Fan Status: Sub-Casual

Once upon a time I was one of the most rabid Golden Gopher football fans around.  When Brewster initiated the Victory Walk, I could identify 95% of the players and coaches including walk-ons and grad assistants as they walked by.  I knew where they went to HS, their current position on the depth chart, their prior stops along the coaching trail, etc.  I would DVR the games and watch them a handful of times until the next season began.  That superfan is dead and I'm trying to pinpoint where I went astray.


Even though the 2007 season was painful to watch I felt like there was progress being made on the field and certainly on the recruiting trail.  The first half of 2008 felt great and then the bottom fell out.  I blamed it on not having enough depth to rest the starters, but eventually the improved incoming recruiting classes would resolve that.


The warning signs started in 2009 when I stopped caring about making it to the Victory Walk.  It didn't seem like the players cared if the fans were there or not so why should I care?  I felt like we were becoming a competitive B1G team beating MSU, Purdue and NU and a close loss to that team to the east.  It was tough to accept a loss to an awful Illinois team and even tougher when the mighty jackrabbits came to town and almost beat the Gophers.  Two poor offensive performances against the two Iowa schools didn't help my outlook either.



February 2010 Seantrel Henderson decided that he didn't want to become a Gopher and I thought it to be normal because why would anyone that talented choose to be a Gopher?  March 2010 I decide not to renew my GLC membership because I felt that it was no longer was beneficial as it wasn't required for improved tickets or tailgating spots.  April 2010 the spring game is held at TCF for the first time and the reality sinks in of how little Gopher fans actually care about the team as there were maybe 1,000 fans attending a free game.  


May 2010 and the recruiting trail had gone cold.  We were no longer being considered by the highly ranked and/or highly recruited football players across the US.  We were left to be get excited about running a distant third to teams like Missouri and Arkansas for players (no offense to Mizzou and Arky fans for comparing the Gophers to those programs) which was hard to accept due to the successes we had had in recent years.  There was very little buzz about the Gophers and heading into the 2nd year at TCF there was already no excitement.  How the hell does the shine wear off a brand new stadium in its 2nd year?


Fall 2010 I didn't make the trip to Tennessee for the MTSU game (why were we playing @MTSU in the first place?) and the loss to USD was inexcusable.  We hung around with USC, got soundly beaten by Northern Ill and couldn't put NU away when we had them on the ropes.  More losses occurred and Brew was fired mid-season, the first coach in quite a while to be let go mid-season.  Did MACturi/PrexyB have a plan in mind, showing that they had learned from their botched firing/hiring of Mase/Brew?  Of course not.


December 5, 2010 we finally hire Jerry Kill.  Fans are outraged for an entire day until Kill's press conference in which he "wins over" the hearts of the majority of Gopher fans.  Not this Gopher fan, but many others.  The recruiting class of 2011 ended with a thud and at the Signing Day Social I actually tuned out Kill's speech and decided that I was not going to renew my tickets for 2011.  I had better things to spend the roughly $2,000 I allocated annually on Gopher football on.  I can feel shitty in the privacy of my own home while watching my team flail about, posing as a B1G program.


I felt validated in my choice when we lost at home to one of the worst D1A schools in New Mexico State.  I'm really glad that I wasn't present when we lost to the school that has biggest fucking piece of shit fan base I've ever come across (worse than the numerous run-ins I've had with Badger fans) and not even competitive in their B1G contests. 


This last Saturday not only did I not watch the game live, I made a conscious choice not to record it.  I just don't care right now.  How did I fall this far?  I've been a Gopher fan for over 30 years and I've seen my fair share of shitty products on the field so I don't think I can place too much blame there.  I've not liked coaches before and still cared about watching the game.


I think I'm going to be in Sub-Casual status until something Gopher related shows me a sign of life.  I don't think we will win another game in 2011.  The recruiting class is almost full and the only signs of life are on the OL.  Those guys usually take 2-3 years to make a difference on the team so I don't think that is inspiring me at the moment.  President Kaler has been quiet in terms of the future of Joel Maturi which isn't terrible but  isn't encouraging either.  Having Coach Kill at the helm isn't inspiring me either, nor are his comments of 4 years to change the culture around the program.  Maybe that's when I'll check back in coach.