Last week Coach Mason suggested that the drunkenness, more like his perception of it, be looked at by Fox 9 News. The same station that did it’s “investigative” report on underage drinking by the Gopher men’s hockey team last year.
Looks like the Star Tribune took him up on it with this, Students' sobering reality rings through loud and clear. A reporter was in the student section for the North Dakota State game.
In part:
Seivert wasn't drunk. A lengthy tailgater chased by some of those $6 Metrodome beers might have made the game easier to take, but the senior chose to suffer sober. He did not do so quietly, and neither did most of his fellow students.
As they watched the Gophers stumble to a 10-9 victory over Division I-AA North Dakota State, several students took issue with Mason's remarks last week. Those with beers in their hands and those without refuted Mason's contention that alcohol fueled some of their unhappiness with this rapidly unraveling season. And in case he still believed their boos were meant for the players, they sprinkled in enough "Fire Mason" chants to clear up any confusion.
And:
As another "Fire Mason" chant rippled through the student section, the band quickly struck up a tune that drowned it out. The musicians were roundly booed.
In case there was any doubt left, the students quashed it at the game's end. When the Gophers blocked Shawn Bibeau's 42-yard field-goal attempt with one second remaining, their supporters leaped and hugged wildly, screamed with joy and cheered the players off the field.
Then, when Mason trotted toward the tunnel, they stopped clapping, cupped their hands around their mouths and booed until he disappeared.
And:
Ashford Kroll, a fifth-year student, said the fact that she and so many other students continue to show up proves that they support the team. The coach is a different matter. "I'm a fan, no matter what," she said. "I think this team is still developing. But I do think Mason's time is over."
By the way, she wasn't drunk, either. "I'm too cheap," she explained. "Do you know what they charge for a beer at this place?"
Hopefully that puts an end to who the students are booing and the amount of alcohol that is (or is not) being consumed.
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