Quote from: sjusection105 on March 20, 2026, 10:58:15 AM

Quote from: DuffMan on March 18, 2026, 09:52:26 PMBig news out of Collegeville as SJU parts ways with wrestling coach Kevin Schiltz.
I'm hopeful that AD O'Brien is committed to bringing the program back to competitiveness.  They have an opportunity to be great, but the school will need to commit to it.

Lots of shake ups with SJU coaching. I'm wondering if the days where you take a job as a coach and stay 40+ years are a thing of the past at SJU.

I would say yes. The administration is changing, but the people who take these jobs has likely changed as well. Much more opportunity for mobility. I do think that you must have national success to get pulled up to a high-level D2 or D1 job. Lance Leipold is an example. UWRF just lost Matt Walker to Drake. The transfer portal has caused the coaching carousel to spin even faster.

Quote from: Retired Old Rat on November 17, 2025, 08:48:12 PM

Quote from: CHUBBS PETERSON on November 17, 2025, 11:53:15 AMFor the SJU faithful:

Sorry if I'm rehashing something previously discussed, but genuinely curious about your opinions of the blue, alternate home jersey. I know it's one of the school colors, but it hasn't really had a place in the football uniform until recently.

I really like them as something different. Honestly, I think they are more attractive than the red jerseys. I'd like to see them at least once a year. We're not worn even once last year.

The blue uniforms were a prominent part of the football jersey up through the 1930s and even into the 1940s. I like to see them once per year at most. They've got to be special. All of the Johnnies success (national championships) have come exclusively in the cardinal and white, and that tradition can't be casually displaced or discarded.

They've only worn the blues four times since they returned in 2021.

2025: vs. St. Scholastica
2024: None
2023: vs. St. Scholastica
2022: None
2021: vs. Martin Luther, vs. St. Scholastica

It could be fun if they used them on the road against someone like Concordia, St. Olaf, Augsburg, etc.--kind of like when USC and UCLA play.

The MIAC fall sports season is officially closed with St. Olaf and Bethel neck-and-neck at the top of the Durenberger Trophy standings. The Oles took home MIAC Championships in cross country and soccer, while the Royals won the golf and football championships.



Carleton sits third following a second place finish in cross country, and third place finishes in football and golf.

St. John's did not win a championship in a fall sport. That has to be the first time in a long time since that has happened.

Quote from: Redtooth on October 22, 2025, 12:59:16 PMStill in the running in Fargo with the house a chilly 62 this morning, with the added caveat that our AC is still technically on.

Show off.

Quote from: DuffMan on October 17, 2025, 05:25:49 PMWho's still master of his/her domain?  This could be a record-setting year!

I'm out. It was 29 degrees in Sioux Falls this morning. Always a pleasure getting the participation trophy. I suspect Duff will continue his reign.

Quote from: DuffMan on October 15, 2025, 01:40:53 PM

Quote from: SagatagSam on October 15, 2025, 01:01:47 PM1932: 7 (Season shutout)

Does this mean they didn't give up a point the entire season??? 
 

It doesn't help that the forward pass was still in its adolescence back when the season shutout of '32 happened. To accomplish something like that today would be utterly insane.

Time to update the tally board. The live over/under for shutouts this season by the Johnnie defense is at 5.5.

SJU Number of shutouts by season:

1965: 7
1932: 7 (Season shutout)
1935: 5
2025: 4
2021: 4
2018: 4
1998: 4
1957: 4
1946: 4
1936: 4
1934: 4
1933: 4
[/quote]

Quote from: faunch on October 13, 2025, 08:24:50 PM

Quote from: sfury on October 13, 2025, 12:23:29 AM

Quote from: DuffMan on October 11, 2025, 11:03:11 PMIt used to be that you had to have your knees covered by pads--I remember a flag or two being thrown.  These days, some guys are practically wearing mid-thigh shorts!

The uncle I took to the Johnnies game few weeks ago is a high school football ref. Does that mean in between him enjoying his first trip to an SJU game I had to listen to him for three hours complain about the knees not being covered and players wearing shorts? Yes, yes it does. In his high school games anyway he doesn't allow it.

I've been working high school chain gang for a couple schools the last two seasons. Last year the officials at least tried to enforce it. They would tell a kid to pull the pants over the knew. A couple plays later they had them back up. This year I think there's been one time I heard a ref tell player to pull them over the knee.
The other one that gets me is players having their mouth guard out...like frequently.

My high school crew in South Dakota is notorious for enforcing that the knees be covered by kneepads. We routinely send off a player or two from each side to let the coaches know we mean business. We tell them: "he can come back in when he is properly equipped."

The problem is that at all levels (HS, College) there are no yardage penalties for not having your knees covered and NFHS and the NCAA don't make it enough of a priority for all officiating crews to enforce it.

The third shutout in a row is worthy of taking a look at the history of Johnnie shutouts. There are some truly remarkable numbers. This is the first time since 1932 that the Johnnies started their first three games without allowing a point. They went from September 24, 1932 to October 28, 1933 without allowing a point. From 1931 to 1936 (six seasons) the Johnnies only allowed 117 in total (19.5 points per season). How many more shutouts can the Johnnies stack up? Only time will tell.

SJU Number of shutouts by season:

1965: 7
1932: 7 (Season shutout)
1935: 5
2021: 4
2018: 4
1998: 4
1957: 4
1946: 4
1936: 4
1934: 4
1933: 4
2025: 3

There was a fire at the U$T library yesterday. No real structural damage, but they did lose about 30 books in the fire.

The real tragedy is that the students hadn't colored in 20 of those books yet.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on July 24, 2025, 05:29:18 PM

Quote from: DuffMan on July 24, 2025, 02:45:34 PMAfter losing Syverson to graduation, SJU at #5 is laughable.  I have no doubt his replacement will be good, but that is a lofty ranking for a huge unknown.

Everyone has unknowns, more so than usual, but I agree losing Syverson is a huge unknown.

SJU athletics posted the #5 ranking on X/Twitter and Coach Damien Dumonceaux retweeted it right away: "Rankings are great, but they don't matter if the preparation is not sound. [...]"

Johnnies come in at #5 in the preseason D3football.com poll
Bethel at #12

https://d3football.com/top25/2025/preseason

Only 3 weeks or so until the boys start reporting to Collegeville for camp.

Let's go Johnnies!

Quote from: GoldandBlueBU on June 05, 2025, 02:33:44 PMLOL!

Liked it overall - I'd ask Chat to revise it with a tone that reflected that everyone was actually quite happy to see it die.

Not sure I've ever read an obit that said, "Everyone was glad the son of a b***ch is dead!" I wonder how ChatGPT would handle that!

I asked ChatGPT to write an obituary for the MIAC Championship Game. Here's what it gave me:

Obituary: The MIAC Football Championship Game (November 13, 2021 – November 16, 2024)

It is with a mixture of reverence and resignation that we mark the passing of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Football Championship Game, which ran its course from 2021 to 2024. Born out of necessity and competitive spirit, the championship game was both a symbol of renewed structure in Division III football and a showcase of Minnesota grit. It has now joined the annals of college football history—brief, but impactful.

Established in 2021 following the MIAC's reorganization into two divisions (the Northwoods and Skyline), the championship game was created to determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Football Championship. This structure was intended to resolve the long-standing dominance of a few programs while reinvigorating competition across the board. For four seasons, it did just that.

The inaugural championship game in 2021 set a dramatic standard that would prove difficult to match. Played in a swirling snowstorm in Arden Hills, it was an instant classic between two MIAC titans: Saint John's and Bethel. With the game on the line, Saint John's orchestrated a stunning 72-yard drive in the final minutes—eight plays capped by a 4th-and-goal touchdown from the Royals' 3-yard line with just one second remaining. It was a signature moment in MIAC history, steeped in tension, grit, and sheer will.

Yet, as the seasons went on, the championship game never quite returned to that same fever pitch. There were memorable plays and worthy champions, but the magic of that first finale in the snow remained unmatched—a reminder that lightning rarely strikes the same field twice.

Ultimately, shifting conference priorities, logistical challenges, and differing visions for the future led to the quiet sunsetting of the MIAC Championship Game after the 2024 season. There was no grand announcement, no farewell ceremony—just the soft close of a chapter that many will look back on with fondness and perhaps a touch of longing.

The MIAC Football Championship Game is survived by the teams and rivalries it helped elevate, the student-athletes who played with passion under late-autumn skies, and the fans who cheered with mittened hands and loyal hearts. Its legacy will linger on campus fields, in stat books, and in the memories of those who witnessed its brief but brilliant existence.

Requiescat in pace, MIAC Championship Game. You were gone too soon, but you burned bright while you lasted.

Quote from: SagatagSam on June 02, 2025, 12:30:42 PMSome noteworthy items announced for the upcoming season:

Divisional structure officially eliminated and replaced with a true round robin. This was changed already on the MIAC website, but now teams and the conference are making the official announcement.

Games played after the end of daylight savings time (which is the final two weeks of the regular season) will kickoff at noon instead of 1 p.m.

https://gojohnnies.com/news/2025/6/2/football-miac-eliminates-championship-week-sju-to-play-all-nine-conference-opponents-in-2025.aspx

Looking ahead, the Johnnies will play Bethel early in the season in 2025 and 2026. The 2026 game could potentially be SJU's homecoming game as it falls on October 3. If so, it would fall on the 17th anniversary of Russell Gliadon's game winning 49-yard field goal in 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKMd6jTa-w

The two teams won't meet in a late season showdown until 2027 and 2028.