem to chase the shinyest objects rather than a solid coach.

[natstar1]

If the gophers had a legitimately solid coach and staff (like a Klieman and his staff), they would be light years ahead of where they currently are. They seem to chase the shinyest objects rather than a solid coach.

Mason, Brewster, and Kill are shiny objects?

Klieman would be interesting with the Gophers. Right now he goes entire seasons where he coaches the more talented team. That wouldn't be the case in the Twin Cities.