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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Stadium, Decker Getting Rave Reviews
7/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
I had a chance to spend a fair amount of time at TCF Bank Stadium Thursday. The University of Minnesota Athletic Communications staff hosted virtually every other collegiate athletic communications office in the state for a one-day professional development workshop, which we concluded with a tour of TCF Bank Stadium.
The Bank or The Vault (I’m still not sure if an official/unofficial nickname has stuck yet ... I like them both) continues to drop jaws and raise eyebrows every time someone visits the facility. With the stadium approaching completion, it becomes more clear to me and the people I’ve walked through it with that it is going to be unrivaled in a number of ways.
TCF Bank Stadium is getting a lot of media coverage these days, including this story that appeared on the front page of ESPN.com’s football area Friday. Meanwhile, the new facility’s predecessor here on campus -- Memorial Stadium -- is being remembered fondly as well. ESPN.com even did an entire blog entry on the site the U of M Library has dedicated to remembering the old days at the Brickhouse.
In other football news, Eric Decker is widely regarded as one of the top wide receivers in college football for the upcoming season. He is also getting a great deal of attention as a potential NFL draft pick. In fact, CBSSports.com has Decker ranked as the No. 3 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 35 player overall coming into the 2009 season.
Of course, Decker could always go the baseball route for a professional career, as well. According to a recent Sid Hartman column in the Star-Tribune, Gopher baseball coach John Anderson says the Cold Spring, Minn. native is game-changer. The legendary Anderson said that, despite the fact he believes there is no way to know how well Decker could do in baseball until he would be able to devote himself to it full time.
In other news regarding Decker, the All-Big Ten wide receiver conducted an online chat with Gopher fans earlier this week. You can read a transcript of that chat by clicking here.
Also, just as I was about to post this blog, I ran across this interview Decker did with ESPN.com blogger Adam Rittenberg Wednesday afternoon following his live chat with Gopher fans.
One other note of interest to pass along. Gopher quarterback Adam Weber took part in the Manning Passing Academy (run by Archie, Peyton, Eli and Cooper Manning) recently. We’re planning to have photos, information and Weber’s reaction from that event here at GopherSports.com next week.
-Andy Seeley
