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.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

STG

I don’t mind
You’re someone that ain’t mine
But someone that I’ll get
And you don’t know how
Hard I’ve tried
To convince myself that I
Can easily forget

But you left this feeling here inside me
One that never fails to find me...

On a Green Shirt Thursday
...a feeling inside me
Like the days of summer

On a Green Shirt Thursday
..I feel it inside me
In the hopes of one day

I won’t lie
I still can’t say that I
Admit we went too far
And you won’t see me change my mind
But I really wish that I
Could forget the way you are

But you left this feeling here inside me
The battle in my mind still fights me

On a Green Shirt Thursday
...a feeling inside me
Like the days of summer

On a Green Shirt Thursday
..I feel it inside me
In the hopes of one day

I can see that you're not beside me
But I still feel you shine inside of me

On a Green Shirt Thursday
...a feeling inside me
Like the days of summer

On a Green Shirt Thursday
..I feel it inside me
In the hopes of one day
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Shirt of Thursday

Hello Green Shirt, my old friend
I’ve come to wear you once again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the Shirt of Thursday

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A Green light
That split the night
And touched the Shirt of Thursday

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People dressed in shirts that no one should ever wear
And no one dared
Disturb the Shirt of Thursday

Fools said I, you do not know
Thursday like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the Shirts of Thursday

And the people bowed and prayed
To the Green God they made
And the sign flashed its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the Shirts of Thursday
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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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