Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

For Minnesotans - Was 1995-2005 one of the best eras in Minnesota sports?

Collapse

Support The Site!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • For Minnesotans - Was 1995-2005 one of the best eras in Minnesota sports?

    Minnesota sports have had periods of success. the Vikings of the 70s, the Lynx in the last decade, the Twins winning championships in the 80s and early 90s, and the Stars playing for the Stanley Cup twice.

    Looking back, though, I think when taking in college and professional results, 1995-2005 may have had the most amount of success at a single period of time.

    Here's teams did in the big four sports for both Division 1 college and professional:
    • Minnesota Vikings - Reached playoffs six times, won two division titles and made it to the NFC Championship Game twice.
    • Minnesota Wild - Franchise established and reached Western Conference Finals once
    • Minnesota Timberwolves - Reached the playoffs eight times, won a division championship and made it to the Western Conference Finals Once
    • Minnesota Twins - Won three division titles/playoff berths and reached the ALCS once
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Football - Went to six bowl games, winning three, and had two ranked finishes. Had a 10 win season once and beat No. 2 Penn State in another
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Basketball - Reached NCAA tournament four times, making the Final Four once. Won a Big Ten Championship. Earned five NIT trips, winning one.*
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey - Won two national championships, one regular season conference title, three conference tournament titles. Went to eight NCAA tournaments, making the Frozen Four four times
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Baseball - Won four regular season Big Ten titles, three conference tournament championships and went to the NCAA tournament six times.

    Plus, other Gopher sports had plenty of success during that time, too.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Basketball went to the NCAA tournament four times, making the Sweet 16 three times and the Final Four once.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey won three national championships, four regular season conference titles, three conference tournament titles and went to the national tournament six times.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Volleyball won a conference regular season title, went to the NCAA tournament nine times, went to the Final Four twice and was national runner-up once.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Wrestling won four conference titles and two national championships.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher golf team won the national championship in 2002 and two Big Ten titles.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Soccer won two Big Ten titles
    • Minnesota Dance Team won three national titles.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Men's Swimming won six Big Ten titles, Gopher Women's Swimming won two conference titles.
    • Minnesota Golden Gopher Men's Track won three indoor conference titles and one outdoor.
    Additionally:
    • Bemidji State Hockey won (D-II) national titles in 1995 and 1997
    • UMD Women's hockey won national titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003l.
    • UMD Men's Hockey went to the Frozen Four in 2004

    Now of course the big asterisk is the basketball situation, but if we're just looking at results, wins and losses, this was a pretty good string of years.

    If we compare that to say, the last decade:
    • Vikings, (including 2009), made five playoff berths, three division titles, two NFC Championship Game appearances.
    • Wild, six playoff berths, advanced past first round twice
    • Timberwolves, one playoff berth
    • Twins, (including 2009), won four division titles, made five trips to the plaoffs, but did not advance.
    • Lynx, won four WNBA titles and made the finals six times
    • Whitecaps won on WNHL title
    • Gopher Football, went to seven bowls, winning four. Split one division title and finished ranked once.
    • Gopher Hockey won six conference titles, one conference tournament title and earned four Frozen Four berths.
    • Gopher Basketball made four NCAA tournaments and two NITs. Won one NIT.
    • Gopher Baseball won three conference titles, two conference tournament titles and made three NCAA berths. Reached the super regional once.
    • Gopher Women Hockey won four national titles, and was national runner-up twice
    • Gopher Volleyball made three Final Fours
    • Gopher Softball won two conference titles, three conference tournament championships and made the NCAA five times, reaching the Women's College World Series once.
    • UMD Hockey won three national titles and went to four Frozen Fours.
    • St. Cloud State went to one frozen four

    And here's how DII and DIII did in the last decade.
    • NSIC Teams won four Mineral Water Bowls
    • Minnesota teams went to the DII Elite Eight four times.
    • UMD won a football national title.
    • St. Cloud State went to one frozen four
    • Minnesota State Mankato was national runner-up twice.
    • Concordia ST. Paul won six national titles in volleyball
    • St. Thomas was national runner-up in DIII football twice.
    • St. Thomas won two DIII national titles in basketball.
    I think if we look at the last decade, there were certainly positives with DII and DIII sports, along with the Lynx being a bright spot.

  • #2
    It's easily forgotten - but up until 2002, the Twins were one of the worst teams in the MLB. They were often considered to be an "AAAA" team (referencing their position above the minor leagues but below the rest of the MLB). The MLB owners voted 28-2 in 2001 to contract the league by folding both the Twins and the Expos. You can probably guess who voted against the measure. It was quickly forgotten about because of the magic of the 2002 season, but they spent the bulk of 1995-2005 as one of the worst teams in the MLB.

    Anyway - I was really young during that timeframe, and it was exciting. The group of Kevin Garnett, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, and Torii Hunter represented the greatest visibility and marketing power that we ever had nationally. Minnesota had never had a video game cover athlete before (unless you count Kirby Puckett), and yet three of those four were cover athletes in a span of three years. They were in national TV commercials and were the talk on gameday. We've never had a group like that before or since. Honorable mention to Marian Gaborik and Cris Carter.

    I also wouldn't forget about Gopher baseball during that timeframe. They had a period of success between 1998-2004.

    Also, I think you have to analyze some individual accomplishments too:

    -Chris Weinke at FSU - 1999 National Champion, 2000 Heisman Winner
    -Joe Mauer, top HS prospect in football and baseball, FSU commit to replace Weinke, would be drafted #1 overall in the MLB to the Twins in 2001.
    -Glen Perkins, Gophers pitcher out of Stillwater drafted in the first round by the Twins in 2004 (first MNer taken since Mauer). He would become the only player in Minnesota history to spend his entire career in MN (including college).
    -Gophers drafted out 7 players between 1997-2004, 6 were first rounders. The final one would marry Kim Kardashian at one point.

    Just a few. I'm sure there's more - those are some that I happen to be familiar with.

    Comment

    Ad3

    Collapse
    Working...
    X