The blizzards were not myth.  The myth was simply that they happened every year or very frequently. I’ve documented five years when they actually disrupted the tournament, two in the ‘50s, two in the ‘60s, one in the ‘70s. I assumed they were as a rebellious teen in the 60's, then kept track and gave up after a solid decade of blizzards.  

How did you settle on 83-96? Well, there had to be some form of organization. 1983 was the end of what we characterize as the era of Equal Opportunity—starting with the Gopher men recruiting nationally and, ergo, integrating the program, then including the change to two-class HS tournament and the coming of girls and women’s ball, and the first real impact of black Mn high school players on state championships. 1983 was the first year of Big Ten play, sort of rounding out the many changes. 1997 was the start of the “second golden age,” defined largely by the great HS class and the idea that Minnesota kids were now competing at a “national” level. 1983 through 1996 is sort of what is left over. It was not a great period. Was it to find the low point in Minnesota basketball or something?  It wasn’t for the purpose of finding a low point, but it’s true that there were more high points before and after. But even in that period, the small college women did very well, There is a chapter on small college women including the six straight JC championships of Anoka-Ramsey et al. Yes there were some high points. the Gophers went to the regional finals for the first time, Shudlick was national player of the year, Sam I Am was arguably the biggest MN boys HS star ever, and the Woofies were born and quickly became a laughingstock.

Another best game contender was the only (I believe) victory by the depleted crew in the first game after Dutcher resigned in the Mitch Lee scandal. I saw that game at the Barn. When was the Red Lake state tourney game where both teams were in triple figures? 1997  And how about the back to back Minneapolis North / White Bear Lake title games? 1984-1985, those were good games.

For the most recent period the Duke game was a great game, but so were the Clemson and UCLA games in 97.  (I was at the Clemson game by sheer luck, since I was living in Mexico and driving to California on a family trip with wife, kids and in laws.) It wouldn’t make sense for us to glorify the ‘97 Gophers based on how we write them up overall. Yes, at the time those were great games. The Gopher game I am sorry we don’t have room for is the 1982 3OT win at Iowa. The New York Mills-Janet Karvonen-Albany-Kelly Skalicky game in 1980 is the game for that era.

I guess Edgerton has to be the game for its period, but Marshall-Cloquet for the 63 state championship was the best Minnesota high school game I've ever seen. For the first golden age we have two games—the Lakers’ stall game and Edgerton-Richfield.

And don't forget to mention Joe Mauer.

Thanks a lot for the info, again it will be acknowledged.

Marc

   

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From: mnbuckets@yahoogroups.com [mailto:mnbuckets@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of marc hugunin
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 6:21 PM
To: mnbuckets@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [mnbuckets] All Decade Teams

Hi,

Stew and I have a coouple questions for everybody.

ONE

In our book, each chapter has a little feature called “the big game, “ and we need to pick and write up "the big game" for the period from 1984-1996. The overall theme is that this was a down period because Minnesota basketball really wasn't very good. The gopher women weren’t good except the Shudlick years, the men were kind of up and down, the Minnesota high schools weren’t producing much in the way of D-I talent either boys or girls, the Timbies came to town but were a laughinstock. The one bright spot was the women's small colleges where there were 7 NCAA III Final Four teams in 12 years and six NJCAA champs in a row 1994-1999.

Anyway, here are some contenders for “the big game.”

• I couldn't find a girls high school game that meant much to me, nothing like the New York Mills game from the previous era or like a Coco and Kelly Miller game in the next.

• The best boys' game to me is pretty clearly North over Staples in the first Sweet Sixteen final.

• Among the small colleges there's the Concordia or St. Thomas national championship games in 1988 or 1991. If forced to choose, St. Thomas won more easily but it would be nice to write something about their star Laurie Trow and coach Ted Riverso.

• Gopher women mostly down, but the win at Notre Dame by the Shudlick crew is pretty good. Nothing like Lindsay Whalen and crew beating Duke to get to the final four, however.

• Gopher men--obviously you've got some big wins like the Syracuse game in '90 and maybe UCLA or the Indiana comeback in '97. But as for the '97 team, we are generally being thematically down on them....

• Timbies big win over the Celtics? Hey, I saw that game. It was exciting, but let's be honest, it didn't mean diddley in the grand scheme of things.

In context, we've now had "the big game" in each chapter: first high school tournament (1913), Gophers (1937), the Lakers stall game (1951?), Edgerton (1960), the basketbrawl (1972), Karvonen's coming-out (1979 or 1980, I forget which).

And in 1997 to the present, it has to be the Gopher women over Duke, right?  

From that perspective, the Gopher men and high school boys have had their shot(s) (been in "the big game" twice). And the high school girls and Gopher women come just before and after. So eliminate those 4, and what's left?

• St. Thomas women, though then we get three in a row of girls and women
• Timbies-Celtics

What do you think? 1) About 1983-1996, and 2) 1997-present (is it Gopher women over Duke?)

TWO

Oh yeah, we also have a sidebar in each chapter concerning a myth or mystery—a misconception or a question that demands an answer. Is there some misconception people have about basketball in the '80s and '90s that would make a fun little sidebar? Anything you hear people say that you think is wrong and it really bugs you when they do?

Some examples--

1. Claude Hunt founded the high school basektball tournament in 1913. MYTH.
2. What’s the truth about the Gophers and John Wooden? MYSTERY.
3. Was Jim McIntyre really not that good? MYTH.
4. State tournament blizzard. Only happened a few times—not every year!
5. Strenuous physical exercise for girls would make them unable to have babies. MYTH.
6. Mpls. Roosevelt was singled out for punishment in 1961. MYTH.
7. The first girls’ state tournament was in 1976. MYTH.
8. The first “Class B” tournament was held in 1971. MYTH.

You get the idea. What happened or what do people say about the ‘80s or ‘90s that might qualify as a myth or mystery? Thanks for your ideas.

Marc   

 
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