“The blog is about hockey, but its theme is school spirit. If you look at the blog any day, you’re just as likely to see shots of the mascot or the band or students cheering or alumni having a good time as you are a hockey player,” says Damien Goddard, creator of the LetsGoDU blog. Photo: Andrew Fielding
Damien Goddard may be part rebel, but he’s all Pioneer.
The University of Denver graduate, blogger and DU hockey uber-fan doesn’t always toe the school line, but his devotion to the hockey program, the fans, and ultimately to DU school spirit is unquestionable.
Goddard, 46, graduated with a business management degree in 1988 and works in his family’s Houston business producing patented plastic widgets for industrial application. But in his spare time, the lifelong bachelor pores over Pioneer-hockey-related news stories, hunting up tidbits from sources around the country for his popular blog, LetsGoDU, and promotes activities that are aimed at pumping up fans and students.
“The blog’s entire mission — and it’s always been the mission — is school spirit,” Goddard says. “The blog is about hockey, but its theme is school spirit. If you look at the blog any day, you’re just as likely to see shots of the mascot or the band or students cheering or alumni having a good time as you are a hockey player.”
The blog got its start in 2005 and quickly went from 30 hits a day to 1,000 visitors daily during the season. It’s a mixture of articles written by Goddard and Gene Lake (BA political science ’78), sprinkled with links to stories others have written in newspapers and on websites around the country. Goddard leans heavily on DU’s student paper, the Clarion, for contributions and has built a strong relationship with editors there.
Goddard’s efforts to build school spirit go back to his college days, a time he refers to as “the best five years of my life.” It started in 1986 when, disappointed by lagging student attendance at games in the old arena, he created what came to be known as the “Bleacher Creatures.” With promotions and cheers and signs, he says he helped build student attendance from about 50 sitting in the student balcony per game to 500. More recently, he helped resurrect the pioneer character Boone as DU’s unofficial student and alumni mascot.
“Schools that have high school spirit have very high alumni support, like Notre Dame,” he says. “We’ve always felt that DU can and should have that kind of school spirit.”
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