Despite the worst fears of my ultra UND athletics loving parents, I went to a Gopher game and sat in the student section at the University of Minnesota. On top of having a great time, I also learned quite a bit about what separates the Gopher and UND hockey cultures.

My parents have had season hockey tickets to UND games since I was born, so my perspective of college hockey has an extremely disproportionate lean telling me that how UND does this as the norm.

Walking into Mariucci Arena last Friday to see the Gophers play Notre Dame, I first noticed how small and simple the venue is compared to The Ralph. And since I was used to 12,000-seat attendance, leather seats and broadcast television style presentation of college hockey games, I had to be told that the games at Mariucci are actually high quality happenings. It’s just that nothing should be compared to The Ralph if you want an accurate judge of what the place is supposed to look like.

I’m talking in terms of size.

When it comes to having a nice game atmosphere, I actually give the prize to the U of M.

After the initial surprise of what my privileged used-to-fanciness self wanted to call the “rustic” conditions of the arena, I realized how much nicer it really was.

For starters, the student section seemed a far nicer place to be than the one at The Ralph — at least from what I gathered at this game.

It was smaller than ours, and not all the seats were filled, but it had something I’ve not felt as often at UND games: Genuineness.

What I mean is that it really felt like the students were there to have a good time watching hockey together. At UND games, the overwhelming size of the arena and mass of the crowd adds an understood vibe of, “We’re all here because look how exciting it is to be at a UND game; there are lasers and light shows and loud music and tons of people might see my face on the big screen if it lands on me.”

At Mariucci, there’s none of that. If you’re truly at a game to watch the game, then all that jazz won’t distract you.

But if that’s you, you know you’re the odd ball out. Because — just look around — thousands of people are pumping their arms up and down in time to a Franz Ferdinand song they don’t know, fireworks are exploding, fog horns are blowing, commentators are treating your classmates like celebrities and, with way too much booze for a hockey game, your classmates are treating themselves like crap.

To chill in the student section at the Gopher game, sing along with the chants printed in the free programs and high-five friendly randoms standing nearby was an unexpected and welcome breath of sanity the likes of which I had never known at The Ralph.

It doesn’t mean The Ralph is doing anything wrong or that you can’t have fun at a UND game — I do every time I go.

But if I had the choice between sitting in the UND student section next weekend or driving to Minneapolis, sleeping on my buddy’s couch and paying the non-student price to see a Gopher game, I’d go fill up my car with gas right now.

Will Beaton is the edit-in-chief of The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].