Meet the Monsters Team

Johnny "The Refrigerator" Crisco - Johnny “The Refrigerator” Crisco was born in 1972 in the small, rural town of Broken Bow, Nebraska. Not only was Johnny born into the heart and soul of Husker Nation, but he was born into a family with a deep, rich history of Nebraska football. Johnny’s grandfather, Josiah Crisco, played nose tackle and was the key defensive player for the Huskers in their run of Big 8 championships from 1935 through 1937. While popular culture was unaware of the “blackshirts” moniker of the Nebraska defense until the 1960s, it is widely accepted by university football scholars that Josiah Crisco first coined the term during his all-conference years as the key to the Husker defense. Johnny’s father, Jeremiah Herbert Crisco, was also a star running back for the Huskers during the four year stretch of Big 8 Conference championships from 1963 to 1966. Popularly known by his middle name, the world knew “Herbie” Crisco would be a star when he had his breakthrough performance in the 1963 Sugar Bowl against Auburn. In that game, Herbie rushed for 174 yards, scored a touchdown and even kicked two field goals. In recognition of that game and his leadership of the Huskers over the next four years, Nebraska’s current mascot is now endearingly known as Herbie Husker.

Wanting to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Johnny lived and breathed football while growing up. An all-state center in high school (Go Broken Bowmen!), Johnny suffered a career ending injury just prior to accepting his full scholarship to Nebraska in 1991. While serving as a referee at the Nebraska Special Olympics, Johnny saw a special athlete lose control of the javelin and throw it into a group of young children observing the festivities. Sacrificing his body, Johnny dove in front of the crowd and was impaled on the javelin. Thankfully, no children were injured, but Johnny’s pancreas was too damaged to save. As he later learned, without the valuable bile produced by his pancreas, Johnny could not perform at the 100% level that he thought was necessary for the Huskers and then-coach Tom Osborne. Johnny was never able to play football competitively again. Instead, Johnny graduated with a degree in communications and moved back to Broken Bow where he hosted his longtime radio show, “You Know I’m a Husker Fan Because I Bleed Red” on KQSR. Recently, Johnny moved to Austin for a job as a football consultant on a critically acclaimed television series. However he couldn’t stay away from radio, and in 2007 he hooked up with old friend Larry Bowden to start the Monsters of the Midweek podcast.

Jim Donaghy - My name is Jim Donaghy, and I'll be here each week with my Lead Pipe Lock of the Week. As a former referee, I'll have insight on each week's games that the general fan doesn't notice, and many angles of which they are unaware. There are many factors that go into handicapping a game, some of great importance, and some that are merely red herrings that throw the public off. My combination of inside sources and extensive knowledge of the game allow me to sort through and discard those red herrings, and focus on the deciding factors.Note: Lil Jim passed away at the end of the Fall 2007 season. In his honor, we will keep his bio on this site in perpetuity.

Larry Bowden - Larry Bowden here. I'm just plain Larry. I'm not Bobby's boy or Terry's brother. I'm just plain old Larry. Growing up in the Bowden house, you couldn't help but learn a little something about football. I'll never forget that time when Jeffy was about 8 and all us boys were playing a game of touch out in the back. Well, Jeffy's team was trailing with about 5 minutes til dinner and the whole length of the backyard to go to score. Jeff tells Terry he wants to run straight up the middle, even though Terry and Tommy were telling him he has to put the ball in the air. I'll be damned if that stubborn sumbitch didn't run three straight times. After the last run, dad came out and tanned his hide but good. Guess it didn't take though.

I knew coaching wasn't for me. I was a student of the game, sure, but I wanted something different. So I got me an education degree and headed out to the Lone Star state. I've been teaching history in the Carmine-Round Top ISD for the last 15 years.When Terry announced he wanted to get back into coaching, well I saw my opening. I may not be ready for the networks yet, but the team at Monsters of the Midweek was too good for me to say no. Like I said, I've learned a thing or two in life. It's like Coach says "“When you lose, fans are looking for something to point at, ... They'll call it nepotism, but half of them don't know how to spell it and the other half doesn't know what it means." So call it nepotism if you like, but here I am America.

Stormy McMasterson - Stormy grew up in the northen part of the Yukon territory. The poor financial planning and spending habits of his circus performer parents often resulted in Stormy sleeping outside in the rain. This opportunity allowed him to grow and appreciate the weather as another being of nature. Stormy eventually left his family to go live with a pack of wolves and study the weather of northern Canada. At the young age of 17 stormy began doing contract meteorology work for several news stations in Canada. His foul mouth and constant drinking during filming helped make him a rising star on the Canadian weatherman charts. In 1999, Stormy was credited as being the first Canadian man to successfully ride a tornado like the legendary Pecos Bill. Stormy joins our show after a eventful stint with The View.