Last place Rutgers did not show up at the Pav to play our Tied-for-3rd place Gophers, citing non-covid medical issues. The Gophers get the win and Rutgers the loss. The big losers in this are the Gopher bench players who might have seen some action had the match been played.
Ticket holders were given the option of swapping for tickets to other Gopher events this weekend, including Men’s and Women’s Hockey, and Men’s Basketball. Maureen has some bizarre aversion to hockey, so we took the opportunity to check out Ben Johnson’s surprisingly successful all-transfer squad against Purdue-Ft Wayne.
Our V-ball tickets allowed us to sit anywhere in the balcony, so we hurried upstairs and grabbed a pair of mid-court seats in the 2nd row of the balcony. This immediately took us back to our first year of marriage, when Maureen was still in school and we had student-season tickets and the entire balcony was student G.A. The doors opened 2 hrs before game-time; we’d be in line already (even in sub-zero weather, every game was sold-out) and race other students to the balcony, often grabbing the exact same seats we had tonight.
But we soon noticed that a few things had changed:
- The Gopher warm-up routine involved neither Sweet Georgia Brown, nor a guy on a unicycle.
- The starting lineup did not include Brewer, Behagen, or Clyde Turner.
- The 2021-22 Gophers, though earnest, did not seem as talented as the 1971-72 squad, missing their first 12 shots (maybe 11, I lost count). They did come back to beat PFW by 30 after spotting them a 9-0 lead. (I doubt that will work against the real Purdue.)
- And before long, I was reminded we gave up the regular season tickets we later held for years (downstairs, in the corner) when they remodeled Williams Arena. Oddly, given that it is a basketball arena, the “seats,” formerly bleachers, are spaced such that no one over 5-9 can sit in them, even the first 5 rows of the balcony. So after a few minutes of discomfort, we relocated up to row 6 of the balcony, mercifully still bleachers, and watched the game from there.
One last thing about this basketball team: Head Coach Ben Johnson gets the “stool” on the raised court, and presumably has the last word when he chooses to use it. But 95% of the coaching, both during the live action and during time outs, comes from Asst. Coach Dave Thorson. This is somewhat similar to Gopher Volleyball Games, where Asst. Coaches Laura Kasey and Matt Houk are often more animated than Head Coach McCutcheon – but it didn’t feel the same. Then again, if it works for Johnson and Thorson and the players, it’s fine with me; I assume Johnson will grow into the position. Either way, I wish Johnson’s squad, and Lindsey Whalen’s squad, all the best.