Gopher fan ethnography

Drizzling rain was heavy in the cold October air, just as it had been for the past two days. Before the rain, came a wave of snow that left four inches piled on the wet ground. For the dozens of Minnesota Golden Gopher fans that had driven 16 hours to watch their team take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, this was only a minor inconvenience. This was a group a die hard fans that had watched the Gophers take on, and mostly lose to, many great football teams across the country, and most of them weren't about to let a little rain and cold ruin their day. Even the fact that their team is never very good and were facing a far superior squad didn't dampen their spirits, for these were former and present members of the University of Minnesota Marching Band.

I observed many rituals that morning, mostly happening before the game even started. Many hours before the noon start of the game, in fact. "One word, tailgaiting. I love tailgating, even in the rain," proclaimed on proud Gopher fan. These die-hard fans started as early as 7am to get a parking spot and set up the entertainment they would use to kill the next five hours before the game started. It seems that the games they played were well know by most people that were out and about in the tailgaiting lot: beanbag toss, ladder golf, and beer darts to name a few. Some of the members of this group of about 40-50 people were experienced veterns on Gopher road trips, while for others, this was their first time.