2013 Griz Football: Resiliency

Posted on December 8, 2013 by brent

This busy Griz weekend will officially come to a close in a couple hours and I think my tweet I sent out Saturday evening still sums it up best: It could have gone better, and it could have gone worse.

Our football team dropped a close one to Coastal Carolina yesterday. Once again the Griz staged a very gutsy comeback but this time it fell just a little short. On the brighter side of things, our women’s basketball team went 2-0 this weekend to win the Holiday Inn Lady Griz Classic. The team defeated Idaho in a close contest on Friday evening and then played a great game in the tourney championship to blow out UC Irvine.

This afternoon I attended the Griz football awards banquet. The team and everyone associated with it managed to put the disappointment of yesterday behind them for a couple hours to celebrate a wonderful season. Our athletic director and head coach both spoke some meaningful words, a hard hitting highlight video was shown, and players were recognized. Taking home the big honors were two of my favorite players on the team, Brock Coyle and Jordan Johnson, who both received the Steve Carlson MVP award (on defense and offense, respectfully).

Sometimes less is more so I want to keep it simple: The 2013 Griz football team is one of the best examples of resiliency that I have ever seen in my life, both on a big scale and a smaller scale. When it comes to the larger scale, the majority of the student-athletes on the team went through a turbulent period that few other teams will ever go through. The removal of its head coach, the loss of its MVP, and a microscope pointed right at it as sharp as anything you will find in the finest laboratories will definitely test a squad. But with a “united” attitude and the return of its brother and MVP, the team took the lessons from 2012 and used them to go on a tear in 2013. It is because of the above major tests in resiliency that the team dealt with earlier that they were able to conquer the smaller tests of resiliency this season. I am talking about the come from behind wins and fourth quarter heroics that were on display several times this year.

In life, people from the outside looking in don’t know anything about what goes on in the inside. While they think they do, they really don’t. Most people, including myself, will never know how much dedication, trust, and hard work the 2013 Griz football team poured out to make this year’s campaign such a success. While we can all see the major obstacles they overcame and the dramatic change in wins they recorded, we will never really understand the immense amount of heart that this team exerted on a daily basis. But there is one thing that we can understand, one thing that was clearly visible all season long. This team was UNITED and it was absolutely beautiful. Don’t Blink.

Emma Lommasson, Griz Weekend, and Bitter Cold

Posted on December 5, 2013 by brent

As I seem to do about once a week, tonight’s blog post will cover a few different topics that are relevant in the life of yours truly. I want to get you guys out of here quickly tonight so how about we get started?

Meeting a UM Legend: Today I had the opportunity to meet Emma Lommasson, an icon at the University of Montana. She started as a student at the university and worked her way up to become the assistant registrar. She will turn 102 in just a few days and is an absolutely fascinating lady.

I had the chance to be in her presence because our head football coach Mick Delaney paid her a surprise visit today. Organized by our radio man, Mick Holien, I tagged along to document the meeting between Coach Delaney and Emma. You would not have believed how happy and excited Ms. Lommasson was to meet Coach. As charming as ever, Mick chatted with a delighted Emma for about ten minutes. When he left to head off to practice, I snuck a picture with her. My great uncle lived to the ripe age of 101 but besides him I had never met another person in the century club until meeting Emma today.

Myself with the wonderful Emma Lommasson.

Crazy Next Two Days: That nice long break I had last week is way back in the rear view mirror. Times are packed once again and Friday and Saturday will have me working non-stop. Tomorrow I will scramble to get ready for a football playoff game on Saturday while at the same time doing all I can to help get Griz Nation ready for a football playoff game on Saturday by getting them pumped and prepared for the big game via our new media outlets. But come 4 p.m. I will turn my attention from the gridiron to the hardwood as Grizzly Athletics hosts the Lady Griz Classic. Tomorrow night Appalachian State and UC Irvine will tip off at 5:30 p.m. followed by Montana and Idaho at 7:30 p.m. As usual I will have my seat in the northwest corner at the music table working away. By the time I get back to my office probably at around 10 p.m., I will return my focus back to football.

Saturday will be an extremely early morning as I hustle off to work to get ready for our FCS playoff game against Coastal Carolina. Once my morning prep work is completed it will be noon and that means kick off time. Once the football contest ends at around 3:30 p.m. I will be back in my office wrapping up the action in Washington-Grizzly Stadium and then getting ready for Night Two of the Lady Griz Classic. The first game tips off at around 6 p.m. and then the Lady Griz will play either App State or UC Irvine at 8:15 p.m. By the time the final buzzer sounds on that second game I will be very anxious to get home and hopefully look back on a successful day for the Griz.

Cold: Here in the Missoula area we are in the midst of a brutal cold front. The last couple days we have experienced single digit temperatures. Unfortunately, it is just going to get worse. The next two days call for even more extreme lows and the emergence of another factor…wind. It is going to get very nasty here in the Zoo.

Of course the storyline of Coastal Carolina coming from a warm climate to take on the Griz inside the ice bowl of Washington-Grizzly Stadium has managed to play itself out like no other this past week. Truth of the matter is, I really don’t see the cold impacting the players that much. For those of us who played outdoor sports, especially football, we know that once you hit the field and warm up you feel fine. Then you add in the adrenaline factor and you are good to go. I worry about our fans and game personnel who will brave the elements on Saturday. I have had a tough time staying outside for four minutes the past couple of days, let alone the four hours that everyone else will come kick off. While sitting up in the press box I will definitely have sympathy and a whole bunch of respect for the 20,000 Griz fanatics cheering loudly below me.

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Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Stay warm and cheer loudly for the Griz! Don’t Blink.

What is Going On at Northtown Mall?

Posted on December 4, 2013 by brent

While in Spokane last week my brother and I decided to do some Black Friday shopping. Well, we didn’t really do any shopping but we wanted to check out the day after Thanksgiving pandemonium. After we hit up the Spokane Valley Mall we drove across the city to Northtown Mall, the largest, and most recognizable, shopping center in town. Growing up in Spokane, Northtown Mall was a landmark. It had recently received a very extensive expansion and was the place that out-of-town shoppers flocked to. The place had energy.

However, this Thanksgiving weekend when I returned to Northtown on Black Friday there was a dramatic change in the mall. I would estimate that about 20% of the stores were vacant. Spaces where well known businesses had staked out for years were now gone. At one area in the mall it was especially eerie. Except for the anchor stores, everything was gone, even the ATMs that were once attached to the walls! The place had seemed to turn into a ghost town. I questioned my brother and cried out on Twitter asking what was going on.

It took a while but today I found out my answer. It turns out the mall will soon be undergoing another massive renovation project. The area that had turned into a graveyard will be demolished and then resurrected in grand fashion. Northtown had supposedly moved/bought out/kicked out all the businesses in the area in preparation for the upcoming huge project. It suddenly made sense to me. Except for one thing…

In the bottom level of Northtown Mall there used to be a fun center called Bumpers. The large area contained bumper cars, an eighteen hole miniature golf course, a climbing wall, full arcade, party rooms, and pool tables. During our youth, my brother and I spent a lot of time there. However, like many of the other tenants in Northtown, it packed up and left. The business headed out to the valley to attempt at a fresh start in an old bowling alley location.

The bottom level where Bumpers resided used to be partially exposed to shoppers. While you were on the second floor level by all the ice cream shops or even further up on the third level you could look down and see the bumper cars and redemption front desk of the center. The climbing wall elevated all the way up to the second level, showcasing one of Bumpers’ most popular attractions to shoppers who may have not had the chance to make it down to the basement level yet. An escalator and see-through elevator connected Bumpers with the other levels of Northtown. However, that level of transparency is no more.

When Glen and I visited Northtown last week we were a little shocked to see that the gaping hole in the middle of the second level that allowed people to see inside of Bumpers was totally gone. The black and white tiled floor of the mall now extended completely across where the open space used to be. It was as if the once busy kids arcade zone had never existed. If you were a first time shopper to Northtown you would have absolutely no idea that you were walking across a floor that had just been there for a couple months, let alone realize that underneath you rested a large vacant basement.

Or is it really vacant? That basement level in Northtown is vast. There is a whole lot of space down there. Would Northtown really leave that space totally empty? Why did they feel the need to completely cover it up? Although I don’t generally believe in conspiracy theories I do enjoy considering them and let me tell you, Glen and I had our minds rolling about what was going on underneath us. My first suggestion is that it is now an underground dance club where loads of illegal activities occur. Or thinking about it now, maybe the space is now used for a secret fight club. Maybe they have converted it to a detention area where lost kids, unruly teenagers, and out of line shoppers get transported to and forgotten about. Or perhaps one of those roller derby teams have made the area their new practice headquarters.

It crossed my mind that it might be a graveyard for old and dysfunctional furry characters that play in those bands at Chucky Cheese’s and other kids centers. Maybe the seasonal store Spirit is holding the space for next Halloween. Or maybe it is where 2Pac and Elvis are now hanging out. For all we know, it might now be a holding zone for excess Area 51 materials.

Bottom line, I just feel as if someone is trying to erase the memory from our minds that a giant basement does in fact exist at Northtown Mall. By patching up the hole, making access impossible, and by not disclosing future plans for the space I must say that I am intrigued about what is really going on underneath the mall. Does anyone else have any ideas? Don’t Blink.

My Current Three Best Bets To Waste Time on Your iPhone

Posted on December 3, 2013 by brent

Every now and then I like to pass along to my readers the current cool things I am using on my IPhone to waste time. Tonight I would like to share with you the top three that I am presently big on.
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Quick Side Note: I just got back from our annual UM Spirit Squad Holiday Get-Together (our Spirit Squad is made up of our cheer squad, dance team, and mascot program). What a delightful evening with some awesome student-athletes. I feel so lucky to be associated with the Spirit Squad, they are seriously a very dedicated, talented, and fun group!

It was a very nice time at the Spirit Squad party this evening.

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1. What Is Your Twitter Net Worth? – Do you ever wonder the monetized value of your Twitter account? Thanks to Time, you can find how much you could cash in your Tweets for by going here. Of course this is just a hypothetical exercise, it is not like Twitter is ever going to give any of us a penny (let’s just be thankful the haven’t started charging yet) but it is still kind of cool and you can use it to hold some bragging rights over your friends. The formula values my Twitter account at $180. That is more than my brother (@GlenReser, $103), Shaun Rainey (@ShaunRainey, $15), and Chris Lynn (@chrislynn, $60). Interestingly, our @UMGRIZZLIES account is worth $1,130. Conversely, the @MSUBOBCATS account is worth $703. Definitely a cool service to check out!

Here is the breakdown on how much my Twitter account is worth.

2. Flipagram – The apps to incorporate into your Instagram service keep getting better and better. Now there is Flipagram. What Flipagram allows you to do is create slide shows in an Instagram friendly format. For example, I took several pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house. Instead of posting them one-by-one on Instagram or making a collage out of them, I put them into a Flipagram slide show. I chose the photos I wanted, adjusted the timing for how long I wanted each photo to be shown, and then hit the create button which processed the show and saved it to my camera roll. I then simply uploaded it to Instagram. But what really makes this service cool and what differentiates itself from other apps is that you can choose music to go with your show! And you get to choose from the favorite music you have downloaded on your phone. Better yet, you can start the music anywhere you want in the song to go with the slide show. If you are an avid Instagram user, this app is a must.

Flipagram is a lot of fun!

3. theScore – This app has been on the scene for a long time but I did want to share it because I think it is the finest sports score service available. Not only do you get up to the second updates on every game at the college and professional levels, you also get it an organized and user-friendly format. Ads are scarce and you can choose favorite settings. I personally really enjoyed using it to get instant updates on all the Big Sky Conference football action that went on this season. Two thumbs up from me on this app.

theScore is my favorite app for checking in on sports scores.

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Do you have any apps that you think I need to check out? Please let me know. Also, if your Twitter account is worth a pretty penny, please let me know that as well. I love to compare! Don’t Blink.

The $1,000 Stunt

Posted on December 2, 2013 by brent

As I watched the news this morning, I heard about the most spectacular display of self-promotion at a bang for your buck level that I never had before imagined. As I heard the main details that made the stunt so great mixed in with the “human element” B.S. that likely never happened, all I could say to myself was well played.

On Black Friday, a man went to the top level of the Mall of America and proceeded to throw 1,000 dollar bills over the railing and onto the shoppers and performers on the main level of the gigantic shopping center. Fittingly enough, the performers I mentioned made up a holiday choir that just happened to be singing “Let It Snow”. As he threw the cash over the railing he made his way to an escalator where he started to descend down while tossing the remaining bills overboard. Confused shoppers looked on in disbelief, smart shoppers started scooping up the money.

The man’s name is Serge Vorobyov. He just lost his car hauling business and is currently going through a divorce. Early reports tried to paint Serge as a courageous and down on his luck guy who wanted to perform a selfless and desperate act to win back his wife. Word also spread that he used the last $1,000 to his name to fund the stunt.

Well, once the guy started talking to more cameras it became evident that he really had no intention of winning back his wife. In fact, she knew about his plans. Also, by no means did he throw his last few remaining dollars away to strangers. His main line right now about the whole deal is that he wanted to do “some sort of pay it forward kind of thing.” Ummm…sure.

I question his stated motive because people who like to do, as he calls it, “pay it forward kind of thing(s)” usually do it anonymously (like this occurence that happened in Missoula this summer). Anonymously in that they don’t sit down for interviews, don’t splash the event across their Facebook wall, and definitely don’t stamp their YouTube address on every single dollar bill they throw over a railing. Yes, all one thousand of those bills directed the recipient to visit his YouTube page.

So while I call the media’s claim that he did it for love as pathetic and while I find his claim that he did it out of goodwill as shameful, I find the act in and of itself as genius.

In my mind, Serge pulled off one of the greatest and most successful guerrilla marketing stunts in modern history and he did it with himself as the sole benefactor! Sure $1,000 might seem like a lot to some people but in the world of online, print, and television ads it is peanuts. He took that cash and not only stretched it so that hundreds of people in a shopping mall could experience it and become exposed to his message but by catching the eye of the national media he also exposed the entire country to it. What a fun, creative, and most importantly, profitable way to market yourself.

Many of us work hard to establish our own personal brand. The cool/scary reality is that we are all capable of pulling off a stunt like Serge and receiving national acclaim. I mean if I wanted to I could rent a hot air balloon, take out all the money I have in the bank, float over a densely populated area, and start dropping $20 bills that had my blog URL written on it. I would probably get arrested but many would argue that the media attention, the huge spike in my blog readership, and the place in infamy that I would receive for the stunt would far outweigh the legal problems and the financial issues that I would incur. But it is definitely a risk; a type of risk that Serge was willing to take but that I am not.

The most daring I have gotten with promoting myself is making stationery!

And that is what separates Mr. Vorobyov from me and most of everyone else in this world. He had the guts to do something pretty crazy. Because of his willingness to take a big chance and because of the creative way in which he did it, I salute him. I just wish he didn’t lie about the reason for doing it. Don’t Blink.

A Very Uncomfortable 88 Mile Drive

Posted on December 1, 2013 by brent

This afternoon I made the trip back from Spokane to Missoula. With it now December, my concern going into the drive was successfully navigating my car over two mountain passes during wintry conditions. Never did I know that a greater obstacle would prevent itself.

I made it over Fourth of July Pass just fine. Although heavy rainfall did slow me down a little bit, the relative ease I got over it gave me confidence for the usually more dangerous and snowy Lookout Pass. Much to my enjoyment, Lookout Pass was just a tad bit more challenging than Fourth of July with only traces of snow and the continued rainfall. After the passes were in my rearview mirror I thought I was home free for the final 100 miles of the drive.

As the relief set in I lightened my grip on the steering wheel, turned the radio on, and cracked open my Xyience energy drink as I passed a green sign that notified me I only had 88 miles to Missoula. Suddenly my relaxed state turned to panic as the black truck ahead of me started shooting out sparks all over the road. The next thing I knew a tire was rolling at a high speed right toward my car! I jerked my steering wheel on the windy road and missed the tire. It was just like a movie!! The truck, still shooting out sparks, successfully pulled to the side of the road. I pulled right behind it.

Another car that saw the whole incident pulled in front of the truck. The Good Samaritan who stopped in front of the vehicle went to the truck’s passenger window to see that the person was okay. I in turn got out of my car and went and fetched his tire that had come to a stop against the guard rail about 50 fifty feet behind us. In the cold, windy conditions with traffic zooming by me I trekked through the snow on the side of the road to get the tire. With my nice new Nikes sopping wet I pushed the tire back to the truck. As I got close to the vehicle I saw the occupant and let me tell you….it was not what I expected.

I am not into stereotypes but I must admit that I thought the owner of the nice, newer model black truck would not have looked like the neglected brother of a ZZ Top band member. The man, probably sixty, had a long straggly beard, stained clothes, a bizarre top hat, wrinkled skin, and strands of hair poking out from the hat. He thanked me for stopping and retrieving the tire and then asked the question:

Can I have a ride?

At first I was completely caught off guard by his request. In my surprise I muttered “ummm, sure.” Now that I am removed from the situation it makes sense that of course he would need a ride. He was stranded out in the middle of nowhere with a truck that only had three tires. But after I granted his request I felt uneasy. I went back to my car to wait for him to finish some business he said he had to attend to at his truck. After a minute or so I saw him open his truck and guess what jumped out?…

A DOG!

This was the man’s dog that sat in my back seat for the 88 mile drive!

Now if you know me, you know very well that dogs are not my favorite animals. Under normal conditions I would never let a dog set foot in my well-kept and clean car. But the man simply walked to my car, opened the passenger door, and his dog hopped right in and moved to the back seat. Things were getting weird. The man did not even ask for permission or apologize for the unexpected occupant. For a split second I wanted to end things right there. The last thing I needed was a creepy guy and a dog in the back seat distracting me on an already tense drive. But I kept my cool and straight up asked the man if his K9 would bark or go to the bathroom in my car. When he replied no to both, I started to drive. The guy needed to go to Kalispell but I had already told him ahead of time that I could only get him to Missoula. With that understanding, we set off on the longest 88 mile drive ever.

Heck yes I felt a little nervous. I have heard all the accounts about Good Samaritans picking up strangers and the horror stories that follow. The fact that this guy looked a little, how shall I put it, rugged, heightened my concerns. We had small talk for maybe two minutes to start the drive off. After that we were silent. In those uncomfortable moments of conversation he introduced himself and explained that he was a mechanic. He notified me that the lug nuts on the front passenger wheel gave way causing the mayhem on the road. Thoughts about him intentionally planning the incident to take advantage of someone like me ran through my head. I asked him if he was a sports fan. He said not really. Conversation ended.

When we were a few miles out of Missoula I started to negotiate with him on where I should drop him off. He went back and forth between a truck stop and a cheap motel before finally settling on a cheap motel. He tried to explain some place he stayed at ten years ago but for the life of me I couldn’t make out the motel he was talking about. But he made it very clear that he wanted to stay in a cheap motel so I took him to an area that would cater to his needs…Broadway Street.

Here is a picture I took of the man as he inquired about occupancy.

I parked at one of the value motels and he told me to wait one second so he could walk in and see if the place would welcome his dog. I was now spending my Sunday evening parked outside some run down motel with a random dog in the back seat of my car. He came out and announced that he couldn’t stay there because they wouldn’t allow pets. I went to the next motel. Same verdict. Luckily they had told him a motel where he could go that would accept his dog so I once again transferred him and his animal to our third stop on Broadway Street. Of course he had to go in by himself once again to make sure they would take the two of them so I got to spend some more quality time with the dog. Finally he came out, opened my passenger door, thanked me, called for his dog, and walked out into the night. I was hoping he had keys to a motel room (I couldn’t tell if he was walking to one of the far away buildings of the property or simply didn’t want to have me shuttle him around anymore).

The silhouette of the man as he walked out of the final motel that U drove him to.

The silhouette of the man as he walked out of the final motel that I drove him to.

I was reminded of a couple things today. First, I shouldn’t be so judgmental and I shouldn’t always assume the worst. Secondly, the ways events unfold are crazy. If I would have left my parents’ house five minutes earlier today or left a few minutes later, I never would have had my encounter with the mechanic. Thirdly, you should always be considerate and notify the driver if you plan to bring an additional passenger! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Have a happy and blessed December. Don’t Blink.

Ready for Thanksgiving Break!

Posted on November 26, 2013 by brent

When you work in intercollegiate athletics, getting a single day off between August and mid-December is a rarity. In fact, since September 30 I have had a total of two days off. However, tomorrow will mark the first of 5 consecutive days off that I will enjoy. To be honest, to go from working long hours seven days a week to all of a sudden having a string of days off is a little overwhelming. But believe me, I am not complaining.

Thanks to the Griz football team playing lights out the last four games of the season and earning a first round playoff bye plus basketball schedules that have both the Griz and Lady Griz on the road, I get to enjoy an extended Thanksgiving weekend. Not since college have I had the opportunity to do absolutely nothing from Wednesday through Sunday of Turkey Week.

I made the trip from Missoula to Spokane after work today. I will spend my whole vacation at my parents’ house in the north part of the city. The last time I spent more than four days at my parents’ residence was when I was a college senior back home for winter break in December of 2008 and January of 2009. I am very excited to kind of put my bags down and enjoy some quality time in the house that I grew up in.

Food, football, and fun will be the “three F’s” I live by this Thanksgiving holiday. My partner in crime will be my younger brother, Glen. We look forward to spending a lot of time together and continuing to build on the thousands of memories we have already created together throughout our lives. My sister also has a brand new kitten that I am dying to finally meet.

I most likely will not be posting again to Don’t Blink until next Monday but there is always the chance that I might slip something in between now and then. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! I am very thankful for my wonderful readers. Don’t Blink.

Congrats, Mr. Official of the Year!

Posted on November 25, 2013 by brent

Late last week the Inland Empire Football Officials Association held its end of the year banquet. This event served as a time for the association’s 100 football officials in the city of Spokane to get together as a group, enjoy some good food, listen to a guest speaker, and hand out a few awards. At the very end of the night they presented the biggest and most important honor, the coveted Official of the Year award. With his wife seated right next to him, Tom Reser heard his name called.

My dad with his very well deserved Official of the Year award.

Last Thursday night my mom sent out a joyful text message to the three of us kids declaring the good news that our dad had won Official of the Year. All by myself in my apartment I immediately got a beaming smile across my face and my eyes watered up. I took a couple minutes to let the pride and emotion that I felt settle in my body before I composed a congratulations text to my dad. Later that night when my dad and mom returned home from his well-deserved moment in the spotlight I got to call him and tell him how I proud I was. He had done it.

My dad flipping the coin to start one of the 600 games he has officiated.

After twenty-nine years as a football official, twenty-seven of those coming in the IEFOA, my dad had achieved the highest honor that he possibly could at the high school (and everything underneath) football level. You might say I am a bit biased being his son and all, but let me tell you, no one could have been more deserving than my dad.

It is proven: You do something better when you are passionate about it. My dad is, and always has been, passionate about officiating football. I grew up with my dad coming and going in his stripes. By the age of six I knew every single football hand signal because he took the time and displayed the amazing patience to teach me. My dad would slip me into one of his referee outfits and with me drowning inside of it I would perform the hand signals exactly as my dad called them out. Probably all the way up until I was twelve years old when someone asked me what my dad did for a living I told them that he was a football official as opposed to mentioning that he worked in administration at the Spokane Veterans’ Affairs Hospital.

From the time I was very little I admired my dad and wanted to be a referee like him.

When I did start to get older I took more of a notice on how dedicated and involved he was with officiating. A couple months before the season started I would see him studying up on his officials’ manuals. I would see him polishing his officiating shoes rigorously. I would observe him calling other officials to let them know when meetings were. I would go to trade shows with him where he would set up a booth and try to recruit new referees to the association. I would watch him spend his own money on sandwiches and Gatorades for his crew. After working a hotly contested varsity high school game on Friday night I would say goodbye to him on Saturday morning as I went to my own football practice and my dad went out to a dingy complex where he would officiate three straight YMCA fifth grade games.

By the time I was playing high school football my dad had rose to a permanent white hat. He had become well known in the association as a well-respected referee. Because of this I would sometimes vent my frustrations to him when I felt (as most high school football players do) that our team got screwed by the zebras. Even with me taking shots at his fellow officials who he defended to no end, my dad would always take the time to listen to my concerns and then address them. Although my dad couldn’t officiate games that I participated in, he would always do our Mead High School Blue-Gold scrimmage. I always felt honored to share the field with my dad and have my teammates tell me what a cool old man I had.

My dad starting a game between Lewis & Clark and Central Valley.

As I moved away, went to college, and started my career in Missoula, my dad continued to prosper as an official. He received more big time assignments, he was awarded several state playoff games, and he served on the officiating board. In a true show of leadership, my dad took it upon himself to create a sportsmanship traveling trophy. Each year now, the officials get together and vote on a team to win the sportsmanship award. It can be a varsity, JV, or freshmen team. My dad then travels to that squad’s end of the year banquet and surprises the players with the trophy.

I truly believe the pinnacle of my dad’s career came this season though. You see, at the start of this year my dad started a mission to lose weight. With 4:30 a.m. workouts and a strict diet that he followed religiously my dad was successful in his mission and lost 40 pounds. I think it was this final outstanding, selfless, and disciplined effort to improve his officiating and overall life in general that pushed him over the edge and made him the obvious choice for Official of the Year.

My dad has always told my brother and I that his dream is to one day officiate a game with both of us on his crew. Although at this point in my life that is not possible maybe one of these days I will have time to take up officiating and make my dad’s dream come true. Until then , even though he never told me he wanted this, I like to believe another one of his dreams came true last week: He was named the best at what he does, the best at one of his passions. Congrats dad, there is no one who worked harder at it than you. I am so proud of you. Don’t Blink.

Another Great Weekend for Grizzly Athletics

Posted on November 24, 2013 by brent

It has been one of those weekends where I sit back and let the pride, thankfulness, and awe of getting to work in the University of Montana Athletic Department just engulf me. Although I am always so proud to be part of something as special as Grizzly Athletics, weekends like this always give you an extra jolt of joy. Three awesome things happened to the Maroon and Silver this weekend that has everyone associated with the University of Montana and really the whole community of Missoula on fire right now. Let me brag for a little bit.

Griz-Cat Triumph: Let me start with the best. Yesterday in Bozeman, the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats squared off in the 113th Brawl of the Wild. In a game that at the start of the season any MSU fan would say the Griz would get trounced in, Montana went into Bobcat Stadium and doubled up the Cats, bringing back the Great Divide Trophy to our department with a 28-14 victory.

This one was sweet. I felt very fortunate to stand on the sidelines and watch yet another trouncing of Montana State at the hands of our student-athletes and coaches. While I might have felt a little bad for the record crowd who turned out in Bozeman to watch their team’s playoff hopes die, I felt exuberant for Griz Nation. After Jordan Canada scored the last touchdown of the game and put his finger to his face to quiet the Montana State student section once and for all, the celebration was on. It literally made my year watching my good friend Norm Jones take the trophy out to midfield where the offensive line dutifully picked up the large award and carried it around the stadium for two renditions of the fight song before planting it at midfield where the team then gathered around it to say a prayer. After looking at the scoreboard one last time just to confirm that the Griz had added yet another notch to its side of the lopsided Brawl of the Wild record, I turned around and walked out of Bobcat Stadium with a big smile on my face.

With the final score behind us, Brynn and I enjoyed the victory in Bobcat Stadium.

Griz Volleyball Wins on Senior Night: The Griz volleyball team turned a great day into a spectacular day when they defeated Sacramento State on Senor Night. Although a little concerned that I might miss the match because of the Griz-Cat football game running long and the unpredictability of the road conditions from Bozeman to Missoula, I walked into the West Auxiliary Gym in the middle of the first set.

This year I served as the Marketing Director for the Griz volleyball team so I became very passionate about the squad, especially its four seniors. After a couple years of not making the Big Sky Conference tournament, the team clinched a spot this past weekend. With one goal in the books, the next goal of winning on Senior Night was attainable. The Griz didn’t let the opportunity pass them by as they defeated Sacramento State in five sets.

Instead of running the game from the scorer’s table I got to watch the special victory as a fan from the stands. Seeing Brooke Bray, Kayla Reno, Kortney James, and Megan Murphey go out as winners at home made my night and capped off a memorable day for Grizzly Athletics.

Congrats to our volleyball seniors (Brooke Bray, Kayla Reno, Kortney James, and Megan Murphey) on great careers.

Griz Football Receives a Playoff Bye: After Montana dumped the Cats on Saturday afternoon, the question on everybody’s mind was when the Griz would play in the playoffs. Would they receive a bye or would they be playing Thanksgiving weekend on November 30? The debate raged everywhere from message boards to social media to the bus I rode home from Bozeman. With so much talk swirling around I asked our Sports Information Director what he thought our chances were of getting a bye. He told me 50-50.

I woke on Sunday morning anxious for the announcement. I wholeheartedly believed the team should be given a bye but understood the case against them and with the 50-50 prognosis that Dave gave me, I tried to get prepared for both scenarios. I followed the announcement on Twitter and the wind came out of my sail a little as they started to reveal the first several eight seeded teams (the ones who get byes) and Montana was not represented. After the announcement of seven teams without Montana being one of them, I thought I would be working in Washington-Grizzly Stadium on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. But right when I started to wonder who our first round opponent would be the eighth and final seed was announced and much to my excitement it was Montana.

Of course the bye is most important because it will give our team the chance to heal up, rest, and play a team that they get to watch a week prior. But for us staffers in the athletic department, it also gives us a very nice holiday weekend. I now get to a plan an extended holiday break in Spokane with my family and I couldn’t be more excited. All I can say is thank you so much to the football team for making this a possibility!

Montana will face the winner of Coastal Carolina and Bethune-Cookman on December 7.

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It truly is a great time to be a Griz (even though it always is). Congrats to our amazing student-athletes and coaches. This is going to be one happy Thanksgiving. Don’t Blink.

Returning Laughter Back to Rivalry Week: Memes

Posted on November 21, 2013 by brent

Last night I read my good friend Shaun Rainey’s blog post on why he enjoys the Griz-Cat football rivalry so much. One of the reasons why he looks forward to it is a relatively new concept that in my opinion has completely invigorated not just the Brawl of the Wild but rather every single rivalry in the nation. For probably just a couple years now this new yet simple form of media has helped fight against the unoriginality and cliché driven nature that had started to define many of these passionate head to head battles across the country.

I am talking memes.

Memes? Yes! As in the basic presentation of a picture accompanied by a line or two of user generated text that conveys a joke, insult, or point. Back in the day we would just call them picture captions. But with the proliferation of the internet and social media combined with the specific physical appearance of such images, we have entered the fancy term of “meme” into our lexicon.

You gotta love memes!

At this time I can’t necessarily say that overall I am a big time lover of memes. While I always got a laugh out of the Willy Wonka ones, I find many of the ecard and mass generated poorly developed memes stupid. However, I do appreciate many of the memes that poke fun at a certain side of big time rivalries. Not only do they deliver a good laugh but they have helped to break up a streak of lameness that started to run rampant.

I would always get up for rivalry weeks but I started to really dread friends, bloggers, message board users, and social media addicts who thought they were funny by reciting or posting generic jokes that poked fun at the other school. I am talking about the jokes that went like this: “How do you get a graduate of ___________ University off of your porch? Pay him for the pizza.” Or this: “What are the longest three years of a ___________ University student’s life? Freshman year.” Or this: “How do you keep a ____________football player off your yard? Put up a goal post.”

Not only are the above jokes very old and practically not even funny anymore but they are completely unoriginal. They can apply to every single school in every single rivalry. There is absolutely no personalization or cleverness with them. But for some reason people would still tell them and still post them. You would get an e-mail that said “Oregon jokes” or you would see a thread on a message board that said “Montana State jokes” and you would read them and they would contain the exact same stories and one liners, the only thing changed was the name of the school. How stupid. They really weren’t Oregon jokes or Montana State jokes, they were just recycled rivalry jokes.

I welcomed sport rivalry memes with open arms. Finally there was something that channeled the creative juices of fans and enabled them to think up some very cunning and very funny jokes. Memes center completely on a photo so you must find an image that is specific to one of the schools in the rivalry. Once you have a unique photo you are going to go the distance to create a unique caption. You aren’t going to ruin a good photo with a terrible clichéd one liner. Instead you are going to think up something so that the second someone looks at the meme they are going to fall over laughing.

Although I started to see the positive change last year, I have immensely enjoyed the explosion of rivalry memes this year. The increase of memes has brought the decrease of the terrible jokes. People no longer have time for that garbage. Fans are now hungry for clever visual jokes that poke fun at the culture and ways of the rival school. During this Griz-Cat week I have seen some hilarious memes from both sides. Naturally some do cross the line but for the most part it is spirited, passionate fun. Don’t get stuck resorting to the unoriginal and overdone. Instead embrace the new avenues available to bring fresh laughs to rivalry week. Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

Author Archives: brent