Gophers starting to get more steam from the media

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Gold Rush

Gold Rush

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Very nice to see and hopefully this translates to more interest in the team as well as game attendance. KFAN has realized this is a major story and are talking more and more about the Gopher football team. I am surprised even Paul Allen has been talking about them and not even sounding bored. I like the insights from others on the KFAN such as Ryan Burns, Justin Gaard and Scott Korzenowski as well as quality airtime to interviews of PJ Fleck.

I am even hearing Gopher talk on KQRS with Tom Barnard and Bob Sansevere but there aren't any insights from them - they are just picking up on the story. All this is good news - I like any positive talk about our team and all this will help get more fans out to the game.

After the Wisconsin and Georgia Tech wins from last year, most people on here realized there was a possible major story brewing here if everything played out. I was hoping we would continue the steam riding into this year but I think the vibe shifted toward the successful Twins story and people got into that this Summer. There is very little steam for the Wild or the Timberwolves right now but people around here are talking about the Vikings resurgence as well.

It's just good to see more and more people getting fired up about Gopher football. I am hoping with the projected 60 degree day this Saturday we get a good walkup sale and a good crowd for Maryland here. The media does help and any good press we get is a good thing! A victory over Maryland would be huge for this program and we would be able to get 2 weeks to build up to what would be a very huge game against Penn St. This has been a very fun season for us all so far and hopefully it will get even more fun the last 5 games!!
 

Gold Rush said:
Very nice to see and hopefully this translates to more interest in the team as well as game attendance. KFAN has realized this is a major story and are talking more and more about the Gopher football team. I am surprised even Paul Allen has been talking about them and not even sounding bored. I like the insights from others on the KFAN such as Ryan Burns, Justin Gaard and Scott Korzenowski as well as quality airtime to interviews of PJ Fleck.

I am even hearing Gopher talk on KQRS with Tom Barnard and Bob Sansevere but there aren't any insights from them - they are just picking up on the story. All this is good news - I like any positive talk about our team and all this will help get more fans out to the game.

After the Wisconsin and Georgia Tech wins from last year, most people on here realized there was a possible major story brewing here if everything played out. I was hoping we would continue the steam riding into this year but I think the vibe shifted toward the successful Twins story and people got into that this Summer. There is very little steam for the Wild or the Timberwolves right now but people around here are talking about the Vikings resurgence as well.

It's just good to see more and more people getting fired up about Gopher football. I am hoping with the projected 60 degree day this Saturday we get a good walkup sale and a good crowd for Maryland here. The media does help and any good press we get is a good thing! A victory over Maryland would be huge for this program and we would be able to get 2 weeks to build up to what would be a very huge game against Penn St. This has been a very fun season for us all so far and hopefully it will get even more fun the last 5 games!!
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I've been listening to Sunday Sermons and Paul Allen on Mondays the last couple weeks, and they have definitely seemed excited about the Gophers overall, if not fully tuned in to what has happened. Hopefully the hype continues, though Paul will never really be a full on cheerleader for the Gophers with the Vikings dominating so much of his energy.
 

When you hit the top 25 in the teens and don't give them reasons to doubt it. .. gonna make an impression.

I have the same hopes for attendance. Weather looks GLORIOUS.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
When you hit the top 25 in the teens and don't give them reasons to doubt it. .. gonna make an impression.

I have the same hopes for attendance. Weather looks GLORIOUS.
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weather looks great - major $7.00 ticket promotion, interest coming in - should be a very nice crowd to see the maroon and gold on Saturday!
 

Gold Rush said:
weather looks great - major $7.00 ticket promotion, interest coming in - should be a very nice crowd to see the maroon and gold on Saturday!
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I'm just enjoying the ride!

However, I actually agreed with Common Man the other day. He said that a loss to MD would be devastating. Tenna said it wouldn't but in this case I actually agreed with common.

Just as in 2008 post NW, 2005 post WI, and 2003 post MI, if we gain steam and then have a devastating loss in this case before the big Penn st game even happens, we will lose all the momentum.
 


Thomasthetank said:
I'm just enjoying the ride!

However, I actually agreed with Common Man the other day. He said that a loss to MD would be devastating. Tenna said it wouldn't but in this case I actually agreed with common.

Just as in 2008 post NW, 2005 post WI, and 2003 post MI, if we gain steam and then have a devastating loss in this case before the big Penn st game even happens, we will lose all the momentum.
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I'm not sure that is an insightful or unique statement.... but we also had some ugly losses last year and ... bounced back.
 

Thomasthetank said:
I'm just enjoying the ride!

However, I actually agreed with Common Man the other day. He said that a loss to MD would be devastating. Tenna said it wouldn't but in this case I actually agreed with common.

Just as in 2008 post NW, 2005 post WI, and 2003 post MI, if we gain steam and then have a devastating loss in this case before the big Penn st game even happens, we will lose all the momentum.
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It is possible we lose to Maryland then win out. It's also possible that we lose to maryland and the wheels come off and we finish 7-5.


What I think Tenna was trying to say and what I'm trying to say is the loss COULD be devastating but Common was inferring the loss would mean the season would be over.
 

A loss to Maryland and we would still control our own destiny in the big ten title hunt.
 

Thomasthetank said:
I'm just enjoying the ride!

However, I actually agreed with Common Man the other day. He said that a loss to MD would be devastating. Tenna said it wouldn't but in this case I actually agreed with common.

Just as in 2008 post NW, 2005 post WI, and 2003 post MI, if we gain steam and then have a devastating loss in this case before the big Penn st game even happens, we will lose all the momentum.
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Different team culture under PJ.
 




Gophers have been a regular feature on the B1G Show on BTN and the tweets and mentions by national media have been growing. Nearly all of this attention has come with an asterisk: Let's see what happens when MN plays Penn State, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

the Gophers will really enter the national conversation if they can hold serve against Maryland and then spring the upset on Penn State. This season has been a very fun ride for most hard core fans like us even if the Gophers lose to Penn State.
 

Thomasthetank said:
I'm just enjoying the ride!

However, I actually agreed with Common Man the other day. He said that a loss to MD would be devastating. Tenna said it wouldn't but in this case I actually agreed with common.

Just as in 2008 post NW, 2005 post WI, and 2003 post MI, if we gain steam and then have a devastating loss in this case before the big Penn st game even happens, we will lose all the momentum.
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I mean, at some point, we will lose again... We already won the last week (two if you go by Coach’s poll) as a ranked team. It’d be highly disappointing if that is the narrative that is played on media at whatever point we lose for the 1st time...
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
I mean, at some point, we will lose again... We already won the last week (two if you go by Coach’s poll) as a ranked team. It’d be highly disappointing if that is the narrative that is played on media at whatever point we lose for the 1st time...
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I guess I was inferring more towards momentum with fans. Of course it wont derail the season automatically but I remember that michigan st game following the 2003 implosion. There was maybe 20k at the dome.

Just saying a loss to MD and air will come out a bit that would take a bit to be regained
 



I think the bottom line is that we have to win the games we're supposed to which includes Maryland and Northwestern. If we're truly growing and turning a corner as a program, we need to reach 10 wins and have a victory over a ranked team (bowl included).

Regardless, between the end of last year, the 7-0 start this year, Casey's story, and Fleck's antics, we're being talked about. I'm surprised to not see any tweets from players/recruits being posted. I would think the media attention would have trickled down some by now.
 
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Section2 said:
Different team culture under PJ.
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Just like the Twins have a different culture today, too. Yankees.

I'll let my Gopher guard down and enjoy the moment if we win this weekend. But, I've been to the movies...
 

Section 100 said:
Just like the Twins have a different culture today, too. Yankees.

I'll let my Gopher guard down and enjoy the moment if we win this weekend. But, I've been to the movies...
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If there's anything that PJs culture is about, it's responding to adversity. They might lose games down the stretch, but not because of some kind of emotional collapse. The Yankees were better than the Twins. Pitching was better, and hitting was better. If next year we're just clearly the better team over the season, and we lay an egg, sure, I'll buy the comparison.
 

At the very beginning of the movie "The Joker", Arthur (the main character) checks his mailbox for letters. The name shown on the box is "P Fleck". Obviously a Hollywood dig against our football coach.
 

Thomasthetank said:
I guess I was inferring more towards momentum with fans. Of course it wont derail the season automatically but I remember that michigan st game following the 2003 implosion. There was maybe 20k at the dome.

Just saying a loss to MD and air will come out a bit that would take a bit to be regained
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There were way more than 20K, just seemed a lot less vs 60K.
 

In a lot of ways I think the slow start to the year has really helped the team stay grounded. Even as the wins started to pile up we didn't get a ton of attention because we were not blowing teams out. That all changed when the conference season hit and we started dominating teams.

Has been fun to watch the evolution of the coverage of the team. Started with lucky wins, evolved into good but probably not for real, to the current "hey maybe this team is for real" take we are seeing from a lot of places. If we take care of Maryland this weekend the hype will reach a new level and the town will be on the verge of exploding.

Then it will come down to the Penn State game.....but for any of that to happen we have to get by Maryland first. If we do the buildup to the Penn State game is going to be a lot of fun.
 


Livingat45north said:
At the very beginning of the movie "The Joker", Arthur (the main character) checks his mailbox for letters. The name shown on the box is "P Fleck". Obviously a Hollywood dig against our football coach.
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I noted that too, when I saw it! Too funny. It was his mom though...
 

MNVCGUY said:
In a lot of ways I think the slow start to the year has really helped the team stay grounded. Even as the wins started to pile up we didn't get a ton of attention because we were not blowing teams out. That all changed when the conference season hit and we started dominating teams.

Has been fun to watch the evolution of the coverage of the team. Started with lucky wins, evolved into good but probably not for real, to the current "hey maybe this team is for real" take we are seeing from a lot of places. If we take care of Maryland this weekend the hype will reach a new level and the town will be on the verge of exploding.

Then it will come down to the Penn State game.....but for any of that to happen we have to get by Maryland first. If we do the buildup to the Penn State game is going to be a lot of fun.
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If we win this week, two weeks to Penn State is going to feel like an entire off-season. The threads, the predictions, will be off the charts.
 

spermophilus said:
There were way more than 20K, just seemed a lot less vs 60K.
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The Michigan game drew 62,374, more than the Wisconsin game's 59,543 which had looked to be the biggest crowd of the season going in. The Michigan State game officially drew 38,778, a drop of nearly 24,000 fans from the week before on an official basis. The high that day was 74 with no precipitation. That nice day and the Michigan collapse killed the walkup and led to a lot of stay away ticket holders. Beating Michigan would not have turned this into Columbus or Tuscaloosa, but the party would have kept rolling. I attended the Michigan State game and there was absolutely no way close to 39,000 fans went through the turnstiles. I'd put the crowd at more in the 34,000 range.

Had that 38-35 loss to Michigan been a back and forth, hard fought loss instead of the Gophers blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead, the crowd would absolutely have been better and the Gophers would have carried more momentum that fall. I doubt we will lose to Maryland, but if we do, that will kill this team's momentum with media members and fans that normally don't pay much or any attention to the team. If we win on Saturday, things will really amp up for the Penn State game, but a loss to the Nittany Lions, especially if we get outclassed, will lead to dismissive "same old Gophers" comments as people turn their attention to other endeavors.
 

MNVCGUY said:
In a lot of ways I think the slow start to the year has really helped the team stay grounded. Even as the wins started to pile up we didn't get a ton of attention because we were not blowing teams out. That all changed when the conference season hit and we started dominating teams.

Has been fun to watch the evolution of the coverage of the team. Started with lucky wins, evolved into good but probably not for real, to the current "hey maybe this team is for real" take we are seeing from a lot of places. If we take care of Maryland this weekend the hype will reach a new level and the town will be on the verge of exploding.

Then it will come down to the Penn State game.....but for any of that to happen we have to get by Maryland first. If we do the buildup to the Penn State game is going to be a lot of fun.
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Agree 100 per cent. They need to stay grounded and Fleck is doing a good job of taking it one game at a time. Right now, the only game that matters is the Maryland game, a team that has handled us pretty well the last couple times we have played them and there is no possible way we can take it for granted. I really hope we can pull this one out - you watch that media coverage if they can get to 8-0!!
 

I started a thread back in 2016 about how the Big Ten teams had done against ranked opponents from 2002 up to that point. In that time the Gophers were 6-44 against ranked opponents only being better than Purdue and Illinois. Of those wins 5 were against teams in the 20's and our best win was against a team ranked 11. Since then, by my calculation, we're 1-6 and the 1 was vs #23 Washington St in our 2016 bowl game.

In order for the gophers to fully catch the eyes of the media we need to get some big wins against teams with numbers by their names. Media people eat those stupid numbers up.
 

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