Hopping on The Boat

UpAndUnder43

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I usually wear Gopher stuff when running errands, walking the dogs, etc. Mainly because I have a lot of it and it is comfortable.

In the past week at least 5 people have wanted to discuss Gopher football with me. Last night the pizza delivery guy said "row the fword boat" when I answered the door. He told me how he hasn't been to a game since he was in college but went Saturday because he is excited about Fleck.

Today a guy in my neighborhood told me he is going to the Michigan State game, his first game since Mason was head coach, because he believes in Fleck.

People are excited. It isn't simply because they are 3-0. The exposure in local media is helping and will continue to help. Continuing their winning ways is paramount but I think people are starting to take notice that things are changing.

Note: I do not remember ever hearing someone say they were on the gopher bandwagon during the Brewster/KillClaeys era
 

Great to hear. I believe this is one part of the "Sleeping Giant" analogy used since Day 1 with Coach Fleck.

My circle knows I'm a diehard and are going out of their way to say they'll "wait and see"...often comparing Coach Fleck to former Coach Brewster...and yes still with bile in their mouth on the seat price increases and other (not-to-be-named) changes.

Light bulb did go off at the Fairground Lot tailgate yesterday in response to the Coach Brewster line. I retorted to a couple of folks "what's if he's more like Coach Holtz?"

Smiles came to their faces...but only lasted for a few seconds...only to be followed by "well, he'll leave us then too like Lou." Sometimes can't win I guess.

Still considered it progress and will continue to collect data...both on and off the field...
 

The Brewster talk will quickly fade, thus far the Gophers under Fleck are maybe as disciplined as any team in my lifetime.
 

I won't reference every example of Gopher fandom down here in Sioux Falls but trust me, excitement is high and the Gopher gear is noticeable. I've had many requests for our game tickets in the event my wife and I can't make a game. And that's from SD. There are a ton of Minnesotans here and Gopher fans, might not be so far away from husker fans.
 

Glen Mason had a response for the comparisons to Lou Holtz.

"What, have a losing record and leave after two years?"

(He was 10-12 as Gopher coach).
 


What's good about Fleck is the amount of material he's pushing out to the media.

Reusse, a solid cynic, is still chomping at the bit for his best chances to rip on the guy just for the sake of ripping on people.

When Reusse does write about the Gophers, it will be about the first few negative things that come up and his angle as a writer will be exposed for choosing to ignore everything else the media has written about since he got here.
 

The Brewster talk will quickly fade, thus far the Gophers under Fleck are maybe as disciplined as any team in my lifetime.

This. I truly believe Kill/Claeys deserve a ton of credit for turning us around, but I feel like their reputation of disciplinarians is overrated - especially with Claeys. We were actually a very sloppy team under Tracy in regards to penalties. It's early, and this may be only a brief glimpse, but Fleck surely seems to have the team acting in a VERY more disciplined way on the field. The lack of penalties is ASTOUNDING. The polite handing of the ball to the referees I believe helps. Refs are humans and are bound to form unconscious opinions about players/teams...another smart move by Fleck. I know it sounds ridiculous to say that referees calls are influenced by the innocuous actions of a team (and it might be) but we all have jobs and know that we sometimes treat customers differently that continuously treat us with respect.
 

Nearly everything he says and does is what you want your coach to say and do.
Sticks up for players and tempers praise when needed.
 

I won't reference every example of Gopher fandom down here in Sioux Falls but trust me, excitement is high and the Gopher gear is noticeable. I've had many requests for our game tickets in the event my wife and I can't make a game. And that's from SD. There are a ton of Minnesotans here and Gopher fans, might not be so far away from husker fans.

Live in Sioux Falls area also.. The same people that were somewhat Gopher fans before seem to have more excitement.. I can't stand Husker and Hawkeyes garbage floating around.
 



The Brewster talk will quickly fade, thus far the Gophers under Fleck are maybe as disciplined as any team in my lifetime.

The discipline on this team impresses me. They will lose games but I don't think it will be due to mental errors.
 

The Brewster talk will quickly fade, thus far the Gophers under Fleck are maybe as disciplined as any team in my lifetime.

While I too am satisfied with that aspect of this team so far, they have played three non-conference games. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.


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Maybe I'll start to see stuff out here in the Redmond, WA area! I saw someone with a University of Minnesota license plate liner driving north on 405 from Renton on Wednesday, but other than that I haven't seen anything. Supposedly there is a big alumni base in the Seattle area, but I haven't seen many.
 

Maybe I'll start to see stuff out here in the Redmond, WA area! I saw someone with a University of Minnesota license plate liner driving north on 405 from Renton on Wednesday, but other than that I haven't seen anything. Supposedly there is a big alumni base in the Seattle area, but I haven't seen many.

Hope u came down last weekend!


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The handing the refs the ball thing is something I really like.

I like to see kids who act like they've been there before and act professional when relating with other people.

Being on the good side of the ref sure can't hurt. Just like if you're bartending and you get a jerk and a person who treats you well. Who are you going to give service to first?
 

Hope u came down last weekend!


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I did indeed. My dad and Uncle flew out from MN and joined my Brother, Girlfriend, and I as we drove down to the game. My Girlfriend and I even stuck out the rain at the game! Never went inside. It was a great game to go to. Got horribly cut off but an OSU fan driving back the next day though. Guess they were bitter.
 

Maybe I'll start to see stuff out here in the Redmond, WA area! I saw someone with a University of Minnesota license plate liner driving north on 405 from Renton on Wednesday, but other than that I haven't seen anything. Supposedly there is a big alumni base in the Seattle area, but I haven't seen many.
There is indeed a very large alumni contingent in Seattle. I'd be willing to guess it's one of the largest alumni groups outside of the retirement communities of Florida and Arizona.

However, I also noticed that most of them were embarrassed to admit that they graduated from the U of M. Granted that was 10 years ago and things may have changed since then, but I found that rather odd.
 

I end every conversation with the butcher , the baker, and the candlestick maker with: " Ski-U-MAH, Row the boat , Go Gophers" When I first started doing it I got the quizzicle look. Now I get smiles.
 




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