Beautiful people between the 20's-time to start making some noise for once

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Ole

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I'm really concerned at the participation of the 20-20 home side crowd.
These are supposed to be esteemed alumni, assumingly long time season ticket holders, big time alumni donors. At the MSU game I witnessed an entire section firsthand, not even clapping or cheering to the Rouser, nothing, one or two obviously scalped tickets had fans cheering.
This last game I was back in 231, looking down to where I had been, again, nothing, no fists in the air, not even any movement or clapping. I really hope whoever piles on about the students not showing up also piles on about the bluehair beautiful people showing absolute disregard for the team, program, and experience of TCF Bank. SO... for senior day against SDSU, I really hope this crowd picks it up, show up, be loud, and cheer on your team, every rouser, every third down, every kickoff, every big play, make some noise, clap, cheer.
 

Ole said:
I'm really concerned at the participation of the 20-20 home side crowd.
These are supposed to be esteemed alumni, assumingly long time season ticket holders, big time alumni donors. At the MSU game I witnessed an entire section firsthand, not even clapping or cheering to the Rouser, nothing, one or two obviously scalped tickets had fans cheering.
This last game I was back in 231, looking down to where I had been, again, nothing, no fists in the air, not even any movement or clapping. I really hope whoever piles on about the students not showing up also piles on about the bluehair beautiful people showing absolute disregard for the team, program, and experience of TCF Bank. SO... for senior day against SDSU, I really hope this crowd picks it up, show up, be loud, and cheer on your team, every rouser, every third down, every kickoff, every big play, make some noise, clap, cheer.
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+1
 

Ole said:
I'm really concerned at the participation of the 20-20 home side crowd.
These are supposed to be esteemed alumni, assumingly long time season ticket holders, big time alumni donors. At the MSU game I witnessed an entire section firsthand, not even clapping or cheering to the Rouser, nothing, one or two obviously scalped tickets had fans cheering.
This last game I was back in 231, looking down to where I had been, again, nothing, no fists in the air, not even any movement or clapping. I really hope whoever piles on about the students not showing up also piles on about the bluehair beautiful people showing absolute disregard for the team, program, and experience of TCF Bank. SO... for senior day against SDSU, I really hope this crowd picks it up, show up, be loud, and cheer on your team, every rouser, every third down, every kickoff, every big play, make some noise, clap, cheer.
Click to expand...

You must not have been looking at me then while sitting on the 45 yard line. Which is worse, the bluehairs sitting in their seats, or empty bleachers in the student section?
 

Yeah, at least they are in the stadium. Sure, we'd all like to see everyone in a frenzy but at this point I think the Stadium's biggest problem is empty seats. Although 90% of the empty seat problem is the student section, there is a smattering of fair weather fans all over the stadium.

For example, I have 5 seats. Four are together in section 133 and then I have a single in section 114. For the entire season of home games, I have only had to use the single over in 114 once (Wisconsin game). The rest of the games there have been unused tickets right next to our 4 that our 5th person can sit with us. For several games, the seats in front of us have been wide open. It shocks me but more than once we have had the people sitting around us come for the first half and then leave at half time. Why bother? The four seats in front of us on Saturday were used by a family that I had seen before there. At halftime, they asked me to take a picture of them with the field in the background. I took the picture, they reviewed the photos, and headed up the stairs. I figured they were taking their kids to the bathroom or concession stand. They never returned. Sheesh. For the Purdue game, the entire group to the left of our seats arrived at the end of the first quarter, and then departed at the end of the third quarter.

I realize I don't have a lot of experience in other big 10 stadiums to compare this too but at the very least, I didn't see anything like this at the one away game I attended this year, not to mention the Quadzillion DIII or high school games I have attended over the decades.
 

LC19 said:
You must not have been looking at me then while sitting on the 45 yard line. Which is worse, the bluehairs sitting in their seats, or empty bleachers in the student section?
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Kudos to you, but you know what I'm talking about right? And IMO worse is the bluehairs sitting.
At least the students that show up are loud, one empty student seat = one silent bluehair

I just don't get it, maybe its because the tickets are relatively affordable, so people can leave whenever, do whatever, no big deal. I mean for me it's an all day event, I stayed until the last note of Hail Minnesota at the Iowa game last year. If you aren't interested in cheering for the gophers, why buy tickets?
 


Doesn't basketball & hockey have the same problem?
 

You guys need to get over it once and for all. What you want the "Blue Hairs" between the 20's to do at Gopher football games will NEVER happen. Sooner or later, most of you will begin to understand that the older you get, and the more responsibilities you acquire, the less important sports will be in your life. Every one of those fans sitting between the 20's who are wearing Gopher gear care about our football team, and want them to win. But considering all of the other things going on in their lives, the Gopher's winning or losing is not as important as when they were younger. Gopher games become more of a social occasion for them when they get together with their college buddies and talk about the old days on campus. If they miss any good plays at the end of the game because they leave early, it is just not the end of the world to them. They have more important things to worry about.

Furthermore, and this may be a revelation to some of you, many people do not possess demonstrative personalities. They don't clap loudly, they never speak loudly (much less yell), and they are far more comfortable just sitting and watching the game. Everyone in GopherHole has relatives and friends who are like this. If they cared enough about Gopher football to acquire enough Gopher Points to obtain and pay the extra money for seats between the 20's, that should be celebrated rather than ridiculed. Especially when their are so many no-shows in the Student Section every week.

In the end it doesn't matter what the hard core fans in GopherHole think. The "Blue Hairs" are never going to give up their seats, and they are never going to change the way they watch Gopher football games. I heard Lou Nanne on KFAN several weeks ago. He said he purchased tickets in the first row of the second deck precisely because he did not want to have to stand at any time during the game. He is not alone in that opinion - believe me. You guys need to come to terms with that reality.
 

Exactly UpNorth. It is what it is and there isn't any amount of bitching on a message board that will change it. I for one count the cash that those despised blue hairs put into the program as a very valuable contribution.
 

The people between the 20s were awesome during the Michigan State game. They pretty much stood the entire fourth quarter.
 



DarrenTheGreek said:
Doesn't basketball & hockey have the same problem?
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Darren, I think our little corner of the world is pretty good. Standing on third downs, cheering, staying till the end. I like 212, never been told to sit and becky free.
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Exactly UpNorth. It is what it is and there isn't any amount of bitching on a message board that will change it. I for one count the cash that those despised blue hairs put into the program as a very valuable contribution.
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I get everything you guys just said, I just don't understand why they can't at least spell out MINNESOTA after the rouser, and clap when a good play happens, yet many will boo and hiss when something goes wrong.
I also wanted to bring to light, the hypocrisy of criticizing the students and not the 20-20 crowd.
It's also not an age issue, if you are 18-60 and aren't willing to cheer, then its a dedication issue.

It's not even the standing, yes many stood in the MSU game, but they were silent.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
You guys need to get over it once and for all. What you want the "Blue Hairs" between the 20's to do at Gopher football games will NEVER happen. Sooner or later, most of you will begin to understand that the older you get, and the more responsibilities you acquire, the less important sports will be in your life. Every one of those fans sitting between the 20's who are wearing Gopher gear care about our football team, and want them to win. But considering all of the other things going on in their lives, the Gopher's winning or losing is not as important as when they were younger. Gopher games become more of a social occasion for them when they get together with their college buddies and talk about the old days on campus. If they miss any good plays at the end of the game because they leave early, it is just not the end of the world to them. They have more importand things to worry about.

Furthermore, and this may be a revelation to some of you, many people do not possess demonstrative personalities. They don't clap loudly, they never speak loudly, and they are far more comfortable just sitting and watching the game. Everyone in GopherHole has relatives and friends who are like this. If they cared enough about Gopher football to acquire enough Gopher Points to obtain and pay the extra money for seats between the 20's, that should be celebrated rather than ridiculed. Especially when their are so many no-shows in the Student Section every week.

In the end it doesn't matter what the hard core fans in GopherHole think. The "Blue Hairs" are never going to give up their seats, and they are never going to change the way they watch Gopher football games. I heard Lou Nanne on KFAN several weeks ago. He said he purchased tickets in the first row of the second deck precisely because he did not want to have to stand at any time during the game. He is not alone in that opinion - believe me. You guys need to come to terms with that reality.
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You had better just stop with this "being realistic" non-sense. There is no room for that around here. You had better shape up and start complaining about other fans and their [choose one - apathy, standing, sitting, yelling, not yelling, cheering, not cheering, booing, clapping or yelling loud enough]. Your tolerance of blue-haired mediocrity has no place here at the uber-fan GopherHole!!!!! :rolleyes:
 

Students not showing up on time, old people not cheering, young people not cheering, standing, sitting, etc. happens at almost every stadium in America.

These problems are not unique to the Universirty of Minnesota.

There are constant threads about this on Badgers boards.

As hard as it is to believe, some people are not as passionate as others about college football.

The last game I was at in Madison against Iowa was like playing in a morgue and it was for the Big Ten lead.

Getting people in the seats is an issue. Not sure how to solve that besides winning.
 



...and every week, (including this last one:confused:) the recruits at the game mention how impressed they were with the fan support at TCF. ;)

Me, I'm just glad we're still playing in the Vikings stadium!
 


The fans between the 20's and the whole crowd was louder and stood up more against Michigan St because it was a night game. Night games give the crowd more time to have a couple of drinks. Like it or not booze helps increase crowd noise. 11 o'clock games kill/decrease crowd noise in every B11 stadium not just TCF.
 

Of all the silly and meaningless arguments on this forum, having a civil war between the students and bluehairs has got to rank right up near the top. The behavior of either group isn't going to be changed here. You're preaching to the choir here, and even the most ardent fans aren't going to behave differently if it's not in their nature.

As a bluehair in the cheaper section I really appreciate the energy and fun the students bring. I also appreciate the fact that the people in the preferred seats have contributed a whole lot of money to the University over the years and have been showing up to games despite forty years of some pretty dismal and frustrating football.

Bottom line is that it's been a hell of a lot more fun to go to games this year at TCF than at the Dome. There's been an increase in spirit and excitement; now what is needed to sustain it and build on it is winning. People love the University, want it to do well, and will support it. Look at how excitement built when Clem got to the Final Four in the Year That Doesn't Exist. There were all sorts of Gopher stories leading off the evening news; kids in middle school started showing up in Bobby Jackson jerseys; people from Minnesota flocked to San Antonio. On a smaller scale, the same thing happened with the women when Whalen and McCarville led them to the Women's Final Four. Of course, the momentum wasn't kept but it shows the potential.

It would be nice if there were more students and if the bluehairs got excited. (Personally, I think we're pretty good in my section.) Just like the football team is a work in progress, so are the fans. There's been some neat things put in place this year. I know people want more, but a consistently winning team has to come next to build on those things.
 

Ole said:
Kudos to you, but you know what I'm talking about right? And IMO worse is the bluehairs sitting.
At least the students that show up are loud, one empty student seat = one silent bluehair

I just don't get it, maybe its because the tickets are relatively affordable, so people can leave whenever, do whatever, no big deal. I mean for me it's an all day event, I stayed until the last note of Hail Minnesota at the Iowa game last year. If you aren't interested in cheering for the gophers, why buy tickets?
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Exactly. Supporting the Gophers for you and for someone else mean different things. Some fans believe it or not watch every game at home on TV and don't miss it. Some enjoy watching at the stadium but enjoy watching in more of a reserved manner, watching plays develop, and just taking it all in but are not screamers and clappers. Some fans stand all game and go nuts for the Gophers. Why do we assume that to be a fan of the program you need to go crazy and be loud? I appreciate the crazy loud fans but also respect the people just watching in their own way.
 

Fans in between the 20's being pretty subdued was something I noted on my visit to Penn State, a supposedly raucous and tremendous crowd. This is not unique to Gopher football.
 

How much does seat licensing have to do with this? I've wondered if seat licensing leads to a phenomena where on any given day the folks in the seat aren't season-ticket holding Gopher fans, rather folks given tickets by some faceless entity. During the Purdue game (crappy weather), it CLEARLY took the middle sections longer to fill in, which seems to make sense with more casual fans ("yeah, I wanna see the stadium, but it's cold. Let's not rush over there...")
 

are "casual" fans not "real" fans in your book? should we have some sort of litmus test to enter the stadium to see who are fans and who are not?
 

Ole said:
I'm really concerned at the participation of the 20-20 home side crowd.
These are supposed to be esteemed alumni, assumingly long time season ticket holders, big time alumni donors. At the MSU game I witnessed an entire section firsthand, not even clapping or cheering to the Rouser, nothing, one or two obviously scalped tickets had fans cheering.
This last game I was back in 231, looking down to where I had been, again, nothing, no fists in the air, not even any movement or clapping. I really hope whoever piles on about the students not showing up also piles on about the bluehair beautiful people showing absolute disregard for the team, program, and experience of TCF Bank. SO... for senior day against SDSU, I really hope this crowd picks it up, show up, be loud, and cheer on your team, every rouser, every third down, every kickoff, every big play, make some noise, clap, cheer.
Click to expand...

What do you want me to do? Bring a taser with me and shock the senior citizen next to me? Does it make you feel good inside when you belittle grandparents? Find someone else to pick on.
 

What we really need to do is get about 6 stickys on top of the board...one for each lower deck between the 20s, one for the student section, one for the opposite end zone, and one for each side upper deck. Then, after each home game, we can come on here and post all of our complaints about the behavior of each group of fans AND suggest ways that they could be better fans (which they will obviously read and put into practice).
 

MNCH said:
What do you want me to do? Bring a taser with me and shock the senior citizen next to me? Does it make you feel good inside when you belittle grandparents? Find someone else to pick on.
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I think the tone of my original post has been mistaken, I want everyone to cheer, as loud as they can. I don't want you to taser anyone, I think leading by example is a good start, maybe encourage people around you to vocally get behind the team. I don't want to belittle grandparents, my grandfather has been a season ticket holder since 46', he claps along with the rouser, it's not loud, but he does what he can, more than the 50 year olds sitting around him. He probably attended his final gopher game this year against Purdue, but really enjoys watching the games on TV.
I don't like picking on anyone, in hindsight my tone could have been better.

I really hope that the fanbase of gopher football continues to grow and intensify, incoming freshmen learn to plan weekends around games and not parties, outgoing seniors buy season tickets and hold on to them for years instead of sneaking into the student section.
Fairweather fans begin to be the exception not the rule, and 10 years from now we have an electric TCF Bank experience every game, like the Air Force game was, and continue to support our team with gusto for years to come.
 

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