Thank You Gopher Fans!

Thank you to all you Gopher football fans for visiting TCF Bank Stadium in 2012.... what a season, huh? What are some of your favorite memories? Any memorable plays or player? Leave me a comment on this blog! We appreciate all you fans!

TCF Bank Stadium Address

The Gophers Football stadium address is: 2009 SE University Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55414

TCF Bank Stadium Parking

With more than 50,000 people at every Gopher football home game this season, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus will be filled with excitement. Home games could present some challenges, specifically access to parking near campus, but with planning and patience, Gopher fans can aim for the best campus travel experience possible.

Here are a few key things to keep in mind as you come to campus to cheer on the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers!

PARKING TIPS FOR PARKING PASS HOLDERS
- Arive Early and Stay Late!
- Parking will be open 6 hours before kick-off, but not before 7am.
- Please park in your DESIGNATED facility. Your pass allows you a space in THAT location - nowhere else.
- A DRIVING ROUTE is printed on your pass, follow it. - Never leave home without your parking pass. Just like you need your game ticket to get into the stadium, you MUST have your parking pass to park.
- DO NOT separate the two parts of your parking pass. You should see the name of the opponent in two places on your parking pass - the top part of the ticket and below the perforation. Keep both parts together and the parking attendant will return the larger portion to you as you enter. 
- Be aware that leaving the game may be different than how you came. Officers will be directing traffic so that you can get home as quickly as possible. 


PARKING TIPS FOR NON-PARKING PASS HOLDERS 


General public parking in an attended facility will be available only on West Bank and in St. Paul. 


Available locations for non-pass parking: 
West Bank: 19th Avenue Ramp and 21st Avenue Ramp 
St. Paul: Gortner Avenue Ramp, Lot 101 and Lot S108 


Tips for non-pass parkers: 
- Find specific directions to campus and plan your commute before you leave home. 
- Arrive EARLY! Parking facilities will be open 6 hours before the start of game, but not before 7 am. 
- DO NOT drive to East Bank - park in West Bank (limited ramp space only) or St. Paul facilities. Gopher football shuttles will provide connections to the stadium from West Bank and St. Paul parking. Football shuttles are ADA accessible. 


Motorcycle Parking 
Motorcyclists may pay the public event rate on game days at an attended facility in St. Paul or on West Bank. 


RV Parking 
RV parking is available on game day only in Lot S108 (state fairgrounds) in the St. Paul campus. Overnight parking not allowed. 


Please park in designated lots provided for game day parking. Illegal parking will be strictly enforced, on and off campus, and will be subject to tagging and towing at owner's expense. 


We hope you have a great Gopher game day experience!

Hunter Friesen and Philip Nelson to Tryout for Football in 2013

Hunter Friesen and Philip Nelson are hoping to transfer their football skills from Mankato West High School to the turf at TCF Stadium in 2013.

Friesen, a top receiving target for Nelson at West High School, accepted the oppotrunity to walk on at the U of M for the Gophers' 2013-14 season.

Friesen will take this season off, enroll at Minnesota in January and be on the practice field by spring 2013.

University of Minnesota Homecoming Football Game

The Minnesota football team is hosting Northwestern for its 2012 homecoming game.

Homecoming weekend is October 12-14. The football game is Saturday, October 13th at 11am at TCF Bank Stadium.

Gopher Football Visits Kindegarteners

University of Minnesota football players took a break from TCF and visited White Bear area kindergarteners through third-graders in the Lil Cubs Football Camp last week.

The Gophers spoke to the youths, helped with an obstacle course and played football keep-away.

Its nice to see some of the Gophers out in the community, projecting themselves as decent role models.

Brian Bobek Transfers to Minnesota

The Minnesota Gophers have a new football player and he seems to be a pretty solid prospect.


Brian Bobek of the Ohio State Buckeyes announced that he would be transferring to Minnesota. He was a four star recruit for the Buckeyes on the offensive line. 


"Minnesota was one of the first schools my family and I had contacted when I made the decision to transfer, and the coaches responded as soon as they got permission from Ohio State to contact me." 


Bobek will lose a year of eligibility because he staying in the same conference. 


The 6'2", 275-pound sophomore will join the Gophers in 2013. By that time, Minnesota should have a strong offensive line... for at least a few seasons!

TCF Bank Stadium Photos

I recently was assigned a task to go around Minneapolis, St. Paul and suburbs and take pictures of all of the gorgeous venues! I think there were 24 total venues I snapped photos of. We sure are lucky to live in Minnesota where sports, concerts and theater are extremely popular hobbies!

Check out my photos of TCF Bank Stadium!

Jerry Kill Instructs Gophers to be "Uncommon"

The first season for Jerry Kill at TCF Bank was full of ups and downs. The Gophers finished 3-9 and he had a health scare along the way.

Kill said recently that he feels more comfortable going into his second season with the Gophers. He is especially  happy and excited about this year's recruiting class.

Kill went on to say in a recent interview in St. Cloud that a common theme for the Gophers this year "is to be uncommon.

To be successful, you have to be different. If we want to win, we have to be uncommon."

Gopher Football Could Be a Hot Ticket Event!

There won't be tickets for sale for a couple of years, but Minnesota's home football games in 2015 could be quite a hot commodity.

The Big Ten revealed its 2015 and 2016 slates on Monday. After a four-year absence from their schedule, the Gophers will face Ohio State at TCF Bank Stadium on October 13, 2015. Minnesota also will host Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin that season. The Gophers will play at Ohio State on November 5, 2015, their first trip there since 2009.

Of course I'll let you know when these tickets go on sale, but plan ahead and get your tickets for this season!

Gopher Spring Football Practices

Marqueis Gray is someone the Gophers will look to for leadership and execution at the quarterback position. The Gophers have found similarities between Gray and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, leading the coaching staff to visit Baylor in hopes of some tips.

Gray accounted for more than 2,400 yards last year.

Further reasons for optimism include head coach Jerry Kill. He's a good coach and has slid in with the Gophers almost seamlessly. Though the Gophers are unlikely to be the most talented team in the Big Ten, Kill will keep the Gophers competing with the best.

Spring practices went well for the Gophers!

TCF Bank at the University of Minnesota

The TCF Bank Stadium is the current football stadium for the Minnesota Golden gophers college football team located east of downtown Minneapolis. By enrollment, the University of Minnesota is the fourth largest college campus in the U.S.

 TCF Bank Stadium's cost total $288.5 million of which the U of M paid 52% and the state of Minnesota, the remaining 48%. TCF Bank Stadium has a "horseshoe" style stadium which organizers say have a "traditional collegiate look and feel." The first stadium has approximately 50,200 seats, with the design able to support future expansion to 80,000 seats. There is 39 suites, 59 loge boxes and 300 indoor club seats. On December 7, 2006, the U of M announced that TCF Bank Stadium's field will be laid out in an east-west configuration, with the open end of the stadium facing the campus. This layout provides a view of downtown Minneapolis. TCF Bank Stadium also incorporates a tribute to the university's veterans, similar to that of Memorial Stadium.

MarQueis Gray Looks to Lead

Tom Parish transferred. Moses Alipate moved to tight end. Adam Lueck graduated.

MarQueis Gray was surrounded by an entirely different group of quarterbacks a year ago when spring practice opened.

Gray is really the only familiar face, but the wide receiver-turned-quarterback is different. He is the father of twins and looks to be more of a leader.

Gray enters spring practice with a goal of a "60 percent passer" in his final season.

Vikings, TCF Stadium Tentatively Reach Deal

The Minnesota Vikings sure know their way around the word 'tenative'. Only a few days after coming to a tentative deal to determine who will pay how much for the construction of a new stadium, another deal of the tentative nature has emerged.

The Vikings and the University of Minnesota have struck a tentative deal regarding the amount of money it will cost the organization to play at TCF Bank Stadium when construction is underway.

The number of games and the price to play there are still unknown. However there are some logistical answers: there will be about 3,000 temporary seats added to the venue's endzone. This would bring the capacity to about 53,000.

The Vikings have close to 53,000 season ticket holders.

TCF Might Not Be a Vikings Possibility

The Minnesota Vikings are really, really looking for a new football stadium. However, contray to the phrase 'beggars can't be choosers,' the Vikings are being pretty picky. Through all of these stadium talks, the Vikings have been adamant that the site at Arden Hills is their No. 1 choice, though Governor Mark Dayton has other plans.

Dayton would prefer to build on the current site of the Metrodome, which means the team would need to play at TCF Bank Stadium for three years or so while the new place is being built.Not only are the Vikings opposed to the three-year timeline, but also to the lost revenues of not hosting games themselves and to the lack of potential development around the Metrodome location. The Arden Hills location offers a lot of surrounding area for potential development.

Judging by the ad campaigns the Vikings pushed towards the end of the season, the team really wants to have fan support behind them. Keeping that in mind, the Vikings have yet to directly oppose the Metrodome site because they don't want to come off as complainers by the level-headed fans of Minnesota.

Basically the Vikings don't want to be blamed for their own stadium not being built.Who will get the final word? It appears the NFL may use their power of veto to nix the Metrodome site because TCF Bank simply isn't an NFL stadium, though it is a gem. This would mean that the Arden Hills site, among the other options, would be reconsidered.