greenie writes:
 
> >Get a clue.  Big 10 basketball is more popular than college hockey, even
> >here in Minnesota.
> >
> >Can't we bash someone else for a while?
>
> No bashing, just an honest question. Most people with Minnesota connections
> I've talked to have told me that the basketball program has only become
> more popular in the last 7-10 years -- yes, BEFORE the final four
> appearance. The basketball program has always been there, and responses
> from people on the list point to the fact that the basketball team is
> generally regarded as being a more succesful team over the past 8 years.
 
Your sources appear to be misinformed.  Gopher basketball has always
outdrawn Gopher hockey, even when Herb Brooks was winning national
championships with all-Minnesota teams in the 1970s.
 
> All the more reason that I question whether most Gopher hockey fans care
> more about having a winning team instead of an all-Minnesota lineup.
 
I think your question is moot.  Don Lucia has made it clear that he will
recruit where he needs to, but the Gopher hockey roster will still be
largely composed of players with Minnesota roots.
 
> Not to mention, when movies like Fargo -- and so many of you on this list
> -- proliferate the impression that everyone in Minnesota loves the Gopher
> hockey team, that tickets are always impossible to get, that the fans are
> so proud of the all-native team, it only makes me wonder why there aren't
> similar feelings about the basketball team.
 
You're trying to link too many items together here.  Yes, many Gopher
fans are proud of the all-Minnesota roster though, as you have noted,
that feeling isn't universally held.  This isn't exactly "man bites
dog" news.  And, no, not everyone in Minnesota loves Gopher hockey.
Minnesota-Duluth, St Cloud, Minnesota State (Mankato), and Bemidji State
(just to mention the Div1 programs) all have their fans, too.  Also,
lots of
North Dakota and Wisconsin fans live on this side of the border.  Gopher
hockey tickets are, as you say, difficult to get.  Gopher basketball
tickets are similarly difficult to obtain.  Gopher basketball hasn't a
tradition of recruiting exclusively in-state.  I don't see a problem
here.
 
> Big East basketball is more popular than college hockey, and arugably Big
> East football. But unless the BC hoops team is having a stellar year
> there's much more focus on football and hockey, even in their down years.
>
> Give your paranoia a break, Erik. Go fan your own flames for a change.
 
???  Whatever.
 
-- Erik
 
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