By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
It is considered by many as the quintessential quote from a football coach, “Winning Isn’t Everything It’s the only Thing” and is credited to Green Bay Packers coaching legend Vince Lombardi. Lombardi’s actual quote referred to the fact that the effort to win was the only thing. However, the saying didn’t originate with Lombardi. The first person quoting that phrase was UCLA football coach Red Sanders who made the comment the week of the 1938 USC-UCLA game. Then the line showed up again in the 1953 movie ‘Trouble along the Way’ uttered by screen legend John Wayne.
In the summer of 1999 Lyle Overbay and the rest of the Missoula Osprey got used to dealing with big crowds at their home game at Lindborg-Cregg Field. Now Overbay, in his 14th major League season, is getting used to big crowd at his home in Milwaukee. Friday Overbay and his wife Sara welcomed a new baby boy who is fifth in the Overbay family batting order. Overbay is the last of the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks 2001 active roster still playing in the majors.
Now days it is rare for a major league starting pitcher to make starts with fewer than 4 days of rest, but in the 1960’s some pitchers would occasionally throw with just 2 days of rest. This week in 1964 Dave McNally a Billings native and rising star with the Baltimore Orioles was called on to pitch on 2 days rest in a game at Yankee Stadium as part a tie-In with the New York World Fair’s Montana day. McNally went the distance and held the Yankees to 3 hits in a 2-1 Baltimore win.
Once again in 2014 the Bison of North Dakota State open the football season on the road at a Big-12 school. When the 3-time defending national FCS champs take the field for the first time this season it will be at Ames, Iowa against the Cyclones of ISSU. The Iowa State Cyclones went 2-10 last season and coach Paul Rhoades and his staff are considered to be on the “hot seat” in 2014.
This past February the Seattle Seahawks claimed their first-ever Super Bowl title thumping the Denver Broncos at the New Jersey Meadowlands. In Late August the Rutgers Scarlett Knights, who frequently play home game at the Meadowlands, will open their 2014 season at the Seahawks home Century Link Stadium. The Scarlett Knights will face Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars.
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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.