10 years at TCF Bank Stadium

68 of 70. I get a gold star for attendance.

beavergopher said:

68 of 70. I get a gold star for attendance.

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Edged me by 1. I've been to 67. Missed Miami (OH), North Dakota St in 2011 & San Jose St in 2013.

It hurts not to be able to vote all 70 for myself. But, I have missed two gopher games in TCF Bank Stadium - both for the same reason: Schedule conflict with my HS hockey-playing son. Prior to that the last home Gopher game I had missed was 2007 in the dome against NDSU. I missed that one because of my Aunt's funeral.

I nearly missed a third game at TCF when my other son had a HS Football game on a Saturday but I managed to be in my seat at TCF by halftime for that one.

I might have missed one other game, but I specifically cannot recall doing so, but I know for sure I missed that October night game in 2009 vs. Michigan State.

I was in Chicago for work and stayed over Friday with a 7 AM return flight. Our little group stayed out very late in the River North/ Clark Street area, crawled back the to hotel around 2, , but made the airport on time, only to have the flight cancelled, then sat/slept in a chair for 5 hours until they put us on a different flight.

I remember seeing some MSU fans at the Midway Airport, thinking I should try to sell my tickets to the, as I had them in my backpack, but I just ate the tickets. The other vivid memory I have is that my boss was bragging about how great he felt and then decided to eat a giant plate of pancakes at the airport. About an hour later he looked green and was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands; he did not move for a couple of hours!

By the time I returned home, I accepted the fact that I had no energy left to head down to the game and just drank hydrating fluids and sat under a blanket on the couch for hours. It turned ot be a good game to watch though from the couch, even though had I made to tTCF the cool night air probably would have been helpful to a faster recovery.

I've only had the pleasure of visiting your cute little stadiette once, in 2011, when Mr. Wilson surgically dismantled the Gophers, 42-13. Back then, one week each month, my work took me away from my eminently agreeable existence in San Francisco to the horrific frozen hellscape of Minneapolis. Luckily, one of those weeks consigned to Hoth provided me the opportunity to partake of some real culture. My kind Gopher benefactor had wonderful seats, but was not much for adult libations, so unfortunately I can not speak to the local pre- or post-game festivities, although from a brief sojourn back to our livery, said festivities appeared rather sedate. This was, obviously, prior to the renowned "Fleck Bump", so please take that into consideration. I heartily look forward to visiting your delightful city once again after cataclysmic global warming has fixed your local climate to something closer to resembling "remotely survivable."

los venerables said:

I've only had the pleasure of visiting your cute little stadiette once, in 2011, when Mr. Wilson surgically dismantled the Gophers, 42-13. Back then, one week each month, my work took me away from my eminently agreeable existence in San Francisco to the horrific frozen hellscape of Minneapolis. Luckily, one of those weeks consigned to Hoth provided me the opportunity to partake of some real culture. My kind Gopher benefactor had wonderful seats, but was not much for adult libations, so unfortunately I can not speak to the local pre- or post-game festivities, although from a brief sojourn back to our livery, said festivities appeared rather sedate. This was, obviously, prior to the renowned "Fleck Bump", so please take that into consideration. I heartily look forward to visiting your delightful city once again after cataclysmic global warming has fixed your local climate to something closer to resembling "remotely survivable."

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Couldn't get into Stanford?

los venerables said:

I've only had the pleasure of visiting your cute little stadiette once, in 2011, when Mr. Wilson surgically dismantled the Gophers, 42-13. Back then, one week each month, my work took me away from my eminently agreeable existence in San Francisco to the horrific frozen hellscape of Minneapolis. Luckily, one of those weeks consigned to Hoth provided me the opportunity to partake of some real culture. My kind Gopher benefactor had wonderful seats, but was not much for adult libations, so unfortunately I can not speak to the local pre- or post-game festivities, although from a brief sojourn back to our livery, said festivities appeared rather sedate. This was, obviously, prior to the renowned "Fleck Bump", so please take that into consideration. I heartily look forward to visiting your delightful city once again after cataclysmic global warming has fixed your local climate to something closer to resembling "remotely survivable."

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Mark Sept. 19, 2020 down. Gophs vs. Iowa at TCF. Should be a beautiful, picturesque Fall day perfect for college football.

I was in the coaches press box for the first two years. Didn't watch my first game from the stands until 2014.

I have made all 70. My favorite was the Jeff Horton Iowa game.

My Favorite two were the 2013 Nebraska, and Iowa 2014.

I also enjoyed Cal and USC despite both being fairly close loses. It was sunny,, hot and we were playing two great programs. After years at the Metrodome, being outside in the sun, against legendary programs, it almost seemed like a mirage or dream at times.

I am jealous of the people who have been to any number of games in the 60's or to 70. Since the kids are in college, (1 at the U) and out of the house I am at every game but while they were home I attended about 2 to 3 per year for a total in the 30's. The Nebraska beat down was my favorite because I suffered that kind of loss at Memorial Stadium and the payback was sweet. The first game vs Air Force was nice but not great.

I estimate being little north of 130 over the last 20 years, including every game at TCF.

124 votes in 5 days as of mine. Must include all the season ticket holders on Gopherhole. Just shows me that a majority of the posters on this site are nothing more than lazy blowhards. Must be Fleck's fault. Or Coyle's. Or the media's...or...

highwayman said:

124 votes in 5 days as of mine. Must include all the season ticket holders on Gopherhole. Just shows me that a majority of the posters on this site are nothing more than lazy blowhards. Must be Fleck's fault. Or Coyle's. Or the media's...or...

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If I could have an individual vote for each of my 4 season tickets, I'd do it to appease you.

The 2015 opener against #2 TCU was most memorable for me. Electric atmosphere against a big time non conference opponent. If not for some of the turnovers, we might've pulled that one out. Defense was tremendous that night in slowing that Travonne Boykin-led offense

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42 for me -- not bad considering the 2,100-mile round trip.

The first rendition of the Rouser on Opening Night is still the pinnacle. That was a cathartic experience:

https://www.facebook.com/jverbrugge/videos/1158212368564

Jike Spingleton said:

42 for me -- not bad considering the 2,100-mile round trip.

The first rendition of the Rouser on Opening Night is still the pinnacle. That was a cathartic experience:

https://www.facebook.com/jverbrugge/videos/1158212368564

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Thanks for posting, I've tried to re-find this video over the years. So great!

Jike Spingleton said:

42 for me -- not bad considering the 2,100-mile round trip.

The first rendition of the Rouser on Opening Night is still the pinnacle. That was a cathartic experience:

https://www.facebook.com/jverbrugge/videos/1158212368564

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That's incredible! I don't remember it being so emotional when I was there, but that gave me chills. I like the guy in the background saying "wow" as the M-I-N...chant started. It really was "wow." I kept thinking how cool it's gonna be to see and hear crowds like this when the program gets rolling!

I never spelled out M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A as loudly as I did during that Rouser. I remember saying "holy sh*t!" when it was over -- it was as if that was the moment where it became real and we really were back home.

I already posted in this thread about how many games I have attended (all but two) but as long as we are sharing memories of the first 10 years, I'll say this in addition:

I had a couple "favorite losses" if there can be such a thing. The '09 loss to Cal was fun because the stadium was brand new and it was a beautiful cloudless day against a highly ranked team and Eric Decker played like a superstar. He made a very memorable catch right in front of our seats. The other one that sticks in my mind was the loss in the snow to Ohio State. They won the national championship that year but the Gophers gave them all they wanted in the snow and cold. There was a feeling the Gopher program was on the rise under Kill and despite the loss it felt like good things were to come. The TCU loss could also possibly be put in this category.

I will never forget that very first game, as others have mentioned. The game itself would normally be forgettable but after all those years in the Metrodome, all the potential of an on campus outdoor stadium was there to see on that first night. The rousers were spectacular.

Other great memories: That first win over Nebraska, the back to back upsets of Iowa and the complete beatdown of Iowa, that first year win over Michigan State, and a sneaky fun one was a night game win over Syracuse where the place was sold out.

On the other hand, the New Mexico State loss where Kill went down heads up the bad memory list for me. There were some other losses in the early days that effectively stuffed the new stadium buzz - like the beatdown at the hands of Kill's Northern Illinois team, the head scratching embarrassments at the hands of "little teams" from South Dakota and North Dakota State, and even one win - that boring unsettling squeaker win over South Dakota State in 2009.

As for the future of the stadium, winning cures all - of course. When the day arrives where the Gophers finally have their breakout season and win the B1G - the crowds will follow. TCF Bank Stadium has the potential to be a very special place for a winning team and full house attendance. I hope I get to see that. In the meantime, any work that can be done to carve out some no-donation general tailgate lots will help a lot toward drawing crowds even when the team isn't winning. A great party/tailgate scene has a way of insulating a stadium from requiring a big winner to draw crowds. That issue remains to be solved.