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Official Bus trip to Montana - Halloween
- Thread starter weberwildcat1
- Start date
What to expect in Missoula: My take as a fan of an opposing team
I've attended multiple Montana Grizzlies basketball games and one football game as a fan of the opposing team (NAU) in Missoula.
The older Grizzlies fans/alumni/community members have shown me nothing but class and graciousness. Many people stopped to talk when I walked around the tailgate festivities. Although, contrary to popular legend on egriz.com, I was offered absolutely zero beers that October Saturday. MSU fans offered me multiple beers when I attended a game in Bozeman. Kudos to Bobcat fans for that. But I digress...I have no gripes at all regarding the locals that support the Griz.
The students.....well.....that's another story. :roll: They can and will talk shiznit strictly because their football team has dominated for so long. Both basketball games and the one football game I attended were met with occasions of young people I suspect to be students jawing at me in the parking lot outside the stadium or on street corners both before and after games when they saw me wearing NAU gear. I'm quite unassuming, not one to flap my gums and did nothing to bring this on. I will neither scream too loud nor condone it but I guess this just happens during sporting events, particularly when there are young people and ample alcoholic libations are in the mix. Weber State is a threat to their gridiron dominance. Maybe you can take it as a sign of misguided respect?
Every fan base has it's components that give the proverbial "black eye" to everyone involved. Egriz.com has it's guilty members. I've seen a few posters here who seem to be constantly looking for a verbal fight as well. I've experienced it a time or two at live NAU sporting events. It's just that the Grizzlies football team has had a target on it's back for so long due to success that some of their fans seem to take it personally. All it takes is a few loud mouths stroking their own egos and being sore winners to rub the opposition wrong.
If you guys (Purple Pack, etc.) go in, support your team and yell loud for the Wildcats but play it cool with the "in-bred redneck, belt buckle wearing Brokeback Mountain" BS that I've occasionally read here on your website then you'll give the Griz student section no reason to legitimize being jackasses in return. Rise above the stupidity and arrogance. Let your team do the talking on the field.
By the way, I've got my money on Weber pulling off the minor upset next Saturday in Missoula. I expect it to be close and probably come down to the end of the game. U of M's defense has been suspect all season but their special teams has a knack for big plays at big moments and their offense is very capable and seem to find ways to win games even when they don't dominate. I don't really see how a Weber State win would help out NAU that much. Hell, I'll openly admit that I am prone to rooting for U of M and MSU whenever they don't play NAU because I lived in Montana and have family who were connected with both big state colleges. But I think a bit of parity in good for sports so this time around I guess I'm rooting for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Missoula really is a pretty setting and given adequate time to explore, offers a lot of fun stuff for a college town. My personal favorite bar is The Rhino downtown. The crowd there never seemed to be filled with big-time sports fans...more of a mountain biker, hiking, outdoorsy feel to the crowd....but the beer selection is top notch and the patrons seemed to be there to drink and bs instead of looking for a scrap. Sawaddee Thai on 221 W. Broadway is a personal favorite eats-wise. A good place to grab a brew and a no-frills but tasty burger is the Missoula ("Mo") Club on 139 W. Main St. Definitely a sports themed bar. It resembles the stereotypical "greasy spoon" establishment but is a fun place to hang pre-game.
Keep an open mind and have fun. You may not remember crap from your 8 am freshman year sociology class in college but you will remember road trips like this well into your old age.
MTJack
I've attended multiple Montana Grizzlies basketball games and one football game as a fan of the opposing team (NAU) in Missoula.
The older Grizzlies fans/alumni/community members have shown me nothing but class and graciousness. Many people stopped to talk when I walked around the tailgate festivities. Although, contrary to popular legend on egriz.com, I was offered absolutely zero beers that October Saturday. MSU fans offered me multiple beers when I attended a game in Bozeman. Kudos to Bobcat fans for that. But I digress...I have no gripes at all regarding the locals that support the Griz.
The students.....well.....that's another story. :roll: They can and will talk shiznit strictly because their football team has dominated for so long. Both basketball games and the one football game I attended were met with occasions of young people I suspect to be students jawing at me in the parking lot outside the stadium or on street corners both before and after games when they saw me wearing NAU gear. I'm quite unassuming, not one to flap my gums and did nothing to bring this on. I will neither scream too loud nor condone it but I guess this just happens during sporting events, particularly when there are young people and ample alcoholic libations are in the mix. Weber State is a threat to their gridiron dominance. Maybe you can take it as a sign of misguided respect?
Every fan base has it's components that give the proverbial "black eye" to everyone involved. Egriz.com has it's guilty members. I've seen a few posters here who seem to be constantly looking for a verbal fight as well. I've experienced it a time or two at live NAU sporting events. It's just that the Grizzlies football team has had a target on it's back for so long due to success that some of their fans seem to take it personally. All it takes is a few loud mouths stroking their own egos and being sore winners to rub the opposition wrong.
If you guys (Purple Pack, etc.) go in, support your team and yell loud for the Wildcats but play it cool with the "in-bred redneck, belt buckle wearing Brokeback Mountain" BS that I've occasionally read here on your website then you'll give the Griz student section no reason to legitimize being jackasses in return. Rise above the stupidity and arrogance. Let your team do the talking on the field.
By the way, I've got my money on Weber pulling off the minor upset next Saturday in Missoula. I expect it to be close and probably come down to the end of the game. U of M's defense has been suspect all season but their special teams has a knack for big plays at big moments and their offense is very capable and seem to find ways to win games even when they don't dominate. I don't really see how a Weber State win would help out NAU that much. Hell, I'll openly admit that I am prone to rooting for U of M and MSU whenever they don't play NAU because I lived in Montana and have family who were connected with both big state colleges. But I think a bit of parity in good for sports so this time around I guess I'm rooting for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Missoula really is a pretty setting and given adequate time to explore, offers a lot of fun stuff for a college town. My personal favorite bar is The Rhino downtown. The crowd there never seemed to be filled with big-time sports fans...more of a mountain biker, hiking, outdoorsy feel to the crowd....but the beer selection is top notch and the patrons seemed to be there to drink and bs instead of looking for a scrap. Sawaddee Thai on 221 W. Broadway is a personal favorite eats-wise. A good place to grab a brew and a no-frills but tasty burger is the Missoula ("Mo") Club on 139 W. Main St. Definitely a sports themed bar. It resembles the stereotypical "greasy spoon" establishment but is a fun place to hang pre-game.
Keep an open mind and have fun. You may not remember crap from your 8 am freshman year sociology class in college but you will remember road trips like this well into your old age.
MTJack
Dude, were you in that class with me about 10 years ago? Your right i don't remember shiz from that class, but i remember every road trip i have been on, and that's been quite a few in my 30+ years as a Wildcat. Including Montana now for about 6 or 7 times or so.MT Jack said:
I've heard that the bus is over 30 and climbing fast.
MT Jack thanks for your write up. I really enjoyed my trip down to NAU. I love flagstaff and thought, for the most part, that the NAU crowd was respectful. Hell, a groups of Sigma Chi's came over and chatted with us for about 30mins after the game (I am a Sig).
MSU, wasn't very bad, except for some guy with us got beat up verbally by a pissed off Bobcat chick. ISU, PSU, UNC have all been pleasent experiences. However, MONTANA...WOW...last year sucked. Their students said some things that in normal situations would have gotten them beaten within an inch of their pathetic lives, I recognized that their courage was alcohol induced, and that they really didn't know what they were doing (I am 6'5" 250 pounds of well placed fat, it does look kinda like muscle) so I let it slide. Also, I'm pretty sure that Weber fans aren't going to be getting those great seats on the 20. We will be in the South Endzone, next to the band AGAIN.
MT Jack thanks for your write up. I really enjoyed my trip down to NAU. I love flagstaff and thought, for the most part, that the NAU crowd was respectful. Hell, a groups of Sigma Chi's came over and chatted with us for about 30mins after the game (I am a Sig).
MSU, wasn't very bad, except for some guy with us got beat up verbally by a pissed off Bobcat chick. ISU, PSU, UNC have all been pleasent experiences. However, MONTANA...WOW...last year sucked. Their students said some things that in normal situations would have gotten them beaten within an inch of their pathetic lives, I recognized that their courage was alcohol induced, and that they really didn't know what they were doing (I am 6'5" 250 pounds of well placed fat, it does look kinda like muscle) so I let it slide. Also, I'm pretty sure that Weber fans aren't going to be getting those great seats on the 20. We will be in the South Endzone, next to the band AGAIN.
Tal, etc. -
If you're sitting by the Griz band then you're sitting by the Griz student section as well. May the force be with all of you.
Thanks for the props given to city of Flagstaff and the crowd. Student support has improved. Community support seems to have gotten a bit worse from my perspective. I've been up to Flagstaff for a few football, basketball and soccer games over the past two years and am impresssed with the effort the Jack Pack (student booster club) is working on up there. Much more focused and organized than anything when I was a student.
Regarding drinking in the U of M student section. It does happen. It will continue to happen. I lived in MT, have family across the state and readily admit that booze is a prevalent part of the local culture. But the actual process of drinking isn't the problem. Hell, I spent a good portion of undergrad in one form of inebriation or another and never started a fight or got arrested. It's one's mindset when they're drinking profusely and if someone is a cocky jerk to begin with then booze merely accentuates charming traits even more. I had friends I refused to hang around with when they drank and became rude and confrontational. Enough people told them this fact that I never accepted the, "I didn't know any better" excuse. Sober...soused...an asshole is an asshole.
Get police/security involved if it's over the top again. No point to any of Weber's fans going that far on a bus trip and getting kicked out of the game.
If you're sitting by the Griz band then you're sitting by the Griz student section as well. May the force be with all of you.
Thanks for the props given to city of Flagstaff and the crowd. Student support has improved. Community support seems to have gotten a bit worse from my perspective. I've been up to Flagstaff for a few football, basketball and soccer games over the past two years and am impresssed with the effort the Jack Pack (student booster club) is working on up there. Much more focused and organized than anything when I was a student.
Regarding drinking in the U of M student section. It does happen. It will continue to happen. I lived in MT, have family across the state and readily admit that booze is a prevalent part of the local culture. But the actual process of drinking isn't the problem. Hell, I spent a good portion of undergrad in one form of inebriation or another and never started a fight or got arrested. It's one's mindset when they're drinking profusely and if someone is a cocky jerk to begin with then booze merely accentuates charming traits even more. I had friends I refused to hang around with when they drank and became rude and confrontational. Enough people told them this fact that I never accepted the, "I didn't know any better" excuse. Sober...soused...an asshole is an asshole.
Get police/security involved if it's over the top again. No point to any of Weber's fans going that far on a bus trip and getting kicked out of the game.
weberwildman
Active member
MT Jack,
Will you be at the game?
Will you be at the game?
Bengalhater -
Nope, I won't be at the game in Missoula. I lived in MT recently but not anymore.
I was in Missoula last year for the NAU-UofM game though. It got ugly. Fast, like as in before I could blink. The Jacks were never in the game past the first 2-3 minutes. A 45-10 loss resulting in a temporary case of Tourette's syndrome and a few additional nervous tics. I hope WSU makes a better game of it on Sunday.
Nope, I won't be at the game in Missoula. I lived in MT recently but not anymore.
I was in Missoula last year for the NAU-UofM game though. It got ugly. Fast, like as in before I could blink. The Jacks were never in the game past the first 2-3 minutes. A 45-10 loss resulting in a temporary case of Tourette's syndrome and a few additional nervous tics. I hope WSU makes a better game of it on Sunday.
weberwildcat
Active member
Flagstaff has been my favorite road trip so far in football. But I've only been to UM, ISU and NAU (also Wyo & CSU).
One of these days I'll make it to UNC, PSU, EWU & Sac. I've been to MSU a couple times for bball.
One of these days I'll make it to UNC, PSU, EWU & Sac. I've been to MSU a couple times for bball.
weberwildcat
Active member
MT Jack said:
Thanks for the info with the underlined being most important! Only the students who have been to road games can understand how fun it is...
catcat said:
I agree. Flagstaff last year was by far the best football roadtrip. Besides 1 guy who called us purple faggats when we got off the bus, every one else was really cool including all of the students who came to talk to us after the game. Although I agree most of the older graduate fans at montana are probably pretty cool the students are not (unlike the ones at NAU) even wearing a purple shirt will get you a bunch of F words and a couple of middle fingers even if you are not doing or saying anything. Last year it seemed that the student section at Montana were more into Chanting swear words at our small section of weber students then they were watching the actual game. I honestly can not remember one chant targeted towards their team. On the other hand i remember them chanting plenty of derogatory things towards our small group of weber students. I hope things are different this saturday.
MT Jack - I have to say it again the people at NAU are really cool people. they saved us really good seats for us and were really respectful to us. That is real class. I have NAU does well this year.
mtgrizfankb1
Active member
hey everyone here....your all always welcome in wa griz. i know we all talk a lot of smack....INCLUDING ME. But i respect WSU....i hate that the fans are sometimes cocky after one winning season. But i understand you hate some griz fans for being cocky too. when it comes down to it i am a friendly guy and am glad that many of you are making the trip to see that game. I will be in the Student Section in the game this weekend. if you get seated in the south end by the student section. you will hear the F- u weber chant.....as lame as it is it happens to every team. the same bunch of drunk guys start it. the only reason i think it got outta hand last year was with weber fans pointing at the Student section...i think most students felt challenged...and us drunk montana boys get challenged. Ya know how that goes...lol. Wander in to the tailgates about 10 -11 and i 100% guarantee you will get offered and treated with respect. Most tailgaters would love to talk football with you guys. I hope you all have a safe trip up here. and hope you have a blast enjoying what is washington grizzly stadium and griz nation.
weberwildcat
Active member
mtgrizfankb said:
Right on! I'll be on the front row of our section behind the goal in the south endzone. So the game last yr wasn't how the games are every week? good (lol)
mtgrizfankb1
Active member
catcat said:
in no way are the games every week...like last years playoff game. I think some ppl started the hatred in the Student section and most everyone else just singled you all out. i hope it doesn't happen again last year. I give players alot of crap. as for the fans....i try to be as nice and friendly as possible. Most fans are just there to root on there team. I will be in the student section prob.....the third row at the 18-20 yard line. those seem to be my seats (standing area). Even the MSU vs UM game last year didn't get that hostile in the student section. LOL i am sure i will see you all there. Drive Safe its snowing as of now so i hope you all get here alright.
kittyLiquear
Member
catcat said:
I would bet that this year will be pretty close to the same as last year
Unless of coarse the Griz start blowing your team out right away! Which I don't see happening! About the only team I can think of in the last ten years or so that gets and is shown mutual respect is EWU. You guys have never been a threat to Griz nation before last year. Getting thumped in Ogden hurt a lot of feelings and the grilling our Olineman got from your coach and the Salt Lake Press the year before on the Chopblock left some hard feelings. McBribe's whining to the NCAA didn't get him any brownie points in Missoula. Then when the Griz lost a Dlineman for the season on a Chop block in Ogden all those hard feelings resurfaced in many Griz fan's minds. Seeing another Chop block get called against Weber in the closing minutes of the playoff game last fall in Missoula gave many, many Griz fans a good reason to disrespect your coach! As sorry as I am to say it, I think this year may be just as bad if not far worse than last year for a Weber Fan because you are a legitimate Threat :shock: to Griz nations perennial Dominance!mtgrizfankb1
Active member
kittyLiquear said:catcat said:
I beg to differ. EWU, Cal Poly, SUU, they all get very good respect in wa griz. we give respect to most teams and 80% of the time the losing team is getting a standing applause at their tunnel on the way out. ya every team gets boo'd when they enter...thats part of the game. But come on...im there every home game and i have hasseled many of players yet congratulated them and thanked them late in the game.
I would bet that this year will be pretty close to the same as last year
mtgrizfankb1
Active member
anyone lucky enough to come to the game and sees this. make sure you are in the stadium early. DONT MISS PRE GAME. TRUST ME!!!!!!!
weberwildcat
Active member
Word. We should be in the stadium by noon.