Of Traitors

So I had a really weird experience this weekend.

As you may or may not now, I and the lovely @mplstravelkitty have season tickets for Minnesota Gophers football. We've been doing this for years now (i.e. too many to remember) and we almost always have a great time. I was especially looking forward to this weekend because while it wasn't the first home game it was the first game we had the chance to go to. As usual, we got there about an hour early, grabbed a brat and a beer and watched the marching band do their thing out in front of the Metrodome.

Inside we had a great time as usual. Of course, watching football inside the Metrodome is a somewhat sterile football experience, but we always make the best of it and we do have some pretty decent seats. We won the game rather handily and afterwards @mplstravelkitty was hungry. (I should have been hungry, but a couple of beers, a brat, and a hotdog took care of that!) so, we called up @rachel872 and arranged to meet at the Loop Bar.

Little did I know, I was walking into enemy territory!

Now, I suppose a little background is in order. I was born in Iowa and grew up huge Iowa Hawkeye fan. Watching the Hawkeyes play football was a fall ritual that was rarely missed. At the time, I never gave much thought to the Gophers. The Gophers were that team who were always last on the schedule and who the Hawks lost to when they were going to a bowl game and beat it any other time.

Fast forward to 1989. College! In (gasp!) Minnesota! Minnesota, I realized, was a pretty cool place. @mplstravelkitty and I left for a short time but soon came back and we've been here ever since. Minnesota is my home and I've never looked back.

Where was I? Enemy territory.

Did you know that the Loop Bar is the place in Minneapolis where Minnesota Iowa Hawkeye fans congregate every Saturday to drink beer and watch the Hawkeyes play football?

Me either.

It only took me about two seconds to realize I was in enemy territory. Black and gold was everywhere and while I was wearing a gold shirt the maroon stuck out like a sore thumb.

@mplstravelkitty and @rachel872 decided to sit outside. Good idea, I thought. I knew there were a couple people out there but it wasn't as bad as inside. I had taken a little good-natured ribbing on the way in and I knew there would be more, but hey, I was from Iowa, right? I had even told them that on the way in. Everything would be OK.

I have never heard the word traitor so many times in so short a span of time in my life!

It was all, ha ha, we don't mean anything, but still, they kind of did mean it and it really got under my skin. I mean, it's not like I became a Michigan or Nebraska fan or something! Even so, my punishment was relentless, and it reminded me of why I left. There is nothing in Iowa. I lived there for 18 years, I know! That's why Iowa Hawkeye fans are so rabid. That's why they all travel to bowl games and why Iowa will get bowl games when they barely deserve it. The fans are crazy for their team!

So, am I a traitor? No, I just let go of the past.

There were good times in Iowa, times I will always cherish, and yes, more than a few of those involve Iowa Hawkeye football, but I've moved on. Why let all of that hold you down and keep you from enjoying something new?

Maybe those Iowa fans at the Loop Bar should give that a try sometime. They might be surprised by what they find!