Dave Krupinski, the founder of Johnny Jungle, attended Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft, NJ before attending St. John’s. Christian Brothers (CBA) was a school enriched with both academic and athletic tradition. Most commonly known for its powerhouse basketball teams, which have dominated the Jersey Shore for decades. In addition to having a strong team they also have the reputation for having the strongest student fan base known as the “Colt Craziesâ€
The students would pack the varsity gym screaming and chanting by the hundreds echoing in their opponents ear from tip to final buzzer. The energy by the fans always gave their team confidence and more importantly an edge on their opponents.
Dave attended St. John’s to be a part of the Sports Management program in the sports capital of the world, New York. He was originally drawn into the school after St. John’s had sent him tickets to see St. John’s vs Duke at the Garden. St. John’s upset the Bluedevils with two free throws by Marcus Hatten with no time remaining.The atmosphere he saw at that game was surreal as the fans stormed the court. Between his time at the game, the major he wanted to study, and being 15 minutes away from Shea he was sold.
Two years of Dave’s college career went by and he was completely fooled as the atmosphere that really took place at games was nothing like his first impression. Lackluster support, plenty of empty seats, overpriced tickets, over bearing security, and to top that all off a team with no talent. Students didn’t want to go to games because it was too expensive and too much of a hassle arguing with administrators and public safety to simply stand up at games. There was no spirit, no pride, and no tradition for a once proud program. Dave tried to get involved with student affairs but the school was disinterested in his ideas or his desire to have rowdy student behavior at games.
In 2007 Dave and his friends were all entering their final year before graduation. In the evenings the boys would all meet back up at their house after their long days of classes, jobs, and internships. They would all get together to watch sports, do work, and shoot the…. It was nearing basketball season and the group wondered if this would finally be the year the team got back to the Big East Tournament? They wondered can they get one for us? They were all diehard fans who were tired of everything. They needed to get more organized as a student body and they started bouncing some ideas around of what they could do. They thought of having their own underground student section since the school’s “Redzone†was pretty lame. They bounced around some ideas and the idea of Johnny Jungle was slowly coming around. The guys on the couch who were the original members were Dave Krupinski, Edward McDonough, Edward Simone, Matthew Borzello, William Bendernagel, and William Blake.
The boys attended the pre-season game to use it as practice for the regular season. The six of them sat in the front row and screamed, heckled, and cheered the whole game. They were heard throughout Carnesecca Arena and the opposing coach came up to them after the game and shook all of their hands and said, “you guys were greatâ€
In the preseason game there were many students in attendance however they were scattered groups in the stands. The goal as the “Jungle†was to sit as one student body.
The first game of the regular season was upon them and like every first game of the season the arena was more packed than usual. They arrived early, started roll call, and they noticed a few more gathered behind them giving them the nod that they were on board too. St. John’s won.
The second game of the season the “Jungle†nearly doubled in size and they had something going. The team won and came over for handshakes after the game. Everyone was excited and the jungle was born and growing wild. The team made it into the Big East tourney after a four year drought only to lose a tough battle to Marquette in the first round.
Being a student at St. John’s you are naturally a Johnny. New York City has been referred to as the “Concrete Jungle†New York is a busy place filled with more mixes of people than any other place in the world. It’s simply a jungle of taxis in the streets, people on the sidewalks, and skyscrapers filling in the rest. We are privileged enough to play our Big East games at the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden. Yes the Garden, home of the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, and St. John’s. It may be known as the “Garden†to the people around the country but when it comes to St. John’s we know it as the “Jungleâ€