For Sale: Williams Arena Floor

The Historic Williams Arena, where the Minnesota Golden Gophers Men's and Women's basketball teams have hit the hardwood since 1928 is being auctioned off. As renovations to Williams Arena takes place and the the new floor is scheduled to be put in August 28th, pieces of the old floor are being sold to fans as keepsakes of the famous hardwood. This Gopher Gal would LOVE a piece of the floor but can't afford it because I'm saving up for Golden Gopher Football Tickets in the New TCF Bank Stadium!

If you are lucky enough to have tickets and buy memories, the floor is being sold on placks for $200 with either a men's or women's basketball photo. The auction for the floor is going on at the Gopher Sports homepage.

Golden Gophers Hockey Team gets New Assistant Coach

Its no secret that I love to see former Gophers players go on to do great things in their respective sports, but what I love more than anything is when former Gophers players return to coach current Gophers players... as is the case with new Golden Gophers Assistant Hockey Coach Grant Potulny.

As a player Grant Potulny helped take the Gophers to back-to-back national championships. This spring Grant was hired to be the volunteer assistant coach, but earlier this week Gophers head coach Don Lucia decided to make Grant a full member of his coaching staff, a great move in my book. While I think Coach Lucia has a great deal of experience, I think as he ages he is having a harder time relating to his players. Grant Potulny is young and has been where the Gophers players are much more recently... he is the perfect bridge between the older coaching staff and the new Gophers players.

This season is sure to be a great one for Gopher Hockey, and I for one can not wait to buy my Golden Gopher Hockey Tickets. Welcome Home Coach Potulny!

Preseason predictions are out

Today is a good day in this Gopher Gal's world... the preseason predictions for NCAA football came out this week. While I know that most of the predictions are not researched and conducted in a scientific fashion, I still think it is fun to see how our boys are going to stack up.

And the survey says: Things are looking good. Multiple reviewers said that with 17 returning starters, including almost the entire offensive side the Golden Gophers should be positioned to do even better than they did last season. For sure in their favor is the fact that the Adam Weber-Eric Decker duo is back and with another season of experience under their belts, they can only get better.

My boys do have a tough schedule this season, facing Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa on the road and critics say that even though we do have returning starters and a roster full of experience, the Golden Gophers still may need a season or two to build before they are true Big 10 title contenders... In my opinion we are already there.

Golden Gopher Hockey player skates with the Canucks

Jordan Schroeder, a center for the Golden Gophers, was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks earlier this month and started skating in the prospects camp on Wednesday. Although Schroeder's father is paying to have him there (in order to protect his NCAA eligibility, it is most likely Schroeder will skate another season with the Gophers) there are no doubters that he deserves to be there.

Former Gopher teammate and now member of the Canucks roster, Patrick White explained that Schroeder despite being small for his position is a great player and would fit in well on the Canucks team.

It is unlikely that Schroeder will skate in the rookie and main training camp in September, choosing instead to return to Minnesota and complete another year at the U, but some critics are predicting that this Gopher won't wear gold and maroon for much longer.

Gophers Baseball ends strong

With summer in full swing and Gophers fans getting ready for football at the new TCF Bank Stadium it may seem like the college baseball season is long over...


However, this week the Rivals.com and the Baseball America Top 25 polls were released and the Minnesota Golden Gophers made the cut for both lists. The Gophers ranked 21st on both lists and were included in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30, ranking 26th. This is the first season since 1999 that our Gophers have made these lists, though most fans hope with the leadership from returning players next season will be a repeat of this years success. With the Gophers season ending at the hands of the eventual champions, Gopher baseball fans can be excited for next seasons games.

While baseball fans are waiting it should be noted that Gopher football is just over two months away and tickets are going fast!