In my time here there have been some whoppers in attire.  This year the crown so far is Kyle Schroeder’s.  If he is not wearing his disco outfit complete with bell-bottoms and a whig, he is sporting his short-shorts.  Joe Luke was a fan of coming to practice in a cape and he was just that much scarier on Thursdays.  Shawn Schoenberg would wear his spandex shorts and a flannel shirt under his pads and ride a bike to his spot on the field.  He declared himself Lance Armstrong, Jerry declared him something else.  Billy Lawrence even pulled out his wind-suit and gave us his best Gary rendition, which was met by cheers and smiles by all.  My personal favorite was last year when Derek Stifter, Ryan Wimmer, and Ethan Eid came to practice as Jerry, Novak, and Gary.  Those were some huge shoes to fill and that kind of pressure could only be handled once in a lifetime. 

The norm, however, seems to be that people will put a visor on their facemask or wear every arm band that they own.  The scout offense has gotten into the act as well.  This year the offense has gone where no offense has even dreamed of before, participating in this event.  Ben Vanderheyden, and the recieving corps wear grean tights and pink socks.  You may have noticed their attire when Channel 5 came to do a story on the Johnnie/Tommie game.  The occaisonal poem may be read as well.  Dan Franta has taken this task to new heights.  He may not be the best poet in the world, or even on campus, but his stanzas rhyme and with this crowd, that is good enough.  His poems include the team we are playing the upcoming saturday, and the starters on defense. 

Eventhough we had a week off, it did not mean we took a break from having fun and staying loose.  We have to leave the cold this week for the friendly confines of the Dome and the Twins Moving Sale.  As always, we hope to see you at the game and your cheers will still be very much needed this week as well. 

Have a great rest of the week and we will see you on Saturday.

This is my fifth Johnnie/Tommie game and I think I can safely say that both schools have never wanted this win more this year.  A win will be monumental for both teams.  We have been anxiously waiting all week for our rival to step foot on campus.  while watching film on Tuesday, Linebackers coach, Brandon Novak, had to remind us that it was only Tuesday and that we should try and contain some emotion for the weekend (I don’t think anyone will  have to worry about that come Saturday).   The atmosphere here on campus has been electric and it reminds me of a high school homecoming against a big rival.  Everyone has been talking about the game since sunday. 

The team has been preparing intensly for the matchup of unbeatens.  It has been hard to concentrate in classes all week as we all wait in anticipation for Saturday.  The injury list has been shrunk to almost no one as everyone targeted this week to come back and the once injured look strong and anxious to get back into pads.   This is a good Tommie squad that will give us everything we can handle.  Still I always say that you can always throw out records when rivals play because the stakes are just that high (case and point with St. Olaf and Carleton).  As always, we hope to see you amongst the tens of thousands cheering loudly for the cardinal and white.  Again, dress warm and be ready for Johnnie magic and Johnnie spirit to fill Clemens Stadium.

Big White and I have come a long way to get to where we are now.  Back when we were younger, we used to play the neighborhood in pick-up games of all sorts.  Big White would always campaign for us to be o the same team.  When we did play together, we dominated.  He has always been a big and strong kid so we usually could take it to the other kids in the neighborhood.  When I was in high school and Big White was in 8th grade, our mom lost her battle to breast cancer.  Around this time, Big White and I kind of drifted apart.  We didn’t hang out like we used to and we both handled the loss very differently.  When my dad re-married, a wonderful woman who had lost her husband to cancer as well, the family seemed to come together again.  These were joyous times and I really discovered Big White and his personality all over agian.  Although Big White rarely shaves and he has a loud booming voice, he has a heart of gold and is a wonderful friend and listener.  He has grown alot and it has been fun getting to know my litttle brother as a young man, driven and determined.  I know whatever he does in life he will be very successful. 

This game means more to me this week than any other.  This could be our first, and last chance to be on the same field competing against each other.  Last year, our paths were not lucky enough to cross but I hope they do this year.  I have already informed Gary that I might have to line up at D-end to go against him.  We will have lots of family at the game and I think the color of choice for them this year is green as to not go against either side.  They will also spend half the game in the enemy section and half the game with you loyal Johnnie supporters.  After the game, I will do my best to hug this massive man and give him some brotherly words of encouragement. 

As always we hooe to see you at the game.  Make sure to dress warm and cheer loud for the Johnnies.  Good luck to my brother, Adam, but only him and I hope to see him on the field.

I encourage all the Alumni to come out with their families and enjoy the beautiful scenary of a place we all call home.  I also encourage everyone to take a look at the new Refectory if you have not seen it yet and also re-connect with old friends and memories.  It’s going to be a great game and it may just come down to a few plays again this year.  Everyone seems ready and we hope to celebrate at the end of the game with all the Alumni.  That’s really all I have for now.  We hope to see you at the game and GO JOHNNIES!

As I sit here and think of things to write, many ideas pop to my head but then are instantly shot down by the thought of what teamates will say once they read my post.  This week I thought I would highlight some of the things that Johnnie Football players like to do in their free time.  The following list, not in any particular order are some of the more popular ones:

1. CLASS and LIFT — I put these two together because everyone seems to do them and they are just a given.
2. WATCH FILM — The offensive guys watch film all the time and they seem to always be in Jim’s office.  Whenever someone walks by it is not uncommon to get an evil look from some of the guys.  The defensive guy that seems to watch the most film is Senior Corner, Dominik Haik.  He is always in Gary’s office watching the next opponent.
3. RAQUETBALL — The courts at St. John’s always seem to have someone on them.  If you’re looking for a challenge try Andrew Gurbada or Russ Gliadon.  Those two can compete with pretty much anyone.  I would strongly urge that you stay away from Tim Juba as he cheats and he hit me in the eye once.
4. RAID THE LOST AND FOUND — The lost and found bins inside the equipment room are a haven for new treasures.  The trick is to get there early though otherwise the good stuff will be gone.  Bobby Klint and Nate Anderson seem to always give this bin a quick look through.
5. SURF THE NET — Of course everyone is reading johnniefootball.com but after that its not uncommon to read Frank’s blog at the St. Cloud Times or even espn.com.  The king of surfing the internet has to be Nick Gunderson, hands down.  After living with Nick last year, I disconvered that he has a knack for finding anything sports related on the internet.  Not only sports, but funny clips of random things as well.  Each day he had at least two new things to share.

So here is a small sampling of what some of the guys do when they aren’t in the classroom, or on the field.  We hope to see everyone at the game on Saturday and we hope to put on a great show for everyone.

I can’t believe its already time for another season of football.  To make matters even more interesting, its my last year as a player for the Johnnies.  I have a feeling that this time, however cherished, will fly by faster than I want it to.  While talking to former Johnnie, Luke Schumacher, last spring about the time flying by he replied, “It only goes by faster as you get older.”  I can’t imagine that being the case, but as the second oldest guy on the team, I can already see it has some truth.

As far as this year goes, I live with Jimmy Sharpe and Andrew Gurbada this year, both football players.  We live in the Villas, which for those of you you are not familiar with it, its located behind the Holiday Gas Station and is a pretty nice place.  Of course, any place is pretty nice if it has Air Conditioning and our place has that, which has been a awesome for those warm summer camp days.  Camp seemed to fly right by and we had three two-a-days this year.  Team commraderie has picked up from last year and being we have returned a lot of players, everyone has seemed to gel like last year already.  The freshmen seemed in awe for the first few practices but they were soon able to get the hang of things. 

On the d-line, we have picked up right where we left off, as ten guys who saw action last year are returning.  Its great to see familiar faces and hear some of the same old jokes.  The highlight of camp would have to be the singing and guitar playing by Sophomore Running Back, Harry Awe and Wide Reciever, Ben Vanderheyden.  These two were awesome performers and helped break up some of the monotony that can come from camp.

Its sad to report that Eric Kottom and Justin Nilson won’t be playing with us this year.  Kottom re-tore his achilles tendon and Nilson tore his knee in practice the other day.  Although these two will be missed on the field, the team looks forward to seeing them everyday still as they are still important members of our team.

For now I have to go to class but I will have more posts to come.  Welcome back everyone to another great expected season of Johnnie Football.

Alot of players, past and present, have their own special stories about the playoffs or road trips in general.  Some of them are of their roommate, some of them are about experiences in new parts of the U.S., and some are just plain unmentionable.  Lucky enough for Johnnie Nation, my story of the road is mentionable.

This particular event happened in my sophomore year.  We were on the road facing Whitworth in Spokane, Washington.  The Friday before the game, the team went to the Golden Corral buffet.  The food was wonderful and everyone seemed to get their fill.  Still as we were eating, Jason Primus and Andrew Salvato started to tell me jokes from the otherside of the table.  During this joke telling session, Primus started to stab Salvato with his fork and make weird sounds while doing it.  I was trying to take a drink of water at that time and I started to laugh as I was swallowing.  Needless to say, the reaction caused me to gag.  The next thing I knew I was trying to hold in vomit.  My hand got up to my mouth a little bit late and the projectile spilled out the sides of my hand.  Luckily no one on the left side of me was hit, but the poor soul sitting next to me on my right was trying to eat his mashed potatoes when something fell to his plate.  Nick Gunderson immediately dropped his fork in complete disgust.  After a few well-deserved punches, I got up and got Gundy some more potatoes.  I think the lesson learned here is not to eat at the same table as Primus and Salvato.  The next year these same two tried to get me to vomit again, but this time I was prepared and disaster was averted.

We have a tough one coming up on Saturday in Whitewater and hopefully the only projectiles flying there will be of the pigskin variety.  We hope to see you all there and be on the look out for more “Inside the Huddle.”

Every Thursday, the defensive line does “low-charges.”  I usually have night class and can’t participate (not that I would win the competition anyway).  This week, being the light outside is in short supply we did paper-rock-scissors instead.  I decided to stay and it was worth my time.  I won the competition defeating Joe Luke for the title.  A formal protest was filed by Nick Gunderson as he felt that Noel Meyer and he should have been able to participate. 

For me, a win in Northfield would be that much more sweet.  In high school, our team was big rivals with Northfield, now we have the “pleasure” of going there twice a season to play the colleges that are there.  Not to mention, I think my parents are skipping the Hamline game to come to make the ten minute drive to Northfield to see the Johnnies. 

Tonight the D-line is heading to Space Aliens, along with Tim Juba, for all you can eat ribs.  I am pretty sure we have come close to putting the place out of business before, but the food was so good who could resist?  If I was a betting man, I would say that Juba could probably eat the most ribs in one sitting, but my darkhorse is Pete Froehling, who seems to have a bottomless pit. 

Thats about all I have for now as I have to be getting to class for the day.  I know my teammates expected a little bit more, but the week is still young and more can be said.  In the meantime we will keep preparing for Carleton.  We know that we will be well-supported by fans, but just in case you need to be begged, please support us this Saturday at Carleton.  It will be a great game and the scenario couldn’t be any more clear for the first time in weeks.  We hope to see you all there.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me.  Mid-terms are in full swing and all us Johnnies are doing our best to get over these hard couple weeks of the semester.  It goes without saying that a lot has been happening.

Hamline came to town for family weekend as we all know.  For me, the game had a little extra edge to it.  My brother is a freshman on the Hamline football team.  Of course my parents didn’t choose red or maroon to wear, but opted for brown and sat on both sides of Clemens Stadium.  After the game, our families were invited over to our place for a BBQ.  This was the second get-together my roommates and our families have had.  It is nice to get our loved ones together and talk and eat. We really enjoy putting those together for our families.

The most important development to come out of the Johnnie locker room lately has been that of “Rally Mustaches.”  The idea is to grow a mustache for the rest of the year as a team unity sort of activity.  The growing for most has been wonderful and I think that in the near future I will post pictures of the ’staches that have been developed.  It is important to know that not all of us can grow ’staches and I will be the first to say that it has been about three weeks for me and you can just now start to see the outline of some facial hair.  If I had to pick a winner, I would have to say Derek Stifter, Russ Gliadon, Alex Coughlin, and Eric Buss have the best/worst ’staches thus far.

As we reach cold weather, I would like to add that everyone seems to be in good spirits and, for the most part, healthy.  I will try and contribute on a more consistent level for next week.  Until then, keep watching for more development from “Inside the Huddle.”  We hope to see you all at the St. Olaf game.  And for my teammates, Happy Birthday, Dusty Clintsman!

Pierskalla: I asked the kickers this question last week, but I’ll ask you guys as well. If you could play any other position other than O-Line, what would you play?

Sowden: I would play tight end. I played tight end 4 years and 60 pounds ago and I always loved scoring touchdowns, but O-line is great because the people that matter know how important we are.

Gamache: O-line of course. No really if I had unlimited ability and skill I would play linebacker and crack some skulls.

Dimond: If we are looking past my already apparent physical limitations then I would say running back or tight end. I enjoy blocking so I would want a position on offense and it would kind of be nice to play a position with any sort of statistical measurement of performance.

Kottom: I would definitely play tight end.

Juba: I would play receiver because I have mad hands.

Pierskalla: Out of you five, who has the smelliest equipment?

Dimond: We all are pretty good about washing our stuff. I am next to Kottom and even though he (and I) sweat a lot, we keep up with our scents.

Sowden: I know that Kottom has the wettest for sure. During two-a-days he brought and extra shirt out to practice and he sweated through both of them by the end.

Gamache: Well Ben farts an awful lot, so I would say him.

Juba: Kottom does sweat a gallon or two everyday.

Pierskalla: Out of the five of you, who is the best dancer?

Juba: Kottom has the extreme arm waving going on and the ladies seem to love it.

Dimond: Well now that Primus is gone that may be up for grabs still.

Sowden: To be honest, I think I might be the ONLY dancer. Although Juba looks like he can “Drop it like its hot.”

Gamache: Yeah it looks to me like Sowden likes to dance the most.

Pierskalla: Who has the best and worst jokes?

Sowden: Jim Gagliardi has the worst. If he doesn’t count than Dimond’s are on par with Jim’s. They are always laughing at each others jokes. Its nice having Kottom around because he laughs at everyone’s jokes no matter how bad.

Juba: Yeah Kottom is the funniest, but not because of his jokes.

Dimond: Greg is a pretty goofy kid and very sarcastic which is fun. Kottom and I quote movies all the time and pretend we are funny.

Gamache: All of us are equally corny so all our jokes are bad.

Pierskalla: What is your dream job?

Kottom: I would love to be a football analyst.

Juba: I want to be a high school teacher and coach football.

Dimond: As of yet I do not have one but I do know that I want to be in a position where I am home for dinner most nights and can be there for my family when needed. A high Salary is not important as long as everything we need can be supplied.

Sowden: Teach high school and have my summers off to be on a lake somewhere.

Gamache: I would like to own a professional Football team, but thinking more realistically (and more based on my field of study) I would like to be a CNO (Chief Nursing Officer) in a major hospital.

Pierskalla: What is one thing that people need to know about the O-Line?

Gamache: We are the ultimate Band of Brothers. We go into battle every Saturday deep in the trenches and fight side by side. Each one of us would put their neck out for the other. We have a great relationship where we help and encourage each other, while at the same time push each other to be a better person. We are all brothers.

Dimond: We understand the job we have to do is not one of glory but that it is of the utmost importance. The flow of the offense starts with us and we know that we have to step up this year and buy some time for the QBs. We also are pretty good friends. For having 3 juniors, a senior and a sophomore, we’re pretty tight knit.

Sowden: We have a lot of heart and will do anything to succeed.

Juba: We are a nice bunch of guys that love football and are looking for hot dates.

Kottom: We’re the big hot guys. When we say big we mean fat and when we say hot we mean sweaty.

Pierskalla: Who is the hardest guy to block in practice?

Gamache, Kottom, Juba: Travis Truhler because he is so damn short. Cody Socher has the most physical ability and the most size, he’s going to be good.

Dimond: If we are going against the # 1’s, then definitely Mike Schumacher, but in scout I would say Joel McBride or Phil Orzechowski.

Sowden: Kottom’s man when he misses him. Just kidding Erik.

Pierskalla: Who do you think would win an eating contest?

Kottom: I think Gamache would win.

Sowden: That’s easy, Juba.

Dimond: Kottom hands down.

Gamache: JUBA, JUBA, JUBA! It’s evident every Friday night at Dumonceaux’s.

Juba: I would win for sure. I once ate 39 hot wings in 3 minutes and 19 seconds. It was easy.

The offense might still have some questions to be answered, but I’m all out. Thank you to our fans who were at the Homecoming game, we appreciate the support. We hope to see you at Royal Stadium for the this week’s clash with Bethel and stay tuned to more “Inside the Huddle.”

JohnnieFootball.com: We’ll be there!