Perra: For us involved, Tommies-Johnnies is more intense than any Gopher rivalry

I have no doubt that the rivalry between the Johnnies and Tommies is super intense, at least where the players are concerned. It's because the game has championship implications for both teams. Wisconsin doesn't take the Gophers seriously right now, and the Gophers and Iowa don't play each other for championships.

Yep - no different than two huge rival high schools. To the players and families it's a really big deal.
 

Is Game Day coming? Also - what do we think either of these two anonymous teams would do against the top division in Texas high school football? It's a one-time event...let the Catholics have their novelty. If you did it again next year, 1K would show up.

It's not like Sportscenter was here for the Tommie-Johnnie game last year, which is one more time than they've come for Gopher football.
 

I don't really get it either, but St. Johns does have a pretty good QB this year (PSU transfer) so I guess that might be fun to watch?
I'll be watching the Purdue game, but whatever ha

And 3 former gophers are playing in this game as well.
 

What's he supposed to say when approached by a reporter?

"Yeah, you know, it's nowhere near the B1G. Not sure I made the right decision. I mean, Rhoda is starting right now. Do you think Fleck would take me back?"
 

It's so weird to me how people are so into a D3 game. Fully admit that I don't get it cause I went to the U but I honestly am just amazed at how big of a deal this seems to be each year

I'm sure Ohio St, Florida St, Alabama, etc fans look at The U v. Iowa or Wisconsin and think the same thing.
 


Gosh, fascinating match up. I only wish there was D4 and D5 football so we could REALLY see some meaningful and exciting rivalries around here.
 

Perra is right. More intense for those involved. However, not so for every other single person alive. I would rank it even with a Jackrabbit/Bison showdown.


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Is Game Day coming? Also - what do we think either of these two anonymous teams would do against the top division in Texas high school football? It's a one-time event...let the Catholics have their novelty. If you did it again next year, 1K would show up.

Just picking this quote, but could be any one of a dozen posts in this thread. Why does hurt your guys feelings so much that 2 Minnesota college football teams are playing a game that people are interested in? It's sad that many Gopher fans have such inferiority complexes. It's okay that the other colleges in this state have football teams and fans for those teams. It doesn't diminish the Gophers in any way.
 

Perra is right. More intense for those involved. However, not so for every other single person alive. I would rank it even with a Jackrabbit/Bison showdown.

I went to St. Thomas and was even on the team for a couple of years before I lost interest and I have to say D3 Football has not exactly gotten me real fired up in the last 25 plus years since, but I was always impressed with those 90's SJU team that killed everyone under the old man Gags, and it was pretty fun to see St. Thomas rise up into the top end of D3 the last few years under Caruso. They even had Mt. Union on the ropes for a while and just could not hold on to be D3 champs(or hold back the tide as it turned out)

If you watch Mt Union, Whitewater or the other top 6 or so teams of recent years, you will see a lot of speed and a lot of 0-275 to 315 lb. linemen. That said, they are D3 for a reason and lack depth and consistency of elite talent across the board, thus I must admit with regret, would not beat NDSU as I suggested a couple of weeks ago as much as that would be a great day to be part of.

What I do remember about playing football at St. Thomas was that there was a great deal of talent in the program back then. Possibly as much talent as now, but the current coach seems to get everything out of his players. There were some fast CBs and WRs, big linemen and some monster inside linebackers that would destroy the lesser MAC program's offensive players about every week. I remember a game where at least 10 Carleton players were carried off the field and the Carleton coaches were screaming at Coach Mark Dienhart during the handshake after the game and he just peered down at them, spun around and walked back to our side. Nothing dirty was done, it was just the reality of a fast tough defense, and a mobile, but big mean offensive line, playing a small, slow team. This happened a lot vs. teams like Carleton, Macalester, and St. Olaf.

Regarding the talent level back then, Lou Holtz decided to start a JV team at the U of M, and we played them in 1985. Usually in those JV games the 2nd tier and 3rd tier guys would get most of the snaps, and the next level down would get the rest. The rest of us would get to play in a blowout or special teams. There were 13 to 15 at my position and I was probably about #8- 10 or so (left and right sides, so two spots to start on defense) For this particular game, a few guys played for us that were upper 2nd tier but the type of guys that usually never played in the usual JV game against St. Olaf or Gustavus. For some reason, we went up 21-7 early and this was against some pretty good players.

We lost, Minnesota finally got serious and scored late couple of times and beat us, but I remember seeing guys like Ricky Foggie's backup out there and other players I later recall seeing out there a couple years later playing for Gutey I the real games.

I was at least allowed to play on the kickoff team, and I do remember flying down the field and just planting the returner, #11, Ed Penn? in a tag team tackle with the departed author Vince Flynn.

The point of all of that was that our little team was able to hang on the field for 3 quarters with a very talented, if not highly motivated group of DI players. I think the players on the field tomorrow at Target Field are probably a lot better than some give them credit for.
 



From the New York Times: So Many People Want to See the Tommies and the Johnnies

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/sports/ncaafootball/st-john-st-thomas-tommies-johnnies.html

MINNEAPOLIS — Three thousand miles apart on opposite coasts, a former White House chief of staff and the co-owner of the San Diego Padres will be keeping tabs Saturday on an important football game in their home state of Minnesota. It does not involve the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers, who are off, or the N.F.L.’s Minnesota Vikings, who don’t play until Sunday.

To Denis McDonough, a trusted adviser to former President Obama, and Ron Fowler, the Padres owner, the game on Saturday — the 87th meeting between St. John’s University of Collegeville, Minn., and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul — is everything.

And not just to them.

The popular Division III rivalry — the Johnnies versus the Tommies, as it is known — has drawn four of the seven biggest crowds in the history of that division, routinely attracting 14,000 to 17,000 fans. So when the Minnesota Twins sought an eye-catching matchup for the first football game at Target Field, the team president Dave St. Peter, the son of a Johnnie and father of a Tommie, knew exactly which one he wanted.

“In our minds, the greatest football rivalry in the state of Minnesota is St. Thomas-St. John’s,” St. Peter said. “I don’t think there’s anything that comes close to it.”

By Thursday morning, 34,000 tickets had been sold. The Twins expect a crowd of more than 35,000 — almost double the previous Division III record of 17,535, set last year by two Wisconsin teams, Oshkosh and Whitewater. (The website D3football.com keeps the records, since the N.C.A.A. does not recognize attendance records in its lower divisions.)
 

Is Game Day coming? Also - what do we think either of these two anonymous teams would do against the top division in Texas high school football? It's a one-time event...let the Catholics have their novelty. If you did it again next year, 1K would show up.


LOL. St John's leads the nation in D3 attendance. I'd guess around 10,000 per home game. They've drawn around 20k to their field for Johnnie-Tommie games. To believe it would be 1,000 is plain stupid
 

LOL. St John's leads the nation in D3 attendance. I'd guess around 10,000 per home game. They've drawn around 20k to their field for Johnnie-Tommie games. To believe it would be 1,000 is plain stupid

Yep...Some of these post's are completely asinine...Gopherhomer is a prime example of it.
 

WCCO mentioned the game is being played at Target Field? I thought that was a baseball stadium? It must be true because the station has given the game more airtime than the old Jerry Lewis Telethons. I'll have to tune in. I hear their play by play guy is second to none.
 



It's so weird to me how people are so into a D3 game. Fully admit that I don't get it cause I went to the U but I honestly am just amazed at how big of a deal this seems to be each year
The number of people into a D3 game is far fewer than a D1 game. But if you went to St. Thomas, why might you care any less than if you went to the U? I've seen people at 4th grade girls basketball games far more concerned about the outcome than some Gopher fans. There's just fewer of them.

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WCCO mentioned the game is being played at Target Field? I thought that was a baseball stadium? It must be true because the station has given the game more airtime than the old Jerry Lewis Telethons. I'll have to tune in. I hear their play by play guy is second to none.

Yes

 

Yes

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p
lang="en" dir="ltr">Tomorrow. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TOJO17?src=hash">#TOJO17</a> <a href="https://t.co/VZuY7p4GKq">pic.twitter.com/VZuY7p4GKq</a></p>— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) <a href="https://twitter.com/Twins/status/911251688903905280">September 22, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I am not clear on Saint John C/U traditions, but at St. Thomas we used to drink a fair amount, which under today's social standards might lead to some EOAA meeting or intervention. I recall visiting the old College when I was in High School, and we went up to the old top floor 1930's era gym where the dance was and there where a whole bunch of kegs and we all were given a big plastic cup. Back in those days 18 year olds were treated like adults.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miXfC49Pjis&index=3&list=RDEMbyygUYi4n84wz5YIQWRZmw&spfreload=1

At St. Thomas there used to be a massive party called the "senior sendoff" at Wabun Park by Minnehaha Falls that featured unlimited beer drinking, a shuttle bus, and a diverse mix of live bands. There was also an Octoberfest at the same site which was about 2/3 as crazy. The best show I ever saw was by "Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows" a Chicago Blues act, even though they were a old time Blues band, not one of the
'young" bands like ... puke "Limited Warranty" ..... At least the drunken St. Thomas students had the good sense to hurl cups of beer at Limited Warranty. I also recall a giant post event group plunge, down the hill in the Minnehaha Creek.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWuLaWI0810

I think tomorrow there might be a 40K crowd at Target field that is way more insane than any non student section ever seen at TCF Bank Stadium. I know of great numbers of people in the 40 to 60 range that are getting started at 10 AM at Fulton, Darbys and other places and it is going to be super hot by 1PM, note not an 11 AM start.. I suspect the Twins may be caught off guard by the vigor of the crowd. I suspect a lot of 18-60 year olds will be having an old fashioned St. Patrick's Day type event tomorrow, while there happens to be football game in front of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft_gOnarKZ0&list=RDEMbyygUYi4n84wz5YIQWRZmw&index=2
 


It's so weird to me how people are so into a D3 game. Fully admit that I don't get it cause I went to the U but I honestly am just amazed at how big of a deal this seems to be each year

Could be that many football fans take an interest in dominant teams, including D3. Especially since SJ & ST have created an intense rivalry between the two schools.

I would be at that game if I lived close by. The stadium will be rocking!

Its OK to be envious of other area football teams and take notice of the buzz and success that they have created.

Why is that so hard for some Gopher fans to understand? Probably because the Gophers haven't been there in decades.
 

It's hard to believe that MIAC football has become as big as this game today but here we are. In my days playing at Augsburg, SJU and UST were dominant with a dash of Gustavus every now and then but I never could have guessed that this game at Target Field would happen. We had our crappy dome games with the NSC and decent attendance compared to a regular season game but nothing like this could be imagined by anyone. This rivalry and the two programs have taken decades to establish, I think 100 years or so. Similar to the Glory Days of Gopher football each program (for sure SJU and their 4 NC's) has some history and you can't discount that even though it was a much, much smaller scale and it still is. For the critics of D3 I will say this: it is not D1 football, we are talking about two different animals here and you can't compare the two really in terms of athletes. If you can adjust your expectations, you will enjoy watching this game.
 



Everyone can have their own little world...
 

The amount of butthurt over this game is amazing. Are any fans as insecure as Gopher fans? Do Ohio St fans get upset when Mt Union gets a little attention? Do Badger fans care when Whitewater plays a big game? Of course not. If anything they support the smaller schools because they don't feel threatened by them.
 

Just picking this quote, but could be any one of a dozen posts in this thread. Why does hurt your guys feelings so much that 2 Minnesota college football teams are playing a game that people are interested in? It's sad that many Gopher fans have such inferiority complexes. It's okay that the other colleges in this state have football teams and fans for those teams. It doesn't diminish the Gophers in any way.


+1 I actually agree with you.
 


If they kicked off at 11:00 AM, I bet the crowd would be much smaller. I hear that's why we can't sell tickets.
 

If they kicked off at 11:00 AM, I bet the crowd would be much smaller. I hear that's why we can't sell tickets.

Yes, it's such an apples to apples comparison.
 

This will be the biggest Target Field crowd in years.
 

I'm not sure how many are like me. But I have little interest in the game itself. But I would definitely try to get tickets for it since it's at target field and played on a bye week
 

I'm not sure how many are like me. But I have little interest in the game itself. But I would definitely try to get tickets for it since it's at target field and played on a bye week

This is how I feel. I like college football in general. I'm not an NDSU fan but I might get tickets when they play in 2019 at Target field.
 




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