As any true sports fan knows, half the fun of being a sports fan is interacting with other sports fans.

This fact of human nature goes a long way toward explaining why an online community called GopherHole is nearing its 30th anniversary. Launched in 1996 when founder Jason Groth learned the rudiments of website building from a how-to guide, GopherHole is a lively place where fans share thoughts about all things Gopher sports. The site, which features articles by volunteer contributing writers and a busy message board, has about 100,000 hits per day.

“We call it the longest-running Gopher website that’s been 100 percent free for fans,” says Nadine Babu (B.S.B. ’00, M.B.A. ’11), who co-owns the site with Rob Litt, a corporate communications professional. “We try to give fans as much information as they can take in, because the beat reporters and the big media only have so much room in their articles.”

While Litt handles the business aspects of GopherHole, Babu is its energetic public face. A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Babu played soccer and tennis in high school, but when she came to the U of M in the late 1990s, she focused on being a fan. She joined an effort to encourage the presence of students at Williams Arena (a.k.a. “The Barn”) through The Barnyard, a section where students are encouraged to wear silly costumes and be noisy.

After graduating with a degree in marketing in 2000, Babu worked in sales. She joined GopherHole as a side gig in 2007, when Groth transferred it to her and Litt when he moved east. In 2011, she earned her MBA from the Carlson School of Management, and then launched her own company, Babu Social Networks, which she continues to operate.

Babu says GopherHole has “seven or eight” regular contributing writers, who include students and nonstudents, and their work takes a variety of forms. They include postgame stories, aided by the full locker-room press access that the Athletic Department provides to GopherHole; interview pieces; and profiles of potential recruits. Writers also produce analytical pieces about, say, a team’s pre-season chances of success. They also sometimes break stories: GopherHole was the first to report the imminent firing of head basketball coach Tubby Smith in 2013 after Babu caught wind of it.

One writer who’s developed a specific schtick is Noel Thompson, who often contacts beat sportswriters who cover an upcoming opponent and asks them five or six questions. “I’ll say, ‘Hey, give us some insight. What’s going well? What isn’t going well?’”

Thompson, a pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Visalia, California, has maintained his passion for Gopher sports since moving west in 2010. He followed GopherHole for several years, and in September 2015 he became more intimately involved with it. That was when his father, Noel Thompson Sr., died unexpectedly and Noel and his wife, Rachel, returned to Minnesota for the funeral.

“When my dad passed away, I flew back for two weeks to help handle arrangements because I’m the oldest (sibling),” he recalls. “Then, when I was there with my family, my wife says, ‘Hey, go have some fun with your guy friends, go to a Gophers game, they’re playing this Saturday.’”

On a whim, he turned to Twitter, asking for ideas. Shortly after, he received a private message from Babu, who invited him to join her group for the game, including a tailgate gathering, free of charge.

“It was just so kind,” Thompson recalls. “Sure enough, I went to Nadine’s tailgate and met her for the first time. Fast forward a couple of years, and one day on Twitter she tweeted, ‘Does anybody want to write for GopherHole?’” Thompson gave it a shot, loved it, and has been a regular contributor ever since.

Another regular is Jared Hines, a Rogers, Minnesota-based commercial photographer with a passion for football. Like Thompson, he saw a tweet seeking writers and, having done some sports writing in high school, gave it a shot. He writes about football, but his unique skill is photography and he takes a somewhat different approach because GopherHole is a fan site.

“I try to focus on the game, but I focus a little bit more on some of the fan experiences,” he says. “If I see a group of people with shirts that match or a really cool sign, I’ll try to get them to smile for me and get that online.”

For true U of M sports fans who want to interact with kindred spirits, GopherHole is a passionate, grassroots community that’s been providing them with an outlet for three decades running.

“Unlike the beat reporters, we can be a little more fan-biased,” Babu says. “I mean, even when we’re posting about a game, we’ll be excited. We’ll be into it. I think that’s what sets us apart.”

If you liked this story, Minnesota Alumni magazine publishes four times a year highlighting U of M alumni and University activities. Early access to stories and a print subscription are benefits of being an Alumni Association member. Join here to receive a printed copy at home.