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The Rouser blaring as the band marches down University Avenue. Cheers led by the placard-carrying Rooters. Fans basking in the sunlight as they meander past socials to Memorial Stadium.
Football Saturdays at the University of Minnesota used to be tradition-filled affairs before games were moved off campus to the Metrodome in the 1980s.
With the return of the game to campus this fall, students, alumni and school leaders are working to re-create that old excitement. TCF Bank Stadium will be brand spanking new when it opens Sept. 12. But everything from how the team enters the field, to what route the band takes to the gates, to what students will yell will be steeped in the university's rich past.
"On game day, when you step onto campus, no matter what part of campus you step on, it's going to feel very different," said Maggie Towle, director of student unions and activities. "It's going to be new and exciting, but we're going to be getting back to the roots of what Memorial was all about."
Many U alumni say moving games to the Metrodome in the early '80s resulted in a disconnect between college football and students.
"There's so many generations of now adults, kids who've gone to the university, gone on and raised families and never really felt that sense of spirit ... that sense of belonging to a tradition that is uniquely Minnesota," said Archie Givens, who wore No. 46 while playing defense for the Gophers in 1964-65.
TCF Bank Stadium is a chance to change all that.
The athletics department, band, alumni and student groups are working on plans that will shape what game days will be like. A campus traditions committee has been meeting regularly to research the customs that have been lost, ways to keep those that have endured and ponder what new ones may develop.
The Past / Memorial Stadium was a brick behemoth that stood through much of the football program's glory years. Teams who made it their home won six national championships.
Game days often were all-day affairs. Fans draped in maroon and gold would mill about campus. Organizations hosted get-togethers.
As the throngs made their way to the Brick House, the growing blare of the marching band parading up University Avenue signaled game time soon would be there.
"If you lived on campus, you would hear the band and see all the people. You couldn't help but come out of your dorm and go to the game," said Andrea Hjelm, a former cheerleader and the 1964 homecoming queen.
By the time fans were in their seats and the marching band had performed its pregame numbers, the stadium was ready to burst, Givens said. His favorite part of game day was the rush of the team running onto the field and hearing the roar of the crowd with the Rouser.
"Those are things that I can still see today, in my mind," Givens said.
In one section was the old Rooter Club: students wearing white jackets and holding up colored cards that showed symbols in support of the Gophers.
"You'd squish together with those people, if it was a cold day, that was kind of more intimate," Hjelm remembered. "It was just great spirit."
Jan McKenzie Anderson, a 1965 graduate, was in the Rooter Club the last two seasons the team was in the Rose Bowl. She recalled the social gatherings held throughout campus before and after the games. Students would go to those sponsored by whatever religious club or fraternity they belonged to.
"Game day was not just going to the game and leaving," said Anderson, who spent her game days socializing at the Newman Club, where Roman Catholic students met.
Game days were all about belonging to something, Hjelm said.
The Future / As TCF Bank Stadium was taking shape, campus leaders decided to study how college football on campus has evolved during the past three decades. Visits were made to schools such as Florida and Ohio State.
From how the band practices and gets through traffic into the stadium to how to house all the alumni parties and tailgating, a lot of details have to be choreographed.
Almost always, the first question asked of the new stadium's traditions committee is whether the band's parade down University Avenue will return. It won't, said Margaret Sughrue Carlson, chief executive of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and co-chair of the traditions committee.
The parade would tie up traffic at its peak, she noted. And there were concerns construction of the new light-rail line through campus would snarl congestion further on game days, Carlson said.
Band director Tim Diem said the band is working on alternatives to the parade, including a "march-around" similar to how the pep band plays school songs while circling the concourse before hockey games at Mariucci Arena.
The Rooter Club is gone, but officials are considering whether the card tricks or a student pep section could return, Carlson said. And some version of the Victory Walk by the team into the new stadium is likely to be held.
But only so much planning can go into the process of creating, or re-creating, traditions.
"A lot of what's going to happen is going to happen from the students organically," said Towle, who also co-chairs the traditions committee.
Does the first-down chant and routine return from past years at the Metrodome? What song will capture the students' attention most? Will nearby bars and restaurants become tailgating hot spots? Will the massive new scoreboard offer new ways to incorporate cheers and music?
A lot of details have yet to be decided on and worked out, she said.
Gopher's football coach Tim Brewster and his players are excited about the chance to start a new generation of traditions at the U.
"It's a dream come true for the state of Minnesota to get football back on campus," Brewster said. "I think Saturdays at TCF Bank Stadium here are going to be great days for all Minnesotans."
http://www.twincities.com/ci_12168695
Go Gophers!!
Football Saturdays at the University of Minnesota used to be tradition-filled affairs before games were moved off campus to the Metrodome in the 1980s.
With the return of the game to campus this fall, students, alumni and school leaders are working to re-create that old excitement. TCF Bank Stadium will be brand spanking new when it opens Sept. 12. But everything from how the team enters the field, to what route the band takes to the gates, to what students will yell will be steeped in the university's rich past.
"On game day, when you step onto campus, no matter what part of campus you step on, it's going to feel very different," said Maggie Towle, director of student unions and activities. "It's going to be new and exciting, but we're going to be getting back to the roots of what Memorial was all about."
Many U alumni say moving games to the Metrodome in the early '80s resulted in a disconnect between college football and students.
"There's so many generations of now adults, kids who've gone to the university, gone on and raised families and never really felt that sense of spirit ... that sense of belonging to a tradition that is uniquely Minnesota," said Archie Givens, who wore No. 46 while playing defense for the Gophers in 1964-65.
TCF Bank Stadium is a chance to change all that.
The athletics department, band, alumni and student groups are working on plans that will shape what game days will be like. A campus traditions committee has been meeting regularly to research the customs that have been lost, ways to keep those that have endured and ponder what new ones may develop.
The Past / Memorial Stadium was a brick behemoth that stood through much of the football program's glory years. Teams who made it their home won six national championships.
Game days often were all-day affairs. Fans draped in maroon and gold would mill about campus. Organizations hosted get-togethers.
As the throngs made their way to the Brick House, the growing blare of the marching band parading up University Avenue signaled game time soon would be there.
"If you lived on campus, you would hear the band and see all the people. You couldn't help but come out of your dorm and go to the game," said Andrea Hjelm, a former cheerleader and the 1964 homecoming queen.
By the time fans were in their seats and the marching band had performed its pregame numbers, the stadium was ready to burst, Givens said. His favorite part of game day was the rush of the team running onto the field and hearing the roar of the crowd with the Rouser.
"Those are things that I can still see today, in my mind," Givens said.
In one section was the old Rooter Club: students wearing white jackets and holding up colored cards that showed symbols in support of the Gophers.
"You'd squish together with those people, if it was a cold day, that was kind of more intimate," Hjelm remembered. "It was just great spirit."
Jan McKenzie Anderson, a 1965 graduate, was in the Rooter Club the last two seasons the team was in the Rose Bowl. She recalled the social gatherings held throughout campus before and after the games. Students would go to those sponsored by whatever religious club or fraternity they belonged to.
"Game day was not just going to the game and leaving," said Anderson, who spent her game days socializing at the Newman Club, where Roman Catholic students met.
Game days were all about belonging to something, Hjelm said.
The Future / As TCF Bank Stadium was taking shape, campus leaders decided to study how college football on campus has evolved during the past three decades. Visits were made to schools such as Florida and Ohio State.
From how the band practices and gets through traffic into the stadium to how to house all the alumni parties and tailgating, a lot of details have to be choreographed.
Almost always, the first question asked of the new stadium's traditions committee is whether the band's parade down University Avenue will return. It won't, said Margaret Sughrue Carlson, chief executive of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and co-chair of the traditions committee.
The parade would tie up traffic at its peak, she noted. And there were concerns construction of the new light-rail line through campus would snarl congestion further on game days, Carlson said.
Band director Tim Diem said the band is working on alternatives to the parade, including a "march-around" similar to how the pep band plays school songs while circling the concourse before hockey games at Mariucci Arena.
The Rooter Club is gone, but officials are considering whether the card tricks or a student pep section could return, Carlson said. And some version of the Victory Walk by the team into the new stadium is likely to be held.
But only so much planning can go into the process of creating, or re-creating, traditions.
"A lot of what's going to happen is going to happen from the students organically," said Towle, who also co-chairs the traditions committee.
Does the first-down chant and routine return from past years at the Metrodome? What song will capture the students' attention most? Will nearby bars and restaurants become tailgating hot spots? Will the massive new scoreboard offer new ways to incorporate cheers and music?
A lot of details have yet to be decided on and worked out, she said.
Gopher's football coach Tim Brewster and his players are excited about the chance to start a new generation of traditions at the U.
"It's a dream come true for the state of Minnesota to get football back on campus," Brewster said. "I think Saturdays at TCF Bank Stadium here are going to be great days for all Minnesotans."
http://www.twincities.com/ci_12168695
Go Gophers!!
