My only connection to the University of Minnesota is through our daughters. Both went to school there and one is back pursuing her Ph.D.. When we retired, left North Dakota, and moved to a Minneapolis suburb, we fell in with some Gopher fans who tailgated and followed football. I still follow the University of North Dakota sports and watch games when available on television, but we decided unless it was hockey it would be acceptable to watch a little football in our new home.
At least for the first few years, Gopher football might be best described as mediocre. A progression of coaches for various reasons and less enthusiastic crowds than had been our experience made an upturn seem uncertain. A new coach has changed things. Last year there was a win against perennial power Wisconsin. The wins came a lot easier this year. A win against highly-ranked Penn State raised hopes, but conference pay ended with losses to both Iowa and Wisconsin. No Rose Bowl this year.
The Gophers did have a record that qualified them for a New Year’s Day game against Auburn in the Outback Bowl. This was expected to be the most challenging game of the season. Auburn has already defeated Alabama and lost to LSU by 3. LSU will soon play the final game for the national championship.
The Auburn game was probably the best college football game I have attended. I suppose Auburn did not anticipate the level of play they encountered. Neither did I. I expected the Auburn lines to dominate giving them an effective run game and make it difficult for Minnesota to pass. This turned out not to be the case. The line play was excellent allowing multiple spectacular catches by receivers and a very effective run game. Auburn only dominated in special teams play with a kickoff runback for a score. It was a great and unexpected win. Great fun.
Retirement makes travel practical for us and a trip to a warm climate for whatever reason is nice. We did spend a little extra time exploring Tampa and I am including a couple of photos I took at the aquarium. A note on my photography. These were both taken with my iPhone and are not post-processed in any way. Double click either for a larger image.
Happy New Year!