By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
Griz fans were excited that the UM Grizzlies defeated MSU eight consecutive visits to Missoula during the “Streak”, but in Idaho State the Griz have a much longer run of dominance. The last 15 times the Idaho State Bengals have come to Missoula they have left without a win. The last Bengal football win in Missoula came in 1983 at Dornblaser Field as UM’s John Coppedge attempted a record 66 passes in a 31-17 loss.
The ISU Bengals have been a part of some historic games in Missoula. In 1963 the Griz and Bengals played the first ever Big Sky Conference game. In 1967 the Griz secured a shutout against ISU in claiming UM’s 200th football win of all-time. In October of 1986 Idaho State was the opponent as Montana opened Washington Grizzly stadium. In 1998 the Bengals were the opponent as Montana picked up the 400th win in Grizzlies history.
“Stand Up and Cheer…” when that melody is played this Saturday in Bozeman it will get a lot of people standing up and cheering. You see the tune that Bobcats fans have responded to over the years also is the tune for the fight song of the University of North Dakota.
Interim Idaho Vandal head coach Jason Gesser played his high School football at St. Louis High School in Hawaii under Coach Calvin Lee (the younger brother of Griz offensive guru Tommy Lee). Gesser took Washington State to the 2003 Rose Bowl where the Cougars were hampered some by a co-head coach arrangement.
One big omen for the Detroit Tigers in this year’s World Series, the only two Series title the Tigers have won in the last 67 years have come in Leap years (1968, and 1984).
As of this writing the National League champs haven’t been crowned, but if it is St. Louis, this will be their fourth World Series encounter, seven game classics in 1934 and 1968 and then a five game Cardinals victory in 2006. The Tigers and Giants have never met in a World Series.
On a personal note, a Tigers Giants World Series would bring back some fond childhood memories. My Grandfather Daniel Korn and his brother Peter Korn set up a bet on a potential Tiger-Giants World Series. The bet was set in 1961 but the bantering between the two men in their 60’s was delightful. My grandfather was a devoted Giants fan and once chased Willie Mays down to get a baseball signed by the Hall Of Famer. My great Uncle was a devoted Tigers fan.
When the former South Dakota Senator George McGovern lived in the Bitterroot, he loved nothing more than attending an Osprey game on a warm summer evening. McGovern’s special baseball team was the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Chris Walterskirchen has been an observer of Montana sports for nearly half a century. A Kalispell native, Chris has worked in various capacities for professional and college sports organization of at various times: ranging from announcing and statistical work to the concessions and even a stint as a costumed mascot.
Chris has academic degrees in communications and elementary education. His style of sports trivia involves more than just who won and who lost, but also focuses on the obscure or human side of sports. In this blog you will learn things like the Grizzly football team has won 210 games over the 19 seasons since they have had Monte as their mascot or that UNLV is the only school that both the Griz and Lady Griz have both faced in the NCAA basketball tournament
When not following sports Chris enjoys taking care of animals of all kinds (a peacock rescue?) and reading to pre-schoolers.