With no dog in the fight, I really enjoy the annual match up of these IHSA giants! Between the rivalry and the comments of that spirited Wilmette woman who opposed Loyola adding lights because in her opinion it would bring undesirable southside people to the neighborhood, I feel compelled to re-share this Paul Sullivan gem from 33 years ago regarding the rivalry in a day-in-the-life Tribune article.
MIND GAMES
By Paul Sullivan. Tribune Staff Writer
Chicago Tribune
Oct 01, 1993 at 12:00 am
Reggie Thompson leans back in his chair, raises his right hand and patiently awaits his turn.
Thompson is one of two dozen Mt. Carmel football players crammed into a small classroon on a rainy Saturday morning at 64th and Dante, getting final instructions from the coaching staff three hours before the Caravan plays Loyola in a battle of Top 10 teams in Wilmette.
Thompson has carefully rehearsed his solitary line, and when head coach Frank Lenti calls out his name, he delivers the words with authority.
"It's time to be the judge, the jury and the executioner," Thompson says in a flat, Arnold Schwarzenegger monotone.
Heads nod all around him, though no one says a word.
It is game day at Mt. Carmel. Like so many places where football is king, athletes and coaches alike prepare by tossing around fighting words like Frisbees.
Each team has its own unique approach to game day. This is how Mt. Carmel prepared last Saturday for Loyola.
Game day starts around 8 a.m., when players file into the school for taping. They will wander over to the nearby practice field and watch the first quarter of the Loyola-Mt. Carmel freshman game before heading to chapel service.
At 10:30, the first of several team meetings takes place in a first-floor classroom. The defensive unit heads in first while a student marches up to the blackboard and hangs up a banner.
"It takes a little more to be a Champion," reads the slogan for a sporting goods company.
For six minutes, no one in the room makes a sound, with only the rain on the windows breaking the silence. Then the defensive coaches make their entrances: line coach John Potocki in front followed by defensive coordinator Dave Lenti, the head coach's brother, and linebackers coach Pete Kammholz.
Lenti goes over defensive assignments and reminds players that Loyola is a team that likes trick plays, particularly on second down with short yardage.
The smallest details are brought up, such as the expected emotional reaction of the players when they board the team bus to begin the 30-mile trip up the Edens Expressway to Loyola.
"Don't burn a lot of energy on the bus getting all excited," Lenti warns. "After a while you'll see the Old Orchard Road exit and you know we're close, and then Lake Avenue. Then you start getting focused."
Toward the end of his remarks, Lenti launches the opening verbal assault on the North Shore, the area Loyola calls home.
"Their fans will be wearing Izods and turtlenecks, barbecueing and having a grand old time," Lenti says.
"There is nothing better than going to someone else's house and taking it over."
The us-versus-them theme will be repeated in the next meeting, when Potocki gives a "demographics" lesson to the offense.
"If you study Chicago history," Potocki says, "you'll find that the people who got a little more money usually moved up north. Now, your ancestors lived on the South Side, and they worked hard all their lives. Nothing was ever given to them. That work ethic, that mental toughness and physical toughness, it's something that is ingrained in us."
During the final meeting, Lenti calls upon the captains and seniors to speak their minds. Quarterback Donovan McNabb, Thompson and runningback Mike Clifford each give a brief speech in understated tones.
"If we lose today we'll be 2-2," Clifford says. "That's average."
He makes a dramatic pause and adds, "I didn't come here to be average."
The meetings end at 11:25. Soon the 45-minute bus ride to Wilmette begins. They arrive in time for a half-hour of warmups in the pouring rain and enter the visitors' locker room 15 minutes before kickoff.
The players sit on four long benches. McNabb walks up and down, slapping low fives.
"Nasty weather for nasty attitudes," Potocki says aloud as he paces the room. Lenti huddles the players into a corner of the room at 1:25 for a pregame prayer, and then delivers his final remarks in full throat.
"Courage, pride, self-esteem," Lenti says, his voice rising. "Great players play great in big games. It's a matter of choice; how good do you want to be?"
Finally, Lenti shouts out his closing refrain, "Who's it up to?"
"Me!" the players reply.
"Who's it up to?"
"Me!"
"Who's it up to?"
"Me!"
With that, 74 young men run out the door toward the rain-soaked field. They return an hour later with a 7-0 lead and heads hung low. After Jovan Harbin's 67-yard touchdown run on the third play, Mt. Carmel's offense was stopped dead. A fumble forced by Thompson at the goal line kept Loyola off the scoreboard.
Linebacker Jeff Cronin gathers the defense on one side of the locker room and instructs them to take off their pads.
"Let's pick it up," Cronin shouts. "You guys are dead out there. For what? I'm not going on another long bus ride home again."
Cronin means the opening-night loss to Joliet Catholic, when the Caravan held an 11-point lead with 4:46 left but lost 27-24.
As the end of halftime approaches, Lenti calls the troops together one last time.
"It's an all-new ballgame," he says. "Defense, let's gang tackle. You've got 24 minutes. You don't need me to charge you up. Let's give 24 of your best."
In another hour, the Caravan comes out with a 7-6 victory, thanks in part to the rain. It helped foul up Loyola's point-after attempt with 2 1/2 minutes left.
In the locker room, Lenti congratulates the kids for the win, but they know the review will be a little harsher during film sessions next week. Caked with mud and sopping wet, they finish celebrating and get back on the bus in full uniform for the return trip to Mt. Carmel.
Cronin smiles as he gets on board. It won't be such a long trip after all.
MIND GAMES
By Paul Sullivan. Tribune Staff Writer
Chicago Tribune
Oct 01, 1993 at 12:00 am
Reggie Thompson leans back in his chair, raises his right hand and patiently awaits his turn.
Thompson is one of two dozen Mt. Carmel football players crammed into a small classroon on a rainy Saturday morning at 64th and Dante, getting final instructions from the coaching staff three hours before the Caravan plays Loyola in a battle of Top 10 teams in Wilmette.
Thompson has carefully rehearsed his solitary line, and when head coach Frank Lenti calls out his name, he delivers the words with authority.
"It's time to be the judge, the jury and the executioner," Thompson says in a flat, Arnold Schwarzenegger monotone.
Heads nod all around him, though no one says a word.
It is game day at Mt. Carmel. Like so many places where football is king, athletes and coaches alike prepare by tossing around fighting words like Frisbees.
Each team has its own unique approach to game day. This is how Mt. Carmel prepared last Saturday for Loyola.
Game day starts around 8 a.m., when players file into the school for taping. They will wander over to the nearby practice field and watch the first quarter of the Loyola-Mt. Carmel freshman game before heading to chapel service.
At 10:30, the first of several team meetings takes place in a first-floor classroom. The defensive unit heads in first while a student marches up to the blackboard and hangs up a banner.
"It takes a little more to be a Champion," reads the slogan for a sporting goods company.
For six minutes, no one in the room makes a sound, with only the rain on the windows breaking the silence. Then the defensive coaches make their entrances: line coach John Potocki in front followed by defensive coordinator Dave Lenti, the head coach's brother, and linebackers coach Pete Kammholz.
Lenti goes over defensive assignments and reminds players that Loyola is a team that likes trick plays, particularly on second down with short yardage.
The smallest details are brought up, such as the expected emotional reaction of the players when they board the team bus to begin the 30-mile trip up the Edens Expressway to Loyola.
"Don't burn a lot of energy on the bus getting all excited," Lenti warns. "After a while you'll see the Old Orchard Road exit and you know we're close, and then Lake Avenue. Then you start getting focused."
Toward the end of his remarks, Lenti launches the opening verbal assault on the North Shore, the area Loyola calls home.
"Their fans will be wearing Izods and turtlenecks, barbecueing and having a grand old time," Lenti says.
"There is nothing better than going to someone else's house and taking it over."
The us-versus-them theme will be repeated in the next meeting, when Potocki gives a "demographics" lesson to the offense.
"If you study Chicago history," Potocki says, "you'll find that the people who got a little more money usually moved up north. Now, your ancestors lived on the South Side, and they worked hard all their lives. Nothing was ever given to them. That work ethic, that mental toughness and physical toughness, it's something that is ingrained in us."
During the final meeting, Lenti calls upon the captains and seniors to speak their minds. Quarterback Donovan McNabb, Thompson and runningback Mike Clifford each give a brief speech in understated tones.
"If we lose today we'll be 2-2," Clifford says. "That's average."
He makes a dramatic pause and adds, "I didn't come here to be average."
The meetings end at 11:25. Soon the 45-minute bus ride to Wilmette begins. They arrive in time for a half-hour of warmups in the pouring rain and enter the visitors' locker room 15 minutes before kickoff.
The players sit on four long benches. McNabb walks up and down, slapping low fives.
"Nasty weather for nasty attitudes," Potocki says aloud as he paces the room. Lenti huddles the players into a corner of the room at 1:25 for a pregame prayer, and then delivers his final remarks in full throat.
"Courage, pride, self-esteem," Lenti says, his voice rising. "Great players play great in big games. It's a matter of choice; how good do you want to be?"
Finally, Lenti shouts out his closing refrain, "Who's it up to?"
"Me!" the players reply.
"Who's it up to?"
"Me!"
"Who's it up to?"
"Me!"
With that, 74 young men run out the door toward the rain-soaked field. They return an hour later with a 7-0 lead and heads hung low. After Jovan Harbin's 67-yard touchdown run on the third play, Mt. Carmel's offense was stopped dead. A fumble forced by Thompson at the goal line kept Loyola off the scoreboard.
Linebacker Jeff Cronin gathers the defense on one side of the locker room and instructs them to take off their pads.
"Let's pick it up," Cronin shouts. "You guys are dead out there. For what? I'm not going on another long bus ride home again."
Cronin means the opening-night loss to Joliet Catholic, when the Caravan held an 11-point lead with 4:46 left but lost 27-24.
As the end of halftime approaches, Lenti calls the troops together one last time.
"It's an all-new ballgame," he says. "Defense, let's gang tackle. You've got 24 minutes. You don't need me to charge you up. Let's give 24 of your best."
In another hour, the Caravan comes out with a 7-6 victory, thanks in part to the rain. It helped foul up Loyola's point-after attempt with 2 1/2 minutes left.
In the locker room, Lenti congratulates the kids for the win, but they know the review will be a little harsher during film sessions next week. Caked with mud and sopping wet, they finish celebrating and get back on the bus in full uniform for the return trip to Mt. Carmel.
Cronin smiles as he gets on board. It won't be such a long trip after all.
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. People give Lynch crap for being arrogant, but Lenti was the master of it!
