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, June 21, 2007

Sophomore Year Messages

The Official Green Shirts are in. Purchase yours tonight in the next half hour or any other time I am in my room. To Use: Unfold shirt or remove from hanger Thursday morning, wear shirt all day, remove in evening, wash shirt with like colors. For best results, repeat weekly.

Green Shirt Thursday: It's finger lickin good

Rally sons of Green Shirt Thursday
Sing her glory and sound her fame
Remove shirts of Red and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Green Shirt Thursday
We will fight in every game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne'er forget her
And will cheer her forever
Loyal to Green Shirt Thursday.
Cheer, cheer for Green Shirt Thursday,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky!
What though the odds be great or small,
Green Shirt Thursday will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory!

YOU ARE READING A MATT KILLIANY CHOOSE-YOUR-ADVENTURE BOOK!
IT'S THURSDAY. TO PUT ON A SHIRT, GO TO PAGE 2.
YOU PUT ON A SHIRT. TO CHECK YOUR SHIRT COLOR, GO TO PAGE 3.
YOUR SHIRT IS BLUE. TO CHECK YOUR SHIRT COLOR AGAIN, REREAD PAGE 3.
I MUST MAKE IT GREEN!
TO GO TO CLASS, TURN TO PAGE 5.
BUT MY SHIRT IS NOT GREEN!
BANG!!!
HOORAY

A Green Shirt is forever
Green Shirt Thursdays

All Day I Dream About Green Shirts

What can Green do for you?

When you vote on Tuesday forget Bush and Kerry. Choose the candidate that stands for what you believe: Green Shirt Thursdays. Concerned with the excessive anti-terrorist expenses? Bush and Kerry see these costs as necessary and unavoidable. This is not so. I assure you that if you choose Green Shirt Thursdays, the terrorist threat against you will drop to zero, erasing the need for anti-terrorism measures. With the billions of dollars saved, money can be spent on more useful things like aid for small Green Shirt manufacturers. The US has drawn the ire of the majority of the world in the aftermath of the hasty invasion of Iraq. With the widespread international sympathy for the Green Shirt Thursday cause, the US will regain the world's respect. For a better Thursday, a better next 4 years and a better world choose Green Shirt Thursdays.

I'm Matt Killiany and I approved this message

You can do it. Green Shirt Thursdays can help

A Green Shirt on Thursday keeps the doctor away

You're in good hands with Green Shirt Thursdays

To wear a Green Shirt, or not to wear a Green Shirt? There is no question

Guy 1: What's that?
Guy 2: A Green Shirt
Guy 1: A Green Shirt?...Brilliant! What do you do with it?
Guy 2: You wear it on Thursdays to acquire unimaginable power
Guy 1: Unimaginable power? Brilliant! What else have you been working on?
Guy 2: You know how your shirts get dirty and you have to wash them?
Guy 1: Yes
Guy 2: I've invented a machine that washes them for you
Guy 1: A washing machine? Brilliant!
Guy 2: Brilliant!

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to 12 green shirts, 11 green shirts, 10 green shirts, 9 green shirts, 8 green shirts, 7 green shirts, 6 green shirts, 5 gold rings, 4 green shirts, 3 green shirts, 2 green shirts, and one more green shirt

In honor of Samuel Morse's first successful test of the electrical telegraph on this day in 1838, .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / --. .-. . . -. / ... .... .. .-. - / - .... ..- .-. ... -.. .- -.--

Well it's midnight and we're ready to rock
Time to get out the t-shirts, the sweaters, the tops
It's that green shirted time that's comin your way
You'd better have a green shirt cause it's already Thursday
We gotta get ready, we gotta get right
Cause Green Shirt Thursday kicks off tonight
So get ready. I mean, get ready.
Are you ready for this Thursday? A Green Shirt party
We've got Dayton and Missourians
They're gonna get it kick started
The clock has struck twelve. Everyone's psyched
Cause all my rowdy friends are gettin Green Shirts out tonight

G-R-E-E-N S-H-I-R-T T-H-U-R-S-D-A-Y Spells Relief

Episode IV
A NEW HOPE

It is a period of civil war.
Rebel runners, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against
the evil Sumac Empire.

During the battle, Rebel
spies managed to steal secret
plans to the Empire's
ultimate weapon, the GREEN
SHIRT, an armored space
station with enough power to
destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's
sinister agents, Matt
Killiany races home aboard his
Asics, custodian of the
stolen plans that can save his
people and restore
freedom to the galaxy?

Like a good neighbor, Green Shirt Thursday is there

Feel the rhythm. Feel the rhyme. Get on up. It's Green Shirt Time. Green Shirt Thursday!

Be all that you can be with Green Shirt Thursdays

Green Shirt Thursdays. They're Grrrreat!

Choosy moms choose Green Shirt Thursdays

Green Shirt Thursdays: They give you wings

Consolidate your days of the week with one large lump Green Shirt Thursday. "The little days of the week didn't do any good, but the large lump Green Shirt Thursday we get now is great!" Call now and get started today

Green Shirt Thursday. It's in the game
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