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My Buddy, Mick Holien

GGNez

Well-known member
DONOR
Hi, eGriz friends! I miss some of you and hope you're coping with trying times well.

I keep in frequent contact with Mick Holien and have created a GoFundMe page for him. He is homebound, suffering from MS and dependent on care-givers. He is as interesting, cantankerous, funny and fantastic as ever and needs to get out and enjoy his retirement. Please donate to the purchase of a new vehicle and conversion for him. Thanks and I love you all!!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/mick-holien-needs-a-vehicle?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR0Km7ai77tllUtnUa7lWyiiuYgNYajHDYdz5OqulebecSUdYvzHbkMeGZM
 
When I wasn't attending, I grew up "seeing" a lot of the Griz games through Mick's eyes and thus he was a large reason for my Griz fandom today. One of my first thoughts when finding out that Mick would no longer be the Voice of the Griz was that they will never find another with the love and passion for the Griz that Mick has. He just had a way of calling games that made you experience the games. Besides the words, there were times when the tone and maybe a crack of Mick's voice would bring you into the booth with him and you could not only picture him beaming with pride as tears welled up in his eyes, but you could feel the happy tears (probably because he would actually bring you to tears, as well :lol: ). Riley has done a great job, as well, (and put to rest personal doubts of whether a former "voice of the cats" could develop a passion for the Griz) but Mick will always hold a special spot to me and on UM's "Rushmore."


P.S. I was diagnosed with MS in 2015 and have hand controls in my car. I'm not sure of Mick's specific symptoms or limitations, but I would highly recommend the DARIOS (digital accelerator ring) https://www.kempf-usa.com/Handcontrols_description.html. For me, it is more intuitive and much easier to use than the "push-pull" setups. You can have both hands on the steering wheel which is a plus for winter driving. I mention it because my therapists (in Kalispell) hadn't really heard of it back then. One downside is the price tag (mine was just under $9,000 to have it installed) but I think it is well worth it and hopefully this fundraiser would give him that option.
 
DoubleNicks said:
When I wasn't attending, I grew up "seeing" a lot of the Griz games through Mick's eyes and thus he was a large reason for my Griz fandom today. One of my first thoughts when finding out that Mick would no longer be the Voice of the Griz was that they will never find another with the love and passion for the Griz that Mick has. He just had a way of calling games that made you experience the games. Besides the words, there were times when the tone and maybe a crack of Mick's voice would bring you into the booth with him and you could not only picture him beaming with pride as tears welled up in his eyes, but you could feel the happy tears (probably because he would actually bring you to tears, as well :lol: ). Riley has done a great job, as well, (and put to rest personal doubts of whether a former "voice of the cats" could develop a passion for the Griz) but Mick will always hold a special spot to me and on UM's "Rushmore."


P.S. I was diagnosed with MS in 2015 and have hand controls in my car. I'm not sure of Mick's specific symptoms or limitations, but I would highly recommend the DARIOS (digital accelerator ring) https://www.kempf-usa.com/Handcontrols_description.html. For me, it is more intuitive and much easier to use than the "push-pull" setups. You can have both hands on the steering wheel which is a plus for winter driving. I mention it because my therapists (in Kalispell) hadn't really heard of it back then. One downside is the price tag (mine was just under $9,000 to have it installed) but I think it is well worth it and hopefully this fundraiser would give him that option.

Thanks so much for your support! I will share this with Mick and see what we can do. In the meantime, share this with anyone who might feel compelled to donate or share. :)
 
DoubleNicks said:
When I wasn't attending, I grew up "seeing" a lot of the Griz games through Mick's eyes and thus he was a large reason for my Griz fandom today. One of my first thoughts when finding out that Mick would no longer be the Voice of the Griz was that they will never find another with the love and passion for the Griz that Mick has. He just had a way of calling games that made you experience the games. Besides the words, there were times when the tone and maybe a crack of Mick's voice would bring you into the booth with him and you could not only picture him beaming with pride as tears welled up in his eyes, but you could feel the happy tears (probably because he would actually bring you to tears, as well :lol: ). Riley has done a great job, as well, (and put to rest personal doubts of whether a former "voice of the cats" could develop a passion for the Griz) but Mick will always hold a special spot to me and on UM's "Rushmore."


P.S. I was diagnosed with MS in 2015 and have hand controls in my car. I'm not sure of Mick's specific symptoms or limitations, but I would highly recommend the DARIOS (digital accelerator ring) https://www.kempf-usa.com/Handcontrols_description.html. For me, it is more intuitive and much easier to use than the "push-pull" setups. You can have both hands on the steering wheel which is a plus for winter driving. I mention it because my therapists (in Kalispell) hadn't really heard of it back then. One downside is the price tag (mine was just under $9,000 to have it installed) but I think it is well worth it and hopefully this fundraiser would give him that option.

Hey thanks for sharing. Absolutely shitty situation. Hope you are doing well.

As an aside, your Holien is our Dean Alexander. Both great guys who brought games to life for Cats and Griz for years! I wish him nothing but the best and will do are to this cause.

Man the stories those two guys could tell!
 
ilovethecats said:
DoubleNicks said:
When I wasn't attending, I grew up "seeing" a lot of the Griz games through Mick's eyes and thus he was a large reason for my Griz fandom today. One of my first thoughts when finding out that Mick would no longer be the Voice of the Griz was that they will never find another with the love and passion for the Griz that Mick has. He just had a way of calling games that made you experience the games. Besides the words, there were times when the tone and maybe a crack of Mick's voice would bring you into the booth with him and you could not only picture him beaming with pride as tears welled up in his eyes, but you could feel the happy tears (probably because he would actually bring you to tears, as well :lol: ). Riley has done a great job, as well, (and put to rest personal doubts of whether a former "voice of the cats" could develop a passion for the Griz) but Mick will always hold a special spot to me and on UM's "Rushmore."


P.S. I was diagnosed with MS in 2015 and have hand controls in my car. I'm not sure of Mick's specific symptoms or limitations, but I would highly recommend the DARIOS (digital accelerator ring) https://www.kempf-usa.com/Handcontrols_description.html. For me, it is more intuitive and much easier to use than the "push-pull" setups. You can have both hands on the steering wheel which is a plus for winter driving. I mention it because my therapists (in Kalispell) hadn't really heard of it back then. One downside is the price tag (mine was just under $9,000 to have it installed) but I think it is well worth it and hopefully this fundraiser would give him that option.

Hey thanks for sharing. Absolutely shitty situation. Hope you are doing well.

As an aside, your Holien is our Dean Alexander. Both great guys who brought games to life for Cats and Griz for years! I wish him nothing but the best and will do are to this cause.

Man the stories those two guys could tell!

Yes....it was incredibly kind of DoubleNicks to reach out and share great advice. I hope you are well and enjoying life, DN!
Cats, I agree. Mick invited me to be his "trophy date" for the MT Football Hall of Fame Banquet a couple of years ago. It was great fun to watch the awards being given, hear heartfelt speeches and enjoy food, drinks and meeting new people. But the best part BY FAR was when the hotel lobby was taken over by the likes of Rocky Klever, Guy Bingham and a dozen other MT FB HOF winners, former NFL players who started as a Griz. That's when the REAL, gut-bustingly funny, interesting stories began. Beers and stories for hours....and Mick has hundreds of them to share. He needs to be able to visit people and socialize. He deserves it.
 
We are over $5,000 toward the $50k goal. Thanks to everyone who has donated and shared this.

I am determined to get to over $10k before the weekend is over. Please donate if you can (you know - the dinner out or night at the bars that we
can’t enjoy right now - pay that $ forward).

I appreciate your help and I know Mick does too!
 
Thanks SO much to those of you who have contributed to this. We are currently $20 shy of $10,000 and I just promised Mick we'd be over $10k when he wakes up tomorrow. Today, his caregiver called in sick and he could not find a replacement so he's been stuck in one room all day. I HATE this for him and am trying to improve his circumstances. I was on several radio stations today about this and plan to continue being a "media slut" (Mick's term) until we meet this goal.

Why is Mick my buddy? Well...some of you know that in 2010, my life fell apart. I left an abusive man, then learned that he had sexually abused my child. Riddled with guilt and questions like, "how could I not have known?" or "Why didn't she tell me? We talk about EVERYTHING?"
Fast-forward to a Griz broadcast at Paradise Falls. Mick, then an acquaintance, bought me a beer and said he had a story to tell me. He told me of a former roommate and good friend from his past. The friend was accused by a neice of sexually abusing her. The man denied the allegations and Mick vehemently defended him. In court, when it was time to make a plea, Mick's former friend plead guilty to molesting his neice. He wouldn't look Mick in the eye.

Mick chose to share that story with me, someone he barely knew, because he'd heard about mine and wanted to assure me that ANYONE can be fooled by a sexual predator. His simple gesture helped me in ways I can't put to words.

Since then, we've become great friends and companions. I love Mick and hope you will give what you can to this quietly compassionate man.
 
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