Are Sioux fans obsessed with the Gopher's hockey team?
There has been an on going discussion on Gopher Puck Live and Siouxsports.com how Sioux fans are obsessed with the Gopher's hockey team and on the flop side of this argument; that Gopher fans have an unhealthy obsession with the Sioux hockey team.
My first question to those fussing about this is; does it really matter? Why are some Gopher fans so upset about the Sioux fans talking about their favorite squad? All you have to do to make most Gopher fans mad is say 7 > 5 this is usually responded to by some silly comment about the Sioux using over aged Canadian players or the Gophers having more Hobey Baker Memorial trophies winners. All I can say is big hairy deal, I would rather win a national title than an individual award.
Sure the Gophers are easy to make fun of. Up until Alex Kangas, the Gophers hockey team has had a long line of illustrious sieves, that have been very easy targets, This list includes Debus, Hauser, Briggs and Jeff "Long Island" Frazee... It is fun to make fun of them and it was all done in fun. Now on various message boards Sioux fans can’t even make a comment about the Goofs without one of their fans coming over to retort it and taking a thread hostage discussing their beloved Gophers and how they are such a great program not worthy of undeserved scorn.
There has been an on going discussion on Gopher Puck Live and Siouxsports.com how Sioux fans are obsessed with the Gopher's hockey team and on the flop side of this argument; that Gopher fans have an unhealthy obsession with the Sioux hockey team.
My first question to those fussing about this is; does it really matter? Why are some Gopher fans so upset about the Sioux fans talking about their favorite squad? All you have to do to make most Gopher fans mad is say 7 > 5 this is usually responded to by some silly comment about the Sioux using over aged Canadian players or the Gophers having more Hobey Baker Memorial trophies winners. All I can say is big hairy deal, I would rather win a national title than an individual award.
Sure the Gophers are easy to make fun of. Up until Alex Kangas, the Gophers hockey team has had a long line of illustrious sieves, that have been very easy targets, This list includes Debus, Hauser, Briggs and Jeff "Long Island" Frazee... It is fun to make fun of them and it was all done in fun. Now on various message boards Sioux fans can’t even make a comment about the Goofs without one of their fans coming over to retort it and taking a thread hostage discussing their beloved Gophers and how they are such a great program not worthy of undeserved scorn.
(From Siouxsports.com--QUOTE: (brianvf @ Aug 6 2008, 06:42 PM)I might be wrong here, but I thought it was universally known that Gopher fans come on here regularly to make sure that their beloved Gophers aren't being talked about. And, if they are, they are required to immediately report back to GPL and tell their fellow Gopher fans the exact details of the situation. That seems to be how it goes down from what I've seen.
The truth of the matter is, that yes, the Gophers do get talked about here. Why? Because they are our biggest rival for hockey. So obviously they will get mentioned (and ripped on occasionally...but that's just in good fun ). IMO, they get brought up a bit too much, but maybe that's just me. Everyone is entitled to post what they want.
The funny thing is though that I notice the exact same thing over on GPL whenever I happen to head over there to see what's going on. There will be a thread talking about some Gopher-related subject, when someone will just throw in a Sioux-bash without being provoked. Same situation.
The only difference that I can see between the two situations is that I don't remember ever seeing a Sioux fan on ss.com posting "you guys should go to GPL and see what is being said about the Sioux in this thread". Apparantly that is the norm for the GPL folk though, as that appears to be quite common over there.
Tattling = The Gopher Way
It is a known fact that the Gophers are the hated rival of every team in the WCHA. Every WCHA team marks the date their team plays the Gophers on their schedule/calendar. When their team beats the Gophers it is good. The Sioux fans like seeing the Golden Gophers being beat by the Sioux and or any other team in the WCHA. Sioux fans also take pride in any misfortune the Gophers suffer. It is part of the rivalry. Rivalries are a lot of fun and can get people charged up and excited.
Also, the FSN hockey broadcaster “the rug” Frank Mazzacco and the FSN support crew also play a big part in this animosity between the two programs fans. Frank Mazzacco probably is one of the more one sided sports announcers we have ever seen in our time and should be given a set of pom-poms while he is doing the Gopher hockey broadcasts. Thank God Wooger keeps him from going off the deep end.
To many Sioux fans FSN is seen as the Gopher propaganda ministry and they do a good job stirring up the fans of opposition teams through their one sided homer commentary. Last season after a heated game between the Sioux and the Gophers the on ice (between the player benches) reporter Kevin Gorg did nothing but complain about the Sioux hockey even calling out big Joe Finley. The man was beside himself calling the Fighting Sioux a bunch of cheap hacks and goons, while failing to see any of the transgressions the home town team had did on the ice. I guess someone forgot to tell Gorg that the fight/scrums aren’t one sided and happen as the result of two players being upset with each other. Well unless you’re a Gopher player feeding a smaller player punches has he lays on the ice, all the while not seen by the refs or the announcers in the both. I guess The Rug, Dubay and Gorg are a lot like their fan base can’t see anything through the maroon and gold goggles. It is probably more like a maroon and gold welding mask.
Adding fuel to the fire is FSN/KFAN personality and super fan Jeff Dubay. Dubay aka "Puffy" is able to enflame the opposition masses because he has the power of a microphone but also the gift of gab and the ability to get various team fans charged up from his daily radio broadcasts during the hockey season on KFAN. Also, Duaby is able to stir fans up with the pre/post game analysis on FSN.
Also, the FSN hockey broadcaster “the rug” Frank Mazzacco and the FSN support crew also play a big part in this animosity between the two programs fans. Frank Mazzacco probably is one of the more one sided sports announcers we have ever seen in our time and should be given a set of pom-poms while he is doing the Gopher hockey broadcasts. Thank God Wooger keeps him from going off the deep end.
To many Sioux fans FSN is seen as the Gopher propaganda ministry and they do a good job stirring up the fans of opposition teams through their one sided homer commentary. Last season after a heated game between the Sioux and the Gophers the on ice (between the player benches) reporter Kevin Gorg did nothing but complain about the Sioux hockey even calling out big Joe Finley. The man was beside himself calling the Fighting Sioux a bunch of cheap hacks and goons, while failing to see any of the transgressions the home town team had did on the ice. I guess someone forgot to tell Gorg that the fight/scrums aren’t one sided and happen as the result of two players being upset with each other. Well unless you’re a Gopher player feeding a smaller player punches has he lays on the ice, all the while not seen by the refs or the announcers in the both. I guess The Rug, Dubay and Gorg are a lot like their fan base can’t see anything through the maroon and gold goggles. It is probably more like a maroon and gold welding mask.
Adding fuel to the fire is FSN/KFAN personality and super fan Jeff Dubay. Dubay aka "Puffy" is able to enflame the opposition masses because he has the power of a microphone but also the gift of gab and the ability to get various team fans charged up from his daily radio broadcasts during the hockey season on KFAN. Also, Duaby is able to stir fans up with the pre/post game analysis on FSN.
During his radio broadcasts on the PA and Dubay show Jeff Dubay never misses an opportunity to take a shot/swipe at the Fighting Sioux and their players. Last season during a broadcast Dubay basically called the Fighting Sioux a bunch of goons and thugs after the heated series between the Gophers and the Sioux in Minneapolis. Does Dubay get fans charged up you bet, but you can also drink beer with him because he is a stand up guy and will answer up to the things he says on the air. I give him credit for that. After a remote during the Final Five Jeff posed for pictures and answered questions with all of the fans that stayed after the radio broadcast.
It is the rivalry and it breaths heated emotion, hey the opposite of love is hate and both are strong emotions. While I hate the Gophers hockey team and what they stand for I do like a lot of their fans, most of them are pretty cool and fun to drink beers with, however some of them are jerks. So what! Sometimes I think fans forget that hockey is just a game. Have fun with the rivalry but don’t let your emotions get the best of you. When it is all said and done were all human beings.
It is the rivalry and it breaths heated emotion, hey the opposite of love is hate and both are strong emotions. While I hate the Gophers hockey team and what they stand for I do like a lot of their fans, most of them are pretty cool and fun to drink beers with, however some of them are jerks. So what! Sometimes I think fans forget that hockey is just a game. Have fun with the rivalry but don’t let your emotions get the best of you. When it is all said and done were all human beings.
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The Gophers are on every station in the upper midwest that my friends is one of the biggest reasons why opposing teams can't stand them. From Grand Forks to Madison the Gophers are on television.
ReplyDeleteI alway enjoy the UW, UD and UM games. I do think the propaganda ministry got things cranked up a bit too much with the Zajac hit this year. I believe Puff and Gorg went off for about a week. Of course, they ended up looking like fools a week later when Peltier had a cheap hit after the buzzer in the Denver game. Funny no replay and no comments from the propagranda ministry just "crickets". You have to take it all in stride and I agree with your comment that the vast majority of fans on both sides are great people and are fun to have beers with before and after the game.
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