Gopher Basketball Players eat too

One of the best things about going to Jimmy John's is not only to watch their speedy fast sandwich making skills but also that I always see someone I know. Last time I was there I ran into an old teacher of mine from third grade. This time I saw Blake Hoffarber. Yes, Gopher Basketball player Blake Hoffarber eats at Jimmy Johns. This is an unofficial Gopher sighting, but I was really excited. I started day dreaming about me working for TMZ and the possibility of a paparazzi show in Minneapolis. It just brightens my day knowing I just saw a guy I write about often. What is even more exciting about seeing Blake was that we both ordered the turkey sandwich on wheat bread. I love Gopher sightings.

Gopher Iowa game is BIG

I really want to go the Gophers Iowa game on November 22, but hold on to your hats gopher fans because something big is about to blow in. Big ticket prices! This is a hot game for several reasons.
#1. Border Battle
#2. Floyd of Rosedale
#3. Last Metrodome game for Gophers Football

Gophers Iowa tickets are going from $89 to $199 per ticket. Wow! That seems more like the prices of the new TCF Bank Stadium, not the grungy old Metrodome, but the fact remains, this game is a big deal. With the improved Gopher football line up, I am hoping that Minnesota will be kicking some Iowa butt! The tickets are going fast so I better buy them now before they are all gone or the prices go even higher. We all know that watching football on T.V. is nowhere near as exciting as watching it live in your 50 yard line seats no matter how hard I try and convince myself that it wouldn’t be that bad to stay home.

My favorite Gophers will attend Media Day

I read that two of my favorite Gopher football players will be attending the Big Ten Media Days July 24th and 25th. Quarterback Adam Weber and wide receiver Eric Decker will be talking about the upcoming season and the Big Ten competition. Coach Tim Brewster will also be there (and I am guessing will do most of the talking, that’s what he seems to be good at…talking) and linebacker Steve Davis will be there, too – no offense Steve, but you just aren’t cute enough to make Gopher Gals favorite player list, but I am sure you will still represent the maroon and gold very well. Go Gophers! You know with Media Days coming up it won’t be that long until players are reporting for camp!

Big Ten Network Upcoming Gopher Games

The Big Ten Network has committed to airing three of the Gopher football teams four nonconference games this season along with regular season finale versus the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 22nd. The Gophers Hawkeyes game will be the last game the Golden Gophers football team plays at the HHH Metrodome. It will be a bittersweet game for sure. I am hoping to attend live and in person, but if Gopher ticket prices get to be too high, I may just have to enjoy it from the couch. Then again, the Gophers seem to win more when I am in the stands and I want to be sure that the Gophers go out of the Metrodome with a bang so I better get tickets!

Big Ten Network Games:

• August 30th Gophers vs. Northern Illinois
• September 13th Gophers vs. Montana State
• September 20th Gophers vs. Florida Atlantic
• November 22nd Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (be there or be square!)

Comcast broadcast Big Ten Network

I am not sure I complained about this as much as I should have last year, but I was really irritated with Comcast and their refusal to work out a deal with the Big Ten Network. I missed several Gopher games thanks to their stubbornness (and mine, I concede, since I didn’t physically go to every gopher game at the dome or just head to the local tavern or my dads house to watch TV) I am not a huge Comcast fan anyway and their refusal to take part in my beloved Gophers Big Ten Network was just more fuel to my fire. Well the burning flame against comcast will be a little dimmer now. Comcast has announced that they plan to carry the Big Ten Network on expanded basic service beginning August 15th! yeah!

Gopher Gal gets published

Hey, I got published over on a gopher football tickets site! I traded links with them in hopes to gain added readers. Check out my article on the Gopher Football team working hard on strength and conditioning! Goooooo Gophers!

Gopher Basketball Best Play of the Year

I realized that yesterday I got so caught up in the process of voting I didn’t even mention what the Best Play to vote for was. I am sure most Gopher basketball fans remember the Gopher Indiana Hoosier game last March when Blake Hoffarber sunk the buzzer beater to stun Indiana 59-58. It wasn’t just an ordinary shot though, it was a 15 foot shot off a half court pass and Blake was falling as he was making the shot. It was a beauty and truly deserves the ESPY Award so fans better get out there and vote!

This isn’t even Blake Hoffarbers first ESPY award. In 2005, Blake Hoffarber sunk a shot while lying on his back on the Target Center floor to help his Hopkins High School team win the Minnesota State high school boys basketball championship. I think you would have to live under a rock if you don’t remember that play. It was amazing and the news played it over and over and over. You may not remember that is was Blake, but it was. He has a golden touch when it comes to those beautiful buzzer shots.

Vote Blake Hoffarber for ESPY Award

Gopher Gal heard Blake Hoffarber was up for another ESPY award so I headed over to www.espys.tv and decided to vote. I have never voted for one of these fan based award thingies before (I don’t even vote for the MLB All-Star game - some of my friends do and I know Minnesota Twins fan will be disappointed that I didn't vote this year, but Mauer and Morneau made it anyway with out my votes). Ok, back to Gopher Blake. I decided Blake Hoffarber was worth the time and effort.

So I get to the espys/espn website and I realize that I have to register before I can vote – I hate that! They needed my name, address, email address, full birth date, agreement to 17 complicated terms and conditions and my underwear color. OK, I am exaggerating on the undies, but everything else is accurate. After I registered, I took the time to vote for all 37 categories! 37! I thought this was going to be a 15 second process, but it turned into like 15 minutes. The cool thing was I got the chance to vote for some of my other favorite athletes like Adrian Peterson from the Minnesota Vikings and I got the chance to vote against some of my least favorite athletes like Tiger Woods. Yep, I am a Tiger hater. I purposely voted against him in every category he was nominated in even if I didn’t know any of the other nominees, I just picked one, any one but Tiger. The ESPY awards are broadcast July 20th on ESPN of course. I just may watch them this year. Justin Timberlake is hosting - he isn't half bad.

I hope Gopher Basketball gets the chance to win big with Blake Hoffarber – VOTE NOW! Go Blake!

I still love my Ernie

Last gopher football season I was in love with Gopher Wide Receiver Ernie Wheelwright - I really just like his name. How can you not love someone named Ernie? Anyway, Ernie was Gopher jersey number 1 and was number 1 in my heart as well. Well, he wasn’t drafted in the NFL – I didn’t really think he would be – his skills aren’t that good and with such a crummy Gopher Football team, I don’t think there were too many NFL scouts in the stands. Ernie Wheelwright did manage to score a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens and so far they love him! I am going to keep my eye on him Gopher fans. I bet he plays in the Viking Ravens pre-season game for sure. Go Ernie! Make the gopher football program proud. We need something.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July Gopher fans! I hope every one has a safe and happy holiday! I scoured the Internet for a snappy shot of a gopher holding an American flag, but I didn't find anything I loved as much as seeing the American flag waving next to the University of Minnesota maroon and gold flag. Enjoy your holiday!

Gopher Basketball Schedule Update

Everyone is awaiting the release of the 2008-09 Gopher basketball schedule. The gopher hockey schedule was released weeks ago, but the University of Minnesota is waiting to release the Gopher basketball schedule for another week or so. You can sign-up on www.gopherbasketballtickets.com and get notified via email when the schedule comes out. I think I am going to do that because Gopher Gal wants to make a few trips to the barn this season to see Tubby Smith and the Gopher team in action!

Gopher hockey player Stu Bickel signs with NHL team

The Gophers hockey team loses another player to the NHL. Stu Bickel signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Anaheim Ducks today. Bickel’s contract is reportedly worth the maximum amount, including an $85,000 signing bonus. I think these kids see the chance at a paycheck and just jump. Sure, Bickel will make approximately $67,500 if he plays, as expected, for the Ducks' American Hockey League affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, but it sucks for the Gophers to lose another quality hockey player. I guess the $67K is more than a college graduate usually gets anyway, so Bickel figures he might as well collect the cash playing hockey and he can finish his education later on. It really sucks for the Gophers because Don Lucia was counting on Stu Bickel to be a leader on the Gophers hockey team this year.

There appears to be an epidemic of college hockey players going pro before finishing their commitments to their Universities, but what do you do? Any sort of regulation would be an infringement on personal choice. I guess I would just hope that the NHL would want mature experienced players, but when the free agent market is weak, the NHL is going to raid the college players. Let’s just hope this is a phase and the NHL will grow out of it.