And we’re off to the races! UUN #2-24
NOTE: Good news, of sorts. I find I’m able to send the UUN out the normal way for at least another week and maybe until my birthday on September 24 when the new fees begin again. Still, I encourage everyone to bookmark the Unofficial Underground News website, so you can always visit it to read the UUN. That’s also where you go to change your email address or add someone to the list: https://www.unofficialundergroundnews.com/
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The Johnnies take the field prior to the kickoff to start the 2024 season against the Carthage College Firebirds.
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Looking pretty intense and focused, four SJU co-captains prepare for the coin toss last Saturday. From left are senior offensive lineman #54 Grant Peroutka; senior linebacker #3 Cooper Yaggie; senior linebacker #43 Hayden Sanders; and senior quarterback #6 Aaron Syverson.
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Dear Energetic, Expectant Fans —
It’s going to be a thriller this Saturday…the young men of Saint John’s and their coaches have something to prove—to themselves, their fans, and the rest of D-III. So come early, have fun on campus and be in especially loud form, for voluble fan support will keep our lads on top of their game.
Last week we had a preview, albeit against a lower level team in an arguably better conference (CCIW) than ours, with the Jays producing a relentless attack and smothering defense leading to a 49 to Zip win over an over-matched Carthage College team. We, all 8,700 fans, liked what we saw, with the exception of too many penalties, particularly of the 15-yard ilk. We had 11 penalties overall for 122 yards and that just won’t work against a quality team like Wartburg. This is something that took a little of the shine off our win for head coach Gary Fasching ’81 who, on his postgame radio interview, said that this behavior will stop right now, that those guilty of such foolish, undisciplined fouls will be taken out of the game.
Hope that’s true for the kids just don’t seem to be listening to their coaches and each other; it didn’t happen to our leading tight end, junior Joey Gendreau. He squandered a long gain on a pass and run by picking up a 15-yard taunting/poor sportsmanship penalty after the play ended. Previous to that, Joey made a similar long play that was negated by a strange call — a Firebirds defender tore the helmet off one of our linemen and the refs called our guy also at fault resulting in offsetting penalties because he finished off the play without his helmet. Finally, on the third try, Gendreau made his catch and long run and it counted. So I’m sort of glad Gary left him in.
Also in that post-game interview, Gary said he was very pleased with our line on both sides of the ball; he was especially gratified to see the development on the defensive line, since that was a question mark going into the season. He said the hard work those guys have put in, during the off-season and now, has shown itself in their improved speed and strength.
For the game itself, Saint John’s scored six first-half touchdowns and piled up 548 yards of total offense en route to a 49-0 shutout of the Carthage College Firebirds last Saturday (Sept. 7) in Collegeville. Senior quarterback Aaron Syverson ended his day early in the third quarter going 20 of 25 passing for 282 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for a 28-yard score. He became the third quarterback in SJU and MIAC history to reach the milestone of 100 career passing touchdowns in the win, the 100th of head coach Gary Fasching’s career (100-19 record).
Junior wide receiver #2 Dylan Wheeler had himself quite a day against Carthage, receiving three touchdown passes, with nine receptions on the day for 139 yards.
Besides Syverson, one of the offensive stars of the game was junior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler, who finished with 139 receiving yards— including touchdown catches of 5, 36 and 16 yards — as his team built a 42-0 halftime lead. He had eight receptions for 128 yards (nine for the day) and the three scores in the first half alone. Our running game provided some excitement as a total of eight RBs were used in the game, including some powerful runs by these three backs featured in the linked article below: New Faces Leading the Way in SJU’s Rushing Attack — (A St. Cloud Orthopedics feature by Frank Rajkowski)
The Johnnies' defense was pretty darn good as well, limiting the Firebirds to 50 yards of total offense and four first downs in the first half. Carthage had just six yards rushing in the first two quarters and finished with only 61 on the afternoon. SJU also intercepted three passes on the afternoon, including two in the red zone, and the Firebirds went 0-for-7 on third down.
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I strolled into the stadium a good 45 minutes earlier than I usually do and, while watching both teams begin their warm-up exercises, heard this exciting music being blasted over the field. Be sure to turn up your speakers to get the full impact:
Welcome to the Red Kingdom
Tech N9ne - Red Kingdom | Official Audio (2:33 min.)
Aaron Dontez Yates, better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper and singer. He wrote this song for his hometown NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, but we’re also Big Red and it works for us as well. I’m not a rap fan by any eans, but this song felt good and empowering.
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Already looking to be in mid-season form, the nationally-recognized Bennie Dance Team took the field at half time to present one of their energetic, well-choreographed routines.
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Carthage Game Summary/Box Score —
Recap and Box Score
Quick Start Carries SJU to 49-0 Win over Carthage
Cinematic Recap: St. John's defeats Carthage
SJU vs Carthage Highlights: The Mini-Movie [Sept. 7, 2024] (1:28 min.)
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More Scenes From Stearns County —
The Reverend Ralph Goltz, a Lutheran minister in Paynesville, had been summoned to the bedside of Darlene Rettinger, a Catholic woman who was quite ill. As he went up the walk, he met the young daughter of the woman and said to her, "I'm very glad your mother remembered me in her illness. Is your pastor out of town?"
"No," answered the child. "He's at home, but we thought it might be something contagious, and we didn't want to expose him to it."
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All About Wartburg —
Waverly, Iowa, the county seat of Bremer County, is located in northeastern Iowa, has a population of around 10,500, and is about a three-hour drive due south from the Twin Cities. It was founded in the early 1850s after immigrants from the eastern U.S. and the Government chased out different sized Indian populations from the immediate area: Winnebago, Ho-Chunk, Meskwaki, and the Pottawattomi. It soon became flooded with German immigrants.
The sister city of Waverly is the German city of Eisenach, which is famous for the Wartburg castle, where Martin Luther was protected while he translated the New Testament into German and otherwise raised hell with the Reformation. Waverly is the location of Wartburg College, which is named after this castle. If all this sounds that Waverly is heavily German and Lutheran, get this: Waverly may have the highest national per capita concentration of ordained ELCA clergy. If accurate, this would equal a ratio of one clergy member for every 243 people.
The Wartburg College campus in Waverly, IA, is handsome, comfortably compact, and “neat as a pin.”
Wartburg College
Wartburg College, maintained by the Evangelical Lutheran Lutheran Church (ELCA) in America, is a four-year liberal-arts college that opened in 1852 in Saginaw, Michigan by a German native sent to establish a pastor training school for German immigrants. After bouncing around in six locations in Iowa and Illinois from its founding until finally settling down, Wartburg came to Waverly in 1935 and has remained there since.
The college has an enrollment of approximately 1,500 students, fairly well-balanced between men and women. It offers more than 60 areas of study in the liberal arts and professional fields, as well as experiential learning opportunities and individualized majors. Wartburg provides a top-tier educational experience for students from about 40 U.S. states and 60 countries, although most hail from Iowa with some from the surrounding states of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota thrown in. They are known as the Knights and they sport Halloween colors of Orange and Black. It has a long history of rivalry with Norwegian-centered Luther College, about an hour and a half away in Decorah, IA; it celebrates a strong German heritage and a diverse athletics program with multiple national championships.
Wartburg College teams participate as a member of the NCAA’s Division III. The Knights are a longtime member of the American Rivers Conference (ARC) and competes with Iowa-based Buena Vista University, Central College, Coe College, University of Dubuque, Loras College, Luther College, and Simpson College, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, and especially wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball, wrestling, and lacrosse. In the spring of 2012, Wartburg's wrestling and women's track and field teams led Wartburg to become the only school in NCAA history to win two national team championships on the same day. Wartburg has had an individual or team national champion for 28 straight years including Knights wrestling winning the 2022 NCAA DIII Wrestling Tournament. The men's wrestling team has a NCAA DIII leading 15 NCAA national titles.
Knights Football
The Warthogs won its second-consecutive conference championship (19th overall) with a perfect 8-0 record in the ARC and reached the NCAA semifinals with a 13-1 record for the second year in a row in 2023. The Knights had a school-record six named All-American, a school-record 10 named All-Region and repeated two ARC Most Valuable Players last fall. Fourth-year head coach Chris Winter earned ARC Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight year and took over the program in the summer of 2021 after serving on the coaching staff for 16 years. A 2004 Wartburg graduate, Winter was a four-year member of the football and baseball teams, and was a 2017 Wartburg Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.
This year’s team is the most senior- and fifth-year-manned squad I’ve ever seen (Thank you, COVID-19). In fact, of the 22 starters on Offense and Defense, only three are juniors…no sophs or frosh need apply. Last week, in its first non-conference contest against middle-ranked Monmouth (IL), the Warthogs triumphed in a 38-24 win. I’ve heard from a couple readers who live-streamed the game that Wartburg looked good to very good, exhibiting fine ball control (38:05 min.). And why shouldn’t they shine against a Concordia- or Augsburg- or UW-Eau Claire-like competitor?
Nevertheless, the Warthogs have a roster of experienced studs who will provide perhaps the greatest challenge to the Johnnies until we make the playoffs, assuming that’s where we’ll end up. While on offense, the Knights are capably led by senior QB #7 Carter Markham who will be passing to two experienced WRs: senior #10 Carter Henry and fifty-year #4 Drake George. Starting RB and punt returner is fifth-year #21 Ben Bryant. The starting OL is somewhat bulky, averaging 278 lbs., which is, incidentally, the identical average of our starting OL. The Warthogs do have a returning All-American Left Tackle, senior #77 Tucker Kinney, and those who remember how valuable a capable Left Tackle is (read Ben Bartch) will see some good pass protection from that quarter. I have no doubt the Knights will score some points on us. The key, of course, is how much.
Defensively, standouts include: senior All-American safety #14 Parker Rochford; fifth-year linebacker #3 Nate Link; junior linebacker #33 Keenan Tyler; defensive linemen fifth-year # 92 Justin Grieff (a great name for their leading tackler for loss…but not as colorful as our linebacker Jake Schwinghammer) and senior #99 Christian Nunley; and fifth-year DB #5 Kaleb Lamphier. Their DL averages 250 lbs., while we are close at 244. Is it just me, or is there a distinct lack of German names on this starting roster? Grieff, maybe.
So, I am thinking that we are quite well matched, despite the Warthogs polling at #5 while we are now up to only #12. This early in the season those rankings don’t mean much. If I were the Warthogs I certainly would not come into Collegeville thinking about another cake walk. If they win, they will have earned it and will be nursing Big Red-induced aches and pains on the five-hour bus trip back home. But here’s why I don’t think they will win. First, home field; Second, the motivating, chip-on-our-shoulders “revenge for last year” attitude of our guys; Third, the number of upsets by teams ranked lower than we are over highly-ranked first game opponents; Fourth, our explosive and becoming more balanced offensive attack; Fifth, our greatly improved OL and DL play; and Sixth, while not a cupcake necessarily but certainly not in the same league with Wartburg, Monmouth nonetheless scored 24 points on these guys…and the Scots are not anything like the Johnnies, meaning we will score on the Warthogs, maybe big time.
Bottom line: We’re gonna win — IF we don’t self-destruct with those maddening, damaging and unnecessary 15-yard late hit/personal foul penalties; as well as avoid turning the ball over through fumbles and interceptions as we have done a couple times recently in our two losses to the Warthogs down in Waverly during the playoffs. We don’t fear these guys — “bleep” their #5 ranking.
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Education Majors’ Department, Vocabulary Section —
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_tdGqYRwHo/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA%3D%3D
(Compliments of Martha LeDuc, Sierra Madre, CA)
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2024 Football Schedule —
(All games begin at 1 p.m.)
Sep. 7 Carthage (WI) Collegeville W 49-0
Sep. 14 Wartburg (IA) Collegeville
Sep. 21 Bye —
Sep. 28 Bethel Arden Hills
Oct. 5 Augsburg Collegeville (Homecoming)
Oct. 12 Concordia Moorhead
Oct. 19 Carleton Northfield
Oct. 26 Gustavus Collegeville (Family Weekend)
Nov. 2 St. Scholastica Duluth
Nov. 9 St. Olaf Collegeville
Nov. 16 MIAC Week Collegeville
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Johnnie Radio Network —
Saturday’s game can be heard live on WBHR-660 AM across central Minnesota, and KDIZ-1570 AM in the Twin Cities. Mark Lewandowski, Bryan Backes ’87, and Mike Carr ’77 will call all the action, beginning with Johnnies Magazine at 11 a.m. and the pre-game show at 11:30 a.m. The game will also be broadcast on the SJU football website via Stretch Internet. This is the 26th season SJU football can be heard worldwide over the internet (660wbhr.com).
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Listening via the Internet: https://www.660wbhr.com/wbhr-st-johns-sports
Viewing via live streaming: https://miacsportsnetwork.com/saintjohns/ (Requires a purchase.)
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Battle Between The Sexes, A Continuing Series —
A man came home from work one day to find his wife sitting on the front porch with her bags packed. He asked her where she was going, and she replied, "I'm going to Las Vegas."
He questioned her as to why and she told him, "I just found out that I can make $400 a night doing what I give you for free.”
He pondered for a while, went into the house, packed his bags and returned to the porch with his wife. She said, "And just where do you think you are going?"
He replied, "I'm going too."
"Why?" she asked.
He said, "I want to see how you're going to live on $800 a year."
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Around The MIAC —
Week 1 Results — September 7
Carleton at Pomona-Pitzer — (Knights get beat 28-12. Too Bad.)
Valley City State at Augsburg — (Auggies lost 24-14 - Pretty Bad!)
UW-Eau Claire at Concordia — (Cobbers beat at home 21-10. Real Bad!)
#23 Whitworth at Gustavus — (Holy Moly! GAC lost 40-7. Worse!)
I said last week that we have to win these non-conference games to rebuild the reputation of the MIAC nationally. Guess what? It’s not happening. Eau Claire is picked 7th in the 8-team WIAC…and the Gusties? My word…what impotence! I believe they were picked third in the MIAC. Looks like we’re morphing into the UMAC.
And now for the other MIAC games:
Macalester at UM-Morris — (More of the same, with Morris up 17-16.)
Hamline at Crown College — (The Pipers clobbered poor Crown 35-14.)
St. Olaf at Northwestern (MN) — (Oles win over UNW 39-21.)
Carthage College at St. John’s — (the Jays skipped over the unknown Firebirds 49-0.)
St. Scholastica and Bethel did not play.
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Other Game of Interest —
Northern Iowa 17 - St. Thomas 10 — By gum! You have to hand it to Glenn and his boys…they almost did it, losing in the last few minutes after leading most of the game. It was a huge turnaround from the previous week when UST was shockingly upset at home by a tiny D-II school. The Tommies put it together this past week and played a fine game against a much better foe. Besides the admirable effort in the close loss, also at home, the only other thing I can comment on is that UST refused to list attendance. It must have been embarrassingly low for them to do that; the game was televised on pay-by-view locally, so that may have contributed. How the Tommies love D-I football and support their team.
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Two Tommie linemen are looking at a clothing catalog admiring the models. One says to the other, “Have you seen the gorgeous girls in this catalog?”
“Yeah! They’re gorgeous! And look at the prices! At this price, I’m gonna get me one.”
A few weeks later after practice, the one Tommie asks his friend, “Did you ever get that girl you ordered from the catalog?”
“No, but it shouldn’t be long now. I got her clothes yesterday!”
(Courtesy of Conrad Macina, Landing, NJ)
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Upcoming MIAC Games, Week 2 — Sept. 14
Rockford Univ. (IL) at St. Scholastica— (Hard to pick a winner here.)
Concordia at Pacific Lutheran — (The Cobbers need to pick it up.)
Luther College (IA) at St. Olaf — (Probably the Oles…)
Bethel at Northwest Univ. (MN) — (They are neighbors in Arden Hills, so hope the Royals show some mercy, compassion, and good sportsmanship.)
UM-Morris at Hamline — (Go Pipers.)
Martin Luther (MN) at Macalester — (How good/bad is Mac? We’ll see soon.)
Wartburg College at St. John’s — (A huge game for the Johnnies.)
Carleton and Augsburg are not playing.
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Scenes At The Tailgate —
Students and fans tailgate before the Johnnie football home opener in Collegeville on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (image courtesy of Stephanie Dickrell -St. Cloud LIVE.)
Taking a selfie at the tailgate with John Sipe, Sr. ’61/’65 is Bryan Olson ’89, a good friend of
John Sipe, Jr. ’89 of southern California. Brian works for American Express and lives in Victoria, MN.
Prior to the tailgate festivities, about twenty family and friends of Brad “Brice” Johannes ’90 gathered at the Abbey Alumni Cemetery for his inurnment. Brice was a loyal, generous, appreciative Johnnie whose unassuming kind presence, especially at the tailgates, will be greatly missed. Pictured here are Dusty Wagner ’83 and Cemetery Director Josie Stang holding the ceremonial Rat Flag while Brother David-Paul Lange, OSB leads a prayer and blessing service before Brice’s urn is placed in the Columbarium. (Photo courtesy of John Sipe ’61/’65.)
Looking behind the exhilaration on the field, see part of the huge opening day crowd ready to cheer
on their Johnnies to another victory.
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Top Ten Reasons You’ve Had Too Much Coffee —
- You’ve worn out the handle on your favorite coffee mug
- You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee
- Instant coffee takes too long
- You name your cats "Cream" and "Sugar"
- The Taster's Choice couple wants to adopt you
- Starbuck’s owns the mortgage on your house
- You’re so wired you pick up FM radio
- Your lips are permanently stuck in the sipping position
- Your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup
- You want to be cremated just so you can spend eternity in a coffee can
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Quote of the Week —
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not quite sure.
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More Scenes from Stearns County —
Father John Hinnenkamp assured his congregation from the pulpit at last Sunday’s Mass he was their servant and that they should feel free to call him anytime they had a problem.
That night the pastor's phone rang at 3 a.m. On the other end was dear elderly Mabel Erhnreiter who said, "Fadda, I can't sleep."
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Mabel" he comforted her. "But what can I do about it?" the pastor asked.
She sweetly replied, "Preach to me a while, Fadda."
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2024 D3football.com Week 1 Top 25 —
The first few weeks of a new football season can get fairly chaotic in the Top 25 poll as things shake out in Division III. For instance, Wartburg dropped a point to #5 after a solid (but not solid enough) win over a lower-echelon, unranked Monmouth, IL team. But the first real surprise was former, heavily-Minnesota-manned #17 UW-River Falls jumping up to #8 after its narrow upset win over former #7 Alma, which dropped precipitately to #15. Our heretofore under-appreciated St. John’s popped up two points to #12 following our convincing win over Carthage College. And, in another WIAC Week 1 upset, unranked (but receiving votes) UW-Oshkosh, now #17, really handcuffed former #9 Wheaton, which dropped ten points to #19. Perhaps the most-startling result had #13 Trinity (TX) falling all the way out of the Top 25 after its attention-getting loss to unranked Texas Lutheran. Stay tuned for next week when we will no doubt see some more list juggling, hopefully after SJU takes it to the Warthogs.
https://www.d3football.com/top25/2024/week1
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Most Bizarre Music Video of the Week —
Harry Potter - Redneck Wizard
Harry Potter - Redneck Wizard (Official Music Video) (2:00 min.)
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From Our Readers —
From Terry Kotnour ’64, our man in New Yawk City —
The new format proves you can teach an old dog new tricks...like I was able to hook-up my printer to my new internet provider with tech support from younger, more agile friends...there is hope !! — Terry
(Editor’s Reply: Fortunately I live across the street from an elementary school, so I may find a Fourth Grader who will consult for milk and cookies after school.)
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From Colleen Lilly ’81, Edina, MN —
I did not know that Alex Larson ’23 was joining the coaching staff. Here’s the article. — Colleen
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From John Diffley ’64, Stewartville, MN —
I see by this AM’s Strib that “St. Thomas is looking to bounce back.“ Maybe they should start with fan support. Doesn’t that school have an alumni association that could raise those numbers? Apparently, all they do is write fat checks to the school and it doesn’t go beyond that. I wonder if Caruso isn’t wishing he had an “SJU opponent” in the season that would at least set the damn school on fire for one game. Well, as you stated, so goes life in D-1. — John
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From Joe Wentzell ’76, New Brighton, MN
Thank you so much for this newsletter. I am sure it is second to none. Your hours of work on this must be more than I can count. We all truly look forward to it each week. — Joe
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From Joe Mucha ’66, Golden Valley, MN —
Bob, every season is new. The ‘65 team was a prime example. We lost three games our Junior year: Hamline, Gustavus and Concordia. There were three returning all-Americans on that team—Hardy Reyerson, Jack Hickey, and Rich Froehle who were seniors. Hamline and Gustavus were heartbreakers. Injuries to Mike Collins, Fred Cremer and Reyerson in the first quarter sunk us against Concordia.
The next year we’re undefeated and National Champs. We were picked to finish 4th in the MIAC. Team chemistry, team leadership on the field, great coaching and luck were all factors that played into the turnaround. We did not dwell on previous season, we just worried about winning the next game!
That what this year’s team needs to focus on! Last year was last year. I hope this team finds that formula. Big challenge next week. We can’t keep making those same mental mistakes on defense (late hits, personal fouls)…that’s not Johnnie football. Thanks for being a great Johnnie football fan. — Joe
(Editor’s Comment: Although I graduated the spring before that ’64 fall season I hadn’t yet reported to the Navy and so I took in the Hamline game. I still remember my shock at Hamline beating us in St. Paul while I stood on the sideline and watched stunned. That was the first of three defeats at the hands of Hamline that I was present for over the years, and I recall them all — two at Hamline and one at SJU. By the way, Joe Mucha played on two National Championship teams— as a sophomore on the ’63 team, and as a senior on the ’65 squad. Like the old E.F. Hutton commercial said — “When Joe talks, I listen.”)
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From Gary Kordosky ’64, Tucson, AZ —
It is 12:39 am and I have just finished the first 2024 edition of the UUN. A faithful fan I am. Hope to see you at the Wartburg game. — Gary
(Editor’s Note: Based on how many similar comments about attending the Wartburg game I’ve seen or heard about, I’m thinking there is going to be a giant crowd this Saturday, probably pushing 10 to 11 thousand. Sure hope the burger, popcorn and especially water people are prepared for the demand.)
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From Bernie Weber SJP '63/SJU ’67, Minnetonka, MN —
Wick, Loved your latest epistle. You are so insightful. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from yesterday’s [Carthage] contest. I watched the Wartburg game last night. They are very good but very beatable. Could be a very fun season. — Bernie
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From C.J. Lyngen ’92, Rogers, MN —
Hi Bob, I missed you on Saturday but nonetheless it was another great day in Collegeville. Lucy is running cross country this season for the Bennies this season as a grad student at the SOT. More importantly, today September 8th, marks Lucy’s Five Year Anniversary of being cancer free.
Thank you for everything you do - this is the highlight of everyone’s week Go Johnnies! — C.J.
From left: C.J. Lyngen ’92; Lucy Lyngen ’24 / SOT ’26; Tricia Anderson Lyngen ‘92 / SOT ’99.
(Editor’s Reminder: Will all readers, when being photographed for the UUN, please remember to remove their sunglasses so we can bask in their beaming countenances.)
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From Sister Lois Wedl, OSB, ’53, St. Benedict’s Monastery —
Gratitude is universal spiritual wisdom, and it is sufficient.
— Terry Patten
Let's start today breathing in moments of gratitude. — S Lois
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From Peter and Lynn (Youso) SJP ’87 Bormann, Monticello, MN —
Hi Rob, Many thanks for your continued dedication in writing and publishing the UUN this year. I cannot tell you how grateful we all are for you, and we look forward to reading every word! Thought you might enjoy the attached graphic, as we are all growing older each day! Looking very forward to a great game this weekend. Go Johnnies! God bless,
— Peter and Lynn
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Chris Manning '89 Bikes to Campus from Colorado for Reunion!
From Minturn, CO to Collegeville MN, Chris Manning '89 conquered 1,082 miles on his bike to join us for reunion festivities at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University! Hear his story in the video below:
Chris Manning '89 Bikes to Campus from Colorado for Reunion! (58 sec.)
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Wicker’s Health Rant —
Okay, you readers who follow the Rant know that I’m big on Vitamin D, whether by natural exposure to the sun, or by supplementation by Vitamin D3, or both. You hear this message from me at least once every year.
Briefly, I’ll say it again: most Americans, especially those of us who live in northern climes, have a Vitamin D deficiency. We all need to have it checked and work ourselves up to a level between 40 and 70 ng/mL. Until you get your simple 25 Hydroxy D blood test, you can safely take between 2,000 and 4,000 iu of D3 a day, with older, darker-skinned and/or overweight people needing the higher amount. After you are tested, you may find that you’ll need to take more D3 for a few months to catch up, before returning to a maintenance amount.
But our Rant is not only about Vitamin D this issue. Today let’s chat about the importance of Magnesium. We Americans also have a deficit of that, too, along with Zinc and Iodine, thanks to our poor diets and the depletion of crucial minerals from our farming soils due to monoculture food production. (Here’s another plug to choose organic vegetables and fruits whenever possible.)
“Magnesium is a mineral that’s essential for human health, playing a crucial role in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in your body. Magnesium is necessary for muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control and protein synthesis. It also supports a healthy immune system, keeps your heartbeat steady and plays a role in bone health. Unfortunately, magnesium is also one of the most prevalent micronutrient deficiencies.”
I’ve linked a most instructive .pdf by Dr. Joseph Mercola in which he explains the benefits and importance of adequate amounts magnesium, as well as the problems from deficits; please look it over when you have the time: https://media.mercola.com/ImageServer/Public/2024/August/PDF/magnesium-aging-and-disease-pdf.pdf
I also came across this article, which is associated reading:
https://www.health.com/medications-not-to-mix-with-magnesium-8687830
I’ve found that I need to take magnesium, as well as Vitamin K2, with my D3 supplementation in order for the Vitamin D to be fully and correctly absorbed in my body. Unfortunately many conventional doctors are not up-to-date on all this, so one needs to check this information from other, more authoritative sources.
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The Final Word —
Fallen
An old priest got sick of everyone in his parish confessing adultery. During one Sunday's sermon he told them, "If one more person confesses to adultery, I'll quit!"
Since everyone liked him, they decided to use a code word: "fallen." From then on, anyone who had committed adultery said they had "fallen." This satisfied the old priest and the parishioners, and everything was fine for years, until finally the old priest passed away at the ripe old age of 93.
Shortly after the new young priest settled in, he paid a call on the mayor. The priest was quite concerned. "You have to do something about the sidewalks in this town, Mayor. You can't believe how many people come into the confessional talking about having fallen!"
The mayor started to laugh, realizing that no one had explained their code word to the new priest.
But before the mayor could explain, the priest shook his finger at the mayor and said, "I don't know why you're laughing…your wife fell three times this week.”
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Here we are at the end of this issue. Thanks for reading this far.
There will be a heckuva a crowd coming this Saturday to see the high probability of an upset over the Wartburg Knights; all I can say is all Red fans better be hollering :
Barbecue the Warthogs!
(Or something like that.)
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Submitted by R.L. Wicker ’60/’64
2035 Eleanor Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55116
theowick@aol.com; home: 651-699-4697
Website: Unofficial Underground News