The Official History of Green Shirt Thursdays

Ok, here goes. After the Alumni Race in 2001, Coach Hamel was selling the Prep North Cross Country shirts. Now for those who are not familiar with the St. Louis area or anything of the sort, Prep North is the high school that our coach went to and ran cross country for. It has since closed. Coach Linhares had his high school shirts remade and some of the runners bought them since it is the 'history' of the program since coach modeled his program after his high school coach's program. So Brennan Connor and I both wanted one and we were going to purchase one. We weren't sure whether to buy the green one with the yellow letters or the yellow one with the green letters. Now at the time I wanted the yellow one with the green letters one because Coach had that one. Green was actually a JV shirt at Prep North. But then Brennan told me that we should both buy green ones and then we'll wear them on Thursdays and they will be Green Shirt Thursdays. And so it began....It started off strong and some people were picking up on it. Green Shirt Thursdays soon became a symbol of the newly formed BAMFOs, a faction group within SLUH XC. But there was a bump in the program my senior year (2002) when I left my green shirt in either Kyle Gonnerman's car(minivan/gonnervan) or his house. So for a few months I was without a green shirt. This was the dark ages. However, a few lads, namely Matt Killiany and Dan Flanagan, managed to keep it alive during those months. Finally Kyle returned my shirt to me and we began to spread the word. Here at Truman, we purchased some stylish pea-soup-green shirts and had "Thursday" pressed on the back. They are also size small, so they are nice and tight and the ladies love them. They are all like, "why aren't you wearing your green shirt?" and I am all like "It's Tuesday." So that is pretty much the story. And if that doesn't inspire you to wear a green shirt, I don't know what will. To all the ladies out there, buy a green (preferably tight) shirt and write Thursday across it. Then you will be almost as cool as me. Then you can take a picture of yourself, well it'll be better if you have your roommate, or even Matt take a picture of you and then have the pictures developed and give it to Matt and then he will e-mail it to me and then I will see the support of the greatness of Green Shirt Thursdays. And as most of you know there is a tough date coming up for those of you that only own one green shirt. I luckily have three: my Thursday shirt, my Prep North shirt and my Minnesota shirt that I bought at three in the morning one night in Minnesota this past November. But St. Patrick's day falls on a Tuesday or Wed., so you should wear your Green Shirt on St. Pat's day and the following Thursday. You don't have to worry about washing it because having a green shirt on is more important than having a clean shirt on. And (for the ladies) you can always put on some perfume or something to cover up any unwanted scents. I prefer Curve for Women. And there you have, at long last, the history of Green Shirt Thursdays
By: Kevin Crean
Edited by: Matt Killiany

The collegiate years saw Green Shirt Thursdays grow from its humble beginnings on a cross country team to a widespread following. Many SLUH XC alums took their Green Shirts with them to college and spread the good news of Thursday. I took it as my personal responsibility to get as many people to wear Green Shirts on Thursdays as possible. I began by writing a reminder on everyone's marker board on my floor early every Thursday morning (I had chemistry lab at 7:30, so I was awake before everyone else). People continued to forget to wear their Green Shirts, so I began sending out messages over AIM to everyone on my buddy list to remind them to wear their Green Shirt on Thursday. These are the messages found in this archive. They progressed from short, simple ad slogans to longer, more complex songs over time. For some, even the AIM reminders were not enough. They claimed they had no Green Shirts. In response to this, I designed and had printed (thank you to the good people at the T-Shirt Place who charged me $1.50 less per shirt than they were supposed to) the Official Green Shirt Thursday Shirts. The picture is the design on the front of the shirts. These shirts were distributed to friends and family who in turn gave shirts to their friends and families. They also served as the jerseys for the GST intramural soccer teams at Dayton. Similar stories of success occurred at several other colleges and others are in progress. I even found a completely independent group of Green Shirt Thursday followers. In the post-collegiate years, the messages will continue being sent and posted and hopefully those who have been exposed to Green Shirt Thursdays will take the tradition with them.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I Got A Name

Like the pine trees linin the windin road
I’ve got a Day, I’ve got a Day
Like the singin bird and the croakin toad
I’ve got a Day, I’ve got a Day
And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I’m livin the dream that he kept hid
Movin me through a Thursday
Rollin me through a Thursday
Wearin Green Shirts so life won’t pass me by

Like the clubbers over on the East Side
I’ve got a Shirt, I’ve got a Shirt
Like your Uncle Bill and that other guy
I’ve got a Shirt, I’ve got a Shirt
And I carry it with me and I wear it proud
It’ll get me somewhere, I’m not allowed
Movin me through a Thursday
Rollin me through a Thursday
Wearin Green Shirts so life won’t pass me by

And I’m gonna go there free

Like the fool I am and I’ll always be
I’ve got a dream, I’ve got a dream
They can change their Shirts but they can’t make me
I’ve got a dream, I’ve got a dream
Oh, I know I could share it if you want me to
If you’re wearin a Green Shirt, I’ll go with you
Movin me through a Thursday
Rollin me through a Thursday
Wearin Green Shirts so life won’t pass me by
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Bad Day

Where is the color we needed the most?
You give up on AIM and the magic is lost
They tell me your Green Shirts fade to gray
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee you go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carryin' on

But you have a Thursday
You're taking one down
You send a message just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You have a Thursday
The calendar don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You have a Thursday
You have a Thursday

Will you need a Green Shirt holiday?
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

You have a Thursday
You're taking one down
You send a message just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You have a Thursday
Calendars don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You have a Thursday

(Oooh.. a Thursday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

(yeah...)

So where is the passion when you need it the most?
Oh you and I
You give up on AIM and the magic is lost

Cause you have a Thursday
You're taking one down
You send a message just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You have a Thursday
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You have a Thursday
You have a Thursday
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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

What I Got

Early Thursday morning risin to the street
Put me on a clean Green Shirt and I strap shoes on my feet
Got to find a reason a reason things went wrong
Got to find a reason why my money’s all gone
But I got a Dalmatian and I can still get by
I can wear a Green Shirt like a mother f-in riot
Life is too short so wear the Shirt you got
Cause you might get run over or you might get shot
Never start no static I just get it off my chest
Never had to battle with a bulletproof vest
Take a small example
A tip from me: take some of your Green Shirts, give em up to charity
Green’s what I got
It’s within my reach
And the sublime style’s still straight from long beach
It all comes back to you you’re gonna get what you deserve
Try and test that you’re bound to get served
Green’s what I got
Don’t start a riot
You feel it when the dance gets hot
Green Shirts are what I got...
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Kung Fu Fighting

Everybody was Green Shirt wearing
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Punk Rocker

See me drivin down the street
I’m bored with looking good
I got both hands on the wheel
Thursday is coming
I’m wearing my Green Shirt with no fear
You can wear one too if you’re sincere

Coz I’m a Green Shirter yes I am
Well I’m a Green Shirter yes I am
Coz I’m a Green Shirter yes I am
Well I’m a Green Shirter yes I am
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Maps

Wait, they don’t love you like Green loves you
Wait, they don’t love you like Green loves you
ThU-u-U-U-u-U-U-u-U-U-u-Ursday
They don’t love you like Green loves you
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Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Sickness

Drowning deep in my sea of loathing
Broken your servant I kneel
(Will you give in to me?)
It seems what's left of my human side
Is slowly changing ... in me
(Will you give in to me?)
Looking at my own reflection
When suddenly it changes
Violently it changes
Oh no, There is no turning back now
You've woken up the demon ... in me

Get up, come on get down with the Green Shirt
Get up, come on get down with the Green Shirt
Get up, come on get down with the Green Shirt
Open up your hate, and let it flow into me
Get up, come on get down with the Green Shirt
You mother get up
Come on get down with the Green Shirt
You f#*ker get up
Come on get down with the Green Shirt
Thursday is the gift, that has been given to me
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