FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[art76]

It's impossible for me to post here this morning without saying some about John. In my senior year (1981) the Johnnies came to Bethel to play for homecoming. I was on the sideline wearing my jersey with my leg in a splint from a knee injury in training camp. At the end of the game I had the opportunity to shake this man's hand and to congratulate him for the Johnnies win that day. More than that, I do not remember. Like many, I watched the wins pile up and the collegiate win record be broken and then set at 489. I envy all of you that had the opportunity to play under him. He will be missed by many.

I was able to catch some of the St. John's-Bethel game on Saturday. I tuned in when the score was 20 to 3, in favor of the Johnnies. I watched Bethel score twice and get back into the game, only to watch the pick-six that put the nail in the coffin. Congrats to the Johnnies.

And how about them Gusties? Have the wheels fallen off up in Moorhead? I was as surprised as anyone to see that the Gusties handled the Cobbers this past Saturday. Anybody at the game?
On to this week's upcoming games. Concordia has the bye this week, so they will probably spend the extra time trying to figure out how to right the ship.

At this point in the season, the upcoming games this week look to be the most competitive across the board so far this year. With the Gusties win last week, they will probably not have much of a problem with Hamline this week. However, the Pipers showed in their loss to Carleton this past week that they can score points. Gustavus should win this one, even if they are on the road.

The second game this week is Carleton traveling up to Augsburg. This game has the makings of a dog fight. The Auggies are licking their chops wanting a conference win to keep pace with both Carleton and Gustavus. The Knights were able to handle Hamline last week, but this week's game will be more evenly matched. For me, this is a toss-up game – might even be the most exciting game in the conference.

Game three has Bethel on the road to Northfield to take on the Oles. Two weeks ago, the Royals made the trip down there and shut out the Knights. I expect that St. Olaf's unbeaten record will fall as the Royals regroup and begin to establish themselves as the number three team in the conference this year, if everything plays out as folks expect them too.

However, we have the Tommie-Johnnie game for this week's game of the week. As mentioned earlier, the Johnnies go into this game having won a hard-fought battle against Bethel and dealing with the loss of their beloved coach, John Gagliardi. I am sure I am not alone in this, but one wonders how they will honor his passing at this game, and for the remaining games of this season. A black arm band with white letters that simply says "John" seems apropos. The Tommies might be favored in this game, but with the game up in Collegeville this one may be even better than last year's game at Target Field. For me, this is the second game this week that is too close to call.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Condolences to the Gagliardi and also the greater SJU families.  Who knows what SJU or the MIAC would look like today had he not come along.  Would the MIAC even be a quality conference?  If it was, would another team have risen to prominence?  Hard to imagine how much of an impact that one man had on the whole thing.  RIP.



In the toy department, I unexpectedly was able to attend the first half of the game, and caught the second half at home. 

Thoughts -

Overall happy with Bethel's performance.  They played tough, and in some ways well enough to win, but SJU is a quality team, and made more plays when it mattered.

The SJU D-line, an to some extent the linebackers as well, were the difference.  Brinker is an absolute beast, extremely disruptive, fun to watch, as a football fan, not so much as an opponent.  As Duff noted - he was getting held like crazy - (though I think that the SJU o-line got a way with plenty of the same, even though they were flagged for several holds) Glad he's graduating!  Had Bethel been able to establish a run game, I really think that would have been enough to push them over the top and deliver a win, but the SJU front 7 consistently turned the line of scrimmage into a mess.

I was thought that Erdmann looked really good when he had some time - threw some very nice looking passes - but he often didn't have much time to look downfield. For SJU's sake, he'll have to fight the desire to throw passes while he's wrapped up - both of the INT's, were thrown while he was in someone's grip and couldn't get much on the ball - and that third crazy one when he was being spun down was a miracle that very well could have been an INT as well.

Roste looked ok at times - he's a great runner, but still has room to improve as a passer - and I think he will given that he's just a Freshman.  He could be quite impressive for the next few years. 

Very interested to see how SJU and UST stack up!

[OldAuggie]

Was at the Gopher game on Saturday and did not see a single play of the UST vs Augsburg game but tracked it on my phone. Congrats to UST and good luck to you guys in your quest for a National Title.

I also think the Augsburg - Carleton game will be close but I think Heenie will be the difference and Augsburg will win this game.

[jamtod]

Was at the Gopher game on Saturday and did not see a single play of the UST vs Augsburg game but tracked it on my phone. Congrats to UST and good luck to you guys in your quest for a National Title.

I also think the Augsburg - Carleton game will be close but I think Heenie will be the difference and Augsburg will win this game.

Heenie is a dang good WR. Every time there was a big Augsburg passing play on Saturday, #6 was involved. And your RB #2 (Cunnigan, I think) had some nice runs. Also seemed like #57 on your defense was always in the backfield and the Auggie sideline really came alive at 21-14. All downhill from there though.

[DuffMan]

The loss of John has left me reminiscing quite a bit, and maybe sharing some of my memories of him will be a bit cathartic for me.

I first met John in the late winter of 1999.  Gary Fasching called and chatted, and he invited me to come out for a campus visit.  At the time, there was a strong Sartell ---> SJU pipeline.  I played with quite a few guys on the team, and several of my high school teammates were considering SJU, too.  So, Jason Pflipsen, Ross Spanier, and I headed out to SJU for a visit.  Gary gave us the tour, talked a bit, and introduced us to some of the team (I met Darwin Dumonceaux, who struck me at a complete badass, yet he was/is the nicest guy in-person).  Eventually, we stopped in John's office.  It was a bit surreal to sit down in there.  The place was packed with incredible memorabilia.  The first thing he says to me is, "You're Al's son," and then he proceeded to talk a bit about my dad.  Well, my dad had played at SJU in the early '70s, but as he'll tell you, he was never a starter and was frankly amazed that John even remembered the name.  Well, you could think that John simply looked up that info before I visited, but after knowing John for a while, I'm 100% sure that came from memory.

Well, we sat in John's office for at least 2 hours.  We talked a little about football, but most of our conversations revolved around other things--school, life in general, etc.  I left amazed at how easy to talk to this guy was and amazed that this was the same guy who'd won 300+ games and the same guy I'd see toss his hat in disgust at a referee.

Fast forward about 4 years, and Jason, Ross, and I were all starters on the 2002 SJU defense.  Very grateful that I made that choice.

[DuffMan]

First day of practice, August of 1999:

My first practice at SJU was odd as I'm sure it was for nearly everyone.  It's one thing to read about all of John's "nos", but it's another thing to actually be a part of it.  It all now seems completely normal to me, but at the time, it was very different from what I was used to.

So, after practice, John gathered everyone in for a little talk.  He finished off with, "We're gonna play a game of Simon Says to end practice, so everyone get up and spread out a bit."  Needless to say, 80-90 freshman got up and obeyed their legendary coach.  "Ooooh!"  John said with a grin, "I didn't say Simon Says." 

Of course, he repeated this every year, much to the pleasure of the upperclassmen.

[bluestreak66]

First day of practice, August of 1999:

My first practice at SJU was odd as I'm sure it was for nearly everyone.  It's one thing to read about all of John's "nos", but it's another thing to actually be a part of it.  It all now seems completely normal to me, but at the time, it was very different from what I was used to.

So, after practice, John gathered everyone in for a little talk.  He finished off with, "We're gonna play a game of Simon Says to end practice, so everyone get up and spread out a bit."  Needless to say, 80-90 freshman got up and obeyed their legendary coach.  "Ooooh!"  John said with a grin, "I didn't say Simon Says." 

Of course, he repeated this every year, much to the pleasure of the upperclassmen.

That is a great story! This is really a sad moment for all D3 football. He was truly a legend 

[miac952]

A couple quick questions I have from this past weekend in MIAC football.
1. How did Concordia fall behind 27-0 to Gustavus?
2. How did Gustavus hold Concordia to 20 yards net on the ground for the game?

An unexpected result to say the least. Good for the Gusties!

What does it say for the conference too, if Gustavus is playing Concordia as well as
Whitewater did? It's hard to do the comparative but I think it speaks favorably to the MIAC.

With that result and Bethel hanging tough this weekend, things are looking up for the conference. It also might be a good result for us to pump the breaks on UST rolling too.

An emotional game with strong defense is what i would expect this weekend. Big plays and special teams may turn the tide.

[JCUStreaks70]

I would like to send my condolence's to the St. John's football family for the passing of Coach Gagliardi. He and his family are in my prayers (as we Catholic's do).

Even down here in Chicago his impact was known to not only DIII football fans, but all College football fans as well. He seemed to be the type of coach that men would do anything for. Very few men can be both a leader and a role model, but he seemed to be one of the few.

It seems fitting that this comes right before Tommy-Johnny week, which I would argue is the greatest rivalry in DIII sports, and one in which I hope to attend one day (more than likely still repping the Blue Streaks! )

When people can put rivalry differences aside and remember a man like Coach Gagliardi is when DIII Football is at its greatest, and shows everything that is good about College Football.

[MiacMan]

Well,

The shine has has been tarnished from the Tommies win over the Cobbers. Yikes, what happened to them? With SJ2's hard fought, but solid win none-the-less over Bethel, all indications are as several have mentioned this weeks Tommie/Johnnie tilt is an absolute toss-up. Recent history may favor the Tommies slightly but all the intangibles favor some Johnnie magic. I'm sure all of us feel like John will be pulling some strings from above. The question is whether or not the Tommies can survive the divine inspiration. Gonna be fun! Wish I could be there!

[jamtod]

Funeral arrangements are posted.
https://www.wennerfuneralhome.com/obituaries/John-Gagliardi/#!/Obituary

Visitation Sunday, funeral Mass Monday.
I imagine a lot of additional folks will make a weekend out of it and come for the game on Saturday. Going to be wild.

If I could convince my tailgating partners, I'm really tempted to bring the kids up and stay a hotel nearby Friday night to make a quicker/earlier trip on Saturday. Alas, I don't think that's going to work out.

[DuffMan]

If I could convince my tailgating partners, I'm really tempted to bring the kids up and stay a hotel nearby Friday night to make a quicker/earlier trip on Saturday. Alas, I don't think that's going to work out.

Best bet would be to bring an RV and arrive in Collegeville sometime Thursday evening.

[jamtod]

If I could convince my tailgating partners, I'm really tempted to bring the kids up and stay a hotel nearby Friday night to make a quicker/earlier trip on Saturday. Alas, I don't think that's going to work out.

Best bet would be to bring an RV and arrive in Collegeville sometime Thursday evening.

That's not happening (both on account of lacking an RV and school/work on Friday). Luckily every lot is a tailgating lot for Tommie Johnnie. We'll make do.

[sfury]

The loss of John has left me reminiscing quite a bit, and maybe sharing some of my memories of him will be a bit cathartic for me.

I first met John in the late winter of 1999.  Gary Fasching called and chatted, and he invited me to come out for a campus visit.  At the time, there was a strong Sartell ---> SJU pipeline.  I played with quite a few guys on the team, and several of my high school teammates were considering SJU, too.  So, Jason Pflipsen, Ross Spanier, and I headed out to SJU for a visit.  Gary gave us the tour, talked a bit, and introduced us to some of the team (I met Darwin Dumonceaux, who struck me at a complete badass, yet he was/is the nicest guy in-person).  Eventually, we stopped in John's office.  It was a bit surreal to sit down in there.  The place was packed with incredible memorabilia.  The first thing he says to me is, "You're Al's son," and then he proceeded to talk a bit about my dad.  Well, my dad had played at SJU in the early '70s, but as he'll tell you, he was never a starter and was frankly amazed that John even remembered the name.  Well, you could think that John simply looked up that info before I visited, but after knowing John for a while, I'm 100% sure that came from memory.

Well, we sat in John's office for at least 2 hours.  We talked a little about football, but most of our conversations revolved around other things--school, life in general, etc.  I left amazed at how easy to talk to this guy was and amazed that this was the same guy who'd won 300+ games and the same guy I'd see toss his hat in disgust at a referee.

Fast forward about 4 years, and Jason, Ross, and I were all starters on the 2002 SJU defense.  Very grateful that I made that choice.

Thanks for sharing these stories, Duff. Love reading these from you and other former players. Those who followed from afar really treasure being able to read stuff from the guys who played for him. Your practice story is similar to Johnnie legend Steve O'Toole's, in Reusse's latest.

http://www.startribune.com/o-toole-s-first-question-as-johnnie-football-player-how-do-they-win-here/495868571/

[CobberHawkeye]

Was at the Gopher game on Saturday and did not see a single play of the UST vs Augsburg game but tracked it on my phone. Congrats to UST and good luck to you guys in your quest for a National Title.

I also think the Augsburg - Carleton game will be close but I think Heenie will be the difference and Augsburg will win this game.

That Gopher game was great!    Made up for that Cobber loss.