Friendly hosts impress Gophers fans
Minnesota’s Golden Dunkers enjoying Vancouver’s hospitality during NCAA hoops tourney
Members of the Minnesota Golden Gophers booster club are big fans of Vancouver, it appears.
“I’m really impressed with the friendliness of the people here. They’re Minnesota nice,” said Mike Hanson, one of 60 members of the Golden Dunkers here to watch the Gophers take part in the inaugural TCL Vancouver Showcase, the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament being held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
“It’s been a good, good trip.” Fan groups following teams for road games is routine, particularly at the marquee NCAA schools. Steve and Dorothy Erban, who run Creative Charters out of Lake Elmo, Minn., have been organizing trips for Gophers supporters since 1993. They claim they have helped over 20,000 Gopher fans travel to games.
The majority of Gophers backers on this particular excursion to Vancouver are aged 50 and over, according to Steve Erban. Most will have been here for a week when the Gophers wind up the men’s portion of the tournament with a 3:30 p.m. game on Wednesday against the Washington Huskies.
It seems the Erbans get their fair share of return business.
Hanson, 73, a former high school basketball coach, says he’s joined Erban-led jaunts to watch games in Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas over the years.
Cheryl Anderson, 68, says she’s been making these trips for 15 seasons now.
“I know so many of these people. … It’s almost like a reunion,” Anderson said, pointing around at the crowd enjoying breakfast at the EXchange Hotel on Tuesday morning, before departing to watch the Gophers face the Santa Clara Broncos later in the day.
Anderson’s scouting report on Vancouver was similar to Hanson’s: “I like everything about Vancouver. Everything. One thing you should write down, though, is that the people are extremely friendly.”
Whether Hanson, Anderson, the Erbans and their likeminded cohorts will be taking in March Madness remains to be seen. The 2019 Final Four playoffs and championship will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis with the final game on April 8.
Last season, Minnesota reached No. 12, its highest national ranking since 2013, but they battled injuries and finished 15-17. They qualified for the NCAA tournament the season before but lost out in the first round. They went 24-10 overall.
The Gophers have a social media phenom in their mix in sophomore guard Isaiah Washington, who has 632,000 followers on Instagram thanks to moves such as a flashy finger roll he dubbed a “Jelly.”
Washington and a buddy dubbed his friends and fans the Jelly Fam, and it’s caught on.
“I think we have a good shot at it,” Hanson said of the NCAA tournament. “It won’t be easy.”
The Golden Dunkers have enjoyed various excursions during their time in Vancouver. Some visited Whistler, some went to Gibsons.
Hanson talked up Stanley Park, Anderson spoke highly of Granville Island.
Erban coaxed the nearby Butcher And Bullock pub into featuring the Minnesota vs. Northwestern football game on Saturday morning. The Gophers lost 24-14.
Erban heads out almost immediately after returning to Vancouver. He’s leading a group to a Minnesota football game in Wisconsin.
The Vancouver Showcase switches Thursday to its eightteam women’s draw, featuring the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame opens the tournament with a 12 p.m. game Thursday against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Bulldogs feature sophomore guard Louise Forsyth, who starred with Langley’s Brookswood Bobcats in high school.