Minnesota is in a tough spot. The No. 4 Gophers trail No. 13 Green Bay by nine points in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
They haven’t played in March Madness since 2018. Not only that, but the Gophers earned the host spot. They should win. But the pressure is mounting.
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Luckily for them, the Gophers have something Green Bay doesn’t: Blanket Ladies.
During a timeout with 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Blanket Lady began her ritual. She held up a blanket emblazoned with the Minnesota state seal, waving the maroon and gold fabric as she ran, rising from the sideline to the baseline. As she ran, the crowd cheered louder and louder until she returned to her seat.
“I said in the locker room after the game, I think, this is probably the loudest I’ve ever been the whole time I’ve been here,” senior Amaya Battle said. “It’s been so much fun. It’s great to have them around us.”
The pause is over, but the energy hangs in the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run to come back to win and advance to the round of 32 for the first time in eight years.
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“I feel like we just won the NCAA tournament,” Ms. Blanket said the next day.
You can forgive the exaggerated excitement. She is better known for her blanket lady persona in “The Barn,” but she was actually 81-year-old Elvira “Peps” Newman. She is a huge fan and has been hyping Minnesota supporters at home games since 2004. She loved basketball long before the sport regained popularity among women.
Neumann grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minnesota, with a basket hanging on the side of her family’s barn. It was for her four older brothers, but Neumann fell in love with the sport. She practiced shooting every chance she got, even while milking her cows.
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“The milker should stay with the cow for about three minutes,” she said. “Well, I thought I could go out and shoot for three minutes. But sometimes it has to be five or ten minutes. It might not be easy for the cows, but we get more milk.”
Neumann’s passion couldn’t be limited to her family farm. She wanted to play ball for high school, but in the early 1960s, there were no girls’ teams around her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.
“Not to brag,” Newman said with a smile, “but at any rate, I’m better than most boys.”
To stay close to the game, Neumann joined the Pep Club to support boys who refused to compete with her. Then, a conversation with her English teacher changed everything. She told Neumann that a women’s team would travel to the small town of Painesville, just 14 miles down the road, to challenge some local coaches.
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Neumann watched the game and was in awe of the Harlem Chicks, a team made up of black players. Once home, Neumann wrote a letter to the team’s promoter. She wanted to play for the Chicks. Segregation prevented that, so Neumann joined the Texas Cowgirl Tour. From there, her basketball career took off—at least for a woman at the time.
Neumann continued to play basketball until he was 44 and even started his own traveling speaking team called the Arkansas Gems. Neumann attends about 140 games each season, traveling from town to town, sometimes driving 400 miles a day. It’s hard work, but that’s all Neumann knows. It was the only way she could play basketball.
“I love it,” she said. “I absolutely love it.”
Every time Neumann takes the court, she puts on a show, once scoring 108 points in one game. Even at the age of 81, this vitality will not disappear. Neumann still brings it to the court, only now, she’s on the sidelines.
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“I get more attention from being a blanket lady than I do from playing basketball,” Newman said. “It might upset some people because they’re not getting the attention and they’re not getting the money, but I’m the exact opposite. I’m going to support these girls 200 percent.”
The Blanket Lady tradition started in 2006. Newman is the caregiver for her friend and former basketball teammate Vicky Nelson. Since Nelson is in a wheelchair, the two sat courtside in an accessible seating area. The blanket was a gift from two other Minnesota fans who noticed Nelson always put his jacket over his knees to keep warm during games.
Neumann was so moved by the act of kindness that she held up her blanket to the crowd, and when she did, everyone cheered. Ever the performer, Neumann ran to the sideline with cheers. The Blanket Lady was born.
Neumann and Nelson haven’t missed a Gophers home game since 2004, when All-American point guard Lindsay Whalen was a senior. They certainly won’t miss Minnesota’s March Madness second-round game against Mississippi State on Sunday.
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If the energy decreases, Neumann is ready.
She paved the way for the current Gophers team during her speaking tour, and she’s still doing everything she can to help them succeed.
“I’ll be there,” she said. “I’ll be there with a blanket and Gophers gear. I love this team.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Golden Gophers, Women’s College Basketball, Culture
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