I just called to say...

"Thank you."

I received the following phone call from our alma mater, thanking me for a donation supporting the athletic department. The call came from a member of the men's gymnastic team.

I thought that was pretty cool. As soon as I heard it was the U, I started thinking up excuses on why I didn't want to donate at this time. But here he was just calling to say thank you. Not asking for a thing.

I loved that. Like really, really appreciated he had called to simply say thank you. What an uncommon act. Well done, U of M, well done!

Mr. Jones and them, they're gonna be big stars...

{Hangin' around}

Rich and our friend Heidi love Adam Duritz and his band the Counting Crows. I am not sure that Rich is a bigger fan of anyone else on the planet.

Earlier in the week Heidi had sent an email that read, "Does anyone else think that there is a decent chance of Adam being at the game on Saturday? No concert scheduled, so I don’t see what else he would do with his day." And sure enough: Adam really was at the game!! [Adam is a huge Cal State fan and apparently he has an "All Access" pass, per the tag hanging from his belt loop.] I am soooo happy that Rich and Heidi were able to pose for a photo with him!! They just adore him; it seriously brightened everyone's day!!

*Final score: Golden Gophers: 21, Golden Bears: 35

First Game at the Bank {more pictures}

{our tailgating setup}{craft #8 in use}{view from the other side}{walking into The Bank}{our seats}
{current players saluting 400 Gopher FB alumni}
{excited} {the band}
{opening kick off}{and that's another Golden Gopher... FIRST DOWN!!}
{nightfall}
{TOUCHDOWN!}{Final Score : the first TCF Bank Stadium victory was locked up in "The Vault"}{Minnesota Hail to Thee}

First Game at the Bank

This is video of the fly over before the first Gopher game at TCF Bank Stadium. Our opponent was the Air Force, so we had a fighter jet formation fly over before the team came out on to the field. If it wasn't for the lady sitting next to us I would have missed the whole thing [you can hear me yelling that to Rich in the video]. The whole stadium was electric with excitement; it was awesome!

Oh and the Gopher's won... so that was awesome too! Final score: 20-13, Minnesota.
Ski-U-Mah!

Women's Clinic {semi-wordless}

Have I mentioned we are season ticket holders for the Gophers? Have I mentioned they have a brand new stadium this year: TCF Bank Stadium? During the fall the Gophers (and the Vikings) basically make up my weekends. So, in the upcoming weeks... a lot of my posts will probably revolve around the Minnesota Gophers: tailgating, games and parties. It's fun, but I wanted to warn you.

{Gopher's 1960 National Championship Ring}{DQ Club Room}

{Did you know the helmets are glittery? They are.}

{Figured I should try it on}

{pads made sense to put on next}

{why not make an outfit out of it?}

{The tunnel the team takes to to the field}

{Coach is electric!}

{The largest professional and collegiate locker room is football shaped}

{Speech! Speech!}

{Ski-U-Mah!}

First View of The Bank {nearly wordless}

{scrimmage day = gorgeous} {friends+us outside TCF Bank Stadium}
{females}
{third largest outdoor scoreboard in the nation}
{endzone, non-student side}
{climb to the penthouse} {view from the penthouse}{us, post-scrimmage}{us+friends, post-scrimmage}{view of our seats from the student section - we are the A in MINNESOTA}
{testing out the bleacher seats}{us+Goldy: Gold Country at The Bank}

They're here...

Our season tickets arrived at my parent's house [at the time of order we weren't sure what our permanent address would be at the time of delivery] on Saturday, August 15th. By Sunday, August 16th they were in our possession. I can't beleive our first scrimmage (and chance to get inside the stadium) is already this Saturday, August 22nd. Sooooo exciting!!

The Penthouse!

We made our seat selection for the 2009 Gopher Football Season. At each home game you will be able to find us in section 214, row 26. Our friends selected their seats 11 minutes after we did and are sitting directly behind us. She astutely pointed out, "We’ll be able to high 5 after touchdowns!"

This season the Gophers will be playing in a brand new, outdoor stadium on campus. My favorite billboard reads: "Stadium Village, now with Stadium." It's going to be a fun year!

Gopher FB Spring Game

Today the Gopher football team kicked off the year with a Spring Game outdoors. The Minnesota football team played at O’Shaughnessy Stadium on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.

Being the good fans we are -- we went to watch and cheer them on!!

Gold vs. Maroon scrimmaged against each other, the A vs B team. It was fun to watch some of the runs and catches. The game ended in a tie, 17-17.
*Frankly I was a little surprised it didn't go into overtime.

The score was kind of significant too! Only 17 more days until we select our seats in the new TCF Stadium!!