Minnesota the Great

[WildBronco]

I lulz'd

 

[WildBronco]

Accordingly, I went into our game last year looking forward to watching SU play Minnesota in brand new TCF stadium, expecting that the local fanbase would be reasonably hospitable and "Minnesota Nice," in a way that fit my generalization of the local sports fans. My dad flew out for the game, and we headed to TCF looking forward to a fun experience. Instead, the fans inside TCF were complete d-bags from the opening kickoff. It is one thing to root passionately during the game, but the douchebaggery continued after the game--a game you guys won, BTW--with several groups of dipshit Gopher fans displaying zero sportsmanship and harassing us all the way out. While we were waiting at a stoplight right outside the stadium, one student expressed that he ought to punch my 62 year old dad in the face for wearing SU paraphernalia.

If true, this is highly unusual. As you said, we're known for being "Minnesota Nice" and fans from several teams consider us the friendliest, most hospitable fans in the B1G. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

 

[rosconey]

lets face facts- they are golden we are orange- they have a fearless bad azz animal while we have a fat orange blob that kids love-

just being golden gophers is way better than being orange only-

now if we were the orange wood slivers or something else just as fierce as a gopher(we have all seen caddy-shack and had horrific gopher nightmares) it might be a closer comparison -

 

[WildBronco]

Rube- urban dictionary......Hick or Redneck, Nothing in the definition about being delusional as Gopher fans clearly are as to the strength of their team. And I resemble being called a hick. I prefer agrarian.

We often use "Rube" in place of "Homer", a fan who always thinks their home team will win and isn't always seeing things clearly. On our Gopher forums a few fans who use "Rube" in their posting handles. i.e. GopherRube, GoldyRube, etc. It shouldn't be taken as a real insult.

 

[WildBronco]

lets face facts- they are golden we are orange- they have a fearless bad azz animal while we have a fat orange blob that kids love-

just being golden gophers is way better than being orange only-

now if we were the orange wood slivers or something else just as fierce as a gopher(we have all seen caddy-shack and had horrific gopher nightmares) it might be a closer comparison -

Our conference already has Gophers, Badgers & Wolverines wrapped up, and while Orange Wood Slivers is good, I urge you to also consider Orange Prairie Dogs, Orange Minks or perhaps Orange Gerbils?

 

[rosconey]

Our conference already has Gopher, Badgers, Wolverines wrapped up, maybe think about the Orange Minks, Orange Prairie Dogs or some other Orange rodent that isn't already taken by our conference?

i still think the orange wood slivers is more bad azz than gophers

 

[WildBronco]

Nope the BT blew any credibility when the signed Rutgers.

I'm not thrilled about the B1G venturing outside the Midwest, I would have liked to add Notre Dame and perhaps Mizzou, but Rutgers makes good business sense. The B1G Network is a huge success and the goal is to get it into the basic cable package across nation wide. So, by taking Rutgers we get the B1G network into every household in the NY/NJ area that subscribes to cable TV. Likewise with Maryland we get into every household that has cable TV in Maryland/DC/Virginia. For better or worse, this is the future of college football, imo.

 

[WildBronco]

What position does he play? He looks like he is out of eligibility.

He suffers from dementia now and is in an assisted living home, where he body slammed and killed another resident a couple years back. True story.

 

[WildBronco]

BTW, I live in Minneapolis, and it was great whipping your butts in hoops two weeks ago!

You considered that a butt whipping? You guys were the #4 ranked team in the country (respect!), full of highly ranked players, with a HOF coach and we're a rebuilding team with a new coach, new system, new personnel, one single player over 6'8", playing our first road game under the new regime. We played you guys right down to the wire, when finally the better team won. There sure wasn't anyone in Mn moping because we got our "butts whipped", that's for sure.

 

[TheCusian]

You considered that a butt whipping? You guys were the #4 ranked team in the country (respect!), full of highly ranked players, with a HOF coach and we're a rebuilding team with a new coach, new system, new personnel, one single player over 6'8", playing our first road game under the new regime. We played you guys right down to the wire, when finally the better team won. There sure wasn't anyone in Mn moping because we got our "butts whipped", that's for sure.

Then you guys can't claim our 4 TO's and a 7 point loss at your place as butt whipping last season - as many gopher rubes have posted...

 

[WildBronco]

Then you guys can't claim our 4 TO's and a 7 point loss at your place as butt whipping last season - as many gopher rubes have posted...

Two things. 1st, we weren't ranked #4 in the Nation. As I recall you were the favored team? 2nd, I don't know a single Gopher fan who thinks it was a butt whipping. I was at the game. That was a win, not a butt whipping.

 

[TheCusian]

Two things. 1st, we weren't ranked #4 in the Nation. As I recall you were the favored team? 2nd, I don't know a single Gopher fan who thinks it was a butt whipping. I was at the game. That was a win, not a butt whipping.

Ahh - Twitter is full of such proclamations. But, we'll take the credit anyhow. Here's to hoping for a good game - low TO's this time .

 

[JDS08]

What's with all this stram man BS? I know that there are idiots in every fanbase. There just happen to be more per capita knuckleheads in YOUR fanbase than most, something I'm unfortunately privy to living here in Minneapolis. Before last year, I actually pulled for you guys until the behavior of your fans soured me on the gophers. Let that sink in for a minute. Now I root against you--not because I'm anti-Minnesota as you continually insinuate, not even because I'm anti-B1G, but because I don't like how a lot of gopher fans conduct themselves. Please note that I didn't say all of you. I'm friends with a lot of gopher fans. But the vast majority I encounter really behave strangely--almost as though you guys are so desperate to not suck at something that you go overboard when you finally get your chance to crow about something.

I travel extensively to watch SU play in hoops, football, and lacrosse. I'm quite familiar with how fans act during games, and often after games. But generally speaking, a lot of the banter goes away after the game. I've been to places where opposing fans have invited us to tailgait, shared beers, etc. and been quite cordial--even if there is a rivalry on the field. Hell, West Virginia fans are outright hostile toward us in the stadium, but great sports out in the parking lot. My experience at the gopher game last year was the complete opposite. And I don't have a problem chalking one dopey comment or one incident up to some drunk fan. Dozens of comments / incidents after the game suggests a pattern.

I'm not looking for empathy from you. Honestly, I couldn't care less what you think. And I find it comical that you whine about how you "actually empathized" with me, given all of the imflammatory stuff you had to say above. As far as perspective goes, at least I understand that actions speak louder than words. That makes one of us.

Hmmm. That's odd. I have had season tickets for years and I cannot remember many, or any situations in which Gopher fans have been particularly rude to opposing fans (that I've seen). Of course, it may have something to do with the section I sit in. Living in Minneapolis, you probably have quite a few more run ins with Gopher fans, seeing as how the university is also in Minneapolis. I wouldn't attribute these experiences with the entire fanbase. More exposure to our fans, when compared with a trip to another place, may skew your attitude slightly. As mentioned already, many of the other big ten fanbases have complimented the Gophers fans as being polite.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

The one poster has stated several times that he lives in Minneapolis and has learned from living there that he finds Minnesota fans to be arrogant? Or just unlikeable? It almost seems like he hates them even? Is he maybe in need of some medication? j/k Seriously, that was mean of me to joke like that. It's not often you see someone challenge someone else on the internet to meet in person for the purpose of fighting. Some would say anyone who would do such a thing was seriously mentally ill, a psychopath even. I'm not saying I agree, for people just get worked up, they feel safe behind their computer screens so they just let their fingers get away from them and they post things they probably regret later. There are no actual faces being spoken to. Some of the people being insulted and ridiculed or who are being challenged to fights, or who are doing the challenging or the insulting or the ridiculing, probably have families. They have friends and people who care about them. They have feelings and emotions and are one of God's children, deserving of respect. Oh, sorry for bringing God into it, but maybe if God had more of a place in society, fewer people would act so disrespectfully towards each other.

Now I don't think a little harmless smack talk is a mortal sin, but we should still try to be civil. I've lived on the West Coast and was treated very disrespectfully by sports fans out there. I lived in the south and the same thing. I lived on the East Coast and again, the same thing. So is the whole country a bunch of horrible arrogant disrespectful people, or did I attract such people by proudly wearing my school's colors around? Why is it wrong to be proud of your school? Why is it arrogance to feel proud about your school's accomplishments?

In my time out and about, living all over the country, and in all my years as a sports fan, I never really got the impression that anyone thought too highly of my school, but I didn't get the impression anyone thought to highly of Syracuse either. Minnesota and Syracuse both won Natl Titles in 1959 and 1960. Both have since done not a lot of anything really, in cfb. Finishing 4th in the AP poll once in the last 50 years isn't too much to crow about. And Syracuse fans seem to think it appropriate to dismiss the past when talking about the comparison between the Orange and the Gophers, but how far back should we go? Who decides? A Gopher fan might want to go back as far as possible, because it gives them a huge advantage. A Syracuse fan protests and says it should be contained to their lifetime, but why their lifetime, why not mine, or my daughters or someone else's? A Syracuse fan may want to go back 25 or 30 years, because that would conveniently include some of their best seasons and give them a huge advantage. But how is any of what happened 100 or 60 or 30 years ago, or 25 or 20 or 15 years ago even relevant? It isn't. A Gopher fan may say, lets go back 10 years to keep it more relevant. They might do that because the Gophers have arguably done more in the last 10 years than Syracuse has. Others may say, lets only talk about what has happened this year. And plenty of talk about this year has occurred. The two sides just seem unable to agree about what any of it really means. And I'd love to be able to claim that I am a perfectly objective person, but I am not. I could try to be, but its too hard. When I see someone say something that deserves a response, or I see someone insult someone, I just find it hard to resist. I feel an injustice has occurred and needs to be addressed.

I was going to try to hide that I was a Gopher fan, for awhile longer at least, but it seems this site is banning all of the Gopher fans, so I might be the last one left? I am not sure if I'll get banned or not, but I'm going to try not to be. I am the kind of person who responds to kindness with kindness, and though I try to resist, I can respond to disrespect with disrespect. I have found that I can hold my own in an argument, but I try to avoid them if I can. In my better moments I respond to disrespect with kindness. But what I can not tolerate is a liar. Ignorance is forgivable, but not knowingly lying.

I am not a former fb player or a coach, so I probably am not the best person to analyze game strategy with, but football is my favorite sport to watch. I am a former athlete, Golf, cross country, karate, soccer, softball, volleyball, bowling and basketball, my nephew was a football, hockey and baseball player and many of my cousins were wrestlers, and my youngest daughter was on a Natl Championship Cheer/Dance team, so I am basically a sports fan in general. I've never played Lacrosse, but I've seen it played in movies and it looks like a cool sport. So you won't find me poking fun of Syracuse fans because they care about a sport the majority of sports fans do not care about. But I get a lot of time off during the winter months, so I'd love to conversate with some Syracuse fans this month. I got bored talking only to Gopher fans last winter. But if no one is interested, I'll understand.

 

[NKR1978]

The one poster has stated several times that he lives in Minneapolis and has learned from living there that he finds Minnesota fans to be arrogant? Or just unlikeable? It almost seems like he hates them even? Is he maybe in need of some medication? j/k Seriously, that was mean of me to joke like that. It's not often you see someone challenge someone else on the internet to meet in person for the purpose of fighting. Some would say anyone who would do such a thing was seriously mentally ill, a psychopath even. I'm not saying I agree, for people just get worked up, they feel safe behind their computer screens so they just let their fingers get away from them and they post things they probably regret later. There are no actual faces being spoken to. Some of the people being insulted and ridiculed or who are being challenged to fights, or who are doing the challenging or the insulting or the ridiculing, probably have families. They have friends and people who care about them. They have feelings and emotions and are one of God's children, deserving of respect. Oh, sorry for bringing God into it, but maybe if God had more of a place in society, fewer people would act so disrespectfully towards each other.

Now I don't think a little harmless smack talk is a mortal sin, but we should still try to be civil. I've lived on the West Coast and was treated very disrespectfully by sports fans out there. I lived in the south and the same thing. I lived on the East Coast and again, the same thing. So is the whole country a bunch of horrible arrogant disrespectful people, or did I attract such people by proudly wearing my school's colors around? Why is it wrong to be proud of your school? Why is it arrogance to feel proud about your school's accomplishments?

In my time out and about, living all over the country, and in all my years as a sports fan, I never really got the impression that anyone thought too highly of my school, but I didn't get the impression anyone thought to highly of Syracuse either. Minnesota and Syracuse both won Natl Titles in 1959 and 1960. Both have since done not a lot of anything really, in cfb. Finishing 4th in the AP poll once in the last 50 years isn't too much to crow about. And Syracuse fans seem to think it appropriate to dismiss the past when talking about the comparison between the Orange and the Gophers, but how far back should we go? Who decides? A Gopher fan might want to go back as far as possible, because it gives them a huge advantage. A Syracuse fan protests and says it should be contained to their lifetime, but why their lifetime, why not mine, or my daughters or someone else's? A Syracuse fan may want to go back 25 or 30 years, because that would conveniently include some of their best seasons and give them a huge advantage. But how is any of what happened 100 or 60 or 30 years ago, or 25 or 20 or 15 years ago even relevant? It isn't. A Gopher fan may say, lets go back 10 years to keep it more relevant. They might do that because the Gophers have arguably done more in the last 10 years than Syracuse has. Others may say, lets only talk about what has happened this year. And plenty of talk about this year has occurred. The two sides just seem unable to agree about what any of it really means. And I'd love to be able to claim that I am a perfectly objective person, but I am not. I could try to be, but its too hard. When I see someone say something that deserves a response, or I see someone insult someone, I just find it hard to resist. I feel an injustice has occurred and needs to be addressed.

I was going to try to hide that I was a Gopher fan, for awhile longer at least, but it seems this site is banning all of the Gopher fans, so I might be the last one left? I am not sure if I'll get banned or not, but I'm going to try not to be. I am the kind of person who responds to kindness with kindness, and though I try to resist, I can respond to disrespect with disrespect. I have found that I can hold my own in an argument, but I try to avoid them if I can. In my better moments I respond to disrespect with kindness. But what I can not tolerate is a liar. Ignorance is forgivable, but not knowingly lying.

I am not a former fb player or a coach, so I probably am not the best person to analyze game strategy with, but football is my favorite sport to watch. I am a former athlete, Golf, cross country, karate, soccer, softball, volleyball, bowling and basketball, my nephew was a football, hockey and baseball player and many of my cousins were wrestlers, and my youngest daughter was on a Natl Championship Cheer/Dance team, so I am basically a sports fan in general. I've never played Lacrosse, but I've seen it played in movies and it looks like a cool sport. So you won't find me poking fun of Syracuse fans because they care about a sport the majority of sports fans do not care about. But I get a lot of time off during the winter months, so I'd love to conversate with some Syracuse fans this month. I got bored talking only to Gopher fans last winter. But if no one is interested, I'll understand.

Your 1960 championship was BS. 8-2 with a Rose Bowl loss.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

What's with all the Minnesota fans? We already know what you guys think of Syracuse football and its fans. Syracuse fans are arrogant, unknowledgeable, and are few and far between. We don't need you here to tell us some more.

 

[rosconey]

grannies greasy gopher gravy - hcss eats it for breakfast while cranking some govt mule to 11

 

[Mistakebythelake90]

Here's the deal Minnesota fans. Literally every game we play, we get the same reaction from opposing fans. Part of it has to do with being a new conference, and playing against schools for the first time. Part of it has to do with the fact that people still think Syracuse is a 2-10 team coached by Greg Robinson. But in the week leading up to each game, we've heard the same exact thing. "We should destroy them." "We should feel ashamed if we lose." "It won't even be close." Now some schools have been right in their predictions, but the large majority have not. Going into the week before playing BC, all we heard was how their heisman contender was going to run all over us. For Maryland, NC State, and Wake Forest, losing to us was the actual worst thing to happen to their programs. Despite not playing our eventual starting Quarterback, we still probably should have won against Penn State, and would have been much closer with Northwestern.

And now we get to Minnesota, and see a team with a similar program and stature, and wonder where the bravado comes from. Minnesota has been one of the dregs of the B1G for years. As someone who lives in B1G country, I can tell you that outside of their fanbases, Minnesota gets about as much national attention as Syracuse does. If coach Kill didn't have the medical problems he does, Minnesota wouldn't even make the national news. Minnesota has had a nice year, but nothing to inspire the sort of braggadocio thats been going on. At best, Minnesota is a little better than Syracuse, but in program status, season, and stats, the teams are very similar.

So, to be talked down to by Minnesota is frankly a little astounding. It would be one thing if it were Ohio State, Alabama, FSU, Clemson, Oregon, or other national powers that were looking down on us. But Minnesota? They've been just as terrible as us the past few years. Say what you want about the Big East/ACC, but the B1G has been carried by Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State the past few years. Outside of the top teams, the B1G has been every bit as mediocre as the Big East/ACC. So forgive us if we're a little arrogant/upset ON OUR OWN BOARD about yet another team talking crap about our school and our program.

 

[CuseCactus]

Our conference already has Gophers, Badgers & Wolverines wrapped up, and while Orange Wood Slivers is good, I urge you to also consider Orange Prairie Dogs, Orange Minks or perhaps Orange Gerbils?

funny post. Orange Gerbils. LOL.

 

[Trueblue25]

My god you guys are passive aggressive. It's making me uncomfortable.

 

[WildBronco]

I don't see this wide spread Minnesota arrogance. We're Minnesota for crying out loud. The Gopher State. The Understate. We always expect to have the rug pulled out from under us. Too many lost Super Bowls, too many lost Stanley Cups, too many NCAA tourney 1 & done's, too many 4th quarter Gopher meltdowns, etc. We can't help what the B1G network or ESPN says. I agree we're not overly excited about playing Syracuse, but that's not because we think Syracuse is beneath us, it's because we went 6-6 last season, won two extra games this year to go 8-4 and ended up back in the same bowl again, against an opponent that we played just last year. Most Gopher fans I know were hoping for something bigger. I imagine Syracuse fans would have liked a shot at the Gator Bowl on Jan 1st matching up against an SEC foe like Georgia as well right?

 

[rosconey]

I don't see this wide spread Minnesota arrogance. We're Minnesota for crying out loud. The Gopher State. The Understate. We always expect to have the rug pulled out from under us. Too many lost Super Bowls, too many lost Stanley Cups, too many NCAA tourney 1 & done's, too many 4th quarter Gopher meltdowns, etc. We can't help what the B1G network or ESPN says. I agree we're not overly excited about playing Syracuse, but that's not because we think Syracuse is beneath us, it's because we went 6-6 last season, won two extra games this year to go 8-4 and ended up back in the same bowl again, against an opponent that we played just last year. Most Gopher fans I know were hoping for something bigger. I imagine Syracuse fans would have liked a shot at the Gator Bowl on Jan 1st matching up against an SEC foe like Georgia as well right?

ummm your Minnesota -no one else wants you- be glad you even got asked to the dance- you have less appeal than a turd covered steak at a vegetarian convention-

you have less national draw than north dakota state -

WE ARE SU

 

[DynstyUgrl]

And now we get to Minnesota, and see a team with a similar program and stature, and wonder where the bravado comes from. Minnesota has been one of the dregs of the B1G for years. As someone who lives in B1G country, I can tell you that outside of their fanbases, Minnesota gets about as much national attention as Syracuse does. If coach Kill didn't have the medical problems he does, Minnesota wouldn't even make the national news. Minnesota has had a nice year, but nothing to inspire the sort of braggadocio thats been going on. At best, Minnesota is a little better than Syracuse, but in program status, season, and stats, the teams are very similar.

So, to be talked down to by Minnesota is frankly a little astounding. It would be one thing if it were Ohio State, Alabama, FSU, Clemson, Oregon, or other national powers that were looking down on us. But Minnesota? They've been just as terrible as us the past few years. Say what you want about the Big East/ACC, but the B1G has been carried by Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State the past few years. Outside of the top teams, the B1G has been every bit as mediocre as the Big East/ACC. So forgive us if we're a little arrogant/upset ON OUR OWN BOARD about yet another team talking crap about our school and our program.

First of all, I don't remember any Gopher fans talking crap about your school or program, at least not at first. What happened was Gopher fans heard that they were returning to the same bowl game they played in last year and that was a disappointment to them. They didn't know who their opponent was at first, they just knew they were going back to the Texas Bowl, and wouldn't you agree that could be considered kind of boring? Kind of a letdown? And upon finding this out, they feared they were going to get an opponent they wouldn't like, like Texas Tech. And so when they heard that they were playing a team that they played just last year, well that was kind of a letdown as well. It wasn't the quality of the opponent so much that disappointed them, just the familiarity of the opponent. I remember some Gopher fans even saying that they were happy that we got Syracuse instead of Texas Tech, at least. They just wanted an opponent that the Gophers haven't played recently or maybe never at all.

And then, as often happens, their expressing their disappointment was understandably misinterpreted as their disrespecting your team, so some Syracuse fans took offense and launched a counter strike, making posts that were disrespectful towards Minnesota and the Gophers and so Gopher fans who didn't think that they had disrespected Syracuse, took offense and launched their own counterstrike posting things that were disrespectful of New Yorkers and Syracuse. And hence the vicious cycle began and to some degree continues still.


It might help if both team's fans made an effort to respect each other and each other's schools.

.

 

[rosconey]

First of all, I don't remember any Gopher fans talking crap about your school or program, at least not at first. What happened was Gopher fans heard that they were returning to the same bowl game they played in last year and that was a disappointment to them. They didn't know who their opponent was at first, they just knew they were going back to the Texas Bowl, and wouldn't you agree that could be considered kind of boring? Kind of a letdown? And upon finding this out, they feared they were going to get an opponent they wouldn't like, like Texas Tech. And so when they heard that they were playing a team that they played just last year, well that was kind of a letdown as well. It wasn't the quality of the opponent so much that disappointed them, just the familiarity of the opponent. I remember some Gopher fans even saying that they were happy that we got Syracuse instead of Texas Tech, at least. They just wanted an opponent that the Gophers haven't played recently or maybe never at all.

And then, as often happens, their expressing their disappointment was understandably misinterpreted as their disrespecting your team, so some Syracuse fans took offense and launched a counter strike, making posts that were disrespectful towards Minnesota and the Gophers and so Gopher fans who didn't think that they had disrespected Syracuse, took offense and launched their own counterstrike posting things that were disrespectful of New Yorkers and Syracuse. And hence the vicious cycle began and to some degree continues still.


It might help if both team's fans made an effort to respect each other and each other's schools.

.

its all in fun- the fact is if your not georgetown uconn or rutgers we have no real hate for you- just ball busting at a extreme level-

 

[TheCusian]

First of all, I don't remember any Gopher fans talking crap about your school or program, at least not at first. What happened was Gopher fans heard that they were returning to the same bowl game they played in last year and that was a disappointment to them. They didn't know who their opponent was at first, they just knew they were going back to the Texas Bowl, and wouldn't you agree that could be considered kind of boring? Kind of a letdown? And upon finding this out, they feared they were going to get an opponent they wouldn't like, like Texas Tech. And so when they heard that they were playing a team that they played just last year, well that was kind of a letdown as well. It wasn't the quality of the opponent so much that disappointed them, just the familiarity of the opponent. I remember some Gopher fans even saying that they were happy that we got Syracuse instead of Texas Tech, at least. They just wanted an opponent that the Gophers haven't played recently or maybe never at all. And then, as often happens, their expressing their disappointment was understandably misinterpreted as their disrespecting your team, so some Syracuse fans took offense and launched a counter strike, making posts that were disrespectful towards Minnesota and the Gophers and so Gopher fans who didn't think that they had disrespected Syracuse, took offense and launched their own counterstrike posting things that were disrespectful of New Yorkers and Syracuse. And hence the vicious cycle began and to some degree continues still. It might help if both team's fans made an effort to respect each other and each other's schools. .

Look - it's probably not worth rehashing to death - but it wasn't just "we played these guys last year and we've already played in this Bowl". There was a whole lot of "we wanted a name school" and "they are horrible, look at their record."

I know not everyone did - you've been very nice - but that's the rub. We have a similar history and had we scheduled better - our record would be too. Respect your opponant.