FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[57Johnnie]

RIP John. 

[DuffMan]

From the bottom of my heart, a billion thanks to John for all he's done for those of us who played for him.  He was a treasure, and his legacy will endure.  My heart is heavy--rest in peace, my friend.

[MUC57]

Truly sorry to hear of the passing of Coach John Gagliardi. He was a giant in college football, not just Dlll.
I had the thrill of a lifetime several years back. I SAW him in Alliance when they played Mount. I didn't talk to him. I didn't shake his hand. But I saw him. There's something about seeing a legend. You never forget it.
I'm sure years from now, the time will come when someone will say, "You should have seen this coach at St. John's, Gagliardi was his name."! And his story will be told.
Big loss for all of us across the Dlll landscape.
I'll just say - rest in eternal peace Coach Gagliardi, or, as he would prefer, RIP John! 😢✝

[Mr.MIAC]

One hell of a run. RIP John Gagliardi.

[sjusection105]

RIP John.
Prayers go out to Peg and the entire Gagliardi family.

[emma17]

D3 was blessed to have him. RIP sir. 

[BDB]

Incredible life. RIP Coach.

[Robert Zimmerman]

A sad day, some very nice words from Pat on the main page.

It seems everyone has a Gagliardi story, those who were lucky to play for him, they have many of them.  I never played football for SJU, but here's my John story:

It was a very cold, snowy day in January and I was walking from Seidenbusch (which no longer exists) to the Science center for my J-Term class, "Biology of MN."  I was a senior (1998) and it was the last class I had to take before student teaching in the spring.  While walking up the road, a white Chevy Corsica just about hit me.  I expected it to be a classmate making fun of me all bundled up heading to class.  I bent over to look in the window and it was John.  He rolled down the window and said, "get in, Christ, it is too cold to walk."

I got in and he gave me a ride up to the science center.  He asked me where I was from and when I told him, "Janesville, MN," his eyes lit up.  He asked me if I knew Dave Arnold, a guy who played for him in the early '70's.  Being from the small town of Janesville, of course I did.  My dad graduated with him and Dave Arnold's parents lived in my back yard.  He then regaled me with stories of Dave Arnold for 15 or 20 minutes, but interestingly, only a couple were about football.  The stories were more about what Dave did after football.  He then started asking me questions about what I was going to do after graduating.  When I told him I was engaged to a nursing major, John said, "that will be the best decision you will ever make."  He then shared how he married a nurse and how important she was to his family and raising children.  I remembered thinking I am going to be late for class, but he kept asking me questions.  I sat in the idling car for about 30 minutes talking, laughing, and listening to John, even though I was just a random stranger that he just picked up.  I was 20 minutes late for class and apologized to my professor afterwards.  Today, I don't remember anything about the 2 hour class (well, 1 hr and 40 min) I attended, but I vividly remember the conversation with John.  It wasn't an act or anything, he genuinely cared about people and made them feel important.  Rest in peace John and condolences to the Gagliardi family.

[jamtod]

RIP John G. A true legend. Condolences to the Gagliardi and St John's family. Tommie Johnnie next week is going to have a different character about it.

[retagent]

Back in the day (1971, I think) I took John's "Theory of Football" course. Don't remember much other than his enthusiasm when showing us film. At that time, he was more of an iconoclast, and only later became a "Legend." Condolences to his family and friends.

I guess that's a disadvantage of not playing anyone tough until mid season, you really don't know how good you are, and it is hard for people voting for the top 25 to know as well. I don't see how SJU will remain in the top 10, especially since Bethel wasn't rated and didn't even receive any votes for top 25. Maybe SJU just had an off day, but if they play the same way they did today St. Thomas shouldn't have any trouble with them.

Highly unlikely St. John's drops out of the top 10. Highly unlikely. They might even move up if the voters decide they need to move Wesley from 6 to 9 after Wesley lost to the No. 5 team. (I wouldn't advocate they move Wesley that far down, either, however.)

Maybe not since I really don't follow the top teams that close, but based on how SJU played today they didn't look like a top 10 team to me.

More likely IMO, is that Bethel moves into the Top 25.

[sfury]

A sad day, some very nice words from Pat on the main page.

It seems everyone has a Gagliardi story, those who were lucky to play for him, they have many of them.  I never played football for SJU, but here's my John story:

It was a very cold, snowy day in January and I was walking from Seidenbusch (which no longer exists) to the Science center for my J-Term class, "Biology of MN."  I was a senior (1998) and it was the last class I had to take before student teaching in the spring.  While walking up the road, a white Chevy Corsica just about hit me.  I expected it to be a classmate making fun of me all bundled up heading to class.  I bent over to look in the window and it was John.  He rolled down the window and said, "get in, Christ, it is too cold to walk."

I got in and he gave me a ride up to the science center.  He asked me where I was from and when I told him, "Janesville, MN," his eyes lit up.  He asked me if I knew Dave Arnold, a guy who played for him in the early '70's.  Being from the small town of Janesville, of course I did.  My dad graduated with him and Dave Arnold's parents lived in my back yard.  He then regaled me with stories of Dave Arnold for 15 or 20 minutes, but interestingly, only a couple were about football.  The stories were more about what Dave did after football.  He then started asking me questions about what I was going to do after graduating.  When I told him I was engaged to a nursing major, John said, "that will be the best decision you will ever make."  He then shared how he married a nurse and how important she was to his family and raising children.  I remembered thinking I am going to be late for class, but he kept asking me questions.  I sat in the idling car for about 30 minutes talking, laughing, and listening to John, even though I was just a random stranger that he just picked up.  I was 20 minutes late for class and apologized to my professor afterwards.  Today, I don't remember anything about the 2 hour class (well, 1 hr and 40 min) I attended, but I vividly remember the conversation with John.  It wasn't an act or anything, he genuinely cared about people and made them feel important.  Rest in peace John and condolences to the Gagliardi family.

Love this story. Sort of similar, when I had the chance to visit John in his office in 2016, we spent little time talking about football. He loved listening, maybe even more than he loved telling stories. And you know how much he loved telling stories. When we chatted in his office, we touched on the following subjects: My book; his memories of Wyoming great Kenny Sailors, who John knew about while growing up in Colorado; Hank Luisetti's one-handed shot; the upkeep of a large house; the dating prowess of offensive linemen; the insurance business; life in New York City; Montana winters, how I met my wife; how he met his wife; taxes; junior colleges; my old man basketball league; hockey; and about a million other things. There were, of course, a lot of stories from John. And as he would say, some of them were even true!

Here's a thread I put together with a lot of links to some great stories or videos on John.
https://twitter.com/shawnfury/status/1048937200166031360

[Gig Harbor Cat]

RIP Coach,
   Your legacy will live on forever.  I send my prayers and strength to those who mourn your passing.

[Ratbacker]

First and foremost RIP Coach John you were an amazing man.

As for yesterday result whether the Johnnies move up move down or stay at #9 means little today. Saturday we will find out who is real and who is posing. Bethel has a solid team they always seem to give SJU fits and yesterday was no exception. If I remember correctly I believe I picked the Royals to finish 3rd in the MIAC :)Yes we saw some things to be concerned about and the Johnnies certainly should not have been looking past the Royals but lets be real they were. The optics tell us UST should win on Saturday and maybe they will and maybe they will do so going away, but if you truly understand rivalries then you know anything can happen. You Tommie fans are so smug and rightfully so but using results against common MIAC opponents is of little value as we know your program exercises little class in running it up on helpless opponents and the Johnnies handle things a little different.

Let Johnnie Tommie week begin!!!!

[OzJohnnie]

A shame John Galadriel has died. God bless him. He's a man that did the most he could with his life and it was a privilege to see it.  I wish his family and friends well in a day surely mixed in emotion, obviously sad but also happy with the wonderful memories.

[MUC57]

Johnnie-Tommie fans

I am really looking forward to watching this board for the next week. You guys have such a great rivalry. Nice exchange of comments (OK! Sometimes not so nice)! I suspect you will have more fans at this game than Mount Union will have for the whole year. I would love to see one of these games sometime.
Admittedly, a little different this year with the passing of JG. But I think he'll probably be watching.
Best to both teams. ☠🏈‼️