“JohnnieUp Everybody!”
The following comments are those of “Johnnie Tats” and don’t necessarily reflect the sentiment of Johnnie Alumni or JohnnieFootball.com… just “Johnnie Tats”.
As we rapidly (thank goodness) approach another Football Saturday for the Johnnies up in Collegeville (where it is still free to park, free to tailgate in the Science Center lot and only costs $7.00 to get into Clemens Stadium regardless of who the Johnnies are playing during a non-NCAA playoff game). As my mind was wandering once again here at work I was thinking back to the second football Saturday of the 2007 season.
It was Saturday, September 8, 2007 to be exact, that saw John and the Johnnie traveling squad make the trip to River Falls to battle the Fighting Falcons of UWRF. A battle that turned out to be a hard fought 21-10 victory in week two of the 2007 campaign. Let’s not get into the fact that the score at half was a 10-0 lead for the Falcons shall we? I think my wife was on the phone to the insurance company to cash in the life policy on me! More importantly we need to re-visit what took place before we could even enter the Stadium (apparently that is the term that UWRF calls that glorified middle school facility they use for football) to watch our beloved Johnnies. Please don’t get me started on the status of facilities at UWRF. My high school in Northern California had better facilities for fans then UWRF does.
Yes, for all of the home football games at UWRF during 2007 the cost of a ticket (if I recall correctly) was $7 (same as the ticket price at SJU). BUT…and this is a big one…for the game with the visiting Johnnies and its nation of unrivaled supporters the ticket price was raised to a whopping $8.00! That is an increase of $1.00 or roughly a 14% price increase! They must use the same consultant firm as OPEC does!
Now, let me say that the exact $ amount of the ticket may have been moved from $8 to $9 or something of that sort, don’t quote me on the numbers because this is not the core issue. The issue is that UWRF knew that they would undoubtedly have their biggest “gate” of the 2007 season when the Johnnie Nation rolled into River Falls, and like all good capitalists (wait aren’t Universities in existence to ethically educate our youth?) they took full advantage of a supply and demand situation. As a management major and member of a Fortune 500 Company I say “well done” (sarcastically).
So, congratulations to you all at UWRF! You sold yourselves, your University, your students, your athletes, your Alumni and your reputation as a place of higher learning, ethics, morals and integrity down the proverbial river for a whopping $1.00. And for a one time event in the calendar year! I would assume that they have cancelled any ethics classes that were part of the curriculum at UWRF as of this time?
So, to the Falcon Nation I offer this to you as you prepare to make the trip to Collegeville to support your team this Saturday. You will not be charged to park at SJU, you will be warmly welcomed to the S-festivities in the Science Center parking lot, your ticket price will only be what every other visiting fan pays at Clemens Stadium, $7 (Heck, you may even run into a Johnnie who has an extra ticket and will give it to you for free, and also wish you and your team good luck), and you will be treated to an experience that is worth well more than the additional $1 you chose to charge the Johnnie Nation in 2007!
Why? Because we are Johnnies, we have class, integrity, loyalty, and a Johnnie Nation that will step up to the plate (financially and otherwise) and support SJU when the need presents itself. SJU and the Johnnie Nation have not and will not sell “out” for a lousy $1.00, unlike you all at UWRF.
We are Johnnies, we know we are better! This is the way we roll!
Johnnie Nation… It is once again time to Johnnie up on Saturday!
