Williams Arena will forever be quieter

Thank you for this post. I am sorry for your loss. I lost my father the end of my junior year at the U. He was my Gopher person as well. I called my dad after every home basketball and football game and we would speak for an hour on what we thought of the game. I would go home on the weekends for away games to watch with him. It is an amazing thing what sports can do for people. This post made my day. The relationship a child and father have with sports is something really special.

xoxoemilyanne said:

Thank you for this post. I am sorry for your loss. I lost my father the end of my junior year at the U. He was my Gopher person as well. I called my dad after every home basketball and football game and we would speak for an hour on what we thought of the game. I would go home on the weekends for away games to watch with him. It is an amazing thing what sports can do for people. This post made my day. The relationship a child and father have with sports is something really special.

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I second this.

My dad is an alum of a B1G school, and we chat on the phone every single Saturday after his team plays. The talks get more & more special to me with each passing year (Dad is 79). I try not to think about what my Saturdays (and every other day of the week) will be like when I can no longer have those talks with Dad.

Sorry for your loss Bleed. I still think of my dad every time I go to any Gopher game.

tikited said:

Sorry for your loss Bleed. I still think of my dad every time I go to any Gopher game.

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My Dad had season football and basketball tickets from the late 50's. I remember all those great games with him and it's the reason I am a fan of the maroon and gold. I only recently started posting here but thanks Bleed for reminding us of the relationships that shape who we are today. Sorry you lost your Dad

If there was still a "Post of the day" this post (Bleed's) would win in a landslide. I echo the thoughts of every loyal GopherHole reader and follower when I also offer my condolences for your loss. Your father sounds like an amazing Gopher fan, the type of which we need more of.

My introduction to Gopher sports came from my father and grandfather (since passed). I grew up in Iowa and was the only Gopher fan I knew. Never had a friend to talk Gopher sports with, it was solely relatives who mostly lived out of state. As time, and losses, mounted most of my family lost interest in the Gophers. Not that they switched allegiances, they just quit putting any energy/effort in to college sports. The reason I am sharing this is because by the time I was in college and had every day access to the Internet, I found the GopherHole. Finally, I had a place to talk about Gopher sports with other passionate fans. Unfortunately there has been almost nothing to cheer about since that time, but it's been great seeing that I am not the only one who is constantly disappointed yet continues to care.

So a thanks to all of you who share your opinions and continue to make the GopherHole a daily stop for me.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, it is appreciated. I loved reading the stories about the personal relationships you share with friends and family through Gopher sports. Thanks for sharing those.

Go Gophers!!

Bleed, you're very fortunate to have had such a special relationship with your father. I'm very sorry for your loss. My father took me to my first Gopher football game when I was 15. That was in 1955 and the opponent was Southern California. Murray Warmath was in his fourth season as Minnesota's head coach and it wasn't one of his best. We won only thee games that year, but we won that one 25-19. My recollection is that USC was ranked 4th in the country when they arrived in Minneapolis on a cold and snowy late October day. Paul Giel had a great day and we pulled off a stunning upset. It's a great memory.

Sorry for your loss Bleed. I am a relatively new Gopher fan, been in Minnesota about 4.5 years. Your post brings back memories of my dad who past away about 15 years ago. My first memories of sports are him taking me to Northwestern football & basketball games (we lived about 10 miles from Evanston) back when they were really bad in both (Rick Venturi and Rich Falk eras), seems like the stadiums were more than half empty for every game we attended. My dad wasn't a vocal guy and neither sports were his first love(that would be baseball and a huge Cubs fan...yes, I'm afflicted with love for the Cubs too), but he exposed me to college sports and I am forever grateful. After my dad died, it was a very hard year, I called it the year of firsts, first birthday without him, first Thanksgiving without him, etc. I am now a dad for the first time and my son is almost 2 and he has already been to Gopher basketball and football games and watched and suffered along with me during the MLB playoffs. Godspeed and thank you for sharing your memories.

thanks

Thanks for the wonderful Thanksgiving story. It brought back some precious memories of my own dad. I am sad for your loss but grateful that your children will be forever blessed by the legacy he left. God bless.