2026-09-29T23:30:28+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/ Rattlers Remember https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org 2019-12-09T17:42:46+00:00 2019-12-15T17:58:33+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/27 Adam Nerio In October of 2013, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, along with University and city officials, cut the blue ribbon to inaugurate brand new state-of-the-art sports facilities. These new facilities add to the beautiful landscape of The Park, the sports complex at St. Mary’s. The project cost $17.3 million and included a fully renovated baseball field including a training room and offices for the coaching staff, a softball field including locker rooms, batting cages, a ticket office, and outfield stadium seating, new tennis courts, and two FIFA-regulation soccer fields. Bexar County provided a $6 million grant to this project to improve the surrounding community and to enhance the image of the University. In addition, the University hoped the new facilities would attract NCAA DII tournament play, showcasing St. Mary’s beyond San Antonio. Six years later, the men’s soccer team did just that, playing on the recently created Sigma Beta Chi Field. On Saturday, November 23, 2019 the men’s soccer team became the first team in program history to make an NCAA tournament appearance. This also marked the first time a men's soccer NCAA Tournament game was held at Sigma Beta Chi Field. Led by head coach Johnny Clifford the men’s team earned the number 3-seed in the tournament, playing against the 6-seed Western Washington on Sigma Beta Chi Field. Playing in front of a full crowd of students, family, and friends, the men’s team dominated, defeating Western Washington by a score of 5-0. This result marked the team’s first NCAA tournament win and the University’s first time hosting an NCAA tournament game on Sigma Beta Chi Field. In 2013, Corwyn Ritch, the former head women’s soccer coach who served for 19 seasons, became the first to coach on Sigma Beta Chi Field used by both the men and women’s soccer teams. Early in his coaching career at St. Mary’s however, the team practiced and played their games on the same field. Before Sigma Beta Chi Field was built, they practiced and played in an area located behind the School of Law and the outfield to the baseball field, and this left both the men and women’s soccer teams with only one field to use. Ritch even recalled when law school students would complain of the music being too loud during the team’s pre-game warm up. By now, you might be wondering about the name of this field. According to Ritch, from the 1980s to the early 2000s, the men’s soccer team roster was made up of primarily members of the Sigma Beta Chi Fraternity. Therefore, members of the Sigma Beta Chi fraternity helped raise nearly $250,000 during the outdoor sports project for The Park at St. Mary’s. As a result, the University named the soccer field in their honor. Today, Sigma Beta Chi Field is arguably one of the best fields in the Lone Star Conference for Division II athletics. Recently being named as the interim head women’s soccer coach, I am excited to see what history the men and women’s soccer programs can continue to make on Sigma Beta Chi Field. Having coached on numerous fields throughout my career, I always feel a sense of pride training our student-athletes on our professional-scale field. Sigma Beta Chi Field has a capacity of 250 for our supporters to watch in the bleachers and lights for nighttime games. Sigma Beta Chi Field is located in the center of campus, offering locals from around the Westside an opportunity to experience college level athletics at St. Mary’s soccer games. For more (including 6 images and 2 sound clips), view the original article. 2019-12-08T02:28:57+00:00 2019-12-15T16:40:58+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/23 Edgar Velázquez Reynald The “Blue Goose,” a behemoth of a bus, transported St. Mary’s basketball and football teams cross country between the years of 1938 and 1942. Despite only transporting St. Mary’s athletes for four short years, the “Blue Goose” became known across the country.  St. Mary’s bought the Pickwick-engined “Blue Goose” from a California Greyhound company in 1938 to transport its athletic teams across the country. St. Mary’s debuted their bus on a trip to Houston in December 1938. The Rattlers beat St. Edward’s 27-7 on the last game coached by Frank Bridges, giving Bridges a satisfactory conclusion to his coaching career at St. Mary’s while launching the “Blue Goose” on a legendary start to its St. Mary’s career. The large blue bus, with its barred windows, was an eyesore. Upon seeing the bus for the first time, Senator John Stafford, a St. Mary’s alumni, gave it the nickname “The Blue Goose.” The football players embraced the name and it quickly stuck.  Paul Casseb, a student at St. Mary’s Law school in 1940, came across a definition for a “Blue Goose” in American Tramp and Underworld Slang: “A ‘Blue Goose’ is the general cage or shell, shared by all the prisoners, in a convict road camp or on a chain gang. Also, the general room in a prison or jail from which access is had to the cells. The open mesh or steel-barred sides of this enclosure through which small articles may be thrown, is responsible for the expression, ‘Like mud through a blue goose,’ which indicates any swift or easy passage through a town or district.” Upon reading this description, Casseb wrote The Rattler to ask if the originator of the nickname understood its full significance. Senator Stafford was encamped with the National Guard at the time, but The Rattler contacted a close affiliate who confirmed Stafford’s full knowledge of the term.  Indeed, the definition adequately fit the giant bus. It carried 53 passengers in full capacity. When empty, the bus weighed 22,000 pounds. The State license costs $110 in 1939, when adjusted for inflation, it cost $2,036.55, adjusted to 2019 standards. For the three years it was in use, the “Blue Goose” travelled 30,000 miles, guzzling 7,500 gallons of gasoline, which ran up a bill of $1,125 ($17,761.61 when adjusted for inflation). It packed in the football and basketball teams as it travelled cross country to various games. The “Blue Goose” made its longest trip when it transported the Rattlers to New Hampshire and New York City. It’s reputation preceded it wherever the “Blue Goose” travelled, so much so that Life Magazine wrote an article about how a group of brothers shuttled students across the country in the largest bus imaginable.  Considered an embarrassment by some students, the “Blue Goose” found an honorable second career during World War II. In October 1942, the Armstrong-White Motor Co, took the bus in for remodeling, making it suitable to transport war workers to their jobs. The “Blue Goose” had a short existence at St. Mary’s, but it’s impact on a generation of students is marked in road trips shared by the team and a bemused Life Magazine article.  For more (including 2 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article. 2019-05-12T22:59:38+00:00 2019-05-13T01:21:43+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/17 Tyler Sleeter Rev. Alfred H. Rabe wrote a letter appealing to the provincial house to allow the return of intercollegiate football. He argued it was the perfect time since the city was desiring a college team to support. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and San Antonio Sports Association along with local papers, civic clubs, and businessmen agreed to back the University if they would bring football back. One man in particular, Mose Simms, promised the city he would bring big college teams to play in San Antonio if there was a football team in the city. Simms proposed to financially support the football program at whichever college would accept his offer. Rabe and the governing board felt this was too good an opportunity to let pass. The new football program expanded far beyond the original program. This time the team scheduled road games to places like Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Montreal, Canada. Taking more than one long road trip a season on this new schedule. Simms provided new uniforms for the team year season, ultimately changing the team colors to red, white, and blue. Spring training with scrimmage matches were implemented for the first time. Letterman jackets and award pins were given out to virtually everyone on the team each year. The University also began a Booster Club to draw in the financial support of local businesses. The expanded program drew the attention of national magazines like Life and Time that ran stories about the University and it’s football program. As a show of thanks to the Rattler Football team for all the publicity the team has brought the city, 15 business men under the coordination of Tom Casper, local sports announcer, raised the money to purchase the team a 53-passenger Greyhound Bus. The bus arrived on campus on 29 Nov 1938 and was painted in the Rattler colors and immediately put to use for road games all over North America. The was made famous after it appeared in a 1939 Life magazine article about the football program. After the start of World War II the bus was donated to the U.S. government to help with the war effort. Several members of the Rattler team went on to be courted by or to play for the National Football League. Others made the Little All-American Team or the local All-Alamo Conference Team, some several consecutive years. By 1940, the team was so well put together, that over 50,000 alumni were expected to attend the homecoming game that year. Doug Locke excelled while playing Rattler football and earned himself many national honors, went to play professionally in New York, and then returned to St. Mary’s to coach alongside Simms. In the spring of 1941, it was uncovered that Simms had violated his contract several times. The University feared that the school would face legal action if they continued to allow Simms to be tied to the school in any way. Rev. Golatka immediately published a letter stating that Simms was no longer affiliated with the University. The student body had mixed reactions to the removal of Simms, and the story gained national attention. Time magazine published on article on the departure of Simms in which it made negative comments about the students at St. Mary’s University. Suddenly the focus was off of Simms firing and onto defending the honor of St. Mary’s University from the perceptions of those who did not know or understand the student body. By December 1940, ticket sales could no longer cover expenses of the team. A decision was made in early 1941 to seek underwriters for the team, and if none could be found the team would be dropped. The University blamed the city once again for the lack of support. A student editorial published on 4 Apr 1941 blamed the athletic board for many of the financial problems. The author argued that the school was served well by the publicity of the fantastic football team and the governing board ought to remember that before removing the team again. Another piece in the Rattle published on 7 Nov 1941, placed the blame squarely on the city for not supporting the team. Either way, it no longer mattered, they had one season to prove the team could be self-sustaining or it was over. At the end of the 1941 season, the Rattlers were not able to cover their expenses. Underwriters stepped in and covered the remaining debt for the team and the University. However, the Underwriters refused to consider covering the team for another year, stating that the money was needed to support the war effort and not college sports. They offered to reconsider helping St. Mary’s again once the war was over. For more (including 4 images), view the original article. 2019-05-12T22:45:30+00:00 2019-05-13T01:23:01+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/16 Tyler Sleeter In February 1931, the governing board determined that football was too costly, consistently going over budget with ticket sales unable to cover expenses. They also cited the need to put money towards improving the educational program for the increased enrollment at the University. The governing board blamed the team’s financial issues on the lack of support from the people of San Antonio. This decision would go into effect in September 1931, making it the first fall without football in 22 years. In the fall of 1931, students were apprehensive, afraid that school spirit would be broken. Instead, according to the Rattler, University enrollment was at a record high and students were happy to play intramural sports. A student questionnaire conducted in the fall of 1931, showed that favorite activities were intramural sports and school dances. In the fall of 1933, students were asked to vote on whether or not to bring back independent sports. The decision, carried by a 3 to 1 margin, was to keep intramural sports. For more, view the original article. 2019-05-12T21:56:19+00:00 2019-05-13T01:24:52+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/15 Tyler Sleeter Organized sports were in high demand by the students and the college responded by adding a football program to the other programs already available. The first football team was put together for the fall of 1909, but the first football coaches were not hired until the fall of 1914. General Dwight Eisenhower, at the time a Lieutenant at Ft. Sam Houston, was hired as a coach in the fall of 1916. Out of town games were not allowed until 1920 when a game was set up that benefited the program. Students and alumni pushed the university to develop the program into something larger believing it would benefit the public perception of the school. However, several faculty members doubted the benefits of a large program and nothing happened to build the program up until 1925 when Coach Tom O’Donnell was hired. The expanded program lasted for seven years and had three other coaches - Tim Griesenbeck, Jim Kendricks, and Barlow “Bones” Irvin. An article appearing in the San Antonio Light Newspaper on 1 Jan 1926 praised the progress the team had made. It also commented that the St. Mary’s College team was the first “real college team” in the city. It also praised Coach O’Donnell as well as the baseball and basketball teams at the school. In December 1928, the school reorganized the athletic department in order to make improvements to the program. To implement the new program Coach Barlow Irvin was hired in April 1929 because of his ability to maintain discipline and coach winning teams. The 1929 team had a week long road trip November to play DePaul University at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Rattlers were the first Texas team to play at Soldier Field and beat DePaul 20–12. The 1929 team finished the season 8 and 1, becoming and staying the winningest football team in St. Mary’s University history. By 1928 it was becoming apparent that the football program was losing money for the university. The governing board could not agree on a budget nor if the popularity of the team counted as advertising for the university. An editorial by a student published on 9 Nov 1929 in the Rattler, expressed the confusion of the student body when he asked why the winning team was losing money. By the end of 1929, University leaders are considering terminating intercollegiate sports. For more (including 4 images), view the original article.