What do you miss most about Gopher games at the Metrodome?

Donate To GopherHole
jonnyganas said:
Not a goddamn thing.
Click to expand...
This. Sitting inside on a beautiful fall day was a huge negative. Plus it did very little to help our competitiveness on the field. The antithesis of what college football should be about.
 




tikited said:
Being younger.
Click to expand...
giphy.gif
 



I had upper deck, Row 1 tickets for about 20 years. I miss...
1) Sitting inside on a cold day
2) My friends that I met, who had seats next to me.
3) Watching Drew Brees throw accurately to every receiver.
4) Maroney and Barber running, and it seemed like they were unstoppable.
 

During the Dome era the greatest were those cold rainy nights indoors. my 5 kids were little then and it was a great place for bringing kids. Saw a few great wins but more crushing defeats. Talked a few times with Sid and Dennis Green who went often. None of my neighbors went to the bank which was unfortunate.
 

STPGopher said:
Other than the Dome Dog, GLC tailgating scene was awesome! Right outside the Dome. Often, you could connect with players families. Also a young (at that time) and courageous man named Nick. Despite physical limitations had so much hope and zeal for life!

Watching Sid run from his parking spot into the Dome with a pen, pad, and tape recorder was also a treat!
Click to expand...
This! I think when we first had season tickets, it was like $10 for all the food and beer you could consume before the game at the GLC tailgate. At the end, it was $20. Still a great deal.

For 11 a.m. games we would leave Rochester at 6 a.m., park on a side street by the Dome and put quarters in the meter for a 7 hour stay (only a buck an hour). Goldy would typically make an appearance on his motorized scooter thing. Good times.
 



GopherJack said:
This! I think when we first had season tickets, it was like $10 for all the food and beer you could consume before the game at the GLC tailgate. At the end, it was $20. Still a great deal.

For 11 a.m. games we would leave Rochester at 6 a.m., park on a side street by the Dome and put quarters in the meter for a 7 hour stay (only a buck an hour). Goldy would typically make an appearance on his motorized scooter thing. Good times.
Click to expand...
You could also tailgate yourself on the MetroDome grounds. Both were beyond excellent.

The GLC also had a nice Tailgate at Williams Arena. Not sure they do it anymore.
 


MNfootballfan said:
I miss a few things. Take it or leave it, the dome sucked but it is my all-time favorite sports venue. It just felt like home.

So many things about TCF... I mean Huntington Bank Stadium are better and create such a better game day experience, but I still hold the dome memories - Gopher, Vikings, Twins, Monster Jam, Prep Bowls, NCAA Tournaments with friends in high school, concerts, etc tightly. It seemed like growing up if there was an event going on, it was at the dome.
Click to expand...
Much as I used to bitch about it, and wished we had what other cities had...
It was a shithole, but it was OUR shithole.

I saw more sporting events in that building than I probably ever will in all other arenas/stadiums combined as long as I live. I can still smell that weird mix of hot dogs, popcorn and stale beer in those dark concourses. In a weird way, I kind of miss the old dump.
 






My fondest memories of the Dome were all Twins Baseball. Two World Series Championships! How could you beat $3 student tickets and $1 dog nights on Wednesdays?
 

The Billds got season tix around 2001 or so and for a couple of years we had an older, somewhat staid couple sitting next to us. We were known to get a buzz on before the game...usually just enough to lubricate the vocal cords...but one game we overdid it just when the neighbors bought an extra seat for their grandson who was placed next to Mrs. Billd.

Anywho, as I think I've shared many times Mrs. Billd really gets into the games (unless the enthusiasm gets beat out of her like Michigan at TCF last year). During one of her boisterous cheering moments early in the game she jumped up and somehow landed her elbow dead center into the grandson's left eye. I mean whacked and whacked hard.

Now the kid was a trooper as his grandparents very clearly knew we had come to our seats overserved. The scowl from Grandmother was one for the ages. We were very much appropriately embarrassed and ashamed even in our less-than-sober state.

Anyway, we settled down and as soon as half-time came Mrs. Billd headed to the nearest gameday kiosk and purchased a very nice Gophers t-shirt for the young man. We gifted it of course over the strenuous objections of the Grandparents while the kid was very happy. Apparently he did not have any Gopher gear. I think actually he might have endured another whack if that got him another shirt.

Anyway, we vowed not to get overlit for games after that and have done a good job at the remaining Dome games and at TCF. The Grandparents did forgive us as it could have been bad for the next couple of years if they had not.

That's my Dome story for this morning. And no, the Billds do not miss it.
 



GophersInIowa said:
The things you could do with those troughs was endless.
Click to expand...
Wonder if Hawkeye fans ever got confused about the purpose of the troughs?...

It's only funny because I can hear Hawkeye fans saying "we don't have an Ag school". Meanwhile the team wore this on their helmet...
131-432-R.jpg
 

I miss the sound of the public address guy. Think his name was Jules Perlt (sp?). Not sure when he retired but he was there through at least the 80s I think. I also miss the general mystique of the dome. Growing up in outstate MN, coming down to the 'The Cities' was a big deal for us. The Dome represented all that.... fun with friends/teammates, a trip to the city, a football game, and sometimes a hotel stay. Few things were a bigger part of my growing up. Except maybe the annual pilgrimage to the state high school hockey tournament.
 

The level of intoxication from Badger and Hawkeye fans. The new stadium just doesn't induce the same level of intoxication from the visitors.

I've seen countless rubes who shouldn't have been alive, much less navigating the crowded, narrow Metrodome concourses.

Non-Gopher memory was seeing Red McCombs walking to his suite. He popped through a door and looked like he saw a ghost when he realized the concourse was full of fans yelling "Hey Red!" He reminded me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, and as his security detail guided him to his suite he let fly a couple of nervous "Purple Prides" to appease the common folk.
 






disco said:
Much as I used to bitch about it, and wished we had what other cities had...
It was a shithole, but it was OUR shithole.

I saw more sporting events in that building than I probably ever will in all other arenas/stadiums combined as long as I live. I can still smell that weird mix of hot dogs, popcorn and stale beer in those dark concourses. In a weird way, I kind of miss the old dump.
Click to expand...
100%. I feel like I sat in every area of the stadium at one point in my life for a random event. I knew the dome like the back of my hand.
 


MNfootballfan said:
100%. I feel like I sat in every area of the stadium at one point in my life for a random event. I knew the dome like the back of my hand.
Click to expand...
I thought one of the coolest viewpoints ever was sitting in the football press box right above the Hefty Bag and vampire seats for a baseball game. Got to do it twice (company had rented the space) thought it was a blast.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom