I read how the basketball and football programs "suck" at Minnesota and
Wisconsin, and that is why more attention is paid to hockey.  For this person,
I want to remind them of a certain Gopher basketball team which made it to the
Elite Eight a couple of years ago in the NCAA Basketbal Tournament.  Also,
under Lou Holtz, the Gopher Football team went to two bowls.  During those time
s and the year afterward, there was a lot of enthusiasm for those sports, as
well as hockey.  Also, something to keep in mind when talking about supporting
a team, people must keep in mind that the basketball and football teams recruit
 from around the country, while the hockey team is all home-grown.  When people
 see Gopher hockey, they see players they have been following in the paper and
the state high school hockey tournament for prior to college.  I think that has
 a little something to about the support of hockey also. I could go on and on a
bout traditional rivalries and such, but I'll spare you all of the details.
     Sorry this is minorly related to hockey, but it's difficult to read about
how a school's (especially the home school) respective team "sucks" in certain
sports.  As for Wisconsin, I think competeing in Big Ten football speaks for
itself in competition as well.
 
                           VIVA GOLDY!