Montana Football.....................was once great.

[AlphaGriz1]

I was a huge Montana Griz football fan since going to my first game at age 7.

Even 6 years ago I never would have dreamed that I would be starting a thread like this or even having this conversation.

This current coaching staff has taken so much from the fans at Montana with their below average football that I have taken the plunge.

I sold my season tickets to someone else yesterday and even though they were picking them up they were less than excited.

I have written a letter to the President and the AD addressing points of concern and will no longer be sending any $$$$$$$$$ their way until I see some things change.

I will not be attending very many games this year if any. I will go tailgate and hang with friends but UM will not get any more $$$$ from me until they make it worth watching.

I have acquired tickets to MSU@Minnesota, Florida@Georgia, Alabama@LSU, Nebraska @ Texas Tech and USC-Ohio State. I also have tickets to Nebraska@ OklaHOMO but it is the same day as the Georgia Florida game. I will wait to see just how my Huskers are doing before I make the trip to watch SEC football.

I will spend a lot of money supporting other programs that want to excel and schedule quality opponents.

Bobbie Hauck and his merry band of clowns has made a once proud program a shambles of what it once was. Shi*ty schedule, rare playoff wins and not a sniff at a NC with his players. He rode Joe Glenns team into the NC game and got slammed with a better team.

Bobbie Hauck is an excuse machine and a very average coach and he has proven that over a 5 year period. He coaches in a very weak conference and has a very inept OC and still manages to win games, whoop de fricken do..............any coach in the USA could come to Montana and win in the BSC.

Now come on you maroon kool-aid drinking morons and tell us all how great our OL is going to be again this year. I will be watching real football.

[cats2506]

I just don't see you not going to Fl @ Ga

[GrizinWashington]

sold my season tickets

Glad they went to someone who'll enjoy them. There's certainly no lack of people who would damn near kill to get their hands on season tickets.

[kmax]

So what you're telling me is I just lost my Cat/Griz tix for this year. Man, and after I put up with your ugly Griz gear mucking up our tailgate last year and everything!! Oh well, back to the drawing board for tix I guess, I will be at that game though!!

[grizatwork]

He is certainly welcome to opinion. I agree with some of it and disagree with most of it. Can't say I want anyone at the games that doesn't want to be there. See ya.

[Cat-theotherwhitemeat]

The offensive line is going to be good?

[grizatwork]

The offensive line is going to be good?

Scary good!

[AtlCat]

Hey Alpha, email me and let me know if you're going to make it to the Georgia/Florida game. I'll be there! I don't know if you've ever been before but it's one of the greatest college football experiences.

[catatac]

The offensive line is going to be good?

Scary good!

This year I think you guys are gonna "light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine!" It must be slightly concerning to Griz fans that last year's team was billed by Hauck as "Scary Good", and a team that "Other teams won't wan't to play", and you got bounced in the 1st round... and this year's team "Just is not a good football team right now", per Hauck.

[GrizinWashington]

Last year's team was scary good. They won 11 straight games (and have now won something like 20 straight conference games) and then just got beat by an excellent team (won the So Con, beat App State) who runs a very unconventional offense which is difficult to prepare for in a short week. No shame in any of that as far as I'm concerned. (And if anyone does find shame in a result like that, they're going to live a life of disappointment. If a cat fan finds shame in it, well, it is -- quite frankly -- laughable).

As for "right now", I think you better research that a little more. Hauck's "right now" statement was, in fact, about 6 months ago. (Oh, and please show me where Hauck was quoted as saying the team was "scary good". He's way too smart to every say a think like that).

[raincat]

Speaking of now vs. then...who was Coach Don Reads' (sp?) offensive coordinator? What an amazing offensive machine the griz had in the late 80's through most of the 90's. Those were the years I hated/dreaded the most as a long time BOBCAT fan. I went in confident we were going to lose, and sat there in awe as the griz sat back in that damn shotgun-spread and did anything they wanted. Fortunately, since the late 90's I feel we have a chance every year. You guys (griz fans) got real spoiled. Something would have to be awfully wrong for me to give up my tickets if MSU had performed the way the griz did the past 15-20 years, were building a 35,000 seat stadium, are odds on favorites to win the BSC conference championship and were coming off a 11-1, or whatever season.

[BentonGrizFan]

Speaking of now vs. then...who was Coach Don Reads' (sp?) offensive coordinator? What an amazing offensive machine the griz had in the late 80's through most of the 90's. Those were the years I hated/dreaded the most as a long time BOBCAT fan. I went in confident we were going to lose, and sat there in awe as the griz sat back in that damn shotgun-spread and did anything they wanted. Fortunately, since the late 90's I feel we have a chance every year. You guys (griz fans) got real spoiled. Something would have to be awfully wrong for me to give up my tickets if MSU had performed the way the griz did the past 15-20 years, were building a 35,000 seat stadium, are odds on favorites to win the BSC conference championship and were coming off a 11-1, or whatever season.

Offensive coordinator was Tommy Lee (former Western coach) and then Dennehy. As far as someone giving up their tickets, consider the source.

[cats2506]

Last year's team was scary good. They won 11 straight games (and have now won something like 20 straight conference games) and then just got beat by an excellent team (won the So Con, beat App State) who runs a very unconventional offense which is difficult to prepare for in a short week. No shame in any of that as far as I'm concerned. (And if anyone does find shame in a result like that, they're going to live a life of disappointment. If a cat fan finds shame in it, well, it is -- quite frankly -- laughable).

As for "right now", I think you better research that a little more. Hauck's "right now" statement was, in fact, about 6 months ago. (Oh, and please show me where Hauck was quoted as saying the team was "scary good". He's way too smart to every say a think like that).

I dont have tape to prove it but I did hear it on one of his coaches shows at the beginning of the year. As I remember it it was somthing like "we are looking really good.... scary good"

[GrizinWashington]

I did hear it on one of his coaches shows

Excellent! The coaches shows are all archived. Television ones here: http://grizcentral.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Radio here: http://www.montanagrizzlies.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. So you shouldn't have much difficulty producing that statement, then.

[cats2506]

I did hear it on one of his coaches shows

Excellent! The coaches shows are all archived. Television ones here: http://grizcentral.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Radio here: http://www.montanagrizzlies.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. So you shouldn't have much difficulty producing that statement, then.

Trust me, I am not going to listen to a bunch of those shows again just to prove a point, seeing them once is bad enough. I'm not really sure why I watch but it is usually on at 10:30 sunday when Im going to bed so I watch, and throw stuff at the TV

[Bleedinbluengold]

I remember both quotes...what I don't remember was whether I actually heard them, read them in the Missoulian, or read them on the message boards in reference to a fan saying that Hauck said those quotes...or when.

[Cat-theotherwhitemeat]

Ok, I hate to be serious but I'm going to try it for a moment.

I can see exactly where Alpha is coming from. It's not the win/loss record or the amount of success the Griz have had on the field, it's the product they offer up the fans in the form of opponents. The Griz have had tremendous fan support and continue to build and sell out a very nice stadium. However, it's obvious that a significant amount of people go to the games because of the "event", more so than the game itself. The administration knows this and figures since they can make more money, get a more likely win, and still fill the seats....why not?

My argument is that eventually the hardcore fans will clamor for more. Not more wins, but better competition. Take a step up. Let's face it, the Big Sky conference is much less intriguing for the hard core fans because the Griz have consistantly been better (as 10 straight championships prove) and too many of the teams within the conference are awful.

This year, there are two games that I'm really interested in...Cal Poly and Montana State. Now that I live in Billings, the trip all the way to Missoula has to really interest me in order to go that far. Since Cal Poly is an away game and getting tickets to the Cat-Griz game is nearly impossible, chances are that I'm staying home and watching them on TV. Just because you want more doesn't make you any less of a fan. I'm sure Alpha is still a hard core Griz fan, just one that's upset and voices his opinion when he feels he is being ripped off.

MSU is a good example of stepping up to a challenge. UM seems content and apprehensive about getting beat, getting players hurt, or whatever. The fans that go there for the football, not the event, are getting shafted with ticket prices that keep going up, but the competition keeps going sideways...or down.

* I bolded the word content because that's what the admin at UM seems to be. When you get satisfied and comfortable is when the wheels start to come off.

[GrizinWashington]

I remember both quotes...what I don't remember was whether I actually heard them, read them in the Missoulian, or read them on the message boards in reference to a fan saying that Hauck said those quotes.

Let me assure you, it was from a message board.

[GrizinWashington]

Ok, I hate to be serious but I'm going to try it for a moment.

I can see exactly where Alpha is coming from. It's not the win/loss record or the amount of success the Griz have had on the field, it's the product they offer up the fans in the form of opponents. The Griz have had tremendous fan support and continue to build and sell out a very nice stadium. However, it's obvious that a significant amount of people go to the games because of the "event", more so than the game itself. The administration knows this and figures since they can make more money, get a more likely win, and still fill the seats....why not?

My argument is that eventually the hardcore fans will clamor for more. Not more wins, but better competition. Take a step up. Let's face it, the Big Sky conference is much less intriguing for the hard core fans because the Griz have consistantly been better (as 10 straight championships prove) and too many of the teams within the conference are awful.

This year, there are two games that I'm really interested in...Cal Poly and Montana State. Now that I live in Billings, the trip all the way to Missoula has to really interest me in order to go that far. Since Cal Poly is an away game and getting tickets to the Cat-Griz game is nearly impossible, chances are that I'm staying home and watching them on TV. Just because you want more doesn't make you any less of a fan. I'm sure Alpha is still a hard core Griz fan, just one that's upset and voices his opinion when he feels he is being ripped off.

MSU is a good example of stepping up to a challenge. UM seems content and apprehensive about getting beat, getting players hurt, or whatever. The fans that go there for the football, not the event, are getting shafted with ticket prices that keep going up, but the competition keeps going sideways...or down.

* I bolded the word content because that's what the admin at UM seems to be. When you get satisfied and comfortable is when the wheels start to come off.

I understand your position, CTOWM. And there's no doubt the BSC has some terrible teams. But so do many of the conferences. And either way, that's hardly UM's fault. They can't make Sac and UNC get better. There were terrible teams in the conference in the 90s too and no one seemed to care. As for playing up, it just makes no sense for UM. Why make less money getting your ass handed to you than you can make playing at home, giving your fans a chance to see thier team and pumping millions into the local community. Montana needs to do a better job of getting home-and-home series with top FSC programs, but that's difficult due to the broken economic model that is FCS/I-AA football. UMass and Montana just cannot afford to travel to play each other. It's sad, but it's also reality.

[Bleedinbluengold]

Grizinwashington: Well, I don't believe you either...with all due respect.

In regards to the comments (above) about the deterioration of the griz schedule. I think UM is in a quandry. On one hand, I would imagine the coaching staff and players would welcome an FBS game and a better FCS out of conference schedule (you tend to always want to challenge yourself - to see how you compete against good to great competition). On the other hand, UM makes more money hosting a home game than traveling to play an FBS or ranked FCS team. Money appears to have the upper hand with respect to scheduling at this time.