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Last week I introduced myself to the TDG community with a look at how I became a Gopher fan. I appreciated all the discussion and votes and really enjoyed reading your origin stories in the comments.
Today I thought I'd expand upon the introduction by talking about my Gopher Fan Bucket List. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, this is a list of things related to the Gophers that I want to do/experience in my life before I "kick the bucket." Is this the most original topic? Probably not. But I found myself looking at the future Gopher football schedules the other day, which got me thinking about how much longer it will take for me to see the Gophers play in every B1G stadium, which got me thinking about my wider bucket list, and bingo: story idea.
I thought I'd share my list and then you guys could share some of your own bucket list items in the comments. I'm betting that some of my list (cough, see the Gophers in a Rose Bowl, cough) will be widely shared by many here. But some of my list is pretty specific and hopefully that leaves room for discussion. And while I'm limiting my own list to a Top 10 format solely about the Gophers, feel free to list more than 10 or expand beyond the Gophers and talk about your wider sports bucket list items.
I tried to number the list 1-10 in order of how badly I wanted to do some of these things but struggled to come up with a hierarchy. In all honesty, after my clear number #1 I don't feel the need to rank the other 9.
My unquestioned #1
- See the Gophers play in the Rose Bowl as the B1G Champion: I would just love to be in Pasadena on Jan 1st watching the Gophers play under a setting sun. Winning the game would be the cherry on top. And while I would never complain about getting to see the Gophers there as the 2nd place B1G representative, it would just be sweeter if it capped a season where they won the whole thing.
The rest of the list (and a stadium related poll) below the jump…
The Best of the Rest
- Watch the Gophers play in every B1G stadium: Including TCF, I'm 1/3 of the way there already (TCF, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan) and I'll add Nebraska to the list this season.
- Be present when the Gophers beat Michigan at TCF: The euphoria of watching Gary Russell rumble down the field to set up the Jug winning FB was sweet while watching on TV. Getting to see it happen in person and at home (so the band could strike up "Little Brown Jug") would go a long way to erasing the memories of The Game That Shall Not Be Named.
- Watch the Gophers win (or retain) the Axe, Pig, and Jug all in the same season: I do not care about the Bell.
- Go to every Gopher football game in a single season: Every home game and away game. Heck, even the B1G Title game, bowl game, or new MNC game if any of them are applicable. Given that I don't live in MN this is harder than it could be (all home games are road games for me).
- Go to a Frozen Four and watch the Gophers win a national title in person: Cherry on top would be the Frozen Four being held at The X.
- Be in The Barn the night the Gophers lock up a B1G basketball title: Something tells me a night like that would get The Barn rocking like it used to (which is something I've only briefly experienced).
- Watch the band march down University and into TCF: This is an odd one for me. I understand why the U hasn't done this, I don't disagree with all of their reasons, and I really don't expect the decision to ever change. Also, I am too young to have ever experienced this even in person. But if the Rouser were ever to echo down University on a crisp fall day again I know I'd get chills down my spine watching it happen for the first time.
- Go to a Final Four to watch the Gophers play: Living in outstate MN, the vacated Clem Final Four run was a lot of fun even though I didn't get to experience any of the things I always hear people from the metro talk about (the events at The Barn, meeting the team at the airport, etc). But I can only imagine how much better it would be to add to the fun with a trip to experience the madness in person.
- Build a Gopher tailgate machine: I have the plan, now I just need the money to make it happen. C'mon Powerball!
What would your list look like? I betting some of you have more original ideas than me. So post them in the comments!
As for the poll mentioned above. My original thought on a story for today was to ask people what B1G stadiums they wanted to visit the most before I realized how short a post that was likely to be. So I decided to ask you to weigh in on that question in poll form. Happy Wednesday!