Missoula -- home of Big Sky's best fans
Zack Hall
Arizona Daily Sun
11/02/2002
MISSOULA, Mont.
If you weren't convinced by the sold-out crowds at
Washington-Grizzly Stadium each and every week that Montana
football fans are a different breed than your normal Big Sky
Conference fans, take a look at http://www.egriz.com/GrizBoard/.
There you will find an assortment of quips from Grizzly
fans on nearly every subject related to their football team.
Here are a few random samplings:
Start with a little analysis about this week's game by a
Montana fan GeauxGriz out of Baton Rouge, La.:
NAU has one of the most talented teams in the Big Sky.
With all the injuries that the Griz have right now, they may
have just as much talent as the Griz. ... if not more. They
stack the box on D, which means that Johnny Montana will
have to shoulder the burden this week. He may have to throw
for 400 yards. NAU's O is too talented to be shut out. They
have playmakers. The Griz may have a let down after an
emotional win last week. I think the "Heart-attack" Griz are
back.
And don't think Montana fans have forgotten about NAU
coach Jerome Souers 12-year tenure in Missoula, mostly as
the Grizzlies' defensive coordinator, before taking the job
with the Lumberjacks. Here's a thought from cadwiz30:
Two tickets to the game -- $40.00
"Beverages" -- as much as it takes
Giving Jerome another reason to wish he stayed in Montana
-- priceless
Montana is ranked sixth in TeamRanks.com. Here's
SpokaneGriz's thoughts on the ranking:
"What an idiot! They use some "simple math" formula to
calculate strength of schedule and the cumulative record of
teams you have beaten, along with a "factor" based on how
close your win was. ... Sounds like a version of the BCS.
And we all know how "good" that system is."
In fact, on this Web site alone, there are more fans
chiming in than NAU may have had last week in the Skydome to
watch the game against Montana State. (Not the Griz fans
would blame them. According to many of the entries, not many
of them can stomach watching the Bobcats either).
At one time in the Big Sky Conference, Montana was
rivaled and sometimes surpassed by Boise State, Nevada and
Idaho with their fan base. It is no coincidence that those
teams ruled the Big Sky for more than a decade.
But now with those three schools moving up to Division
I-A (yes, Idaho is I-A, despite losing to Montana three
straight times) the Griz are not only the best show in
Montana, they are the only show in the Big Sky.
When you look at the nearly 20,000 fans that pack into
Washington-Grizzly -- the gem of the Big Sky -- each
Saturday and the rabidness of their fans, you can understand
why the Griz have no peers in the conference. And why they
have the nation's longest win streak at 22 games and a
23-game conference win streak.
Until a school earns the following the Griz do, the Big
Sky will always be Montana's conference. But that day is
nowhere near, so for the foreseeable future, the Big Sky
football championship will be won or lost in Missoula. |
