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Energy Drinks

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As someone who tries to sleep as little as possible, I surprisingly have never indulged that much in caffeine. I have never drank so much as a cup of coffee in my life and I am anti-soda. Mid-way through my college career I took No Doz (a caffeine pill) to stay awake during classes because at that point I maybe got three hours of sleep at most at night and after hitting the gym in the morning I needed a boost. However, the “strength” I got from No Doz made me jittery and irritated so I eventually stopped. Over the past year and a half, I became a huge proponent of Jack3d, a caffeine-loaded workout supplement that actually had a wondrous impact on my gym life. But the point came where I realized that putting that much caffeine into my body every single day was not such a good thing. Over the past couple of months, I have weaned my body from it.

Since going off of Jack3d I have started to feel a little drowsy in the same way that I felt during my college years. Especially working long weeks and long hours now that the fall sports season is in full swing, I was finding myself in need of a pick-me-up. To help keep me alert and, as Katy Perry would say, WIDE AWAKE, I have started to reach for energy drinks.

For most of my life, I would not touch an energy drink. I categorized them right with soda. If a product is anywhere similar to soda, in my opinion the ultimate poison for the body, I will not consider consuming it. But because of my desire to get something that would make me more alert, combined with the growing energy drink industry that now offers limitless options for anyone’s taste, I decided to test the market a little bit.

First requirement I made for the energy drink I would start to purchase every now and then: It must be sugar-free. Once upon a time I did try an energy drink and not only did I detest the taste, I also could not stand the filmy sugary texture that seemed to surround my teeth after I finished drinking it. It seemed like the exact same thing as drinking a pop. There was no way that I would ever pour something like that into my mouth again.

Secondly, it had to taste good. There are some nasty tasting energy drinks out there. Some people say that the more disgusting it tastes, the better it works. That’s hog wash. Unless it is medicine, I am not drinking anything that does not taste halfway decent going down my throat. You would be surprised, there are energy drinks out there that don’t even have a flavor on the can. But again, because of the large market for these types of drinks, there are certain ones out there that pass my taste test.

Thirdly, and most importantly, it had to work. And not only did it just have to work, it had to still make me feel sane as well. I have had energy drinks that definitely gave me a jolt but also made me feel paranoid and shaky. No thank you. I have also consumed energy drinks that might have well just been juice…I drank it and I noticed no improvement on my groggy state. I needed a drink that made me alert, focused, and, as an added bonus, feeling good.

My first love was Monster Absolutely Zero. It tasted great, contained no sugar or calories, kept me alert, and it came from a reputable player in the energy drink market. It was my go-to energy drink until I made myself try something else. My friend posted an Instagram picture of himself with an energy drink called Xenergy. He also posted a link to its website as well. Billed as the energy drink for active and fit people, it caught my eye. Throw in the facts that it was also zero sugar/calories and came in several intriguing flavors and I knew I had to try it. On a drive from Missoula to Spokane, I bought a melon mayhem flavored Xenergy. I tasted it and was immediately hooked.

While Xenergy delivered on everything that Monster Absolutely Zero did (tasted good, was sugar/calorie free, and kept me alert) it also managed to cover my “added bonus” item that I explained earlier: it made me feel good. Xenergy gives you a nice, positive buzz. To a smaller degree, I felt the same way that I felt after taking a dose of Jack3d. It not only improved my alertness, it improved my attitude.

Myself with Xenergy, my go-to energy drink.

Okay, I will stop there because this post is not an endorsement or review for Xenergy. I just wanted to shed light on a product in general (energy drinks) that I used to look down upon but now realize that they do have a purpose. I by no means consume energy drinks on a regular basis, rather, I might drink one or two a week. If I am driving a long distance or if I am running out of gas at the end of a busy week I will crack one open. I drink them out of necessity, not for the hell of it.

If you do want a boost and are not a coffee drinker, I recommend sampling the energy drink market. I have learned that not all of these drinks are sugary, jittery, weird-tasting cans of mystery liquid designed for teenage boys. The industry is much more sophisticated than that…and more helpful too. Give it a try. Don’t Blink.

The Presidential Debates: Competition at its Finest

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Tomorrow night a spectacle will air on national television over several different channels that the whole country and many parts of the world will be watching. The stakes will be high, the moves will be scrutinized, and the developments will be unscripted. No, I am not talking about a sporting event. I am not talking about a reality TV show either. I am definitely not talking about some death defying stunt by David Blaine or Robbie Knievel. I am talking about the 2012 presidential debate.

I am not a political person. I have my beliefs and I do tend to vote a certain way but to be honest, I don’t think I would feel comfortable debating issues with anyone. I don’t follow local races and I am not someone who campaigns for candidates. For most of the year, I sadly could care less about politics. Scratch that, for most four year cycles, I could care less about politics…until the October and November months of the presidential election year of course. Go ahead, call me the biggest bandwagon political fan there is, it is the truth. Just as I don’t follow any of the traditional Summer Olympics sports until the sixteen days of the actual Olympics themselves, I don’t really start paying attention to politics until the leader of the free world is about to be decided.

These final two months are fun. I love watching the daily developments, the back-and-forth swings in the polls, and the frantic last minute campaigning. I enjoy the feeling of the whole country getting on fire for the ensuing significant decision. I get an adrenaline rush out of election night itself. But what I really crave, and what I get excited about, are the presidential debates, especially the first one.

I get goosebumps thinking about it. Two men are pushed out onto a small stage to battle it out in front of millions of people watching across the world. Years of hard work, risks, accomplishments, and undoubtedly luck lands them at this point. Each man has their family, supporters, and party hoping they will succeed. Likewise, each man has roughly the same amount of people hoping they will fail. I can’t imagine the unbelievable pressure that each candidate must feel. I can’t imagine what the drive from wherever they are staying in Denver to the campus must feel like or what it must feel like the moment the debate producer tells the candidates to move from the staging area to their respective podiums. At that point, although they both have millions of supporters, they are all alone. Talk about great TV!

When the cameras roll tomorrow night, it will be Barack Obama and Mitt Romney going back and forth trying to prove to America that they are the right person for the most important job on the planet. What possibly more could be at stake? School kids from coast-to-coast will tune in as a homework assignment. Sports bars will take a break from MLB and whatever college football game is on and switch to the drama. College Democrats and College Republicans will hold viewing parties. Millions of cocky know-it-alls will stay glued to their TV screens, constantly tweeting support to their candidate and snide remarks to the opposition. It just does not get much better.

Because I love sports so much, I naturally like these debates. At the root of sports is competition, and that is what tomorrow night is all about. Preparation, game plan, dealing with the unexpected, and execution are all aspects that both athletics and these debates hold in common. On Wednesday evening, Obama and Romney will take the hours of practice and time poured into mock debates and use it to help execute the game plan that their closest political advisors have ironed out for them. Of course nothing goes perfectly and I will watch with great interest and enjoyment when the candidates are forced to revert course and change their strategy around a little bit. Lately a hot topic on sports radio shows has centered on what NFL quarterbacks are best at improvising when a play blows up and they are left to produce something out of nothing. Well, what candidate will land on his feet better when an off the wall question is asked or if a train of thought is lost? In general, who is the better competitor?

Besides the competition aspect of the debates, I just truly enjoy the importance and scrutiny of it all. Tomorrow night is a part of history. Twelve years from now, CSPAN will be showing the rerun. SNL will hang on every little thing the candidates say and do so they can parody the hell out of it come Saturday night. There very well could be exchanges and sound bites said on Wednesday that will never be forgotten. Obama vs. Romney will be the number one water cooler discussion item on Thursday. The front page of all major newspapers is reserved for the recap/commentary of the duel. Twitter will explode, hash tags will be utilized, and social media will fight over who won the debate. No doubt about it, tomorrow is a big day for our nation.

If I could offer some general advice I would encourage all of the people who have not made up their minds yet on who they will vote for to first, obviously, watch the debate. Secondly, view it by yourself on CSPAN. If you watch it with friends, you risk having their slants rub off on you. If you watch the debate on CSPAN, you will get the most neutral viewing experience as possible. It goes without saying that if you watch Fox News you will get a conservative twist and if you watch any other cable news station you will get a liberal twist. Realize that many people and many television stations have already made up their mind on has won the debate…20 hours before opening statements are even set to begin.

Enjoy the debate tomorrow! If you hate politics, if you don’t care about the issues, and if you could care less about the awesome dynamic of competition on display, watch it for this reason: Two men representing two different ideologies can share a stage and civilly debate the issues facing this country. No machine guns, no kidnappings, or no intimidation tactics will be used to settle differences. Rather, it will be the power of persuasiveness, reason, and wit…just another little reminder that we are fortunate enough to live in the best damn country in the world. Don’t Blink.

Social Media: Be Creative

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One of the reoccurring themes that always surface in this blog centers around the goodness that social media has brought society. As someone who gets paid for working with the fastest growing medium of communication in the world, I rightfully should be glorifying the innovative ways that social media has furthered dialogue and connectedness in this growing world. But if you have enough free time on your hands to click on my blog post links often, you also know that I am skeptical of social media as well. Not every byproduct of this modern day communication revolution has helped make us better.

When something so revolutionary and so hip emerges seemingly out of the blue, companies and organizations are going to do whatever they can to latch onto the bandwagon and make sure they don’t fall behind. This is definitely admirable as entities want to make sure they stay competitive and relevant. However, there is always that tendency to lose complete focus and engage in unhelpful, wasteful, and sometimes counterproductive practices.

I look around myself and I see intelligent people and smart companies shutting off their own brains and selling out to self-proclaimed social media “experts” and social media “consultant agencies” for help on their social media strategies and initiatives. First off, falling into a trap like this can be easy to do. When you have something as popular, as broad, and as boundless as SM, this definitely gives way to these types of “experts” to come in and offer a seemingly profitable and clear path to success. Many of these social media geniuses put up a good front. They like to make themselves sound like they are on the cutting edge of every single social development out there. They promise dramatically higher follower/like counts. They talk about how much time they are going to save you with their SM account software. They tell you how you will always know when someone mentions your company’s name. They will brag about how no one will ever be able to post anything negative to your wall…..and then they will drop a price for their service/strategy/convention that I would never dream of paying for.

The beauty about social media is that you shouldn’t need someone from outside your organization to come in and tell you how to connect with your followers or how to get your main marketing messages out. Rather, if you have young people working for you who are smart, passionate, and creative about BOTH your company AND social media in general, you should be well on your way.

On a daily basis I hear from groups who want to manage my workplace’s social media accounts. Um, isn’t that my job? Call me out if I am wrong but don’t you think a guy like me in my mid-twenties who has studied social media for the past four years and who eats, breathes, and sleeps maroon and silver could do a more effective job than some company in California who can’t even get the website of our department correct? But believe it or not, around the country companies are caving in and going with groups who “specialize” in social media.

What really gets me are the people (many of the same who want to run social media campaigns) who hold workshops/conventions/seminars on social media. If I accepted half of the invitations I get to these meetings, I would never see the light of day. While some of these workshops can be informative, many of them are a flat out waste of time. You will get people running them who are ego-driven, walking façades, and masters of the obvious. Sorry, but if you are going to take my time to tell me when the peak period for Facebook is or caution me against sending out the same message across various social media outlets, I might as well just better utilize my hours by counting sheep. What I have seen happen way too often with these workshops are the presenters just regurgitating the most general and basic facts of social media that even my dad knows but presenting it in a way that makes the people in the audience feel like they are actually learning something cool and new. But no matter how differently you try to tell me to “be engaging with my posts” I am still hearing the same thing everyone has known since the birth of social media.

Be creative.

That’s my advice to anyone dabbling in social media. Be wary of people who try to make something harder than what it is. Don’t let them waste your own/your employer’s time and money.

You have a brain, you have ideas, you have a vision…you also have the company or business that you work for. By doing some critical thinking and experimenting, you can come up with a strategy that will work specifically for your employer. And believe me, whatever you come up with will be 1,000x better than what some “social media agency” will tell you or what some clueless guy at some afternoon luncheon will post up during a lame powerpoint presentation. The power of social media is limitless, don’t let frauds constrain you. Don’t Blink.

A True Professional: Barry Anderson

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When it comes to my job, the one duty that I hold that most people don’t know about is that I serve as the mascot coordinator. I am in charge of our two students who play Monte as well as our mini replica, Mo. Basically I schedule all appearances, oversee the financial piece of the program, serve as the liaison between the mascots themselves and the general public, and help with the development of the mascot entertainment during games (notice how I say “help”… our student performers have amazing minds and they come up with most of the good ideas).

When I got hired in the athletic department a little over three years ago, the mascot program was already nationally renowned for its excellence. In fact, Monte had held a top spot in the mascoting world for several years running. If you were to go anywhere in Missoula and ask a random person how Monte exploded onto the national scene and became the darling of college mascots, most would simply respond with a name: Barry Anderson.

During the early 2000’s, Barry Anderson donned the Monte suit. For the sake of length, I am going to omit his laundry list of accomplishments and accolades while wearing the bear suit at The University of Montana and just say that he took the Monte character/identity/brand to an extraordinary level, a level that many mascots at much bigger schools will never come close to reaching. Besides the adoring fans of Missoula, many others took notice of the special talent that Barry possessed. Around 2005, the Chicago Bulls hired him to become the next Benny the Bull.

For the past seven or so years, Barry has kicked butt in the Windy City serving as the mascot of the Bulls. He has reinvented the character of Benny much to the delight of everyone associated with the organization. Just like Monte, the Bulls mascot is not limited to athletic contests but rather a wide array of other events, functions, and commercials. But while Monte usually completes his numerous appearances around the state of Montana, Barry completes his around the world. Because he works for such a prominent sports organization, because his job is so important, and because his duties and travels seem to never end, Barry has his own assistant that is assigned to him…pretty cool, huh?

With all this going for him, most people would probably assume that after seven years of sharing the court with some of the best athletes in the world and receiving more time on national television than the Vice-President, Barry would probably have little need or desire to return west to the much slower and less-populated life of Montana. What is that saying people use to describe what happens when people assume?…

Each football season, Barry Anderson makes one return trip to Missoula to hang out with his old friends and to perform for one half during a Montana Grizzlies football game. It is always a highlight of the season for our fans as well as a big surprise as no one knows that Benny the Bull is at the game until the moment of the much anticipated mascot entrance (well it is a big surprise for everybody except the roughly 5,429 friends that Barry still has in the city). Once it is revealed that Benny the Bull is in the house the place goes nuts and an extra burst of energy is pumped throughout Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

I opened up this post by mentioning that I am the mascot coordinator. Because of this, I have the privilege of working with Barry when he comes back for his annual homecoming. This man is simply just different than your normal specimen. When you meet Barry, you will immediately notice three things: First, his sense of humor. Barry is as witty, sarcastic, and funny as they come. Even if he is making jokes at your expense you can’t help but laugh and marvel at his cleverness. Secondly, you will quickly become aware of his professionalism. He takes every aspect of his job with the utmost seriousness (I will soon elaborate more). Thirdly, you will realize the amazing talent that he possesses. I will never forget last year when he surprised the crowd by zooming out onto the field on a Harley. I watched in awe as he flung his arms up and down rallying everyone in the stands as he sped around on the field. He owned that crowd. I told myself up in the press box at that exact moment that this guy is much more than a talented mascot…he is a first-class, good-as-they-come performer.

Because I help deal with the planning of the mascot entrance, I get a high dose of the number two thing you will notice about Barry, his professionalism. I love it when Barry comes back but I also know that I better be ready. He runs a tight ship and expects perfection. Do the things he asks and you will be fine, miss out on a detail and be ready to hear it from him. But that is what makes Barry such a pro. He has everything so far planned out in his head with exact precision that even the slightest deviation from the plan can dramatically detract from the masterpiece he is about ready to lay out. People like to laugh at mascots for their unplanned rough luck, awkwardness, and mistakes. Barry eliminates all of these common mascot ailments because he is just so well prepared. On Friday night when we rehearsed the mascot entrance inside the stadium, I sat back and watched as Barry conducted the scene on the field. Directing the two Montes, Mo, the limo driver, and the dance team, we went through the whole skit over and over. Funny and specific in his demeanor, he got what he wanted out of everyone involved. Leadership and professionalism at its finest.

Despite the loss our football team suffered, this past Saturday went great. The entrance went very well and our fans were once again treated to a wonderful performance by Benny the Bull. During a timeout I played “I Gotta Feeling” and I watched Barry jump from the sidelines up onto the top of the railing of the student section and lead a couple hundred of those kids in a fist pumping frenzy. It was the exact same thing as my memory from him on the Harley last year…that inexplicable generation of energy that so few can bring out. As with the prior year, the same thought went through my head….”This guy is the real deal.”

While Barry is demanding, he is also very gracious. As we exchanged e-mails on Monday he expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to take part in Saturday’s game. He also thanked me for helping out with the rehearsal/gameday components. It always feels good to be appreciated by someone so established and highly regarded. Thank you Barry for sharing your talents with us once again. You are one of a kind. Go Griz and Go Bulls. Don’t Blink.

Quit Blaming the Replacement Officials

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While watching Monday Night Football this evening, I started to write my blog post that had no relation to the NFL or football whatsoever. After watching the ending of the Seahawks controversial victory over the Packers and watching Twitter absolutely blow up, I knew I had to dramatically switch course. Let’s talk real quick about these replacement officials.

All of us need to recognize something right now: None of us have any right whatsoever to take our anger out on the replacement refs. They have ventured into a near impossible situation. Most of these fill-ins were Division III officials last year. There is absolutely no comparison at all between a Whitworth Pirates vs. Pacific Lutheren Lutes game and a San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings game. Rules and game administration between the two levels are nowhere close to being on the same wavelength. If there is something that is similar between the two, than it is magnified 1,000x more in the NFL (everything from speed to athleticism to crowd size to intensity). To think that these officials could have an acceptable grasp on the highest level of football in the world after cramming for a summer is a joke.

Besides the major differences between the levels of football and besides the laughable amount of time they received to get acquainted with the NFL version, these men never had a chance to succeed. They got no respect from the players, coaches, or media. This of course translated into the officials getting no respect from fans. Every game I have watched this season, the announcing crew has made the officiating the focal point of the broadcast. Instead of focusing on player-related storylines, the talent on these broadcasting teams have focused all of their energy on criticizing the officials. When you get these analysts made up of mostly former players and coaches in the booth who have massive followings and larger than life personalities, they are going to sway the audience…especially when they say the same thing over and over for three hours. Over the past few weeks, I have wondered what fans would really think if they sat down and watched a whole game with the mute feature on. No way would they be as irate over the officiating.


I am mad at both the team owners and the NFL referees union for not coming to terms on a deal. Yes, the owners seem to be taking the cheap road by not meeting the demands of the referees when they are supposedly making millions and millions of dollars per team. And yes, the officials are entitled and they do feel that they are worth more than they actually are. I honestly feel that with more training, experience, and seasoning, these replacement officials could do a job on par with the locked out refs. Whenever two sides strongly disagree on issues, the best route to take is one of compromise, right? Can’t the owners and referees somehow sit down and hash something out? But who am I kidding, isn’t this what they have tried to do for several months now?

My main mission is just to get people to lighten up on the criticism of the replacement refs. I know right away that a “fan” is not very educated when they are directing their anger and insults towards the guys who have taken on such a momentous task. I really do hate to see people vilified for doing their best under uncontrollable circumstances, especially when their best is way beyond anything that you or I could ever do. Let’s realize that it is not the replacement officials who are making the most costly bad calls. Rather, it is the team owners who are too greedy to shell out a few extra bucks and the NFL referees who feel they are indispensable and who feel they should make a comfortable six figure salary for officiating sixteen games a year. There are more serious problems in this world. GO SEAHAWKS! Don’t Blink.

Buffalo Wild Wings

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When Buffalo Wild Wings opened up in Missoula one year ago, I am pretty embarrassed to admit that I had never dined, or even stepped foot into, one of their numerous locations nationwide. I know, right? How could an obsessed sports guy like me never have taken the time to walk into what is widely considered as the Mecca of sports themed casual dining?

Probably the main reason for my prior absence to BWW centers solely on the fact that I have just never really cared that much for wings. My basic attitude throughout my life was that wings were messy and they never really did the job at filling me up. If I went to Hooters or Pizza Hut, I would always pass on both places self-proclaimed “famous wings” and order a burger, or, big surprise, a pizza.

Buffalo Wild Wings opened up to large fanfare in Missoula. The grand opening was built up with lots of advertising and much anticipation. A promotion was staged that guaranteed a year’s supply of wings to the first 100 people that walked through the doors. The media covered the event aggressively. Customers crowded the restaurant non-stop. Everyone I knew could not stop talking about it. Despite all of this that was going on right underneath my nose, I never really felt a strong desire to go eat there. I stayed away.

A couple weeks passed and the buzz continued to swirl. In my opinion it felt like people were going a little overboard on how awesome this place was. As part of my internal backlash, I somehow managed to block out the endless praises of the place and latch onto the minor criticisms I heard whispered, namely that it was too crowded, the food came in box trays, and there were few healthy options on the menu (like I eat healthy anyway). However, after lasting a month with never entering Missoula’s newest dining gem, I entered BDubbs for the first time.

A couple of my friends had developed a little obsession with the place. They had developed a schedule where they were going there a few times each week to eat wings, watch their favorite teams, and banter with the wait staff, many of whom they were on a first name basis with. After some convincing, I decided to join them.

My reaction upon walking into Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time? THIS PLACE IS COOL! Televisions are plastered on every piece of real estate those walls hold. Better yet, each TV is set to a game (or other sports programming). The booths come with mini built-in televisions and the volume is set in a way that you can clearly hear the announcers of the featured game yet you can comfortably have a conversation with the people at your table. My first go-around at Buffalo Wild Wings I followed my preconceived idea of what my taste buds like and I ordered a burger. I got chastised by my friends for committing such a heinous act in a place where wings are king. But let me tell you what, I had no complaints about that burger. It was at least a ½ pound and came topped with bacon, pulled pork, and an onion ring!! I couldn’t believe I had neglected this place for a month.

After another visit of ordering something other than wings, I finally took the plunge and ordered twelve spicy garlic wings the third time I went. My whole life I have ate food that was supposedly supposed to be so good that it might make you live forever only to be let down at something that failed to meet expectations. Expecting to not fall in love with the famous delicacy in front of me, I chewed the first wing skeptically. About two seconds after I chomped down, I became a believer. Let me attest to you, the wings at BDubbs are the truth.

It just took that first wing to make me realize why people love this place so much. I don’t want to get too deep into the taste, texture, flavor, etc. about the wings themselves but please just believe me when I say they are the real deal. In fact, Buffalo Wild Wings made me become much more accepting to wings in general. I have now ordered wings at other restaurants and I use BWW to compare them (which is totally unfair because nothing comes close to Buffalo Wild Wings). At the restaurant you can choose from numerous different types of wing sauce, you name it and they probably got it. Spicy garlic is still my number one favorite but their mango habanero is a close second.

How good is this place? My parents even liked it! Whenever they come to Missoula I usually take them to a less casual place with more, how shall I put it, fine dining options. However, this past time they came up we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and had an enjoyable time as we munched on wings and watched Stanford upset USC. We left the place with my mom saying she wants to go back another time.

If you are a wing fan and you have not tried Buffalo Wild Wings, what are you waiting for?! If you are not a wing fan, still try the place….you will be a wing fan afterwards. When I travel to other cities and eat out, I tend to avoid the chain restaurants that I have in my own town. One of the few exceptions I make is for Buffalo Wild Wings. Man, I just got myself very hungry. Don’t Blink

Forfeiting: The Right Thing To Do

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In life, one of the most valuable lessons to learn is how to lose. No matter how successful you are, no matter how much money you got, or no matter how gifted you might be, there will always be times when adversity comes around and knocks you down. Everyone loses. If you have never lost in your life, it means you probably haven’t won either. The best way to learn the lessons of losing is to play sports. Please don’t challenge me on that, there is simply no better way to learn the humility, agony, and heartache of losing than through athletics. However, sometimes an exception will pop up.

I came across a headline a couple days ago that read “Plains football to forfeit to Bigfork” (Plains and Bigfork are two small towns in western Montana). I instantly became intrigued. Teams never seem to forfeit, scenarios started swirling around in my head before I looked down to read the article. Did Plains have to suspend all of its players because of a behavioral issue? Did a tragedy hit the team/community that would make playing a football game seem too petty? Did a severe flu bug wipe the whole team out? Did team officials think the Montana smoke was too severe to play in? No, No, No, and NO.

On Friday night, the Plains Horsemen suffered a 79-0 defeat at the hands of Loyola High School, a small Catholic school in Missoula. The loss pushed Plains to 0-3 on the season. When the dust cleared after the blow out on Friday night, the Horsemen had lost one player to a broken collarbone and three others to concussions. The settling of the dust did not just reveal the injuries of the game however, it also offered a glimpse of what was to come next week for the Horsemen: An undefeated Bigfork team (3-0) that had just beaten its Friday night opponent by the score of 42-0. With the undermanned squad facing an impossible game, the activities coordinator of Plains sent an e-mail to the Bigfork activities coordinator stating that the Horsemen would forfeit.

As someone who started off this post by praising the lessons of losing and as someone who has played on his fair share of under 500 teams, you might think I would look down on the decision by the Plains activities coordinator. But my stance couldn’t be further from the truth.

People more hardcore than me might tell the coaches and administrators of Plains to suck it up and go out on Friday night and get slaughtered. They would probably look past the obvious safety threat and tell the players to grow a pair and shake it off. They might even throw out cliché words and phrases like “pride,” “courage,” “gut check,” and “man up” to convince the team that it was their responsibility to play in that football game. People like this who claim to be true competitors are really just folks who are so removed from their athletic playing days (if they even had them) and life in general that they are beyond delusional.

There is absolutely no redeeming life lesson in going out on a playing field where you not only have a chance at losing 100-0 but you also have a chance at losing your health. As I said above, the byproducts of a normal loss produce positive lifelong characteristics such as humility and accountability. The byproducts of a potential Plains vs. Bigfork loss would have produced humiliation and broken bones.

Put yourself in the shoes of a Plains football player: Could you imagine going to sleep at night this week leading up to the game thinking about how bad the final score was going to read come Saturday night? Could you imagine how hopeless and defeated the players would feel at practice as they went through the fruitless motions of whatever drills and irrelevant game plan the coaches had planned for them to “prepare” them for the contest? Could you imagine the sick to the stomach feeling the Plains players would have in their stomachs as the Bigfork bus pulled up to the school? Could you imagine the deep fear that would resonate within every single Horsemen athlete the moment the ball was kicked off to start the game? No reasoning could justify letting this game occur.

We are talking about high school kids here. Yes, they do need some tough love and some hard knocks (Lord knows I did) but not by the way of an embarrassing and dangerous few hours of football on their home field in front of their families and girlfriends. In high school athletics, especially at the smaller school levels, it sometimes occurs where the talent level between two teams is much too wide. While I don’t believe this alone constitutes reason to forfeit I do believe that if there is a safety component involved as well the game should be called off.

I applaud the decision by the Plains administration to forfeit the game. They are undoubtedly going to take some heat from people who don’t know any better who feel that not showing up to a game is blasphemous and a cardinal sin of athletics. But you know what? The leaders at that school will happily take the unfair criticism because they know it is a justifiable price for the well-being and health of their kids. Way to make the right decision. Don’t Blink.

Missoula Up In Smoke

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When researching a place to live, a big part of gaging if that certain location is a good fit is to look at the air quality that impacts it. Some people can handle the smog filled atmosphere of a metropolis such as Los Angeles, others cannot. Usually, looking at the average air indexes of cities can give you a good idea on if the place fits your personal needs or not. However, such is life, certain uncontrollable events can occur that will alter the normal meteorological/climate patterns of an area and disrupt what people are normally used to. When Mt. Saint Helens erupted, ash descended on cities on the total opposite side of Washington State, thus polluting the air and sending the normal pleasant days of May for a complete twist. When 9/11 occurred, the New York City air became filled with nasty toxins that have had devastating effects on thousands of people. Closer to my home, we are currently undergoing a pretty significant challenge to our usually healthy air.

Over the past few weeks, Missoula has turned from a gorgeous, colorful slice of paradise to a dark, smoke filled bowl. With wildfires raging in the Bitterroot area of western Montana and in the Idaho Panhandle, The Garden City has been the unlucky recipient of more smoke than any compulsive liar could ever manage to blow.

In normal times, the air in Missoula could rightfully be caught in bottles and sold for an expensive price to anyone in need of a “breath of fresh air.” The Missoula air is usually golden, a sweet reminder of why Montana is The Last Best Place and a selling point for all the California people who decide to pack up their belongings and head north to take up residence in our beautiful state. Whenever I would return to Missoula from travel to a bigger city, the major factor that would help me get over my post-vacation depression would be to step outside of the town’s mini airport and breathe in the clean, therapeutic Montana air. On my many return trips from Las Vegas, filling my lungs with the Zoo Town vapor immediately refreshed my body from several days of sun, smoke, pollutants, and other unsavory things. It was an immediate cure. Good thing I don’t have any Vegas trips planned for the next couple of weeks, I would hate to have that experience totally flipped around.

On the flight back home from Tennessee last week, the descent into Missoula was something else. Instead of mountains, valleys, and the beautiful colors that define a western Montana autumn, all I could see out of my window seat was grayish-brown smoke. Nothing became visible until about a minute before we landed. As we descended I looked at Jimmy and told him that I couldn’t believe people were living in this. After five days spent in the sticky, humid air of the south, I was ready for some reprieve. However, what I got when I stepped outside was 5X worse than what I had been exposed to over the better half of the past week. I walked through what seemed like plumes of smoke to my car as my nose was greeted with the somewhat welcoming smell of a campfire…only no hot dogs or marshmallows were present. This was not right.

The smoke has only gotten worse in Missoula. This past Friday, the school district canceled all of its after school football games. Even night competitions were called off. To get an idea of how bad it is, the homecoming football game for one of the local high schools here had to be moved to Ronan, a very small town sixty miles north of Missoula. We went on with our football game here at The University of Montana but from my vantage point in the press box, it was a pretty weird site to see Washington-Grizzly Stadium filled with a brown, hazy smoke for the whole game. People were wearing masks in the stands.

I feel for the people who have a low bodily tolerance for the smoke. Surely for them it has to be hell living in Missoula right now. As someone who can handle even the dirtiest of air, it is even tough for me to stomach this environment. It is a challenge to find the silver lining in something like this but if you look closely enough, you can always find a couple things. First, the sunsets have been pretty cool. The smoke has made the sun look bright red as it sets over the mountains. Secondly, it just really makes me appreciate even more the rich, healthy air we get majority of the time.

With the fires still raging, Missoula is likely to be under smoke for quite a while. Our saving grace? WIND! Right now, we need strong winds from the west to blow this smoke out of our valleys. Until then, it might be better for the health conscious and nature loving people of Missoula to spend more time inside. Eventually this will pass and we will have our clean air back. I know I won’t take it for granted again. Don’t Blink.

5 Things I Learned About The South

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By spending time in Tennessee and North Carolina this past week, I took advantage of a great opportunity to experience the south. With some time in Florida accounting for my only true taste of how things are in the southeastern United States, I got exposed to a relatively new culture. I thoroughly enjoyed observing both the differences and similarities between the life “there” and the life “here.” In this post I simply want to bring to light the five main themes I observed while in the “Tar Heel” and “Volunteer” states.

Accents – I always thought when I watched movies that took place in the south the actors would greatly exaggerate their accents just to give the film more flavor and extra credibility. Boy, was I wrong. The southern accents in Tennessee and North Carolina are thick. Words are said differently, sentence speed is in a whole other league, and unfamiliar expressions are used.  The way people talked made the accent of my travel partner, a Texas native, sound like he was from California. You know a way that a girl can get to my heart?…have a southern accent. I don’t know how else to describe it but many of the women just sounded so sweet when they talked. I sometimes wondered if it sounded like I had an accent when I interacted with the people down there but I never did ask. Any of my southern readers care to answer my question?

Eating Good in the Neighborhood – There is no other place that eats the way the south does. Having traveled through much of the country and indulged in shoving my face at each place, I can honestly say that the south takes the cake. Although too busy to sit down to eat most of the time, we did get to experience some southern dining. The night we got in to Johnson City, Tennessee, we ate at a little dive restaurant called Red Pig Bar-B-Q. The place just had that southern comfort feel the moment you walked in. Right when we came through the doors the owner of the restaurant came up and shook our hands. The special of the day was written out on a chalk board while the rest of the food selections could be found on paper menus.  For $9.99 I got a half rack of ribs, baked beans, cheese fries, and garlic bread. The combination and quantity was something I was definitely not used to.

Welcome to the Red Pig Bar B Q

Red Pig dinner: ribs, cheese fries, beans, and bread.

The next day we had to meet with the restaurant that was catering the post-game meal for the football team. During the meeting we were treated to lunch. The server came out and said “This is how it works here…I am going to bring you ten different items and let you eat until you get full.” He then returned with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, Salisbury steak, green beans,  cole slaw, biscuits, corn, apple sauce, and two other items I can’t remember. He kept coming back asking us what we wanted more of. We then ate banana pudding for dessert. BBQ places lined the streets, grits were served everywhere, and I am pretty sure no one ever left a place hungry.

This meal really hit the spot.

No Excuse Not to go to Church – The first thing I noticed once we got in the rental car and started driving from place to place were the vast array of churches. Just a couple of sentences ago I said BBQ places lined the streets but churches still had them covered. Predominately Baptist, these churches were at every corner of our journey. It was interesting to see the different architecture/building design of each one and it was fun to read the marquees as each church had its own thought provoking and clever saying to catch the eye of parishioners. We joked that there had to have been at least one church for every two people who lived in the region. Then again, I kind of think there had to be some truth to this thought because every church we drove past we never really saw anyone outside or vehicles around the structure. But I guess it was not Sunday.

 

The marquees of the churches always had someting thought-provoking for you to contemplate.

Color Me Green – The areas of the south I visited on this trip had great natural beauty as everywhere we went was covered with lush green trees, bushes, and plants. It seemed like we were on back roads for the majority of our transportation from place to place and it was as if we were driving through Sherwood Forest. It really did look like a fantasy land. The thick green trees extended across the roadways, making for a tunnel of green foliage that we drove through. On Saturday morning, a co-worker and I drove up to an area that overlooked acres upon acres of vibrant forest land. It was quite the sight. Even at Kidd Brewer Stadium you were surrounded by greenness and trees. The humid temperatures and good amount of rain the area receives contributes to its impressive blooming appearance.

Everything we saw was green.

Southern Hospitality – Finally, I will remember from my visit the kindness and genuineness that the locals treated us with. As I mentioned in my post from last night, we were treated with class and thankfulness from the Appalachian State fans. The same can be said about the athletic department staff from App State as well. They went out of their way to accommodate us and make sure we had every need tended to. But it goes even beyond the folks at Appalachian State. Everyone who Jimmy and I worked with were top-notch from the hotel staff to the airport personnel to the transportation specialists. But again, it goes beyond them too. Everyone who we just encountered as a byproduct of spending time in the area (from the supermarket clerks to the waitresses who served us breakfast to the people on the roadways) treated us with nothing but consideration and respect. Yes, southern hospitality.

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We are constantly told stories, fed stereotypes, and left to wonder about ways of life many miles away. The thing is, we will always be left to wonder unless we actually get to visit the places in question. Luckily for me, I was fortunate to visit an area of the country I had never explored before and was able to bring back with me to the good ol’ west  a very favorable opinion.  Don’t Blink.

A Game I Will Remember

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Back in Missoula after several days down south, I am trying to adjust my internal clock and get back in the mountain time zone mode. You see, right now my body is all sorts of messed up. I guess that is what happens when you pull an all-nighter Tuesday night, travel all day Wednesday, work non-stop from Thursday through Saturday in the  eastern time zone, finish work at 3am Sunday morning, and then travel all day once again. Because of this schedule, I admit that a lot of what happened over the past several days seems like a blur. Certain things seem to run together and I am hard pressed to say exactly what days we completed certain tasks on. However, despite all the cloudiness over the last week, there is something that is still crystal clean in my mind, totally unscathed from the hustle and bustle: last night’s football game.

 

On Saturday evening, the Appalachian State Mountaineers hosted the Montana Grizzlies in a regular season, non-conference dream matchup between FCS powerhouses.  In Boone, North Carolina, in front of 30,000 people under the lights, the two best programs at their level clashed in yet another down to the wire game. When all was said and done, Appalachian State came away with a 35-27 victory.

 

In my first game working on the advanced travel crew with Jimmy, I learned a lot. We ran around frantically as we were either meeting with people, traveling from one place to the other, transporting our own people, or preparing for a meal/walk-through/hotel check-in/etc. Because of the pace we were moving at combined with the jet lag and travel fatigue, it is easy to see why I can’t recall everything with pinpoint precision. Thus, it speaks volumes to how special last night’s game was as my memory from 6pm ET to around 10pm ET is spot on.

Kidd Brewer Stadium was filled with over 30,000 fans last night.

It is hard to describe the atmosphere of last night’s game. Well, wait a second, maybe it really isn’t. If you were in attendance for the 2009 Montana-App State semi-final game, then you have an idea of how Saturday night was. The Appalachian State students packed their designated section two hours prior to game time. During those two hours they had a great time dancing, engaging in cheers, and doing anything to get on the video screen. Speaking of the video screen, the App State game operations crew ran a special highlight video of the 2009 game that basically paid homage to Montana. It was cool and a very respectful thing for our hosts to do. The entirety of the pregame rivaled what we have in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. While I don’t think their tunnel walk outshined what we have, their fireworks display was right on the field and very impressive. As I have said before, I love getting the chance to enjoy a sporting event and observe what other teams are doing. It is so nice to be removed from the craziness and stress of actually running the show.

The fireworks go off while the cheerleaders get the crowd going.

Once the actual football game got started, it was an intense and fun experience. Even though the game was non-conference and even though it was early in the season, both teams knew the underlying importance of what was at stake. It was the battle of the two most successful programs at the FCS level, it was east versus west, it was one tradition against another tradition. Both teams played hard and I don’t mean that in the cliché type of way. I mean it more from the standpoint that the teams hit hard the whole game, played with passion, and did whatever they could to win. The stadium was packed. The students were wild, the general App State fans were into it, and a certain section of people dressed in maroon and silver made their presence known the whole game. The large ASU band, the very good crew of cheerleaders, and that Mountaineer mascot that kept running up and down the home sideline also added a special touch to the atmosphere. As the evening got darker the bright lights illuminated yet another nail-biting finish.

Many Griz fans traveled south for this special matchup.

In a wild fourth quarter, both teams came up with Sportscenter worthy plays and with less than nine minutes to play only one point separated the two teams. With under a minute left to play in the game, the Griz had the ball and threatened to tie the game up. However, as sports go, it was just not meant to be.

 

Before, during, and after the game, App State fans were admirable. Save for the handful of drunk students that every school has, everyone in that stadium seemed to be classy. After the game as I was running back and forth through the crowds I couldn’t count how many times Appalachian fans said to Montana fans as they crossed paths “Thank you very much for coming.” True to the great nature of many of our fans, they all responded with either a “Congratulations,” “Thank you for your hospitality,” or “Hope to see you down the road.” Rivalry at its best.

I had a great time watching the game.

Last night I was very fortunate to be on the sidelines and witness a great college football game between two teams, two schools, and two fan bases that have the ultimate respect for each other. What I watched play out on the field and in the stadium plaza after the game is something I will always remember. No case of jet lag could ever touch that. Don’t Blink.