Loyalty and Dedication are Required Elements for Gopher Fandome - Hyundai Wants to Reward You

Loyalty and dedication are required elements of being a fan, of any team. But loyalty and dedication are particularly challenging when you are a fan of a team who hasn't won a football conference title since 1967 and your favorite college basketball team hasn't won a recognized conference title since 1982. There have been some lean years for Gopher fans so it begs the question, why? Why are we loyal and dedicated to the Golden Gophers?

The answer is really quite simple. Because this is my team, this is the team I grew up with and this is the team that represents the great state of Minnesota. Many of you attended the University and have an added reason for remaining loyal to the Golden Gophers. Rarely do I ask myself why I root for Ski-U-Mah, the real question should be why don't more Minnesotan's support the Gophers? I guess it once again comes down to loyalty and dedication. It often isn't easy to be a Gopher fan. And I suppose many choose to spend their time and energies elsewhere. Last year when Jerry Kill's team lost to Purdue and Michigan in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 103-17, that was tough. But that isn't anywhere near the top 20 list of painful moments of a Gopher football fan. It requires loyalty and dedication to stick with this team.

fFor me personally, it has never been a question who I was rooting for on Saturdays. I was born into this. Maybe I was a bit unlucky in the genetic lottery of fandome, but in spite of other loyalties in my family and growing up awfully close to the Iowa border the Gophers have always been my team. And like most of you reading this they always will be. When the wins start to come and Rose Bowls are attained it will be that much sweeter for those of us who stayed.

So I want to ask you, why are you loyal? What has led you to being a Golden Gopher fan and why have you stayed? SB Nation is promoting a contest (sponsored by Hyundai) about fan loyalty and dedication. One lucky SB Nation commenter (like yourself) will be winning a trip to the college game (regular season or bowl) of your choice and Hyundai will pay for it (2 tickets, airfare, and hotel to game or bowl game of reader's choice)! Here is how it works.

1. I introduce this contest with the post you are currently reading
2. You comment about your own examples of fan loyalty or why you have remained dedicated through the hardships of being a Gopher fan.
3. I will pick the best comment (subjective, I know but that is how this works).
4. I then contact you and after some conversation will write a second post profiling why you love the Gophers and have remained loyal through the years.
5. This second post will then be judged against all other SBN blogs who are participating. (subjective, I know but that is how this works).
6. NOTES: You only get one comment so make it good and you can only comment on one blog. If you comment on BHGP at 9:01 and then comment here at 9:02, your TDG comment will not be considered. (if you comment something like "great comment" and then write a second comment about your experiences that is fine, but don't push your luck)

And I think that is it. You win and choose to take me with you to the BCS Title game (or something like that).

If you ask me Gopher fans are the most dedicated and loyal fans around. We may not have the massive fan base of others but that is easy to accumulate when you win. It is easy to be a fan of Ohio State. Michigan fans think they went through some dark years but they have no idea. We've got some loyal fans and I'd love to hear from you.

By commenting below, you are subject to and accept the terms and conditions of the Hyundai Fanthropology Sweepstakes.