on why I would never not want to be a Gopher basketball fan

If someone is a fan of the blue-bloods, like Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina or Kentucky, I don't begrudge them. In fact, when those teams play well, play together and within the rules, I find myself interested and cheering for them when they are not playing the Gophers.

When the chemistry is right and the play is unselfish, I think something magical happens on the court. Don't get me wrong, the underdog story is a strong narrative, but regardless of the jersey, good basketball is good basketball.

But one of the big reasons why I love our Golden Gophers is the fact that they are a middling, second-tier power who have only seen flashes of greatness in the last 60 years. If our threshold or standard for success was as high as North Carolina or Kentucky, I might find it hard to remain grateful.

I like pouring over the news and waiting for word about a recruit. I like the unknowns that come with a new coach like Pitino (or an older coach like Smith). I love the mix of new and old on our current team and the chance for us to thrive or wither under the up-tempo system. I enjoy seeing the bemusement and joy in people's faces when I alliterate the words "Golden Gophers" to them - as if they have never heard of us before! How dare they! (On the west coast, so few people know the crusade of the Gopher.) And I love that I am just old enough to remember Melvin Newbern walking it up the court, and yet young enough to have my Dad remind me that even with an injured right hand, Lou Hudson was still the best player in the country.

At the end of the day, I want to know that our cause isn't worthless, and that there are people inside of the U that are engaged in making us a better program. I would want someone to put us out of our misery if there was not at least some glimmer of hope. And I believe there is hope. The Gophers have had great basketball teams that have played well together. And I think we will again. I love our story.

tl;dr - The Gophers as underdog; the Gophers have been good, I hope they will be good again.

Gave me chills. I will bleed maroon and gold until the day I die. I go to all major gopher sports (bball, fball, hockey). I believe that gopher bball fans are the most passionate of all. Nothing compares to The Barn when 14,625 are cozied in ready to rock that old place.

Great post, I'm probably on the younger side on this board, I was 10, when the Final Four run happened. I've always wondered though how some of those teams would've done in the 50's and 60's if there were at large berths in the NCAA's. I think it's the best ticket in town when the team's rolling. Hopefully we can get a Travis commitment before the home opener.

Being a blue-blood is fun too. Harder to accept losses and less excited when you win, but it's good to be at the top.

I was lucky enough to attend Game 7 of the '87 World Series, but my biggest sports thrill happened in '86 at Williams Arena.

It was after various scandals (including terrible allegations from Madison) left the team with only 5 scholarship players. They forfeited the game with Northwestern before playing at home against Ohio State (who boasted future NBAer's Brad Sellers and Dennis Hopson). Our family got tickets from friends in the second row under the basket (I swear I got hit by sweat from the players) and the "Iron Five" of Marc Wilson, John Shasky, Tim Hanson, Kelvin Smith and Ray Gaffney pulled off the amazing upset in The Barn.

We stayed after the game and I got the cover of my program signed by the Iron Five and interim coach Jimmy Williams (also had Joe Senser sign it on the inside). It's still my most prized possession. A couple years back, I connected with Marc Wilson via e-mail and went back and forth with him about those memories. It was an unbelievable experience that is still clear in my mind. There's nothing like The Barn during a B1G game!

I'm on the younger side so I haven't witness much but I got to go to the Indiana upset game. Went on the court and got high fives from the players on their way to the locker room. Probably the coolest thing I have ever done.

I'm on the old side of this discussion, but I figured Lou Hudson should actually weigh in on this post. My shooting hand still aches when the weather changes, but with each season I remember the sweet sound of the hopeful fans in the Barn.

It "could happen tonight" is a lot more fun than it "should happen." And that's the difference. No demanding expectations, just a team that loves to be together. Sorta like the fans at the Barn.
You can have the yearly parade of one-and-dones. Give me Bobby Jackson, Sam Jacobson and Company any day. Hope springs eternal, and I'm ready for the next adventure.

Go Gophers! We're ready.

a sweet shot

< My shooting hand still aches when the weather changes, but with each season I remember the sweet sound of the hopeful fans in the Barn. >


i'm glad to hear you still remember the sweet sounds of the hopeful fans in the Barn. i still remember a very sweet shot. glad to read your post.

Anybody that was at the barn for the Indiana game last year knows that when it gets good, nothing else compares.

I go back to Garmaker and Mencel and Big Boots Simonovich...and listening to the golden tones of Dick Enroth, the greatest play-by-play man of all time. And of course the equally great Julius Perlt. But the greatest days were when we had Thompson, Olberding, Landsberger and Ray Williams.

Hard for me to not think about Ray Christensen's voice when he would get excited. He would turn to that short, halting tone that you could barely understand, but it would still give you goosebumps because you knew something good was going down.

Dick Jonckowski at PA helm ain't bad either!

I go back to Mussleman and the pregame thunder. The Barn was full an hour before game time and the clapping would start leading to a cresendo when the Golden Gophers came out to "Sweet Gerogia Brown". The clapping never stopped. By the way do you realize that is why we clap during the rouser to this day? Fred Taylor could tell you how intimidating the Barn can be.

The gophers always have a chance in the Barn.




"Jules" was the best.

Yes, if only these teenagers today could have these memories ... I cringe whenever I hear Tyus, Reid, Rashad, or JP talking about the U as if it's just another school. If only they could've remembered being in the barn in '97 when the arena was FILLED when the team came back from San Antonio (the most electric atmosphere you can ever imagine, and it wasn't even a game!!), or the Iron Five game, or any of the big games back when the arena seated 18,000+ people and it was nothing but benches ... you came in from the freezing cold, yelled your lungs out, and never sat down, not even in the fat-cat section. Call me biased, but back in the day, Williams Arena was the best atmosphere in college basketball. Could still be ... Rick Pitino probably didn't know how right he was when he called the Minnesota program a sleeping giant.

Great memories. Great thread!

WanderingGopher said:

Yes, if only these teenagers today could have these memories ... I cringe whenever I hear Tyus, Reid, Rashad, or JP talking about the U as if it's just another school. If only they could've remembered being in the barn in '97 when the arena was FILLED when the team came back from San Antonio (the most electric atmosphere you can ever imagine, and it wasn't even a game!!), or the Iron Five game, or any of the big games back when the arena seated 18,000+ people and it was nothing but benches ... you came in from the freezing cold, yelled your lungs out, and never sat down, not even in the fat-cat section. Call me biased, but back in the day, Williams Arena was the best atmosphere in college basketball. Could still be ... Rick Pitino probably didn't know how right he was when he called the Minnesota program a sleeping giant.

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+1, wish I could have been there. I could only imagine amplifying either the Michigan St or Indiana game from last year by a 4 thousand more fans.

go_gophers said:

I was lucky enough to attend Game 7 of the '87 World Series, but my biggest sports thrill happened in '86 at Williams Arena.

It was after various scandals (including terrible allegations from Madison) left the team with only 5 scholarship players. They forfeited the game with Northwestern before playing at home against Ohio State (who boasted future NBAer's Brad Sellers and Dennis Hopson). Our family got tickets from friends in the second row under the basket (I swear I got hit by sweat from the players) and the "Iron Five" of Marc Wilson, John Shasky, Tim Hanson, Kelvin Smith and Ray Gaffney pulled off the amazing upset in The Barn.

We stayed after the game and I got the cover of my program signed by the Iron Five and interim coach Jimmy Williams (also had Joe Senser sign it on the inside). It's still my most prized possession. A couple years back, I connected with Marc Wilson via e-mail and went back and forth with him about those memories. It was an unbelievable experience that is still clear in my mind. There's nothing like The Barn during a B1G game!

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I have cheered for a lot of Minnesota teams for many many years, and I am sorry but nothing has ever topped winning the 87 World Series. The best game I have ever seen was game 7 of the 91 World Series....but the 87 series will always be my favorite moment as a Minnesota sports fan.

XMan said:

I have cheered for a lot of Minnesota teams for many many years, and I am sorry but nothing has ever topped winning the 87 World Series. The best game I have ever seen was game 7 of the 91 World Series....but the 87 series will always be my favorite moment as a Minnesota sports fan.

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I didn't intend to start somethin'. Game 7 in '87 was awesome, but the atmosphere at The Barn that night was on a different plain. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to attend both.

go_gophers said:

I didn't intend to start somethin'. Game 7 in '87 was awesome, but the atmosphere at The Barn that night was on a different plain. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to attend both.

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No I understand. Wish I would have been in the barn that night. Would have been fun. I was at the barm for McHale's last home game. That was another fun night.