HAPPY #FACILITIESMAS EVERYONE!

The start of the new term means that the Minnesota Gophers are fully moved in to the brand new Athletes Village. Because shiny new facilities are always fun to read about, we’ve put together a smorgasbord of #FACILITIESMAS content for you.

Why does this matter?

Honestly, the non-gameday facilities have stunk at Minnesota for a long time. Richard Pitino had to create a practice facility out of a little used multi-purpose space. The indoor practice facility room leaked, had insulation falling from the ceiling, and was too low to punt in PLUS the football had to share it with everyone else. There was no nutrition area, so team training table meals took place on folding chairs in hallways. The weight room was too small, etc, etc.

This puts Minnesota back on par with it’s peers. It doesn’t vault them ahead of the Ohio States of the world, but we’re never going to win that race anyway without a Phil Knight figure. What this new facility does do is give the Gophers a huge boost for recruiting AND create facilities that directly impact the football and basketball programs (both men’s & women’s) in a positive way on a day to day basis. It also provides educational and nutrition spaces that benefit all the sports teams at the U and allows existing spaces dedicated to football and basketball to be transformed into new spaces for other teams.

Your #FACILITIESMAS must read

Joe C, Marcus, Randy J, and the STrib’s graphics folks knocked it out of the park with an interactive breakdown of the new facility. It truly is your must read/look piece about the new Athlete’s Village. Joe C’s companion story is also worth your time.

Here’s a quick taste of the interactive portion (click here for full size image on mobile):

ALL OF THE VIDEOS

You want to see the football team’s reaction?

How about women’s basketball?

There’s a more general video where AD’s and coaches talk about the new Athlete’s Village.

We’ve even got a two week old sneak peak video with a few more design elements to show off.

If you had to summarize the change in one quote?

The new indoor football building is big enough to swallow the old one whole. The new football weight room measures 16,000 square feet, or about 10,000 more than the old one. Instead of jumping into rubberized bathtubs filled with ice after practice, players can plunge into hot/cold pools and rehab injuries on an underwater treadmill. (via Joe C’s writeup)

Yea, this is good.

GO GOPHERS!

SKI-U-MAH!