Most of my extended family is from the Twin Cities. Minnesotans are generally proud of their state and see themselves as an outdoorsy and enlightened/progressive bunch culturally in comparison to their neighbors in WI, IA, and the Dakotas.
They wear Gopher gear proudly more to represent pride in their Minnesota citizenship and/or support for the University as a quality institution of some notable prestige, as opposed to a symbol of serious fandom of U of M athletics from a competitive standpoint. In that sense they are a good fit in the Big Ten because the holier than thou mentality of the conference suits them.
In some deep almost subconscious sense, Minnesotans feel it is beneath them to get too caught up in the dirty business of CFB competition, when a state of their stature has a pro football franchise to channel that irrational passion into. They also love hockey and have natural beauty to enjoy which uses up a lot of bandwidth for other passions, and what is left over for football is set aside exclusively for the Vikings.
When you spend enough time around Minnesotans, you kind of get where that mentality comes from. But as a proud Iowan and Cyclone, I don't really have much respect for it. Especially when most of the Vikings roster would rather be anywhere else if they had the choice. Also, CFB is awesome.
They wear Gopher gear proudly more to represent pride in their Minnesota citizenship and/or support for the University as a quality institution of some notable prestige, as opposed to a symbol of serious fandom of U of M athletics from a competitive standpoint. In that sense they are a good fit in the Big Ten because the holier than thou mentality of the conference suits them.
In some deep almost subconscious sense, Minnesotans feel it is beneath them to get too caught up in the dirty business of CFB competition, when a state of their stature has a pro football franchise to channel that irrational passion into. They also love hockey and have natural beauty to enjoy which uses up a lot of bandwidth for other passions, and what is left over for football is set aside exclusively for the Vikings.
When you spend enough time around Minnesotans, you kind of get where that mentality comes from. But as a proud Iowan and Cyclone, I don't really have much respect for it. Especially when most of the Vikings roster would rather be anywhere else if they had the choice. Also, CFB is awesome.
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