Re: Can PJ Fleck weaken the HERD?
Originally Posted by
GreenfieldBison
Agreed. I am happy for them - a little success is long overdue there. It was a bit sad to see the fans rush the field after the win Saturday but I'm really not sure I can blame them. I bet it was very exciting. I spent the day with a very good friend who is a Gopher alum. I offered to go to the game with him but he elected instead for us to go pheasant hunting. During deer gun season. I told him to pop the TV on in the hotel on Saturday morning because his boys would no doubt be featured on GameDay. He was only mildly interested and admitted that he had never seen the show.
Out in the field we got back to the truck and turned on the FAN about midway through the first qtr and he started to get a little fire upon discovering that the Gophers were in the lead. We caught bits and pieces of the coverage between walks the rest of the game. He was pretty fired up for that last Penn St drive - as if he were me during a Bison game. Of course I know more about his players than he did/does. We turned on 1660 at the end of the MN game and he just shook his head as I regaled him with background on each of our players during the broadcast. He was quite entertained with Culhane's exclamation of "... and there he goes!!!" and "... and there he goes AGAIN!!!".
I have lived and worked in the Twin Cities for several decades with many Gopher alums. This guy is pretty prototypical IMHO. There are many options for things to do down here and if Gopher Football is not offering a high quality winning product then these Gophers alums will avail themselves of alternative entertainment opportunities.
Got to give props to the diehard fans who bleed maroon and gold through thick and thin. Also got to give props to PJ Fleck. Like others I really don't prefer his style and I have been a mild sceptic regarding his ability to change the direction of the program here. It is pretty evident to me though at this point that his players are fully bought in and they are starting to BELIEVE. A little confidence is a powerful thing. I hope Minnesota can keep PJ around for a few more years as I think it will be interesting to see how far he can take things here.
So you’re saying that Bison fans are more apt to follow their team in a down year than Gophers because there’s more to do in the TC? I don’t know... seems like a bit of a cop out that I’m not willing to give them. You either love your college football team or you don’t. I think our fans are better because everything about our tradition is better.
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