Bye week talker: Earliest Gopher Memories

Thought I would start a new thread where we could share some of our Earliest Gopher memories when you were growing up. Feel free to include stories about memories of your own children as well (taking your kids to their first game or grandkids etc.) Or any other Gopher story you want to share.

My parents raised me as a Minnesota sports fan. Not just Gophers but across the board (Twins Wild Vikings etc). For me my earliest Gopher memories it is watching football games on TV with my dad during the Jim Wacker years and the gophers for the most part losing. My dad would get so angry and I thought it was so funny that he took it so seriously. I would start laughing. The angrier he got the harder I would laugh until finally he would start laughing. I wish I went to Gopher games in person as a kid but we never did.

I have great memories of the basketball final four fun as well. I watched every game that year. My favorite play was during the tournament when Bobby Jackson went after a loose ball and called a timeout in midair while flying out of bounds.

West Fargo Gopher Fan said:

Thought I would start a new thread where we could share some of our Earliest Gopher memories when you were growing up. Feel free to include stories about memories of your own children as well (taking your kids to their first game or grandkids etc.) Or any other Gopher story you want to share.

My parents raised me as a Minnesota sports fan. Not just Gophers but across the board (Twins Wild Vikings etc). For me my earliest Gopher memories it is watching football games on TV with my dad during the Jim Wacker years and the gophers for the most part losing. My dad would get so angry and I thought it was so funny that he took it so seriously. I would start laughing. The angrier he got the harder I would laugh until finally he would start laughing. I wish I went to Gopher games in person as a kid but we never did.

I have great memories of the basketball final four fun as well. I watched every game that year. My favorite play was during the tournament when Bobby Jackson went after a loose ball and called a timeout in midair while flying out of bounds.

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My earliest memory was 49 years ago this coming Saturday . The Gophers were playing USC and of course, O.J.Simpson. Coach Warmath(spelling)asked the grounds people not to mow the field. O.J. had on low cuts but you would never know it. The grass was 6 to 8 inches high. Coaches thinking was, as reported after the game, the long grass should help slow down Simpson. He, apparently forgot, that it would also slow down the defenders. O.J. had 4 touchdowns and 240 yards rushing, all in 3 quarters.

Listening to Ray talk about Craig Curry.

The 61 and 62 Rose Bowls. The peach section before that.

The voice of Ray Christensen on the radio in the garage with Jules Perlt in the background. First live event was a Gophs hockey game in 1977 sitting up in the balcony.

My earliest memory of the Gophers was the 84-13 loss to Nebraska. Starting my fanhood at such a low point actually makes it much easier for me to be optimistic about the Gophers.

As a kid in the 1950's, it was all about Gopher football. The Lakers were winning championships but they did not really resonate in our house. My dad loved the Gophers and regaled me with stories of the Bierman teams he had listened to on the radio and seen in person after escaping the farm. I was an easy convert. The Gophers won at Michigan in 1956 and my dad took me out to Wold-Chamberlain to meet the team. They were so happy and I was struck by how many players were missing teeth! I remember going with my dad to the fateful 1956 Iowa game. The crowd, noise and colors made a huge impression. I was hooked.

Pete smith said:

My earliest memory was 49 years ago this coming Saturday . The Gophers were playing USC and of course, O.J.Simpson. Coach Warmath(spelling)asked the grounds people not to mow the field. O.J. had on low cuts but you would never know it. The grass was 6 to 8 inches high. Coaches thinking was, as reported after the game, the long grass should help slow down Simpson. He, apparently forgot, that it would also slow down the defenders. O.J. had 4 touchdowns and 240 yards rushing, all in 3 quarters.

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Ah yes, the famous cross-field lateral, Kemp to Wintermute for a 4th quarter go-ahead score on a kick-off return. Alas, the game lasted a little too long.

My dad and I were coming home from playing golf in Houston when I was about 14 or 15. The local radio station was running down the college football scores and gave a Michigan/Minnesota score. I said to my father "can you imagine having to live in Minnesota?" He said you never know, it's possible. I looked at him as if he were crazy, honestly not knowing anything about the Gophers or the entire state. He replied, you do know that the company I work for is based in Minnesota? I just looked at him in total bewilderment. Three or Four years later, I started my freshmen year, Fall of 1983 at Minnesota. I have been hooked ever since.

My first game memory was the first game in 2007 against Bowling Green and well it's been many up and downs since then. While sometimes I question why I cheer for the Gophers it makes the big wins all the sweeter. Ski U Mah and RTB!!

I never cared much about Gopher Hockey, but I do recall being a big fan of the North Stars around 1974 or so. After that my love of the sport of hockey ended. Over time I think that I started to become aware of the Gopher Football and Basketball teams, and these are fairly fuzzy memories. Even as early as the PittsburgH Super Bowl, and even maybe the Miami Vikings Super Bowl, all anyone ever really talked about at school and in the neighborhood was the Vikings. We all knew about the Vikings. Some things never change.

As far as the Basketball, I recall traveling to a tubing hill about 15 miles from home with a large group, on a nice winter Saturday. Prior to that day I had zero thoughts or awareness of Gopher Basketball. When I returned home, my dad was all wound up because the Gopher basketball team had just beat Louisville, a very good Louisville Team. I have not bothered to look it up, but that probably was a Musselman team with Mychal Thompson on the team, probably 1974 or 1975. I started to pay attention to Gopher Basketball after that and realized that the games could be heard on WCCO radio at night every Thursday and Saturday in the dead of winter.

Later I recall being in Memorial Stadium as a young kid, probably not much later (maybe the next fall) than the memory above, when the U of M was passing buckets around the stands to collect money to help fight the NCAA on the sanctions leveled at the team. Since we were not Kentucky, the NCAA threw the book at us and the cash collected did nothing. I remember being aware of sort of a gallows mentality Gopher fans were starting to have, t that the U of M tends to get the shaft in sports every single time around that day.

An earlier Gopher Football memory had to be 1973, being at the UW year end game in Memorial Stadium. I was very young and do not remember a lot, but looking up the game and seeing that Billy Marek played in the game I have settled on 1973, not 1975. I recall that it had snowed very recently and there was snow piled up on the sidelines and in the stands, even though it was a very bright sunny day. I recall driving 100 miles to the game, just me and my dad, and he was talking about some UW running back a lot (Billy Marek). I also remember stopping in Winthrop MN for some pie and my dad stopped at a gas station/ Ag. Co-Op that was a customer of his. I remember that stop in Winthrop better than the game for some reason. I also think we won the game and my dad was in good spirits on the drive back. (I looked it up now, we won 19-17)

The whole Memorial Stadium experience and walking around the campus before the game stuck in my head for quite a while after that day.

In future years more of the family went to one game a year, so that was the only time I ever went up the U just with my dad, which was sort of nice memory. Some of the following games in the mid to late -70s at the stadium created much clearer recollections as I got older.

My dad had the Gopher football and basketball games on the radio since I can remember. My first live Gopher event was a Gopher hoops win over KSU in 1976. Thompson, Ray Williams, Lockhart, McHale, and Flip were all on that team. I was hooked after that day.

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Chris Darkins visor. Will never forget it. I loved Chris Darkins because I was told he was the best player.

Going to a hockey game at old Mariucci in about 1991. I was transfixed by the crowd's passion, Goldy up on his perch, and the sounds and smells of hockey. Hooked for life in that moment.

Watching the Rose Bowl win with my dad. And who could forget listening to the Gophs on a Saturday afternoon, Ray's voice let you know if it was going good or not.

My earliest memory of the Gopher football team was in 1959 when my brother came home during his freshman year at the U and proudly announced to our family that he was with the mob of students who had hung Murray Warmath in effigy from a light pole in Dinkytown. After he explained to me who Murray Warmath was and why they hung him from a light pole I remember thinking it was pretty cool.

My first Gopher game was in 1968 when a buddy and I hitchhiked from Duluth to the Cities to watch the Gophers play 6th Ranked Purdue on Saturday and the Vikings play the Packers on Sunday. Since we had very little money between us we didn't know how we were going to get into see the games. But it turned out to be our lucky weekend.

On Saturday when we were hanging around the box office lines outside of Memorial Stadium an older guy came by and gave us two tickets on the 50 yard line where we watched the the Gophers beat Purdue and Leroy Keyes (who was second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1968). The score was 27-14.

Then on Sunday we were hanging around the player entrance at Met Stadium when a large group of Vikings walked up to enter the stadium. On the spur of the moment we decided to try and walk in with them. Much to our amazement we actually managed to get in the stadium where we watched the Vikes beat the Packers 14-10. Needless to say my buddy and I still talk about our football weekend in 1968.

Said this before: as a child with my dad, sitting behind the Gopher bench of Bernie Bierman's last great team, 1949, with the Gophers ahead of Iowa 49-7 in the final quarter, and Leo Nomellini coming off the field, taking off his helmet, throwing his head back and laughing. He looked like a giant from mythology.

Although I have always been a Gopher fan, my earliest memory comes from the year 2000 when I was 15 years old.

My dad was a hockey guy. I was a football and basketball guy. After years of going to Gopher hockey games, I convinced my dad to take me to a football game.

The game was against Penn State. What I remember most was Ron Johnson. Dude had two TD's. Every time the big screen caught him, or every time he caught a pass, the crowd chanted "one more year!". Knowing that the kid was destined for the NFL, but had one more year of eligibility.

Hockey: These are earliest memories as this was the only college sport my parents were passionate about. Every Friday/Saturday from birth the games were on the TV or Radio. 1st solid memory, though, is the loss to Harvard in the championship game.

Basketball: Not sure if it was 1989 or 1990 but I remember what would have been my 3rd or 4th grade class getting to watch their Sweet 16 (?) game during the school day which I thought was pretty sweet...the timeline get's fuzzy, but I also have early memories of listening to the games in the car while my dad was running errands.

Football: I'll echo someone else and definitely say Chris Darkins. Not a specific game, but I remember seeing billboards and hearing a little Heisman hype about him. Also it was watching that show with Jim Wacker that came on between the news and SNL...I became kind of obsessed with Tutu Atwell because of his name. My first memory of truly becoming a Gopher Football fan is more vivid, though. It took me leaving MN for the first time to attend the University of Iowa (don't worry, I ended up transferring back to the U after 3 years) - being outside of the state kind of made me have more pride in what the U represented. My freshman year was 1999 and the win at Penn State has had me hooked ever since...plus I grew up with Mike Lehan, so I always thought it was really cool he was playing in the Big10.

diehard said:

The 61 and 62 Rose Bowls. The peach section before that.

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My recollection is pretty much the same except the Sports Peach came after the bowls for me. Loved the Sports Peach and the "play of the game" where they would do a photo series showing how the play developed with circles and arrows and all kinds of edits. Very high-tech for its day. I remember my buddies and I would appropriate the name of a prominent Gopher player in our playground pick-up games. One guy was Bill Munsey every single time.

Watching the 1960 Gophers vs. Iowa game on channel 2 - educational TV. Production quality about on par with Aggie Vision. I also remember watching with my Dad as Rollie Johnson played footage of the 1930s and early 40s Gophers football on channel 4.

It wasn't a specific game or play, but my first memory is of Memorial Stadium. We had seats towards the open end (35 yard line) and the tunnel leading to our section was right next to where they sold coffee and hot chocolate. The smell of the hot chocolate was intoxicating to this 5 or 6 year old. I can still smell it if I try hard enough.

Born in 1980, my first Gopher memories are from the Ricky Foggie / Lou Holtz era. First game I definitely remember watching was the '85 Independence Bowl vs. Clemson, but I'm sure there were some before that. By age 5-6 I was pretending to be a Gopher in my basement on a daily basis. Other than a road game at Nebraska in '90 (left me 9 year old me crying after a 56-0 wipeout) I never saw the Gophers live until I redeemed my first student season ticket in '99 at the Dome.

What I wish I could track down is how I became a Gopher fan. I have no relatives who went there, parents went to IU, my earliest childhood years were spent in Nebraska near Lincoln, the Gophers were pretty bad during my early childhood, and this was long before the days of satellite TV, ESPN, or BTN. My best guess is that it was some type of 3 year old contrarian move after dropping that 84-13 squeaker to Nebraska in '83, but who knows? Nobody seems to. Maybe I just knew I would wind up going to school at the U down the road.

Watching the first Rose Bowl game with my dad. Duck hunting as a kid and listening too Ray Scott and Halsey Hall from Memorial Stadium. My dad telling the family when the Vikings arrived. " I hope they do well, but the Gophers are top dog in this house, and always will be"
The band marching down University Ave. Paul Giel on the Ed Sullivan Show with hi Gopher uniform on ( College All American's) All the bowl games we've attended as a family. and finally the best quote from a Gopher player: Maroney.... before the Alabama Bowl game: " You can't tackle what you can't catch"

Born in 1992, and I remember following the Gophers in the late '90s and specifically the early 2000s once Marian Barber came around. I think the first season that I truly remember following was Asad Abdul-Khaliq's senior year. Unfortunately though, in terms of remembering specific games and details, the first game that sticks out to me is the 2003 Michigan game.

My earliest memories of Gopher football are during the early to mid 90's. Jim Wacker, Tutu Atwell and Cory Sauter days.

Started to follow the team more in 1999 when Mason started to turn things around...the same year that they upset Penn State and went to the Sun Bowl.

A lot of good memories and heart-breakers over the years. This is just a very small list of some of my memories...good and not so good....2000 Northwestern, 2000 Ohio State, 2003 Wisconsin, 2003 Michigan, 2005 Wisconsin, 2005 Michigan, NDSU at Metrodome, 2007 season, 55-0, Insight Bowls, MicronPC.com Bowl, 2008 "Program Changing Win" at Illinois, 2009 Air Force TCF Bank Stadium, 2009 Michigan State, 2014 Iowa, 2014 Michigan, 2013 and 2014 Nebraska

lmh839 said:

My earliest memories of Gopher football are during the early to mid 90's. Jim Wacker, Tutu Atwell and Cory Sauter days.

Started to follow the team more in 1999 when Mason started to turn things around...the same year that they upset Penn State and went to the Sun Bowl.

A lot of good memories and heart-breakers over the years. This is just a very small list of some of my memories...good and not so good....2000 Northwestern, 2000 Ohio State, 2003 Wisconsin, 2003 Michigan, 2005 Wisconsin, 2005 Michigan, NDSU at Metrodome, 2007 season, 55-0, Insight Bowls, MicronPC.com Bowl, 2008 "Program Changing Win" at Illinois, 2009 Air Force TCF Bank Stadium, 2009 Michigan State, 2014 Iowa, 2014 Michigan, 2013 and 2014 Nebraska

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Mine as well. However I was much more of a Gophers basketball fan than football when I was youngster. I don't remember the football games being on TV very much. I became a big fan in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Cruze said:

My earliest memory of the Gopher football team was in 1959 when my brother came home during his freshman year at the U and proudly announced to our family that he was with the mob of students who had hung Murray Warmath in effigy from a light pole in Dinkytown. After he explained to me who Murray Warmath was and why they hung him from a light pole I remember thinking it was pretty cool.
...

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Well THAT explains a lot.

Think I posted before, first in person football memory was 1980 Mich game. AC had a big day. Perlt had to say Ali Haji-Sheikh a lot of times. Highlight, if you can call it that, was when the game was over and we all were filing to the stairs to leave...a drunk guy behind us tripped himself and basically cartwheeled down the steps knocking people over on his way down until he veered into the seats for a really hard stop.

For football, it's listening to Lou Holtz on the "Good Neighbor" coming home from a hunting trip. I know I've mentioned it before, but he was discussing how he recruited HS QB's because they were the most talented player on their team (usually). He also mentioned how he took X position and made them Y, etc. It made no sense to me at the time (I was pretty young) but now I have a solid respect for it. Game wise, I really didn't watch much until the Wacker era. And yet I'm still a fan...

Basketball, I still remember watching them play someone probably around 1980 and they came back to tie the game and ended up winning in triple overtime. I was pretty young and wasn't supposed to stay up that late, but my folks were at a friend's house and I stayed up until the game finished, which I think was close to midnight. My folks got home like a minute after I had gone to bed. I actually saw someone reference that game a couple years ago, but now I can't remember who it was against. It was one of those things where I didn't intend to watch it, I happened to turn it on with only a few minutes left in the second half and couldn't turn it off.

Gopher hockey was just always on on Friday and Saturday nights in our house, so I don't have any specific memories. I didn't pay attention until probably the late eighties, but I was a much bigger North Stars fan, so they were definitely secondary. Started paying a lot more attention in the 90's...