Hotta Dog! We’re on our way. UUN #3-24
Remember: Next week you'll find the UUN either late Thursdays or early Fridays at https://www.unofficialundergroundnews.com/
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Dear Excited Red Fans —
(The following contains photos, information and some writing by Andy Rennecke, St. Cloud LIVE)
What a day! In the immortal words of Mortimer Snerd, “Who woulda thunk it!?!”
The underdog Johnnies startled their foes with a well-balanced attack; having said that, it really was the Defense that stood out by shutting down this D-III powerhouse boasting a veteran team that has gone deep into the NCAA playoffs the past two seasons. Last Saturday, against fifth-ranked Wartburg, they made all the difference in the then #12, now #6 Johnnies' dominating 35-13 victory in front of 9,529 fans at Clemens Stadium.
SJU finished with an eye-popping 10 sacks and held the Knights to 115 second-half yards in the win. It was the most sacks that the Johnnies have had in a game since 2005 when they had 13 in a first-round playoff win over Monmouth.
It’s difficult to single out just one person, although both D3football.com and the MIAC attempted to do so by naming senior linebacker #43 Hayden Sanders as Defensive Player of the Week for his 2.5 sacks and ten tackles. St. John's head coach Gary Fasching ’81 heaped praise on Sanders after the game and called him a strong candidate for All-American honors this season.
"To get ten sacks — and get the kind of pressure we did today — that says a lot about how much our defensive line has improved," Fasching said. "But Hayden Sanders played a hell of a football game today. He had a great year last year, but he's even better this year. I can't imagine you're going to see a lot of linebackers better than him this season."
Senior linebacker Hayden Sanders (43) led SJU with 10 tackles, including four for a loss and 2.5 sacks in the win. Here he is shown responding in joy after one of his outstanding defensive plays. (image courtesy of Josh Johnston).
But it wasn’t a one-man show by any means: senior defensive end #97 Zack Frank also had 2.5 sacks and seven tackles and senior defensive lineman #90 Landon Gallagher added another two sacks. Sophomore linebacker #23 Aiden McMahon added nine tackles and two sacks. And senior linebacker #3 Cooper Yaggie added a sack and six tackles. Senior linebacker #32 Jake Schwinghammer started the game although he suffered a shoulder injury in the season-opener against Carthage. The injury didn't seem to bother him, since he finished with six tackles.
"It felt like we were living in their backfield. Everyone was getting a piece of the pie. It was just a fun day all around. We've improved a lot from last season. It's basically the same group of guys. We knew we had to be better this year,” said Frank about the day.
Senior defensive end #97 Zach Frank fights his way past an offensive lineman in the second half last Saturday to tackle Wartburg running back #31 Joey Anderson for no gain. (Photo by Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE)
Things didn’t exactly start out all rosy, however. The Warthogs took the opening kick-off and scored with a methodical precision. The Knights went on a 10-play, 71-yard drive to open the game that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0. “Uh-oh,” some of us thought, remembering the trauma of Whitewater or even Gustavus last year.
"We started out slow in that first drive," Sanders said. "We started to figure out what matchups we could exploit up front. The defensive line has really pieced everything together. We're at that spot right now where one guy can succeed because the other ten are doing their job."
The Johnnies (now 2-0) responded with their own well-tuned opening drive that ended with senior quarterback #6 Aaron Syverson finding senior running back #28 Quinn Christoffersen for a 3-yard TD pass.
Wartburg (1-1) had success moving the ball on the last drive of the first quarter and could have gone ahead by a touchdown, but SJU senior cornerback #10 Mateo Cisneros broke up a would-be touchdown pass in the end zone on a 4th-and-13 with 1:36 to play.
Senior defensive back #10 Mateo Cisneros breaks up a pass to Wartburg wide receiver #10 Carter Henry in the first half saving a touchdown. (Photo by Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE)
The Johnnies got the ball back and Syverson and company took advantage. St. John's went on a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive that lasted 5:11 and ended with a 14-yard TD pass from Syverson to sophomore wide receiver #4 Riley Schwellenbach. That gave the Johnnies a 14-7 lead they wouldn't give up.
And that's when the defense amped up the pressure. The Knights couldn't establish anything on the ground, finishing with nine yards rushing.
Senior quarterback #6 Aaron Syverson hands the ball to senior running back #28 Quinn Christoffersen against Wartburg in the first half. As for his aerial game Syverson finished 34-of-38 passing for 324 yards and three touchdowns in the Johnnies' 35-13 win over No. 5 Wartburg on Sept. 14. He completed his first 10 passes and 18 of his first 19 throws. (Photo by Jason Wachter / For St. Cloud LIVE)
Syverson was his typical self, finishing 34-of-38 passing for 324 yards and three TDs and also being named Offensive Player of the Week by both D3football.com and the MIAC, so, along with Sanders, SJU got a two-fer from these outside organizations. One of those touchdown passes involved a little Johnnie magic. Syverson intended a pass for junior wide receiver #2 Dylan Wheeler in the end zone with 7:23 left in the third, but it bounced off Wheeler and into the hands of senior wideout #1 Marselio Mendez for a 4-yard incredible (read lucky) touchdown. That put the Johnnies up 21-7 with all signs pointing to it being their day. Wanna see the miracle catch? The Warthog team and fans didn’t like the TD call, but the ref was sitting right on top of it. Go here:
St. John's found success on the ground behind sophomore running back #33 Will Blakey in the second half. The Portland State transfer didn't touch the ball in the first half. But the Johnnies went to him to grind out the clock in the second half and he finished with 10 carries for 56 yards and two TDs. Whenever Will’s in the game there is an aura of excitement and expectation, since he seems to bring the offense up to a bit higher level…what can I say? It’s a gift. The Johnnies finished with 77 yards rushing and 401 yards of total offense.
"You have to be ready when your number is called," Blakey said. "When I was called on in the second half, I was already juiced up. By the time the second half rolled around, I knew my job was to finish it. I just tried to run hard. Our offensive line is full of monsters. It's so great to have their experience up front. It's easy to trust that the hole will open up and things will break your way."
Blakey's touchdowns came from one yard out and eight yards away and his bruising style seems to suit his head coach just fine.
Sophomore running back #33 Will Blakey is an exciting, hard-running grinder who also happens to be the oldest man on our team.
"All three of our running backs are really good, but Will is different when he gets in there for some reason," Fasching said. "We seem to run the ball better when he's in there. He's tough, runs hard and finds the hole. He was really good again today."
Incidentally, there was a very nice feature on Will Blakey in the D3football.com website this week, entitled “Old Man in the Backfield.” Read it here:
https://www.d3football.com/columns/features/2024/st-johns-old-man-backfield-will-blakey
We had two touchdowns called back due to penalties; one score by Blakey negated by holding, and the other — an amazing 80-yard punt or kick-off return by Marselio Mendez — called back by an illegal shove in the back. All in all, penalties (7 for 76 yards) weren’t as dramatic a negative factor in this game but Fasching still doesn’t like them. At least there were not too many of the gratuitous “unsportsmanlike,” “late hit,” “roughing the quarterback,” and “taunting” ilk that kill our drives or lead to opponent scores.
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A couple closing remarks about the Wartburg game: First, although we handcuffed them pretty well, there were times when the Warthog offense could move on us easily, too easily, in fact, their two scoring drives were examples of that. And despite our defensive mastery for much of the game, the Knights, deep in our territory, were threatening to add two more touchdowns when time ran out — at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. They are a good team.
Second, I have to salute the Wartburg fans; they came up from Iowa (a five-hour journey) in a goodly number, practically filling up the visitors bleachers with their orange and black colors. That was more than we’ve seen over there for awhile — only Bethel has done that since the Tommies went away. Without seeming too much of a softie, I really felt for them, comparing their circumstances with ours last year at Whitewater. We, too, had such high hopes for the year, filled with talent and being highly-ranked going into the season. And making an equally-long drive to support our team and be part of the hoped-for victory. Our hopes, and theirs, were cruelly and utterly dashed, and so I wish them well for the rest of the season; I hope they won't get screwed out of the playoffs like we were last year. The ride back to Waverly must have been hard, for the fans and especially the team.
The Johnnies have a bye week this coming Saturday and won't play again until Saturday, Sept. 28 at Bethel. That kicks off the MIAC schedule and defensive coordinator Brandon Novak ‘00 stressed how important winning conference games are.
"This was a great game to win, but in the end you have to win your conference. That's a big one at Bethel. We'll savor this for a little bit and move on to the next one," Novak said.
We heard after the game that two previously-injured Johnnie players — junior running back #27 Caden Wheeler (foot), and sophomore defensive back #8 Peyton Goettlicher (deep quadriceps bruise) are expected to return for the Bethel game.
Senior defensive lineman #90 Landon Gallagher and the St. John's defense racked up a total of 10 sacks in taking down No. 5 Wartburg. (Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com)
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Wartburg Game Summary/Box Score —
Recap and Box Score
Quick Start Carries SJU to 35-13 Win over Wartburg https://gojohnnies.com/news/2024/9/14/football-defense-leads-the-way-as-no-12-sju-stops-no-5-wartburg-35-13.aspx
Cinematic Recap: St. John's defeats Wartburg
SJU vs Wartburg Highlights: The Mini Movie [Sept. 14th, 2024] (1:30 min.)
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Three UUN Quickies —
Blood is thicker than water but maple syrup is thicker than blood, so technically pancakes are more important than family.
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My kids call it yelling when I raise my voice. I call it motivational speaking for the selective listener.
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"Your underwear is much too tight and very revealing," I said to my wife.
She said, "Wear your own then!"
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SJU’s Schwinghammer Named to 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team —
Senior linebacker Jake Schwinghammer was one of 22 student-athletes across all divisions of college football named to the 2024 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Schwinghammer is one of four honorees from the NCAA Division III level – joining running back Aaron Ellingson of Bethel, offensive lineman Matt Wrather of John Carroll (Ohio) and linebacker Thomas Grehan of Johns Hopkins (Md.).
Schwinghammer is the eighth Johnnie to be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and the seventh in the last eight seasons – joining wide receiver Jimmy Buck '23, defensive lineman Michael Wozniak '22, quarterback Chris Backes '21, offensive lineman Ben Bartch '20, quarterback Jackson Erdmann '19 and wide receiver Will Gillach '19. Defensive end Kevin McNamara '07 was the first SJU student-athlete to receive the honor in 2006.
Read the entire article here:
Senior linebacker #32 Jake Schwinghammer is a biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 3.33 GPA. From May 18-26 (2024), he was in Guatemala as a medical volunteer (above). He worked in medical clinics, providing free health care to the underprivileged residents who came from near and far (some from hundreds of miles away) for services. Schwinghammer spent time translating and speaking Spanish for his peers and doctors, as well as issuing diagnoses and treatments directly with the patients. He intends to take the EMT course offered by CSB/SJU in Spring 2025 to achieve his certification.
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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 W 35-13
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/bethelmn/?B=1221743
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Battle Between the Sexes, Technology Section —
My wife was shopping and sent me a picture of her in a dress she was thinking of buying and asked me, “Does this dress make me look big?”
I answered back, "Noooo..."
Autocorrect changed my answer, to “Moooo...”
Please send help!
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Around The MIAC, Week 2 — Sept. 14
Rockford Univ. (IL) at St. Scholastica— (Hard to pick a winner here.) Rockford edged the Saints 31-24.
Concordia at Pacific Lutheran — (The Cobbers need to pick it up.) The Cobbers showed some renewed mojo, really taking it to Pacific Lutheran 31-3.
Luther College (IA) at St. Olaf — (Probably the Oles…) “Probably” was quite an understatement, given that St. Olaf pummeled Luther 53-7.
Bethel at Northwest Univ. (MN) — (They are neighbors in Arden Hills, so hope the Royals show some mercy, compassion, and good sportsmanship.) If 49-3 can be construed as showing mercy, it most likely was because the Royals no doubt could have scored much more, just as the Johnnies could have against Carthage.
UM-Morris at Hamline — (Go Pipers.) In fact, the Pipers did emerge as winners in a close 25-20 contest against UM-Morris.
Martin Luther (MN) at Macalester — (How good/bad is Mac? We’ll see soon.) Macalester presents a sad, sad case for MIAC football, falling to M.L. College 10-7.
Wartburg College at St. John’s — (A huge game for the Johnnies.) And the Johnnies didn’t let us down, prevailing in a way few fans could have imagined 35-13.
Carleton and Augsburg are not playing.
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Other Games of Interest —
Black Hills State (SD) at St. Thomas — (UST finally pulled off a 24-14 victory over visiting Black Hills State in front of a usual small home crowd of 2,784. Interestingly and finally, this week UST added the attendance of the Northern Iowa game, and it was 3,946, not 0 as they first indicated. Not bad for them, but on Friday nights many high schools in the metro area draw seemingly as much as this D-I school.
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Upcoming Games, Week 3 — September 21
Gustavus at UW-Stevens Point — (If the Gusties can’t beat the lowest-ranked team in the WIAC, what will their MIAC campaign look like?)
UW-Eau Claire at Bethel — (How good are the Royals? They should do pretty well against the BluGolds at least. Preview the Royals as they host this lower-ranked WIAC team this Saturday, September 21, at 1 pm. Bethel University Keep in mind that Concordia lost to Eau Claire 21-10 a couple weeks ago.)
Augsburg at Martin Luther College— (The Auggies should rip Martin L. pretty well.)
UM-Morris at Carleton — (Carleton is somewhat an unknown this year; last season they would have destroyed Morris, but this game might be much closer.)
St. Scholastica at Crown College — (This should be the Saints time to shine, but I wouldn’t bet on it. They just seem woeful.)
Saint John’s and Concordia have a bye.
Other Games of Interest —
St. Thomas at Lindenwood (MO) — (The Tommies, now 1-2 after three games at home, travel down to St. Charles, MO to play a non-conference game at Lindenwood University, which has just moved from D-II to D-I. The Lions are 0-3 but played against better teams than UST, so it could possibly be another long day for Glenn and company.)
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An inebriated Tommie is speeding down the highway when he gets pulled over by a cop who happens to be a Tommie as well.
The officer asks for the Tommie’s license. The driver searches his wallet, becomes frustrated and finally asks, "What doesh my license look like?"
The officer replies, "It's a square thing with your picture on it."
The Tommie rummages through his glove compartment some more and finally pulls out his wife's compact mirror. He hands it to the officer, "I think I found it."
The officer takes a look at the mirror and replies, "I'm ever so sorry, I didn't realize that you were a police officer too," and lets the Tommie go.
(Courtesy of Conrad Macina, Landing, NJ)
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English Majors’ Dilemma —
My wife sent me a text that said, “Your great.”
So, naturally, I wrote back, “No, you’re great.”
She’s been walking around all happy and smiling.
Should I tell her I was just correcting her grammar or leave it?
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2024 D3football.com Week 2 Top 25 —
Last week we witnessed two WIAC teams, River Falls and Oshkosh, upset higher-ranked teams and send them tumbling down the Top 25 Poll. This past Saturday it was the MIAC’s turn when our now #6 Johnnies did the same to formerly-ranked #5 Wartburg, knocking them down to #13. We had been #12 going into the contest. How sweet was that?
The Top Four remained unchanged, and for the rest there was a little juggling around but nothing too dramatic, except for #18 Muhlenberg; #22 Berry; and #24 Ithaca all getting dropped out. Bethel snuck in at #24. But worth mentioning is that the WIAC now has four teams— Whitewater, La Crosse, River Falls, and Oshkosh— in the top 14 with UW-Platteville first in receiving votes. Tell ME who’s the best conference in D-III. After this Saturday’s non-conference games, we can enjoy the intra-WIAC blood-letting that will occur over in Cheese-Head Land; I’d love to see Whitewater get beat a couple times.
https://www.d3football.com/top25/2024/week2
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Pre-Med Majors’ Corner, Personal Hygiene Section —
Mary went to the doctor complaining of body odor. "Do you wash?" the doc asked the rank young girl.
"Oh, yes" Mary answered. "Each morning, I start at my head and wash down as far as possible. Then I start at my feet and wash up as far up as possible."
"Well," the doctor concluded, "go home and wash possible.”
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From Father Don’s Daily Reflection —
Thoughts on Prayer, Thursday, September 12
"In your prayer do not rattle on like the pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer multiplication of words. Do not imitate them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Jesus introduces the Our Father this way in Matthew's Gospel (6:7-8).
Prayer has to consist in some listening as well as in words. We act in prayer at times like a person sitting nervously with a new acquaintance. We feel we have to be saying something every minute; we find little pauses embarrassing. How different it is with someone we know well. We can sit together, listening to music or driving without feeling that one of us has to be saying something every second.
Prayer seems often to lack a bit of space, some silence, some room for God to influence us or get a word in. True prayer has to be a dialogue. God's work in us requires that we leave God some opening, a chance to influence us, a chance to be heard.
In our world of so much noise and so little tolerance for silence it might be hard for us to learn to be quiet before God, but take a phrase from Scripture and keep coming back to that gently while trying to concentrate our attention. Silence and attentiveness can be learned.
Reply to Fr. Don at:
Read the Daily Reflection online at:
SaintJohnsAbbey.org/reflection
Listen to Fr. Don's bi-weekly podcast at:
https://coffeewithfatherdon.buzzsprout.com
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From Our Readers —
From John Diffley ’64, Stewartville, MN —
Let’s hope the Johnnies continue to show up every Saturday with the same team that made the scene last Saturday. I wonder if Wartburg didn’t have a bad day as they certainly showed a few flashes of brilliance. Well, let’s hope SJU is still alive with the onset of December. Thanks for your untiring work. You must put in a 60-hour week! — John
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From Dave Steil ’64, Cold Spring, MN —
Bob, many thanks for the way your work on the newsletter has kept us together as a class and for all of SJU. You were my only link for the many years I lived on the East Coast. Now that I am back in MN we will have many more opportunities. — Dave
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From Conrad Macina, Landing, NJ —
It was great to see UUN Classic in my inbox! Thanks (again) for doing such a great job on it! Loved the vocab video – you should remake it with the student wearing a St. Thomas shirt. You left out one sign that you’ve had too much coffee: “You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.” Go Johnnies!! — Conrad
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From Jim Conn ’64, Alexandria, MN —
Dear Bob - I’m sitting here Monday Morning Quarterbacking by rereading UUN #2 and savoring the perfect Saturday afternoon win over the Wartburg Knights. Anita and I had to miss the first half of the game to attend a funeral in Bloomington of a dear friend who was the best man at our wedding 56 years ago.
Contemplating this dual tragedy while driving on I-94 on our way from Alex to Bloomington, I noted the Wartburg team bus on its way to SJU. The very flashy purple bus triggered my mind’s eye recalling your prescient and accurate UUN #2-24 prediction which I encourage you to reprint in this edition as well:
“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.”
Now, how’s that for predicting the future from an “older Johnnie” who has not lost his mojo! Really well done, Bob, and having been an avid UUN reader for most of my adult years, you still tend to amaze with your insights and, more often than not, amazingly accurate Johnnie football scores and MIAC game day outcomes. — Jim
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From Fred Senn ’64, Edina, MN —
Ten years ago Father Eric Hollas ( now Prior, St. John’s Abbey) and two retired East Coast executives living in Florida began a bold experiment. They decided to underwrite the education of two students from the very poor farming community of Immokalee, Florida. Could these sons of immigrant farm laborers from South America and Haiti prosper at St. John’s University in the brutal climate of rural Minnesota?
Fast forward to 2024. Fifteen young men from Immokalee have already graduated from St. John’s, all the first in their families to attend college. And doing well—among others there are a banker in Florida, a grad school student, one employed at a software development company, three teachers, and one former SJU football player now working as the videographer for the Twins farm team in Fort Myers.
With the generous support of a network of Florida connections, there are now 18 more undergraduates from Immokalee nicely blending in with their Minnesota classmates and contributing to the culture at St. John’s.
Wouldn’t it be great if this experiment could be conducted from additional needy areas by CSB-SJU alums and friends desiring to share our Benedictine educational experience with youth in similar backgrounds? — Fred
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From Thom Woodward ’70, Sartell, MN —
UST, by virtue of being Division I, got the headline Sunday, Sept. 14, in the StarTrib college football roundup. The box score had 2,784 fans in attendance in the Tommies' 24-14 home win over Black Hills State. The other capsule summaries were listed by division. Games in Minnesota:
UMD at Moorhead 5,221 fans.
Winona St. at Concordia St. Paul 2,132.
Southwest Minn. at Bemidji 1,672.
Wartburg at SJU 9,529
Bethel at Northwestern 2,439.
Morris at Hamline 1,300. (I would have reported 1,299 or 1,301.)
Luther at St. Olaf 714.
Of interest, NDSU at East Tenn. St. 11,040; Idaho St. at UND 10,685. Just sayin’. — Woody
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The Slippery Tommie —
A businessman tells his friend that his company is looking for a new Tommie accountant.
His friend asks, “Didn’t your company just hire a new Tommie accountant a few weeks ago?”
The businessman replies, “That’s the accountant we’re looking for.”
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Thank You, Johnnie Nation! —
This is Zander Hemmesch, son of Karl and Sara Hemmesch SJU/CSB Class of ’99, writing to you from the University of Arizona where I’ve just started my freshman year. Many of you know my family and have watched my younger siblings (Mason & Alexa) and myself grow up over the years, as we’ve attended nearly every home and away football game over the last 18+ years as well as countless basketball, hockey and baseball games, 4:15 Mass and tailgate with the best group of Johnnies!
A conversation with my dad leads me to share this with you, “The Benedictine Rule (Johnnie Tradition) of Hospitality is alive and strong in Arizona!” St. Benedict accords special attention to Christ’s unexpected arrival from outside in the person of the guest, calls the monastic to put aside individual plans and pre-occupations in order to let the unexpected person in, to help them get established, to respond to their most pressing needs. And when the outsider comes to experience being “at home” in this new place, the monastic discovers new awareness of the common journey in which all are engaged.
My journey here is just beginning and as a Minnesota kid in Tucson, AZ, I certainly was an outsider, but the support and invitations I’ve received from so many Johnnie and Bennie Alumni has been positively unbelievable. In Collegeville, I always felt at home and the support and encouragement I’ve received over the years has been tremendous. What I didn’t imagine is how far that support would reach. From an initial contact from John Phelps (SJU ’79) who helped connect me with some resources in the Tucson area, Mary G. the sister of a CBS ’82 alumna that welcomed me to their tailgating crew, Surgeon Dr. Scott Welle SJU ’99, (who I hope NOT to meet professionally) and so many others that have connected with me or my family, I am sincerely grateful. The outpouring of offers for lunch, hosting me for holidays, running me to a store, or simply texting to check in, shows the outstanding character of those associated with SJU/CSB community.
I truly appreciate the SJU/CSB/Benedictine hospitality and wanted you all to know how strong and far reaching the Johnnie community is. Now that I feel “at home”, I look forward to sharing that same Benedictine hospitality with any of you during your ventures to the Tucson Area and for those in the Tucson and surrounding area if you’re ever on or around campus let me know, I’d love to keep connecting with more SJU/CSB families in the area. Until Our Paths Cross Again, God Bless each of you! GO JOHNNIES! and BEAR DOWN! (it’s a Wildcat thing) — Zander Hemmesch (zhemmesch@gmail.com)
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HOMECOMING — OCTOBER 5 —
It’s coming. CSB+SJU alums, families and friends are all welcome for a fun-filled weekend of activities and reunion. Check out the details below:
https://www.csbsju.edu/alums-and-friends/homecoming/
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Top Ten Children's Books That Did Not Sell Well —
1) You're Different—And That's Bad
2) The Boy Who Died from Eating All His Vegetables
3) Kathy Was So Bad That her Mom Stopped Loving Her
4) All Cats Go to Hell
5) Why Can't Mr. Fork and Mrs. Electrical Outlet be Friends?
6) That's It, I'm Putting You Up for Adoption.
7) Grandpa Gets a Casket
8) Strangers Have the Best Candy
9) Daddy Drinks Because You Cry
10) Valuable Protein and Other Nutritional Benefits of Things From Your Nose
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Scenes From The Last Tailgate—
Introducing the Riitters family, formerly of Little Falls and now residents of St. Joseph. They have taken over the grilling duties of the late Brad Johannes at the tailgate, churning out their own take on smash burgers. From left, Ellie '19, Will - a Gustie '23 (but wearing Johnnie Red), and Katie and Tom Riitters both '96.
From left, Scott Becker '76 and Cary Musech '80 pose happily with John Young '83 at the latter's now-famous Bloody Mary bar, which John has made a tradition at home and away tailgates for around 20 years. Note the Class of '83 trailer behind them.
Schedule a big-time game and Johnnie fans from all over show up. A case in point has (from left) Larry Schultz '76 welcoming Clark Stanton (father of John Stanton '10) from San Rafael, CA; Gary Kordowsky '64 from Tucson, AZ; and Chris Ditton '86 from Grayslake, IL. They came for the laughs, brats and beer, and stayed for the grand upset over the Warthogs.
Surrounding the old guy at center (Harry Burns '74/'78) are (from left) Harry's nephew Quinn Miley, Hunter Ebben, Nate Bodine, Jake Voth, Joey Benson and Mitchell (Sorry...I can't read my writing). They are all sophomores and will graduate in the Class of 2027.
Recipient of the "Came the Farthest" Award has to be (at right) Tony Sandeen '94 shown with his uncle Mike Ronning who was making his first visit to a St. John's game. Tony lives with his family in Hong Kong. They are proudly displaying the Johnnie Rat flag.
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At The Game —
CSB-SJU students cheering the team on from their end zone section.
An unfortunately small photo showing lots of Cardinal and Blue fans joyfully acknowledging another SJU touchdown.
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"Johnnie Shoes" On Parade —
Example #1 is modeled by the feet of Harry Burns SJP '74/SJU '78 whose son works for a shoe distributor and Harry picked these out of possible selections. What good taste.
Wow! Example #2, owned by Doug Imholte '87, should make the SJU Book Store green with envy...they could sell scores of these but, fortunately for Doug, these are originals created by a talented daughter.
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Wicker’s Health Rant —
Friendship, Not Money, Makes People Happy
“Our basic purpose,” a TEDx Talk by Richard Layard, economist.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. What should be our basic purpose in life? What kind of society should we live in? Prof. Layard argues that the objective for our society should not be to become richer and richer. Wealth, he claims, is related to happiness only up to a point - and where the two diverge, we should not forget that the promised happiness was the only reason we attempted to become richer in the first place.
Our basic purpose | Richard Layard | TEDxOxford (22:21 min.)
Layard is the founder of Action for Happiness, a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society. In the video above, he explains why we should stop short of tying our inner purpose to becoming richer and richer and instead focus on achieving happiness and well-being.
Action for Happiness, whose members pledge to try to create more happiness in the world around them, has compiled 10 keys to happier living which, based on the latest research, tend to make life happier and more fulfilling. They spell out "GREAT DREAM:"
One of the bonuses of happiness is that it creates a positive feedback loop, leading to physical and mental benefits, for instance, that make positive emotions easier to achieve. True happiness opens your mind, broadening your awareness of the world and allowing you to become more in tune with the needs of others.
Experiencing positive emotions also increases intuition and creativity while broadening your mindset. A broadened mindset, in turn, helps you build important personal resources like social connections, coping strategies and environmental knowledge that will help you thrive and find increased well-being, a win-win situation for everyone involved.
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Top Ten Reasons a Dog Is Better Than a Wife —
10. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.
9. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.
8. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.
7. A dog's parents never visit.
6. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.
5. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk.
4. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
3. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"
2. A dog's time in the bathroom is confined to a quick drink.
... and the Number One Reason a Dog Is Better Than a Wife:
1. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.
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The Final Word —
There was a little old lady who was nearly blind. She had three sons and they wanted to prove which one was the best son to her.
So son #1 bought her a 15-room mansion thinking this would surely be the best any of them could offer her.
Son #2 bought her a beautiful Mercedes with a chauffeur included thinking he would surely win her approval.
Son #3 had to do something even better than these so he bought her a trained parrot. This parrot had been trained for 15 years to memorize the entire Bible. You could mention any verse in the Bible and the parrot could quote it word for word. How useful his nearly blind mother would find that!
Well, the old lady went to the first son and said, "Son, the house is just gorgeous but it's really much too big for me. I only live in one room, and it's much too large for me to clean and take care of. I really don't need the house, but thank you anyway."
Then she explained to her second son, "Son, the car is beautiful, it has everything you could ever want on it, but I don't drive and I really don't like that driver, so please return the car."
Next, she went to son number three and said, "Son, I just want to thank you for that thoughtful gift. The chicken was small, but delicious."
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Well, another issue hits the ether. Appreciate your attention, even if you’re just skimming for jokes. Our boys can take a little time off this weekend before preparing for our primary MIAC nemesis, the Bethel Royals, two Saturdays from now.
In the meantime, perhaps you can practice your cheering skills by occasionally bellowing to no one in particular:
GO JOHNNIES !
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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