This is in response to Joe Woodside’s Dec. 2 letter about Gopher football in the Metrodome (“Use stadium money for scholarships”). Yes, the Dome is about three football fields from campus, but in reality that is from a far corner of campus.

I have a feeling that Woodside has never been to a school with an on-campus stadium. I attended Iowa State before I came here, and they have an on-campus, outdoor stadium. Believe me, it is a totally different atmosphere.

People have to walk at most three blocks to get to the stadium. You can see the stadium from everywhere on campus; it stays in people’s minds. On-site tailgating is another key factor to attracting fans. There are numerous reasons why having an on-campus stadium attracts more people.

If you were coming out of high school, would you rather play in a stadium that was filled with rowdy college kids in the snow or in a big empty bubble? The fact that we have this kind of a stadium will keep us from building and having the truly great teams.

Woodside suggests to just “(g)et winning teams year after year” in order to build spirit for Gopher football. Has he not noticed that we are going to a bowl this year? We have winning teams, yet people stay away.