Golden Nugz - 8.24.09
by GopherNation on Aug 24, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
in Golden Nuggets
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PrintMany of you were able to attend the Gameday Preview on Saturday and saw The Vault for the first time. Last week, MN Business did an article on Minnesota businesses who contributed to the stadium. Obviously TCF Bank contributed something to the project ($35 million). The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community came in second with their $10 million donation. And Dairy Queen has their own room in the facility after giving $2.5 million.
But it was much more than that. $91million was donated from local companies and alumni. $47.5 came from those mentioned above and the remaining came from all over the place. It is interesting too, how the construction impacted so many local business.
Golden Valley-based M.A. Mortenson Co. was the general contractor. Paul Kitching, who led Mortenson’s construction team, estimated that about 250 firms directly worked on the project and several hundred more subcontractors and suppliers played some role. "I bet it could be upwards of 700, maybe even approaching 1,000, when you add in all the different vendors."
More than 2,200 tradespeople worked a total of 1.25 million labor hours during construction. At the project’s peak, there were 750 workers on site.
In a time when so many communities and businesses are struggling, this must have been a welcome project for so many business owners and workers.
- The good folks over at Gopher Illustrated have picked Illinois to win the Big Ten. That pick shocked me but it is preseason and nobody is wrong yet.
- Dr. Saturday is making the case for Cal to be this year's Pac-10 Champs. Let's hope when the stroll into TCF they will be looking ahead to their next two games against Oregon and USC which will define their Pac-10 season.
- Steve Ashburner over at SI has his most memorable Metrodome Moments. Some good (Twins World Series) and some bad (0-55). After this September the Vikings will be the only remaining tenant.
- The good people over at the Golden Gopher Football blog caught some heat for their WHO HATES IOWA? post. It was a little over the top and did elicit an apology. But on the surface I tend to agree with them. Iowa fans are my least favorite fanbase in college football. No hate involved, but they get under my skin more than anybody else. Maybe it is the fact that there really is nothing else as far as major sports to cheer for so they naturally are overzealous, oversensitive, entitled and more delusional than most. I'm not sure but I'll take a Badger fan over a Hawkeye fan any day of the week. Packer fans are THE worst, but Iowa isn't far behind. (awaiting PantherHawk's comments in 3...2...1...)
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Weak
Even more weak that the other Gopher blog apologized. There was no reason to. How in the world is the Iowa fanbase worse than ANY of the following fanbases:
Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, or any SEC team (with a special mention for Florida fans).
I realize Minnesota fans aren’t used to this, but you will usually find the fanbases of teams that win rather annoying, because they’re willing to boast and get in your face about the success of their team, and they have a team on the field that backs up those boasts.
Really, Iowa fans are basically harmless. They are no comparison to SEC teams’ fans, especially if you’re a Big Ten fan.
I disagree
Fanbases of winning teams are not all alike. From my experience, there seems to be a difference. There is the quiet confidence that arises from knowing that your team is rich in tradition and was, is, and always will be good. For those fans, like Penn State and Texas, there is no need to get in your face and tell you they are good because they assume that you already know that (and we do). Michgan and Iowa fans don’t seem to be as secure and are always willing to open their mouths to do some fortune telling.
I do agree that, if Minnesota fans should ever taste some success, they will probably act more like Iowa fans than Penn State. Therefore, they should stop with the high and mighty blogs about their better character.
I'm with Garrick on this
I’m fine with fans of winning teams and I love joking with other fan bases over friendly rivalries. But Iowa fans are different. I don’t dislike them or feel like they are bad people, just my least favorite to discuss college football with.
Michigan / Notre Dame / Ohio St fans are all arrogant (in their own unique ways) but they have reason to be. That’s fine. Badger fans have their quarks, Gopher fans have their annoying traits. And all can generally go back and forth with good-natured ribbing when talking about their team and rivals. But Iowa fans (generalization, I know) take things too personal and have a level of arrogance that is unbecoming of a team that has usually been good, never great.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Aug 24, 2009 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions
Ever Get Tired Of Being A One Trick Pony?
“Maybe it is the fact that there really is nothing else as far as major sports to cheer for so they naturally are overzealous, oversensitive, entitled and more delusional than most.”
Where is the DailyHomer’s sterling coverage of the “unseen” first scrimmage [guess the Twins, Wolves, Wild and Vikings were all playing at home on Sat afternoon] in Plywood Stadium?? I am dying to hear about those 11 TD hookups between Gray and Haaaaaaaayooooooooo?!?!?! If you ask me, Haaaaaaayoooooooo looked like he was a bit taken aback by psuedo Big 10 contact!! Just wait until he “meets” a real defense! Can you say David Pittman………….
This is great.....
….because you actually prove the quote is right…..by being overzealous, oversensitive and delusional in responding to said quote.
Let me know how Paki O’Meara works out at RB this year.
Ah, the Irony
of PantherHawk calling anyone/thing a one-trick pony is priceless.
We had a good time tailgating with some Iowa fans last year before the game. Crushed them at bags, shared some beers, and talked about how the Hawkeyes have crushed the Gophers throughout the Metrodome era and how getting back to campus was the best thing ever for the program. Face it, they’ve had a good team for the last two decades or so (at least relative to us) so they have the right to treat us like prison bitches occasionally. One day (sooner rather than later, I hope), things will turn around and we can return the favor.
As far as the scrimmage goes, although we generally showed vanilla sets, I haven’t seen more talent on a Gopher squad in the last 20 years. Obviously, the key will be to translate that talent into actual playmaking, but I’m more hopeful than I’ve been in a long time. We have some genuine studs on the team and gasp some really good depth at WR, LB, DE, and DT. And Bryant Allen is very, very, very fast.
Hopefully
Minnesota fans will show much more class than anyone when we turn the program around.
When I went to the Purdue game last year a few fans were actually taunting the opposing fans as they left the game. Hopefully the exception to the rule. I hope we “act like we’ve been there before” when(if) we get there.
A nod to Pantyhawk?
Really?
Even the people on the Iowa board think she is a douche. Please stop giving her the attention she craves.
tru
I just knew he’d bite, I couldn’t resist.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Aug 24, 2009 7:12 PM CDT up reply actions
ARF ARF
WE’LL BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND DON’T TEMPT US WE WILL TAKE YOUR GOALPOSTS OUT THAT OPEN END ZONE THINGY AND PARADE DOWN THE STREETS OF ST. PAUL AND ALBERT LEA AND ROCHESTER AND ALL THOSE OTHER COLD PLACES WITH THEM DON’T MAKE US DO IT ARF ARF
(And, while I strongly resent any implication that we’re all like Pantherhawk, to roll out the “we have so much else to do here in the Twin Cities” faux-argument on a blog solely dedicated to University of Minnesota sports – and a good and regularly-updated one, at that – is the pot introducing itself to the kettle, GN. There are probably more rabid Iowa fans than there are Minnesota fans right now, but that has as much or more to do with the fact that we have had success over the past 2 decades and Minny, quite frankly, hasn’t. It’s not like people in Iowa aren’t fans of professional sports just because we don’t have them locally. That, my friend, is more ignorant than anything PantherHawk has ever posted. And that’s saying something.)
(And, while I typed that, Stanzi threw for another touchdown. 62-0.)
storminspank: "Or we could join you can take our pants off."
62, 69, 76...
I certainly didn’t word what I wrote very well. I really wasn’t using the “we are better than you because we have stuff to do” argument (I really wasn’t). My point was that for Hawkeye fans, Iowa football is THE thing to root for and has been most of their lives. Many of them are Vikings fans or Cubs fans or Cardinals or whatever, but the Hawkeyes are YOUR team. And I think that is what has led to overzealousness and oversensitivity that is more prevalent in this fan base than in others.
I agree that the use of Iowa = boring is a lame argument (but I’m sure I will use it this November). I poorly presented my argument.
Besides I grew up 15 min north of the Iowa border. Where I grew up is exactly the same as Iowa, we just have more cool stuff to do!
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Aug 25, 2009 9:04 AM CDT up reply actions
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