Just curious.. What age are you and how long.......

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Graduated from the U of M in '94. Worked at the MN Daily for several years while attending. Our offices were located on Washington above Sally's at the time (assuming it's still there -- I recall the days when it was Williams Pub before Sally's occupied the space). Out our office windows, which we had to keep closed during the summer due to the dust, one had a great view of Memorial Stadium being demolished. I grew up in Minnesota and a life long fan of the program. I don't recall my first game. But vividly remember my last as it was the 2003 "game that shall not be spoken of." After that game, I swore to never attend another. I didn't need to put this oath to much of a test as I moved to Atlanta in 2005 and infrequently make it back to Minneapolis. But miss it and always enjoy making the visit home.
 


63 yo; Gopher fan since the 60's; 1st Gopher football memory - going to a Gopher game @ Memorial with my high school football team, watching Kitzmann set a record for carries in a game, sitting in the end zone with our backs to Cooke Hall. Favorite Gopher football memory - watching Darrell Thompson go around end for a 95+ yd TD vs Michigan(?) in the Dome.
 

I'm 55 years old. My family moved here from Wisconsin when I was eight years old. I hadn't built any allegiance to teams from that state, so I became a fan of Minnesota teams.

My family had season tickets to Gophers football and basketball games since the fall after we moved. I remember sitting in the "Family Section" (dead end zone) of Memorial Stadium, watching football and smelling the cigars smoked by the guy in front of us. To this day, cigar smells take me back, mentally, to the Brickhouse.

I went to the U, and worked in the athletic department throughout my undergrad days. I've had season tickets since then. It's been frustrating at times, but I'm still optimistic that I'll see the Gophers in the Rose Bowl in person at least once.

Ski-U-Mah!
 

I'm 49. Grew up, like many of you, listening to Ray C on the radio. IIRC, ABC had 2 games on Saturday, and neither were the Gophers, unless they were playing Mich or OSU.
Bringing me to my earliest memory of the Gophers, 1977 vs Mich.
While I never attended the U, and have only been to 10-20 games, I have followed them ever since.
 


Spoofin said:
Had to quote you. I'm 43 and that NE game was the first game I ever attended. RF14 is, to this day, my favorite Gopher of all time.

Went to U and was a season ticket holder for nearly 2 decades. My son has a Gopher room and 90% of his wardrobe is Gopher gear. My daughter is a badger fan because she likes to be oppositional. Gets that from her Mom.


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My kid could be gay till the cows come home but having a child thats a Badger fan...Unforgivable.
 

51. My father raised me right and brainwashed me from the get go. I think my earliest memory may be that 57 carry game by Kent Kitzman. Good times.
 

I'm 22 years old currently a student at the U and I would say that I have been a Gopher football fan for 22 years. There are pictures of me as a baby wearing Gopher apparel. I cheer for all the Gopher teams, but the football team will always hold a special place in my heart. Growing up, Saturday was always the football day in our house. Dad had season tickets so I remember seeing all the greats of that era play in person: AAQ, Maroney, Barber, Spaeth, Eslinger, Setterstrom, Decker, etc. Games I'll never forget (for better or worse) wisco in 2003, 2005, Michigan in 2003 and 2015, Iowa 2010, 2011, 2014 just to name a few. I can honestly say that without this football team I would not be receiving my degree from the University of Minnesota. Love this thread, so great to hear stories from so many different people.
 

68, while in high school my dad took me to Northwestern for a game against Minnesota. He told me how rugged the Gophers of the 30's were. He had seen them play Nebraska. The game I saw the Gopher defense was led by Carl Eller and Bobby Bell. Later that year a teammate, John Wintermute signed with Minnesota.
Another teammate Tom Lavatty signed with Minnesota. While at Nebraska the best players I remember were Jim Carter, Noel Jenke, Jeff Wright and Walt Bowser. By the time I returned from the service, I was in Minnesota in 1973 for Tony Dungy's debut against Nebraska. From there to one big game a year I saw Minnesota vs. USC with Marcus Allen, Ronny Lott et al. two sets of two season tickets with the comming of Lou Holtz. I was there when they stymied Oklahoma with Troy Aikman and Tony Casillas and Keith Jackson. Beat Iowa. I think there was a four year run for Foggy beating Wisconsin. I remember seeing Darrell Thompson. This was the age of size and speed and he had both. And yes I was there for the loss to Pacific. From for to the Wacker track meets. I took in the Mason years most everyone is familiar with. I was frustrated, and after the last epic collapse against Texas Tech in 2006 I wrote Mason would not win another game at Minnesota. And in fact he didn't. I think that is as close as I want to go with my experience.
 



row19gopher said:
63 yo; Gopher fan since the 60's; 1st Gopher football memory - going to a Gopher game @ Memorial with my high school football team, watching Kitzmann set a record for carries in a game, sitting in the end zone with our backs to Cooke Hall. Favorite Gopher football memory - watching Darrell Thompson go around end for a 95+ yd TD vs Michigan(?) in the Dome.
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Great memories. For some reason I thought that the game that Kitzmann broke the record for carries in a single game was in Champaign, but I've been wrong before.
 

I don't know exactly when I become a Gopher fan....but...my parents laugh telling the story of me cussing out some wisconsin fans at the Metrodome when I was probably an early teenager. I wasn't a kid that would swear (especially around my parents) but my wisconsin hatred apparently has run deep my entire life :)

Now I'm 33, with a couple of degrees from the U and a season ticket holder. Consider myself to be a die hard.
 

32. Graduated from the U in 2007. I was a much bigger Gopher basketball fan than football in my formative years (especially since the Final Four happened my 7th grade year), but a diehard all the way. My first true Gopher football tailgate was for The Game That Must Not Be Named.
 

I’m 70. I’ve been an avid Gophers fan for 64 years. First Gophers game that I attended was in October 1959 – Minnesota vs. Indiana in Memorial Stadium (Homecoming). I attended several games in the ‘60s and some games in succeeding decades.

My father was a student when Bronko Nagurski was playing. He graduated from the U’s medical school in 1936, so he witnessed Minnesota’s national championship teams in the 1930s. His oldest brother was a starting halfback on the Gophers team in 1915 and 1916. He also won the school’s Conference Medal (1916) that was awarded to a student for his academic and athletic prowess. Each conference school had one recipient. Bernie Bierman won the prestigious award in 1915.

I was given a lot of Minnesota football lore when I started following the Gophers!
 



denguegopher said:
Great memories. For some reason I thought that the game that Kitzmann broke the record for carries in a single game was in Champaign, but I've been wrong before.
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It was. November 12, 1977 @ Illinois.
 

I’m 70. I’ve been an avid Gophers fan for 64 years. First Gophers game that I attended was in October 1959 – Minnesota vs. Indiana in Memorial Stadium (Homecoming). I attended several games in the ‘60s and some games in succeeding decades.

My father was a student when Bronko Nagurski was playing. He graduated from the U’s medical school in 1936, so he witnessed Minnesota’s national championship teams in the 1930s. His oldest brother was a starting halfback on the Gophers team in 1915 and 1916. He also won the school’s Conference Medal (1916) that was awarded to a student for his academic and athletic prowess. Each conference school had one recipient. Bernie Bierman won the prestigious award in 1915.

I was given a lot of Minnesota football lore when I started following the Gophers!
 

I am 28, been a gopher football fan since my family moved back up to Minnesota from Kansas City when I was in elementary school. My earliest memory of Gopher football is listening to Ray Christiansen on the radio with my Grandpa in probably the 1996 or 97 season, I remember Cory Sauter throwing a touchdown to Tutu Atwell for some reason. I went to smaller college out of state (Mike Grimm and I may share an alma mater), but luckily I was still in B1G country so I was able to watch most of the gopher games. I have had season tickets for the past few seasons since moving back. I remember going to my first game with my dad at the dome and being very excited about the game because I had remembered going to a few mizzou games (dad's alma mater) and how fun those games were. My dad quickly quelled my enthusiasm explaining numerous reasons how the Metrodome ruined college football in Minnesota. Needless to say we were all happy when TCF was built. Excited as always for football season. I will be making the trek out to Oregon State this year. Looking forward to it!
 

Watching Kitzmann set a record at Memorial...

I stand corrected...apparently my memories are a bit Foggie...
 

SharpeGopher said:
I am 28, been a gopher football fan since my family moved back up to Minnesota from Kansas City when I was in elementary school. My earliest memory of Gopher football is listening to Ray Christiansen on the radio with my Grandpa in probably the 1996 or 97 season, I remember Cory Sauter throwing a touchdown to Tutu Atwell for some reason. I went to smaller college out of state (Mike Grimm and I may share an alma mater), but luckily I was still in B1G country so I was able to watch most of the gopher games.
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Yes, Grimm went to Luther. I went there too, back when it was much less expensive. Hardly any games were on TV back then, and it was impossible to tune in WCCO in Decorah. There was a thing called the Gopher State Network back then (long defunct) and a Winona station carried the games, but reception in Decorah was poor. I think that a guy name Gary Wilcox called the games.
 

I'm very soon to be 72, God-willing, and have been a Gopher fan since the early 50's growing up as a young boy in NE North Dakota. During that time, I listened to Ray call the game with his stuccato voice and he would always reveal how the Gophers were doing by his voice and tone. He was definitely a homer and was free with his opinion of the officials. I couldn't wait to read the Peach Section in the Strib and the series of photo's and reading Sid, Dick Cullum, etc. I wish I would have saved some of them.

I saw my first game at the Brickhouse in the early seventies and clearly remember the smell in the concourse, Jules Perlt as PA and the UM band march down University Ave. When I coached in SW Minnesota, we took our team to one game a year and got tickets for $1 through the UM. I also remember using the $1 tickets on the back of milk cartons for other games I went to.

We have been ST holders for decades and took our 4 kids to games at the dome when they were very young. Now I will take our oldest grandson from Pequot Lakes to his first game this Fall.

Living in Bayfield, I tell folks up here that I hate the Badgers and can't stand the Packers. So far, so good.

My hope and dream is to follow the Gophers all the way to the Rose Bowl. Its been a long but rewarding run as a diehard Gopher fan.
 

64. Dad went to the U and was a fan. Saw the Rose Bowls on TV, otherwise the Peach Section was all we got on the Gophers. Football, Basketball, Wrestling, and Hockey fan. We did get the Vikings on TV, I think from the station in Valley City, ND. That made them easier to follow, but they always played second fiddle to the Gophers. Knew most of the team while at the U. Good people.
 

Age stats so far in this thread:

Mean age: 50
Median age: 51
Min: 15
Max: 84

% of users by age:

0-20: 1%
21-30: 10%
31-40: 19%
41-50: 19%
51-60: 27%
61-70: 14%
71+: 10%
 

OK - I was going to hold back on this but here goes. I will be 90 in July so I can make excuses for my gaffaws (mistakes), which I have made on my posts.
Anyway, I grew up a Gopher fan in a small town in SW MN; in the 40's WCCO radio was the only access. The Gophers were the main sport teams then (no pro teams) except for the Mpls
Millers and St. Paul Saints in Baseball.

I would lay on the floor with a miniature cardboard football field (available with wheaty boxtops} with moveable yard markers for 1st downs, of course a football and everything else to be
able to visually "see" the game. National Champs, Bierman, Bruce Smith, etc were all my heroes.

After WW2 (I was in the Navy the last Year) and went to the U on the GI Bill (Elect Eng). Those were also great years with Tonnemaker.(SP) Bye, Grant, ect.

As my working life was not in MN (NY) I followed the team as well as I could (Oh! how I wish there was the BTN network then).

Now my only wish is this --- I started my life as a Gopher Fan when we were National Champs and I sure would like to leave it the same way. Gotta hang in there.

A side note. Back in the late 30's WCCO was the only means to follow the team live, so essentially all the stores in town had their radio on full blast with the front doors open so every one in town shopping could follow the team. Oh! the good old days!
 

Rog said:
OK - I was going to hold back on this but here goes. I will be 90 in July so I can make excuses for my gaffaws (mistakes), which I have made on my posts.
Anyway, I grew up a Gopher fan in a small town in SW MN; in the 40's WCCO radio was the only access. The Gophers were the main sport teams then (no pro teams) except for the Mpls
Millers and St. Paul Saints in Baseball.

I would lay on the floor with a miniature cardboard football field (available with wheaty boxtops} with moveable yard markers for 1st downs, of course a football and everything else to be
able to visually "see" the game. National Champs, Bierman, Bruce Smith, etc were all my heroes.

After WW2 (I was in the Navy the last Year) and went to the U on the GI Bill (Elect Eng). Those were also great years with Tonnemaker.(SP) Bye, Grant, ect.

As my working life was not in MN (NY) I followed the team as well as I could (Oh! how I wish there was the BTN network then).

Now my only wish is this --- I started my life as a Gopher Fan when we were National Champs and I sure would like to leave it the same way. Gotta hang in there.

A side note. Back in the late 30's WCCO was the only means to follow the team live, so essentially all the stores in town had their radio on full blast with the front doors open so every one in town shopping could follow the team. Oh! the good old days!
Click to expand...

That's awesome.
 

I'm 43 and have been a fan since 1986. I remember watching the Liberty Bowl in 1986...
Attended the U from '92-'97. Was in the Marching Band for 2 years. Have indoctrinated my kids (7 and 10) to the point that child services should probably be called. Football Season Ticket Holder on and off since graduation. Swore off Gopher Football after the Michigan loss in 2003 and got back on board in 2009 with the opening of TCF.
 

I'm 56, and have been a Golden Gopher fan since high school. My first year playing high school football was Tony Dungy's senior year. We heard the end of the Gopher upset of Michigan on the bus to a game my sophomore year. The best seats I ever had for a game was the 84-13 pasting vs Nebraska. As a high school football coach I went to many clinics at the U. Had a beer with Jim Wacker- what a great guy! What poor teams! I still fervently follow the team. Love going to practices, watching the Big Ten network, following recruiting. My family knows that I will record the games, and watch each play two or three times. I think they get a kick out of watching me cheer and scream. They witnessed me kneeling and hoping (and ulimately heartbroken) at the end of the Penn State game last year. Like many Gopher fans, I have to eat with a Badger fan at lunch. I staunchly defend the Maroon and Gold, and look forward to the day the streak ends. Go Gophers!
 

Rog said:
OK - I was going to hold back on this but here goes. I will be 90 in July so I can make excuses for my gaffaws (mistakes), which I have made on my posts.
Anyway, I grew up a Gopher fan in a small town in SW MN; in the 40's WCCO radio was the only access. The Gophers were the main sport teams then (no pro teams) except for the Mpls
Millers and St. Paul Saints in Baseball.

I would lay on the floor with a miniature cardboard football field (available with wheaty boxtops} with moveable yard markers for 1st downs, of course a football and everything else to be
able to visually "see" the game. National Champs, Bierman, Bruce Smith, etc were all my heroes.

After WW2 (I was in the Navy the last Year) and went to the U on the GI Bill (Elect Eng). Those were also great years with Tonnemaker.(SP) Bye, Grant, ect.

As my working life was not in MN (NY) I followed the team as well as I could (Oh! how I wish there was the BTN network then).

Now my only wish is this --- I started my life as a Gopher Fan when we were National Champs and I sure would like to leave it the same way. Gotta hang in there.

A side note. Back in the late 30's WCCO was the only means to follow the team live, so essentially all the stores in town had their radio on full blast with the front doors open so every one in town shopping could follow the team. Oh! the good old days!
Click to expand...

A tip of the hat to you Rog, and God Bless You!
 

Rog said:
OK - I was going to hold back on this but here goes. I will be 90 in July so I can make excuses for my gaffaws (mistakes), which I have made on my posts.
Anyway, I grew up a Gopher fan in a small town in SW MN; in the 40's WCCO radio was the only access. The Gophers were the main sport teams then (no pro teams) except for the Mpls
Millers and St. Paul Saints in Baseball.

I would lay on the floor with a miniature cardboard football field (available with wheaty boxtops} with moveable yard markers for 1st downs, of course a football and everything else to be
able to visually "see" the game. National Champs, Bierman, Bruce Smith, etc were all my heroes.

After WW2 (I was in the Navy the last Year) and went to the U on the GI Bill (Elect Eng). Those were also great years with Tonnemaker.(SP) Bye, Grant, ect.

As my working life was not in MN (NY) I followed the team as well as I could (Oh! how I wish there was the BTN network then).

Now my only wish is this --- I started my life as a Gopher Fan when we were National Champs and I sure would like to leave it the same way. Gotta hang in there.

A side note. Back in the late 30's WCCO was the only means to follow the team live, so essentially all the stores in town had their radio on full blast with the front doors open so every one in town shopping could follow the team. Oh! the good old days!
Click to expand...


Awesome! You are making me miss my former neighbor all the more. My neighbor is still with us. He is a WWII veteran. We would go to one game a year. The sad part is he choses not to attend that one game a year for good reason. Macular degeneration. Still has a razor sharp mind. Great guy. Wish there was a cure for him.

Anyway, glad you post. Great to hear your perspective.
 

I'm 48, went to my first game in 76 (Dungy era). My grandmother had seats (at Memorial and Dome) since the '30s, taught me the Rouser and about the 'Glory Days" !!

I Have been to great games, heart-breakers and flat out stinkers. (not enough great games)

I Bleed Maroon and Gold and fly the block "M" every Saturday, Bowl Game (and NCAA/B1G tourney).

I'm really looking forward to a trip to Indy and then Pasadena!
 

I'm 39 and have been hooked on the Gophers since Darrel Thompson and Rickey Foggie. My first in person game was in 1995.
 

I am 16 and I've been a Gopher fan for life thanks to my dad and grandpa. My first memory was the opening season lost to Bowling Green State in 2007. I wouldn't give it up for anything and I'm still waiting for that win against Wisconsin.
 

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