Alumni Association Home > Minnesota Magazine > Past Issues > 2006 > September-October 2006

Watching Gopher sports on television will be a whole lot easier beginning next summer. In August 2007, the Big Ten Conference will launch the Big Ten Channel in partnership with Fox Cable Networks. Gopher athletics director Joel Maturi was upbeat about the broadcast agreement, saying it will significantly increase air time for both revenue and non-revenue sports. It will also double the number of Big Ten women’s athletic events on air and provide each member institution with 60 hours of academic programming time annually. Revenue from the broadcasts will be split equally among all 11 members of the Big Ten conference. The channel will be available to cable and satellite operators nationwide. One of the driving forces behind creation of the channel was the Big Ten’s desire to reach its alumni, who number 4 million nationwide.

The new channel will not carry ads for beer or other alcoholic beverages. Several Big Ten schools, including Minnesota, have signed on to the mission of the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV, which works for an end to alcohol ads on college sports broadcasts.

Four countries and six matches in 12 days was the final tally for the Gopher volleyball team, which went on a European tour in June. The Gophers were 4–2 against teams from the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. Coach Mike Hebert called it an “eye-opening” experience for players to face different European styles of play, live without air conditioning, eat unfamiliar foods, and deal with jet lag. “They have a new perspective on what it means to “play on the road,” he said. The Gophers return 12 letter winners from the 2005 team, which finished 25–8.

The Golden Gopher rowing team had its best season ever last spring, finishing a close second in the Big Ten behind champion Ohio State. The stellar season earned Co-Coach of the Year honors for coach Wendy Davis, along with Ohio State’s Andy Teitelbaum. Jennifer Barnes was one of three rowers from the Big Ten to be named all-American, and Berit Tomten earned second-team all–Central Region honors. Davis built the rowing program from scratch when it became a varsity sport in the 2000–01 season. Things are looking up all around for the rowing program: In April the U broke ground on its boathouse, which will be home to the women’s varsity rowing program and the men’s club program.

Come home and be on time. The November 4 homecoming game against Indiana will be played at 11 a.m. rather than 2:30 p.m. To confirm the game time, visit www.gophersports.com or call 612-624-8080.

The late Herb Brooks (B.A. ’62) will be inducted into the 2006 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on November 13. Brooks was selected in the “builder” category, which recognizes coaching, managerial ability, sportsmanship, and contributions to the game. Brooks played for the Gophers from 1956 to 1959 and was head coach from 1972 to 1979, leading Minnesota to three NCAA championships. He later led the 1980 Olympic hockey team to a gold medal and went on to coach professionally in the National Hockey League. He is the second Gopher, behind former player and coach John Mariucci, to earn Hockey Hall of Fame honors.

Mike Grimm will be the new play-by-play voice of Gopher basketball during the upcoming season and will also serve as the pre- and post-game host for Gopher football. Grimm, who co-hosts a sports talk program on KMOX in St. Louis and formerly was the radio voice of Iowa women’s basketball, will partner with color commentator Kevin Lynch on basketball broadcasts and will join Dave Lee, Dave Mona, and Darryl Thompson for football games.

Golfer Bronson La’Cassie became the first Gopher and the first Australian ever to win the Western Amateur championship when he defeated Pablo Martin of Oklahoma State in the Benton Harbor, Michigan, tournament last month. La’Cassie, of Brisbane, Australia, is only the third international champion in the tournament’s 104-year history. This was his second shot at the Western championship; last year he was forced to withdraw due to muscle soreness in his arms after being introduced to water skiing a couple of days before the competition. La’Cassie is a senior this fall.

TCF Bank Stadium, the long-awaited on-campus football stadium, is slated to be completed in three years in multiple phases. Phase I, which involves reconfiguring public parking areas, pavement and utility work, is currently under way and is projected to continue through mid-July, 2007.

The public is invited to celebrate the official start of construction at groundbreaking ceremonies on September 30 at 2 p.m. at the stadium site, the current parking lot complex near Mariucci Arena on the East Bank. Afterward, shuttle buses to the Metrodome will be available for fans who plan to attend the Gopher game against Michigan.

Cynthia Scott (M.A. ’89) is managing editor of Minnesota.