Author Archives: brent

Big Time, Baby: ESPN!

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This week is truly a showcase for The University of Montana Intercollegiate Athletics Department  and basically the city of Missoula in general. On Friday night, Washington-Grizzly Stadium will be at the forefront of the sporting world. Luckily for me, I will be right in the middle of it.


This Friday, the Montana Grizzlies will host Northern Iowa in a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) quarterfinal matchup. What makes this game so special are a couple things. First off, the game is at night. As Washington-Grizzly Stadium does not have permanent lights, whenever we hold a night game it is a huge deal. To be completely honest, hosting a night game in our stadium is like Notre Dame playing a night game on their campus, or, even better yet, it is kind of like the Chicago Cubs hosting a night game at Wrigley Field. It I just one of those things that does not happen very often, maybe once every two or three years. Secondly, this game is special because ESPN is coming to broadcast the game! No, this game is not going to be shown on ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, ESPN GamePlan, or even ESPN2…this game is going to be on the flagship network itself!


I don’t care what anyone says, this is a big deal. There are over eighty FBS teams that didn’t get an ESPN game this year. Not only that, but this game is smack-dab in the middle of primetime (8pm ET/6pm MT) on a Friday night! I do kind of get the chills thinking about how many people across the nation will be watching the game and how many tweets will be sent across the nation referencing the game. All eyes will be on Missoula, and I have to say, if I was a viewer at home in some part of the country where I had no idea about where the town of Missoula was or that the University of Montana even existed, I would probably be drawn into the game if I was flipping through the channels. I live for watching games between lesser known teams in obscure, but exciting, atmospheres where there is a lot on the line and  the passion from the stadium seems to seep through the television screen and into your living room. This is one of those games.


The atmosphere of this game will be dictated mostly by the way our team plays and by the amount of enthusiasm and craziness our fans bring to the stadium. The coolness factor of what you see on your TV screen come this Friday night really does rest mostly on these two factors. However, as with any sporting event or any type of production in general, there are always intangibles. I feel that my boss (Christie) and myself are a couple of those intangibles.


As I have mentioned a couple times before, Christie and I are responsible for the “game experience.” Christie is the mastermind of the whole operation, scripting out an amazing production which is really the greatest show in the state of Montana. If you have never witnessed a game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, please put it on your bucket list. I take on a much smaller role than Christie as I serve as the stadium DJ and organize our mascot entertainment during the game. One thing about our jobs is that we are always under scrutiny. We have our critics and there are always wildly popular open forums for these people to go off on what we do and call us out. But it comes with the territory and I understand that. As part of my job, I do take notice on what people are saying about our department so I hear/read most of the criticisms of what Christie and I do. I am humbled by these criticisms and take note of many of them. At the end of the day though, I always have pride in what we do and I look at the overwhelmingly positive response that we do get from the non-anonymous people who appreciate what we do.

Christie and I up in the box where we put on the show.


I bring all of this up to illustrate how big of a game this is for Christie, myself, and our AWESOME team of interns this Friday. Not only do we have the usual UM faithful to please with a great show but we also have a national TV audience to show off to as well! I really can’t hide my excitement, honest to God, I do get goosebumps thinking of this opportunity. The nation is going to be invited into our stadium to see how we do things in Montana. Whenever I watch a sporting event, I ALWAYS take notice of the music that is being played as it is usually always picked up in an audible level by the station. People down in Texas, people chilling in Florida, and people relaxing in Maine are all going to hear what this dude with crazy curly hair is going to be playing.  Come that fourth quarter when we are up by a couple touchdowns, the nation better be ready for some Cotton Eyed Joe!! No doubt Monte will get some national airtime. As a matter of fact, much to my pleasure, Monte and Mo were featured on the opening of “Around the Horn” today as they rode into the stadium on an intertube pulled by a four-wheeler at this Saturday’s past game. This type of coverage will be increased this Friday. As I said, Griz fans are great and will make noise and be loud regardless of how Christie and I perform…but we are going to do our best to get something a little extra out of them. And what we hope to do is to shift an amazing atmosphere into an ELECTRIC atmosphere.


I want to circle back to where I began this post…with the Grizzly Football team. I can’t say enough about the players and coaches. I might throw the word “pressure” around when it comes to my job but it is only a small fraction of what our players and coaches feel. It is nothing short of admirable to watch the way they handle themselves with the circumstances/stress with which they must work under. Believe me, a lot of people doubted this team and they have done nothing but prosper and prove doubters wrong. To the diehard, real fans of Griz Nation…you guys are awesome and we can’t wait to have you in Washington-Grizzly Stadium this Friday. You make the athletes and staff so proud.


So, you might ask if Christie and I are nervous. The answer? No. You see, we have worked under these conditions before. Two years ago, our team hosted Appalachian State in the FCS semi-finals in an ESPN game that was coincidently at night. The result? The Griz won in one of the most memorable games in the history of Montana athletics.  Everything worked that night. Here is to a repeat of ’09. Go Griz! Don’t Blink.

Looking for this type of atmosphere again (Yes, I will play Sandstorm again)

My Apologies

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I want to send out my sincere apologies for neglecting my blog for the past few weeks. As I had alluded to in one of my posts before I went on hiatus, this is the busiest time of the year for me. With the craziness of work and with the craziness of everything else going on in my life, I have really come up short on my blog. I am sorry for that. You see, when you take on something like a blog, you do take on a responsibility. You take on the responsibility to maintain it and keep it fresh. One of my firmest beliefs is that there is nothing more embarrassing than an untouched social media/social networking medium that is out there in cyberspace for people to look at and laugh at because everything is out of date. This sends a message that the person or organization running the social media site/account is lazy. Please, consider me lazy and embarrassed. I wish I could promise that I will do better in the next few weeks but I can’t make that commitment right now.
Just a quick little rundown on what has been occurring in my life as of late: Work is definitely dominating. Our football team is playing at a very high level right now and we have a big ESPN quarterfinal playoff game coming up that I will blog about next. We also have basketball in full swing as both our men’s and women’s teams are in the middle of  their non-conference schedules. This week we have three basketball games in addition to our football game. The highlight of the basketball schedule this week comes on Saturday when our men’s team welcomes Nevada into Dahlberg Arena.  I never wrote about our rivalry game against Montana State but it was one of the best times I have ever had watching a football game. I was in charge of the booster bus that we took down to Bozeman, Montana, for the game and it was a truly memorable trip. We came in as underdogs but we took it to the Bobcats, destroying them 36-10 and winning the Big Sky Conference championship. Cheering and yelling on the sidelines with my fellow staff members and the football team as the victory unfolded was so sweet. Words can’t really do justice to when you go to your rival’s house, destroy their undefeated league season, humiliate them, and then celebrate with the people you work with so hard day in and day out.

The success of our team has derailed some of my plans, but it is definitely not something I am complaining about. I was set to go to Columbus, Ohio, with my fellow co-worker this past weekend. As an All-Big 10 goal keeper for Ohio State, my friend, who is an assistant soccer coach for us, was going to show me around campus and give me a real taste for Columbus. But our football team played amazingly down the stretch and earned the right for a home playoff game and a bye (they won this past Saturday, 41-14 over Central Arkansas). In intercollegiate athletics anything can happen and it is truly a gamble to plan any type of trip or vacation when it is possible that you could be hosting a game. I took the gamble and paid for it, but it was actually a win-win. Either I was going to go to Columbus, Ohio, or I was going to be in Missoula working a playoff game for the school I love with all of my heart.
Besides work, I have been busy as well. Thanksgiving was awesome, I got to spend time with my family and Spokane friends. My brother and I had a great time with each other as always. Back in Missoula, I have probably taken it a little harder than what I should. I will be the first one to admit, I have probably gone out more times than I should have. It is kind of weird, you get into the routine of going out nightly and it is kind of hard to stop. With all the hours and stress that I pour into my job, you just get that itch to go out and have fun. Over the past few weeks I have ate out and drank way too much. But it has been so much fun. I have met and developed friendships with some special people over this period of time. I have also rekindled a friendship which I am very happy about. Although in the long run it is going to affect me in my waistline and in my wallet, I am grateful for this period of time.
Happy December, everyone! It is the holiday season and I hope it finds all of you in good spirits and in good health. As I do have a sense that I might continue to slack in my blogging duties, feel free to follow me on Twitter, @BrentR7. I dare you to be able to tolerate me for one week before deleting me from the people you follow. Have a great week! Don’t Blink.

How to Conduct Yourself During Rivalry Week

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It is that time of the year in college football where rivalry games take center stage and grab the attention of people all around the nation, football and non-football fans alike. For me, this is a good thing and a bad thing. I love it how more people are brought into the picture because it gives the game added importance. The buzz is infectious and everyone seems to become intoxicated with it. While this is awesome, I do get turned off by the people who come out of the woodwork for their one game of the year. For that one week they are football/ trash talk experts.  If the team is fortunate enough to make the postseason, these gloryhounds will probably emerge from the mud once again to “support” their team. Yeah, these people annoy me. My point of this post is not to focus on these types of people, however. Rather, for today’s post I would just like to offer some pointers on how to cheer/build up your team during rivalry week.
Rivalry football games are so intense because usually supremacy of a certain geographical region is at stake. Whether it be a high school battle to be the king of the north side of town or a contest to see which university rules the state, this geographical supremacy is a big deal. When you live in a certain area, you want to be the best. If you are not the best, that means your neighbor who supports/attends/plays for the other school is. It is tough to concede that the school you live and breathe for is second fiddle to another school in the same area. Many times, rivalry games carry with it an incredible amount of baggage. Placed on the football game are the politics, cultures, traditions, and reputations of both schools. You win the football game and all of the ideals I just mentioned triumph over the ideals of the other school.  You hear this all the time, but rivalry games really are more than just football games.
Because of the magnitude of these games, it is so important to support/defend your team in the right way leading up to, during, and after the game. I see so many fans, many of these are the people who have little knowledge of football, go completely overboard during rivalry week. They will do anything and everything they can to publicly demean and trash the opponent. The key word here is publicly. I will say it right here, I hate my rivals with a passion. There is a burning hot fire in me that hates everything that these certain schools stand for. However, most of that fire stays inside of me. I really think you make yourself look like a fool when you stick it to your rival in a loud and obnoxious way. Some of the Facebook and Twitter posts I see are ridiculous. Some of the profanity-laced rants people go on are flat out embarrassing. It is easy to let your hatred for your rival overshadow the love for your school. Don’t let this happen.
The following cliché is so tired but so true at the same time: “Anything can happen in a rivalry game.” From my own personal playing experience and from the experience of watching hundreds of rivalry games, this is fact. Because of the unpredictability of rivalry games and because of the respect that I feel is due to an opponent, I advise against going around like a lunatic during rivalry week and saying that your team is going to win. Okay, it is cool to have confidence in your team but why set yourself up for the backlash that is going to come your way from the fans of the opponent if your team happens to falter? The ammunition that is given to someone after another person guarantees victory and it does not come to fruition is very powerful. You bet your ass that I utilize this leverage to its full extent when someone on the other side incorrectly predicts victory. Sorry, but I am not going to let you live that down. You were cocky enough and misinformed enough to make such a bold statement that I am not going to let that pass by. Please everyone, never guarantee victory in a rivalry game.
Another thing that I cringe at during rivalry weeks is when people use those generic, recycled jokes. You have all heard these….i.e. Did you hear that they can’t have any more parties at (enter school name)? The guy with the recipe for the ice graduated.   *  What are the longest three years of a (enter school team) life? His freshman year.    *  How do you get a (enter school name) graduate off your porch?    Pay them for the pizza.   These jokes are unoriginal, too easy, and not funny. Think of something original that might inflict a little bit of a sting on your rival. Use material that capitalizes on something unique about the other institution. Use current events to come up with something that has not been said before. Just please don’t use a “Why did the chicken cross the road?” lame one-liner to poke fun at your opponent.
So how do you talk trash in a rivalry? It seems like I have shot down a lot of methods. Don’t go overboard, don’t be overly confident in the ending outcome, don’t go crazy on Facebook, don’t tell stupid jokes. But there are several ways to build your team up while putting your rival in their proper place. If you are fortunate enough to be on the side of a rivalry where your team has a winning record, definitely ride this for all it’s worth. Nothing says that your institution is better than the other when there is a big gap in the win-loss record. This is something that won’t change at the end of the game on Saturday so you are safe to coast without it throughout the week. If your team does happen to lose and some idiot fan from the other team gets in your face, just let them know where the series stands. Tell them to talk to you once their team gets remotely close to the amount of wins that your schools has. If your team does not hold a winning record in the series look in other areas. Is your school more prestigious than the other? Better graduation rates? Prettier campus? Better town? Take this to the bank. Let your rivals know that they can have a simple football game in exchange for the better facilities, superior academics, and the better post-college lives that your institution boasts. Okay, what if your team happens to be on the short end of a lopsided series and your school lacks the prestige and success of your rival? Simple, embrace the underdog role and stress your pride for your school. Let them know how happy you are to be a part of your institution…let them know that you would never switch over to another school in a million years. When you take grasp of that underdog role, you are in pretty much a win-win situation and you take a lot of your rivals’ trash talking power away from them.  When you take this stance, you can spin a loss. Play the other team tough and you can say that there is no way in hell that game should have ever been that close considering the size, recruiting budget, and facilities of the other school. You can pretty much count it as a win. And if your team somehow does manage to pull it out, go nuts. Make the opposing team feel absolutely awful. Let them know that if your school had access to everything that the rival school has, your team would not lose in a thousand years.
My biggest point of this post is to have fun with your rivalry week and be sure to set yourself up in a way that after the game concludes you will save yourself any embarrassment, loss of reputation, or excessive abuse at the hands of your rival. Make yourself a plan of how you are going to conduct yourself going into rivalry week and know how you will react in every possible situation. Although you won’t always win the game, you can always come out looking like the bigger, better, and more intelligent person. Represent your school right. Don’t Blink.

My Favorite Cartoon

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As I have mentioned before, my time in front of the television is devoted pretty much 95% to sports programming. When I do venture out and watch something different I usually tune into COPS, the news, or the History Channel.
One type of television genre  I never really liked that much as a kid or an adult is cartoons. I don’t have much of an imagination and I am much more into non-fiction programming. However, there is one cartoon that I have great admiration for.
I am a big time “King of the Hill” fan. Whenever possible, I try to catch an episode on Cartoon Central at the eleven o’clock hour. It’s funny, I have ran into a lot of people who think the show is garbage. On the other side of the coin, I also know the program has a large following. In case you have never heard of King of the Hill, all you really need to know is that it is an adult cartoon centered on a family of four living in the mythical town of Arlen, Texas. The family lives a typical life surrounded by neighbors and relatives.
The first reason why I love King of the Hill so much is because of the stereotypes. Man, they are hilarious. The show really holds nothing back. They stereotype Asians, Natives, African-Americans, and Mexicans. Of course, the biggest stereotype is of the common white man. The show relies on generating laughs off of a white trash type culture. Hank and his three friends (Dale, Boomhauer, and Bill) stand outside by a fence each day and drink beer. Part of the charm is that the stereotypes really are not presented in a controversial or degrading way in a fashion like “Southpark” might portray them. Well, I guess I should say some of the stereotypes on the show are portrayed in kind of a degrading way, otherwise they really wouldn’t be that funny. But my point is that it does not go as far or as tasteless as “Southpark” does. Whereas Southpark is just blunt and in your face with their type of humor, King of the Hill is much more subtle and clever.
Another reason why I am a big fan of King of the Hill is because of the characters. There are so many colorful, funny, well developed characters in  the show. So many of them you can point at and say “Hey! I know someone exactly like that!” I mean let’s get real here, who doesn’t know someone who fits Boomhauer to a T? Everyone has had that person in their life who you can’t understand because they talk so fast and add so much jibberish to their speech that you kind of just humor by nodding your head at (Side Note: Sometime, put on closed captioning when Boomhauer talks. The closed captioning will display everything he is supposed to be saying). Or who does not know someone like Con? Or what about Dale? I have met numerous paranoid, conspiracy-theory wackos in my lifetime. Then there is Hank’s father, Cotton. Everyone has that family member who is senile/bush league who will go on forever telling war stories. I could keep going with characters who I enjoy…John Red Corn, Nancy Gribble, Stuart McDoodle, LouAnne, Mr. Strickland, etc. Such a great cast! I do admit that I am not a Peggy fan, however. She annoys me in both her actions and her voice. I hate shows that focus on her.
Moving on, I really enjoy King of the Hill because of how relevant and up-to-date the episodes are. The shows focus on current events and actual real life people. I truly believe King of the Hill is by far the best at “cartooning” celebrities. I think this is partly the case just because the characters in the show look like normal human beings. No “Simpsons” weirdness or “Southpark” cutouts or “Family Guy” messed up eyes and mouths. Not only are the celebrity guests depicted in a very believable way, they are always funny.
Now I know I could have just included him in with my character paragraph, but I kind of pinpoint this guy as a whole separate reason for me liking the show so much. I am talking about Hank Hill. In the whole world of cartoons, I don’t think there is a character who is more powerful, humble, and relatable as Hank. He definitely makes that show and holds everything together. Hank is a man of integrity who understands hard work and reflects all the traditional interests and ideals of the typical guy. What is not to like about a guy who is fair to everyone, loves football and propane, is a family man, enjoys throwing back cold ones, and who is not afraid to take a stand for a view that is unpopular but right.  If there is any cartoon character who I look up to, it is Hank Hill.
Finally, I am so gung ho about “King of the Hill” because most episodes have an actual message and convey emotion. Yes, I will admit to tearing up a few times while watching the show. Some of the endings really do just hit you. The joking ends for a second and everything comes together and a meaningful message is sent. King of the Hill is created as a cartoon for adults that is intended to make them laugh but there is so much more to it. Issues such as treating the elderly with dignity, respecting different cultures, enjoying the holidays with family, making the most out of a bad situation, helping out people in dire need, and conflict resolution are all themes that are covered in the show. Sometimes it helps to be reminded of common life lessons through an unconventional, lighthearted medium such as a cartoon. King of the Hill does just that.
Well of course my inspiration for this blog tonight was the fact that I was watching King of the Hill. I needed a few laughs in the middle of this busy week. Sadly, the show has long since gotten over since I started to write this post. Because the show has concluded, I think that is my cue to wrap up this installment of “Don’t Blink.” If you share a love for King of the Hill like I do or have a favorite KOTH episode, please let me know. Until my next blog post, be sure to keep your girlfriends and wives away from John Red Corn. Don’t Blink.

The Week of All Weeks

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In the business that I work in, you really learn to enjoy Sunday nights. When it comes to intercollegiate athletics, it is usually the only time where an event is not going to be going on. All other days and times of the week (including Sunday afternoons) are fair game. This time at the end of the week allows you to catch your breath and gather yourself from the past week and prepare yourself for the upcoming one. So as I sit here watching NFL Countdown and writing this post as the snow falls right outside of my window, I am enjoying the peace and quiet of this Sunday evening. Actually, I am savoring this time even a little more than usual. This is because the start of an especially hectic week starts tomorrow. Call this moment right now the calm before the storm, because come tomorrow morning it is going to be the start of one of those weeks that makes me realize how much I really love my job!
Tomorrow, our men’s basketball team will take on the University of Great Falls at 7pm. Before I can even think of that game, however, I have to get through the normal work day. When I get into the office at 7:30am tomorrow, I will have my hands full. Mondays are always very busy for me as I update all of our weekly features on our website, write a couple reports, set our mascot’s schedule, put out a newsletter, catch up with everything (calls/e-mails/etc) from the weekend, do other website stuff, and more. The day will breeze by and before I know it, I will be needed courtside to start running music for the basketball game. Oh yeah, I am the DJ for the basketball games. It is a lot of fun. Besides the DJ part I also tell the guy who is controlling Griz Vision (our jumbo tron) when to run our ads and various other elements. The basketball game will end around 9pm and then I will go back to the office and update all of our social media outlets and write my checklist for the next day. I will get to my car at around 9:45pm, capping off a pretty typical fourteen hour day.
Tuesday will be my lightest day of the week with no home sporting event that night. I will spend the majority of Tuesday tying all the loose strings together for the Griz booster bus trip to Bozeman on Saturday. I am in charge of the bus that will be taking over thirty Griz fans and fourteen cheerleaders to the 111th Brawl of the Wild. I am so psyched for this trip as the game might be the biggest one in the history of the series. Anyway, on this day I will make sure everyone has an itinerary, make sure the bus service is on the same page as us, make sure all the payment information has gone through, and start planning out the tiny details. That night I will be sure to do something fun…as far away from work as possible.
On Wednesday, things around work will really start to pick up in intensity. With the Griz-Cat game only a few days away, the fever will be getting to everyone in the department. I will do a blog post this week on the 2011 Griz-Cat game just so you have an idea of the magnitude of this game. But anyway, a thousand different things are bound to come up that will need immediate attention. It will be another day that will breeze by. At 7pm that night, our Lady Griz will host Montana Tech as they search for their first regular season win of the season. The game will conclude, I will wrap things up in my office, and another fourteen hour day will be in the books.
On Thursday, our men’s basketball team will host Idaho. Along with the big basketball game, Thursday means there are just two days until Griz-Cat. By this time, the whole state will be in a frenzy. Christie and I will be getting calls/e-mails left and right from people wanting posters/pictures/shirts/random shit to show off. People will all of a sudden expect Monte to jump out of thin air and make an appearance at their particular tailgate party. The “powers that be” will put pressure on us to have certain things done. Basically, in addition to all of the regular work that we will need to get done, we will receive last minute projects that will test our ability to do sixteen different things at once. By the time I need to be courtside to do my basketball responsibilities I will be a little flustered. The drain and stress will really start to set in.  After the game the chances are pretty good that I will be at the office past my normal 9:45pm. A fifteen hour day is very likely.
Friday will be a complete goat rope. I will be making final preparations for the booster bus. I am anticipating tons of calls from people inquiring about space on the bus that does not exist so they can somehow get on it. I will be going all over town to get breakfast items and drinks for Saturday. Social media wise the day will be huge. There is little doubt that our SM outlets will be buzzing and plenty of inappropriate stuff will be put up.  On this day, the anticipation and Griz Spirit will be absolutely infectious and that is what will get me through the day and have me grinning from ear-to-ear. At 7pm our volleyball team will host Idaho State. For this match I will be in the production room watching our IT guy produce the streaming broadcast of the match. I am trying to learn as much as I can about this aspect just so I can be as versatile in the sports industry as possible. If you have never been behind the scenes of a sports broadcast before, it is truly a sight. I will be at the office late that night making sure everything is covered and accounted for. Who knows, I might just sleep in my office that night.
Saturday morning at 7am our booster bus will depart to Bozeman for the 111th Brawl of the Wild. With thirty boosters and our cheerleading team, it is going to be one fun bus ride down. I am going to do all I can to make it a memorable experience for everyone. We will get to Bozeman and then walk a short distance to the stadium for the 12pm kickoff. The estimated temperature for the start of the game is twenty degrees. Winning. We will watch the Griz and Bobcats battle for the Big Sky Championship and after Montana comes out on top we will hop back on that bus, make a quick stop at a nearby town for pizza, and then head back to Missoula. Once back at campus I will head back to the production room and sit in for the Griz Volleyball game against Weber State. After the game if I have any energy left I will go downtown and use every ounce of that remaining energy to party.
Sunday morning I will get up and once again head back to work. Our Lady Griz Basketball team hosts Idaho State at 2pm. By this time I will be running on fumes but I will throw back an energy drink and keep telling myself that I have the best job in the world and I know I will get by easily. After the game I will take a deep breath,  analyze how the week went, and then head home to rest.
It is a great time to be a Grizzly! I can’t wait for tomorrow to get here and this week to start. I have to give fair warning that my blogging is going to slack a little bit this week but I am hoping you  can understand why. It is a wonderful time of the year nationwide for sports and I hope all of you enjoy it. Have a great week and pretty soon we can all focus our attention to Thanksgiving. Don’t Blink.

Facebook Statuses and Breast Cancer Don’t Mix

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Due to an amazing marketing campaign, October is pretty much synonymous with breast cancer awareness. Initiatives, fundraisers, rallies, walks, and numerous athletic events are devoted to the theme of breast cancer awareness. I really should not even just isolate October as the sole breast cancer awareness month because it seems as if much of the whole calendar year is devoted to the fight against breast cancer. I think this is wonderful. Breast cancer is an awful disease that is the most prevalent cancer in women. I really think there can’t be enough done to fight it.
However, while I do support the round-the-clock, constant breast cancer awareness message, I do question some of the methods used to bring this awareness.  My thought is to continue to use the techniques that actually bring about awareness and that raise funds for the cause while dumping silly and pointless schemes that don’t do anything.
Before I disclose what I think is a huge stretch when it comes to breast cancer awareness, I do want to defend a certain method that always seems to come under fire. Perhaps because this particular part of the breast cancer campaign is so visible and prevalent on a national stage it is bound to generate a lot of criticism. Whenever something is seen by a mass amount of people, there are going to be a lot of different opinions and thoughts on its effectiveness. Anyway, I am talking about the implementation of “pink games” in athletic contests on all levels in seemingly all sports across the nation. Come October, everyone from the Class B high school volleyball squad to every NFL team in the league holds some sort of pink game. You know the drill, fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game, pink ribbons are readily handed out, referees use pink whistles and flags, teams wear pink uniforms, etc. There are a lot of people out there who roll their eyes at these breast cancer games and think wearing pink to these contests does absolutely nothing for the fight against breast cancer. Many fans will grumble and act above the cause by saying something to the tune of, “I don’t need to participate in this silly initiative. I am a diehard fan and I will be wearing the traditional colors of my team on the day of the pink game. Aren’t I macho?!”
You see, many of these people don’t understand or don’t bother to look at everything else that is going on at these games besides the very visible pink layer that covers the athletic facility. For majority of these games there is always an organization that is directly tied to breast cancer awareness that is sponsoring the event while at the same time fundraising for the cause. At most of these events, the proceeds from the pink clothing that you were too proud to buy in fear that you might assault the tradition of your team are going directly toward breast cancer research. Survivors who defeated breast cancer are honored at these games, giving hope and inspiration to the people in the stands who are currently battling the disease or who might find themselves up against it in the future. Information by way of pamphlets, ads on the jumbo tron, and messages scrolled across the scoreboard all give direction and support to people who are fighting breast cancer. Most importantly, this theme is displayed in front of a community of people who are gathered together…whenever you have a large amount of people participating in a joint effort, a message (in this case, breast cancer awareness) is going to make an impression. I am a big proponent of pink games.
However, some efforts at “raising breast cancer awareness” make me shake my head. I can’t stand the stupid Facebook status games that people participate in to try to say that they are supporting the fight against breast cancer. I am sure most of you have seen the most recent incarnation of this. Women are supposed to build a status using this model: “I’m going to live in ____________ (a country) for ___________ (a number) of months.” Today while eating lunch at my desk I saw where one of my friends who has been trying so hard to find a job outside of Missoula had written “I’m going to live in Amsterdam for 20 months.” With people already starting to leave comments of congratulations under her post, I made sure to leave one as well. I had no idea that this was a breast cancer status. Later on in the day I caught up to her and got to wish her congratulations in a more personal way. She then told me that the status was not true. I felt pretty stupid. If you have not seen this one yet, I am sure you have seen other “breast cancer awareness” status examples. One entailed women simply putting down a color as their status (men would later figure out that it was their bra color) and another one had women saying “I like it on __________” Despite the suggestive nature of the status, the blank was just supposed to be filled in with where that particular girl put her purse when she got home.
I am not going to go on a tirade bashing these statuses though. I mean really what more can I say besides the fact that I have no idea in hell how these statuses help with breast cancer awareness. Many men (and women in fact) will go through the whole day never knowing at all what that status was actually alluding to. At least for pink games you see the pink and you know right away what is at the forefront of discussion. Even if eventually everyone knew by the end of the day that the status game that played out all day on Facebook was some type of tribute to the fight against breast cancer what would anyone take away from it? I did all the research I could to figure out exactly how it is aiding breast cancer awareness and I could not find one thing. Pretty pointless I would say. I guess it was a funny game and it had a lot of people scratching their heads on what exactly was going on but at the end of the day there is no powerful message promoting breast cancer to take home.
Messages can be killed when they are presented in a way that is too cute/tricky/mysterious. In many cases, simplicity is the best. If  you are trying to pass along an important message, such as breast cancer awareness, don’t ever try to initially exclude anyone. Once you shut them out the first time there is no guarantee that they will still be hanging around at the end of the day to hear the explanation of the big joke. Breast cancer awareness is a much too serious of a subject to be sneaky and sly about. Don’t Blink.

Joe Paterno: Historic Night in Sports

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I have to admit, as I sit down to write this post I am wound up. I really can’t focus as much as I would like to on the development of this post just because my mind is racing so fast and 75% of my attention is glued to Steve Levy and Stuart Scott bringing us up to date information on the story.

So with my disclaimer that this contribution to “Don’t Blink” might be a little scattered and the writing subpar (well, when is it not?) I want to add some thoughts to this situation that really jump out to me. Let me say this: I will not write about whether I agree or disagree with the firing of Joe Paterno. I am not comfortable with taking a stance on this. Rather, I would like to speak on some of the many other plots and issues that have emerged from this scandal.

First off, it is hard for me to wrap my mind around the reality that within two days, Penn State’s athletic director, head football coach, and president all lost their jobs. That is a complete cleaning of house. As someone who works in a university athletic department, I can’t even begin to imagine leaving work one night and then coming back the next morning and having to come to grips with the fact that basically the three most visible and prominent people on campus are no longer working for the university. I mean, do you have any idea how much work and transitioning is required when someone in just one of these positions leaves their post under normal, cordial terms? It is a long process that takes an immense amount of time and energy. Try replacing three positions like that on a whim. Totally mind-blowing. I could not imagine the pressure and stress that must be on the interim replacements of these positions. They have to go right in and pick up the broken pieces and basically just get right to work. No transition period. No training seminars. No time to breathe.

I feel ESPN has done a great job covering this scandal. They have reported the facts and have focused on the scandal itself. You have heard very little about the football team and the effect this scandal has had on them. I believe this to be very commendable. However, after I finish discussing ESPN I will get to the football team.  Much of the commentary from ESPN talent has been superb. Matt Millen’s breakdown yesterday was genuine and touching. Kirk Herbstreit came on tonight and gave a great perspective that had me nodding my head throughout the whole conversation. John Barr’s reporting from right in the middle of the student demonstrations took me right into all of the craziness occurring in Happy Valley. Reece Davis and Chris Fowler also provided great commentary.  I liked it how these solid play-by-play people who are very credible were brought in and given the chance to offer their own personal opinion. They did very well. My co-worker said to me that ESPN is reporting on this in the same way that news stations report when we are in the middle of war. What I replied back to him was that this is ESPN’s war. This is their major story. This is to ESPN what Bin Laden’s death was to CNN. For sports fans this really is a “Where were you when Kennedy was shot” type moment and they are reporting on it accordingly.

I feel awful for the victims. There is a place in hell for anyone who touches a child in a sexual way. Again though, I am going to stay away from this sensitive subject. To a much lesser degree than the victims, I feel bad for the Penn State football team. They are 8-1 and in first place in their conference. In two days they play Nebraska. How much must it suck for this monkey wrench to be thrown right at them? No one on the team participated in the hideous actions or the cover up. Yet they will suffer from the fall out. Look, I don’t know how active Joe Paterno actually was in running that football team but his mere presence and iconic status meant a lot to every player. He has now been uprooted, another coach has been thrown in, and their campus has turned into a complete circus.  These are 18-22 year olds. The fact that they have to go through this forty-eight hours before their biggest game of the season thus far is a travesty.

Some of the images and video from tonight will live on for a long time. How about that press conference? I don’t know who was more unlikeable…the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees or some of those idiot reporters. That presser was a cluster. The Vice Chair was arrogant and short with his answers. While I do recognize that he was being asked questions by people who had no business in that room, he could have gone above their level and conducted himself with class. I am probably guessing that there is some regulation that allows for anyone from the general public the option to attend these press conferences because there is no way that some of the bafoons asking questions tonight had any serious journalism aspirations. I loved Michelle Beadles tweet:  “Are these “actual” reporters asking questions?!? Holy cow…feels like a bad SNL skit. Kids were abused folks. Ruined. U sound like fools.” Or what about the video shots of Paterno’s wife coming to the doorstep and waving to the crowd while picking up flowers? Yes, she looked confused but I live for impromptu stuff like that. I tweeted about this but isn’t it funny how longtime married couples start to look like each other? You can’t tell me that Paterno and his wife don’t share a striking resemblance. My favorite image from the night came from when Joe Paterno came out to the doorstep himself. Accompanied by his wife the whole scene was nothing short of awkward. His sentences were choppy and he seemed out of it. I loved it how he explained that when he said “you guys” he was not trying to snub the females at the rally…totally not needed but really, really funny. Also funny when he told the students to go study. I am pretty sure majority of the crowd left immediately at that point to go home and hit the books.
Just a couple more thoughts:
*ESPN made the correct decision in interrupting the Miami-Ohio vs. Temple game for the breaking news story of Joe Paterno’s firing. Like I said earlier, this was ESPN’s war…you break from regularly scheduled programming when something of that magnitude hits. I do wonder if the ESPN stayed with the game coverage in the Miami-Ohio and Temple markets though. By the way, Temple won.
*As is pretty much everyone is predicting, we have not heard the last of this story. It will probably get much worse and there will probably be more people losing jobs and getting charged over this.
*I complimented ESPN’s overall coverage of the scandal but I felt Stuart Scott was too biased (anti-Paterno). Scott of course was pulling anchor duty with Steve Levy the whole night. When you are in the role as anchor, stick with that role. I don’t want to hear your opinion. Even though Fowler and Davis got to deviate from their normal neutral roles, they were brought on to do just that…offer their opinion. Your job was to anchor the coverage and provide balance and neutrality.
*The amount of responsibility and power NCAA football coaches have is absolutely crazy. I don’t have any qualms about the salaries they make. At a university, everything falls on the head football coach. It takes a very special person to hold a football head coaching job. I will devote a whole blog post to this topic in the near future.
Tonight was a sad, yet monumental, night. Seeing a legend fall from grace on live television sure generates conversation and severely backs up Twitter. On Saturday, Penn State will play their first football game without Joe Paterno involved with the team in some way since 1950. Although it will be hard for Paterno supporters, and even Paterno non-supporters, to get used to this, everyone will eventually. The time was going to come. I just wish it would have come under better circumstances. Pray for the victims. Don’t Blink.

The Inspirational Crossing Guard

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When September rolled in and school started up for Missoula Public Schools, I expected to see an old staple who I had seen every day of the school year for the past two years. The opening week of school passed and I did not see him. The next week passed and I did not see him either. Then came the third week, the fourth week, the fifth week. It is now late October and I know he will not be back at his post. I know he probably just retired his duties and enjoying himself now but you never know for sure.
My house is right next to Rattlesnake Elementary, a school within the Missoula Public School District. The school sits on a busy street called (yes, you got it) Rattlesnake Drive. In the weekday mornings about a quarter till eight, the street is congested with the morning commute. As is protocol for any elementary school in the nation, they have a crossing guard who stops traffic to allow for young students to cross the street.  To be a crossing guard in Missoula you either have to be a little crazy or have a heart of gold. You see, once you get into the November-April months in my town, the mornings are brutal. More on that later.
Anyway, the crossing guard I had the privilege of driving by each morning for the past two years was special for a couple different reasons. First off, he was not a year shy of seventy-five years old. This is a very generous estimation too. Although I believe him to be older, my conviction to never fabricate the truth to make a story better forces me to low ball him a bit. Put a gun to my head and I say he is pushing eighty.  
Secondly, the guy never missed a day…never. For all 180 days of the school year that elderly gentlemen held down his crosswalk with his life. In a society where so many people call in sick or can’t tough out some minor ailment, this guy was perfect in the most extreme conditions.  He was a constant, whenever I took that left off of Lincoln Hills and onto Rattlesnake, he was the first thing I would always notice.
Thirdly, this guy was special because of his attitude. Every single car that passed by he would give a friendly wave and a warm smile to. This wave was not some half-assed lazy shake of his hand either. He would give an animated, enthusiastic wave to each car that passed by. His smile was genuine, the twinkle in his eye would make Santa Claus envious. His kind eyes would always pierce right through my windshield, no matter how iced over it was, and make contact with mine.
So this guy was old, he was consistent, and he was positive. Although hard to be all three of these things when the weather is warm and the birds are chirping, it is about ten  times harder to have these traits when the weather is -10 degrees out and the wind is blowing like there is no tomorrow. Missoula winters absolutely suck. Missoula winter mornings are the worse. Dark, cold, windy, and snowy,  I always feel like I am going to die just running from my house to my car that is ten feet away in the driveway. I am not kidding, the mornings are beyond harsh. For the first two minutes of my commute to work I would freeze my butt off and then I would see him on the side of the road and I would get his wave and smile and I would warm up a little. It was as if my body called me an idiot for feeling even a small amount of discomfort when there was this old man with many more years and much less insulation than myself standing completely exposed to the elements for almost an hour.  It is just beyond me to think about how at that age, or any age for that matter, you can convince yourself to get out of your warm bed when it is pitch dark outside and say “Hey, I am going to go stand out in arctic cold temperatures for an hour and help protect kids while waving to adults who are probably too busy talking on their cellphones or texting to even look at me.” It definitely takes a special person.
Yes, I did take inspiration from that old man every day that I drove by. He did make me want to have a more positive attitude about the day that lay ahead.  I mean if that guy could have a good time waving to motorists in the most uncomfortable conditions than there was no reason why I could not have an amazing day every day of the week inside my warm workplace with great co-workers and a few hundred vibrant, talented student-athletes.
I sit here right now really wondering for the first time how the actual students looked at this guy. Funny how I never thought about it until I wrote this post. I know he probably treated them all like treasured grandchildren and knew each one by name. The cool thing is, those kids will remember him. I definitely remember certain adults from my early childhood who showed care and warmth to me. At that age, you can detect a genuinely kind person in a heartbeat.
This school year there is a new person holding down the crosswalk. He is probably about forty, long hair, and he looks kind of out of it. He might wave at you on a good day, don’t expect him to actually look at you though.  I guess I have unrealistic standards now because I was spoiled by the best. The old man did more than just provide safety and order; he provided perspective. Believe me, that  s a great thing to be able to ponder on your drive to work. Don’t Blink.

Gaddafi’s Death: Must See TV

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There are some things that I have a tough time watching. I can’t stomach seeing old video of skeleton-like holocaust victims in concentration camps. I am not a person who gets off on blood and guts, even if it is just a movie. I find no humor in watching youtube videos of morons decapitating themselves or their friends. I even get queasy looking at dead bodies at funerals. It is just eerie and unsettling for me.
Despite my apparent weak stomach for most things that depict suffering and death, there is one exception that I am completely immune to: When the worst people in the world get what they deserve.
When Muammar Gaddafi met his brutal demise last week, I sat glued to my television and to youtube and watched the grisly videos and photos that surfaced. If you have not seen the last few minutes of Gaddafi’s life, you have to decide if you want to see it. After a French airstrike wounded him, he hid in some drain pipe. Libyan rebel forces found him and that is when the video started to roll. I have seen about three or four different videos depicting the same thing: Gaddafi is bloodied and disoriented while surrounded by this mob of Libyan rebels. Let me tell you, the word MOB describes exactly what Gaddafi was up against. It was as if a human was thrown into the middle of a ring surrounded by two dozen pissed off, starving lions. The Libyan mob pushes Gaddafi on the back of a truck. Yelling and gun shots dominate the audio. Gaddafi, absolutely defenseless, is covered in blood. The mob takes turns pulling his hair and pushing him, there is absolutely no stopping them. Very few times in my life have I been able to sense and feel such anger and passion through a television/computer screen. I watched it over and over.
Then came the still shots of Gaddafi dead. Gruesome and bloody, it showed a man who was once untouchable completely dehumanized. Call it a “money shot” if you will.
The Saddam Hussein hanging execution was also something I could not turn away from. Here was a guy who killed thousands upon thousands of his own people, had numerous body doubles, lived in lavish palaces, and despised America. To see him in that dark, barbaric hanging chamber with executioners in black ski masks all around him definitely provided shocking video.  To some people, the video is just too hard and disturbing to watch. Again, I don’t know if there is something wrong with me but there was no turning my head away from it. Although, I admit to this day, I do get a little startled each time the hanging platform  Saddam is standing on gives way. He is in the middle of yelling some of his propaganda garbage and all of a sudden you hear a loud crash, gasps from the audience, and then a lifeless Saddam hanging from a rope. My generation grew up talking about Hussein all through our schooling careers – elementary, middle school, high school, and college. He was the personification of evil. To see him caught and killed was almost surreal.
I also had no problem looking at the gory photos of Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay. Just seeing them in their death photos they looked like awful people. A lot of times when people die they will look at peace. This is not the case with some of these terrible dictators/mass murders. Even in death, there is no escaping their evil.
I was very disappointed that no videos or photos of Osama Bin Laden were released. I wanted to see an image of a shot up Bin Laden so bad. I wanted to see the video of the kill mission that President Obama’s cabinet and chief military officers watched in realtime. I wanted to see a still photo of OBL sprawled out in his hideout. I wanted to see video of our military disposing of his body into the depths of some cold, deep sea. Of course, this wish is for my own personal satisfaction. I wholeheartedly supported President Obama’s decision to withhold these images from the eyes of the world. His reasons, all very well documented so I am not going to get into, were valid.
While I do have a taste for seeing the worst of the worst meet their fate, I do have a limit. I found it mildly disturbing that they placed Gaddafi’s body in a random freezer in some market and invited everyone to see.  As viewers came in they took video with their cell phones and posed for pictures with the corpse. Soon Gaddafi’s body was joined with those of his son and his army chief. By this point, all of the bodies were badly decomposing and the stench was so bad that viewers had to wear surgical masks while getting their glimpses. Again, this takes it a little too far for me and it is a little hard to comprehend why someone would want to see a rotting body and have their noses assaulted with probably the worst smell in the world. But I do have to realize that it really is a cultural thing mixed in with just a human nature element as well. Many of the people who viewed his body had immediate family members who were slaughtered by his regime. If someone killed my mom and brother would I want to get a glimpse of their murderer’s corpse? I think I would.
To wrap this up, isn’t it ironic that many of these awful, awful people end up in hiding spots that are home to rats? They are then captured and put to humiliating deaths. While complete justice can never be done because of the sheer amount of atrocities these people have committed, it is nice to know that they finally got what was coming to them. Maybe that is why these violent and grisly photos/videos appeal to me…it offers closure. Although I have no direct personal link to any of these insane people or the countries they live in, it is easy to recognize that the world is better because they are gone, and video confirmation of their demise removes any doubt,  and that is comforting. Eventually, everyone gets what they deserve. Don’t Blink.

Buying A Halloween Costume

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Today I went out and bought my Halloween costume. Since I graduated college, finding a costume for Halloween has been much more fun. No longer do I have to rely on my old Fred Flintstone costume that I wore for the first time in HIGH SCHOOL for a school dance to get me by the holiday. Now that I have a decent job, I can choose to be pretty much whatever I want to be. Bye bye handmade Fred costume with 50% of the black spots fallen off.

      My date’s mom made it for me when I was a senior in high school. Wore it three times in college.

As do many people in this nation, I have gone to Spirit the past three years to buy my costume. If you have never gone or heard of a Spirit before, it is a seasonal Halloween retail chain that sets up shop around the United States in various locations at the start of October. They sell costumes that cater to both adults and kids and their product is usually very up-to-date on the current trends and pop culture (they had Gaddafi stuff there today). They have a large online presence as well.
In Missoula, and in many other places as well, Spirit does business from whatever out of business former retail location that happens to be available. Each of the past three years, the Spirit in Missoula has been in a different location. Spirit stores really follow the cliché of “putting lipstick on a pig.” Although they make the place as festive as they can and add in as many interactive goblin/ghost/vampire type lifesize exhibits, the store always looks dumpy and grim. Spirit banners are slapped around on the outside of the building, usually with the name of the previous storefront still visible. Inside, temporary racks are brought in to hold many of the costumes. The lighting is bad and there is a distinct smell that makes it obvious that the store had not been inhabited for quite a while. A cheap fold out card table acts as the place to go to get access to the dressing room area which consists of a lot of pipe and drape. Handwritten signs are present all over the store warning customers not to try on costumes outside of the dressing room area. The store floor is covered with fallen down and discarded costumes, masks, and hats.

                                                 One of the exhibits at Spirit.

Obviously, Spirit really does not need to improve the dingy store atmosphere because every time I go in there the place is absolutely packed.  And although I am not a big fan of crowds when it comes to a store setting, I actually like the vibe I get when I go into Spirit.  People are excited to be in there. They know it is their lead up to the one night (or two nights, or for some, three nights) where they get to escape reality and dress in something totally ridiculous so for the most part there is an aura of anticipation and excitement circulating throughout the store and I like that. I definitely buy into the same feeling that everybody else has and I enjoy myself when I am in there.
One thing that always jumps out to me about Spirit is the primary age demographic of the cliental. At least 80% of the people in there are adults. I think of Halloween as primarily a holiday for kids but I guess what you think is not always what is reality. I think maybe Spirit itself is more of a place for adults (although like I said above, they do have tons of costumes for both adults and kids) while places like Wal-Mart are more for kids. Spirit definitely has plenty of costumes that bring sexual themes and innuendo into direct focus. They have costumes that…well….just let me say….I love to see girls wearing on Halloween night. They also have many violent and gory costumes. So maybe my observation is not really the result of a dramatic shift in the age demographic of who is celebrating Halloween but rather the product that is being sold at the certain store.
One thing that I tend to overlook at Spirit is really how shitty the costumes are relative to their price. The average costume in that store runs between $40-$50. The cost it took to actually produce most of these costumes has to be around $10. They do a great job of making the costume look great on the label of the package but once you take it home and open it up, you will shake your head. I am not kidding, there is not a lot of thought and care that goes into making them. Before buying a costume, always read what is actually included. The model on the picture label will be decked out in accessories that the manufacturer would never think about including in the actual costume package.

     For night two of Halloween last year I was a pirate. The sword was not included with the costume.

That is another way on how I am a sucker for Halloween. I am never content with just buying the actual costume. I have to buy the accessories too. You see, when you go out to the bars on Halloween night, you need to have something in your hand (besides your drink) to make you standout. Whether it be a gun, sword, bat, fake animal, etc. it just adds to the fun. I definitely fall  for the marked up accessory prices and go all out.

    I was a gangter for night one of Halloween last year. No need to have a snake, but I could not resist.

So despite my complaining about the atmosphere and the actual product, I love buying my Halloween costume. I don’t mind walking around in a makeshift seasonal hell hole and being ripped off solely because Halloween is so much fun. I am not going to give away what I am being for Halloween this year although I must say it was a very tough decision. So tough that I will probably, just like last year, end up buying a second costume (one costume for this Saturday and then another one for the actual Halloween date on Monday). Costumes that were finalists for me today but did not make the cut include a pharaoh, a ghostbuster, and Caesar. It took me forty-five minutes inside the store to make up my mind.
I hope everyone has a successful experience purchasing their Halloween costume. My advice is to be what you want to be! Spend the extra money for a costume that you have your heart set on. Halloween only comes once a year. Good luck and here’s to a great 2011 Halloween! Don’t Blink.