Gopher history question

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1gophergnu

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I would like to know what player / players or game turned people into diehard Gopher fans. I was a starting 145 pound defensive end ( only 22 players on our roster ) as a freshmen in 1961 when our coach took us to see the Gophers on high school team day. Watching the great combo of Bobby Bell and Carl Eller play on the defensive line hooked me for life. Carl was not a starer yet but played a lot of minutes. Anyone else interested in commenting?
 

A little 160 pound running back from near my home town in redwood falls named jim cairns. For him to be even able to make the team much less a significant contributor was exciting. And he had breakaway speed ala Rick Upchurch to make it more exciting.
 

Mine was Paul Giel. Home town boy (I am from Winona). My Dad would take me to a few games and I have been hooked ever since.
 

I really do not remember a specific event but when I moved here in 77, I do remember watching Tony Dungy highlights at a bar in stadium village. I went to games that fall and loved the experience.....the rest is history.
 

Rickey Foggie and Darrell Thompson for me. Foggie for leading the upset of #2 Michigan in 1986 and Thompson for the 98 yard TD run against Michigan the next year on ABC (back when being on ABC was a big deal).
 


Tyrone Carter and AAK made me tune in when I was in elementary school, and then Marian Barber III and Bryan Cupito turned me into a diehard.
 


Grew up in the aisles of the Metrodome with my grandpa bringing me to games. Tutu Atwell, Hamner, then onto the Mason years usually non conference blowouts or NW, ILL, OSU, Mich games. Fun, but i was more of a vikes fan then.
Went away to college, lost faith in Mase in 05 and 06, was intrigued by Brewster's positivity and recruiting, Adam Weber grew up a block from me, so that was another draw, got season tix myself, became my currently obsessed and "hooked" when Minnesota football made its debut OUTSIDE against Air Force. Never looked back since then.
 

I can remember watching Ricky Foggie when I was a little kid. The TV always seemed to have the Gophers on or during deer hunting when I was little it was always on in the car or in the garage when we were having lunch. I would have to say Tyrone Carter (my favorite Gopher), but my family has had season tickets since 1992.

My cousin played for them from 2000-2003 and that's when we really got into tailgating and traveling with the team.
 



For me it was watching Bruce Smith play.

For Dr. Don it was watching Bronko Nagurski play.;)
 

It's never been about the players for me, but about the state and the school.
 

Dungy and Rick Upchurch vs. OSU in 1973. We didn't win, but Upchurch had a monster run and scored right in front of us.
 

Doc1001 said:
A little 160 pound running back from near my home town in redwood falls named jim cairns. For him to be even able to make the team much less a significant contributor was exciting. And he had breakaway speed ala Rick Upchurch to make it more exciting.
Click to expand...

me too, but was unaware of Mr. Cairns...
 



I was a marginal fan, went to a few games as a kid with the little league football team (cheap seats upper deck), etc, went to a game or 2 in HS and always followed the team but never a diehard. The moment I joined the marching band at the U, was on campus, saw how the team could be something special and how much it still means to this state is when I was hooked. I'd say officially, the moment I stepped on the field for the Michigan game in 2003 (my freshman year). Stadium full of Gopher fans, rabid, I couldn't hear myself think it was so loud in there. Seeing what college football in MN COULD be with a really special season or 2. Obviously 4 quarters later my heart was broken but the season/team made up for it by beating Wisconsin and winning the bowl game.
 

station19 said:
For me it was watching Bruce Smith play.

For Dr. Don it was watching Bronko Nagurski play.;)
Click to expand...

19, thank you for thinking of me. But in all honesty, Bronko was before my time...however, I will never forget...Memorial Stadium, Sandy Stephens, Judge Dickson, Bill Munsey, Carl Eller, Bobby Bell, Julian Hook, Coach Warmath, et.al.

Dean Martin sang this as a love song...but for me, "Memories are Made This" is made for us old timers who saw real football:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MWN_duZfIs
 

Rickey Foggie and Darrell Thompson
 


For me, I was born a Gopher since I had family members play for the Gophers!
 

Rick Rickert, and no I'm not kidding about this.
 

!960 or !961 when we beat Iowa on a key Joe Salem pass. I also remember when the Vikings moved here and my dad saying: " Kids, no purple colors in this house" I'm not as tough on our kids, although I laugh because when the kids are home, and there are two that watch the Vikings, they still don't wear purple. My son put it best: "Dad, anybody can be a Viking fan. It takes someone special to be a Gopher fan"
 

Dr.Don said:
19, thank you for thinking of me. But in all honesty, Bronko was before my time...however, I will never forget...Memorial Stadium, Sandy Stephens, Judge Dickson, Bill Munsey, Carl Eller, Bobby Bell, Julian Hook, Coach Warmath, et.al.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MWN_duZfIs
Click to expand...

Jeez, Don. That's my group too. And of them all, I think Julian Hook was my favorite. You gotta love 180 pound Big Ten linebackers. Don't forget Tom Brown and John Campbell.
 

1968 - Band Day at Memorial Stadium - Gophers vs. U-S-C and OJ Simpson. USC won the game, but the Gophers turned in a great effort. At one point in the game, the Gophers were receiving a kickoff, and they ran a trick play where they lateralled the ball across the field, and ran it back for a touchdown. After that, when my buddies and I would play touch (or tackle) football in the city park or on the high school field, we would try to run what we called the "Gopher Play" on kickoff returns.

As far as a favorite player, I have a soft spot in my heart for Kent Kitzmann, who used to carry the ball an amazing number of times. In 1977, the Gophs beat Illinois 21-0, and Kitzmann carried the ball 57 times for 266 yards. I think the 57 rushing attemps in a game is still a B1G record.
 

I moved back to Minnesota in 1998 and became a season ticket holder for the 1999 season. The game that really cemented my Gopher fandom, though, was the 2003 win over Wisconsin - I can still see Rhys Lloyd leaping the badgers bench to grab the ax!

Go Gophers!
 


I grew up among the farm fields of southern MN, I'm navigating the productive years of my life in the Twin Cities, and will hopefully one day retire on a lake up north after a lifetime of spending most of my free time up there. I'm about as "Minnesotan" as one can get. For me, being a fan of the Gophers didn't begin as a moment or from being intrigued with one player or team. It has just always been that way for me. My Dad followed the Gophers closely in pretty much every sport so it was natural for me to pull for them too. That has persisted through all-time for me, despite attending an MIAC school rather than our only big D1 school.

All that being said, I'd say I was pretty much a typical Gopher fan for most of my life. Not a diehard. It was only with my greater interest in college football in general, which started about 10 years ago, that combined with my pre-existing Gopher birthright to make me the fan I am today. I love the college game. I love the bands. I love the energy of the students (and that only gets more pronounced with each additional gray hair on my head), I love the ever-cycling nature of a college team. It is all these things that have combined to allow me to grit my teeth through some very bad football. I am a very patient person. I spend a lot of time fishing, probably staying on a reef too long that hasn't been producing because I believe in it. When I'm not fishing, I have been known to build WWII scale models - also an activity that requires a patient person. I have a natural affection for the underdog and my own Gopher footballers are the ultimate underdog. I dream of the fan explosion that will occur if/when they captivate this state again. It is worth the wait.

So, the more I think of it... the mixture of being a lifelong Minnesotan, football fan, COLLEGE football fan, Gopher fan in general, and being very patient - all combines to make a recipe for the perfect Gopher Football Fan.
 


I don;t know what it is, but I have always pulled for the Gophers, even in sports that I do not follow closely. In 2002 the baseball team played in the NCAA tourney in Long Beach, CA. I drove down from Vegas to attend the games, even though I could not name one Gopher baseball player before getting there. I did speak with Mike Steidl whose son was a center fielder that year. Mike blocked a punt down at Indiana in Cal Stoll's first year as coach (1972?). I reminded him of that, he smiled, but his wife who was standing next to us, gave one of those, "here we go again, another story about Mike's glory days" looks. I will die as a Gopher fan, can't help myself.
 

Chris Darkins in the Mid 90's and also Tutu Atwell. I was in elementary school and going with my grandmother who had season tickets to pretty much every home game. Even though we were not very good during those years, I still remember how great it was seeing everything involved in the gameday atmosphere when I was just a young child. Which helped to spark my interest to now turn me into a U of M Alum. :)
 



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