St. Thomas announced an attendance of over 6,000 during the middle of Saturday's homecoming game with Valparaiso at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. The math was recalculated during the second half and the official attendance was listed for posterity at 7,443.
There were a fair number of late arrivals for certain, as it was a splendid fall afternoon and the pregame parties in the houses and on the lawns within a number of blocks of campus were still buzzing as kickoff approached.
There appeared to be ample quantities of beer and cocktails available, although they were probably mojito mocktails and non-alcohol fizzes for those in purple Tommies T-shirts who were under 21.
The enthusiasm of the overflow crowd was substantial, as the Tommies held tough with defense in the first half, put together a couple of drives in the second half and beat Valpo 20-13.
There are numerous questions as to how this move to Division I athletics is going to work for St. Thomas. There was a first-half announcement of self-congratulations issued to President Julie Sullivan and her administration for this rapid and historic transition from D-III, although the bills have only started to roll in.
The largest expense will be a hockey arena. The high school rink at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights is not a long-term answer for a men's team competing in the new CCHA and a women's team in the WCHA.
That arena might also need the technology for a quick conversion to basketball readiness, since the Tommies' hoops home, Schoenecker Arena (opened 2010), was sized for D-III.
Funding an arena … that is President Sullivan and her brilliant administration's problem. Personally, I'm more interested in how Tommies fandom will take to these visits from the unfamiliar foes of the sprawling and mysterious Pioneer Football League.
