Tag Archives: #GrizCat

Pre-Turkey Day Thursday Rundown

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Oh my, we are just one week away from Thanksgiving! Who out there is excited? Your old Don’t Blink blogging turkey sure is. Let’s get started with the Thursday Rundown…

Kimbel Library Anniversary – Whenever I can get a photo with our mascot you can bet that it will make the rundown. Yesterday, our library on campus held a celebration. Kimbel Library marked its 40th anniversary with cake, games, and CHAUNCEY. While covering the fun, I snapped this photo with our extrememly unique Canterbury Tales-inspired icon.

This is a photo of me with Chauncey at yesterday’s Kimbel Library 40th anniversary celebration.

#GrizCat Football – The 117th Brawl of the Wild is this Saturday in Bozeman, MT. Some of my best times working for Grizzly Athletics occurred inside Bobcat Stadium after Montana crushed Montana State. Even though extremely lopsided to the point that it is a joke, this rivalry is a lot of fun. I won’t have the opportunity to watch the game with my fellow east coast Grizzlies (and Bobcats) this year but I will definitely be following the action in Myrtle Beach. GO GRIZ!

The Brawl of the Wild has a traveling trophy that stays with the winner. Let’s just say it spends a vast majority of its time in Missoula. This is me with the trophy in 2013.

Sloan At 35 Weeks – Our little girl is getting excited for her first Thanksgiving to the point that she can’t sleep. Seriously. Normally an excellent sleeper, she has woken up throughout the night over the past couple weeks. Because she has needed to be consoled during these episodes, Sidney believes that Sloan is experiencing a regression of her sleeping habits, a condition brought on by milestones and separation anxiety that happens to babies between 8-10 months of age. Ironically, Sloan just doesn’t turn 35 weeks tomorrow, she also turns exactly 8 months. Other than some disruptive nights, Sloan is doing awesome. Last week I mentioned she might be crawling by now – she isn’t – but she is right on the cusp of doing so. Even though she can’t maneuver on all fours yet, she can still move across the living room at a rapid pace using a technique I call “floor swimming.”

Here is Sloan’s photo collage at 35 weeks.

#CCU Helping Out – A popular tournament early on in the college basketball season is the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. It draws marquee teams and ESPN coverage. However, because of the destruction that Hurricane Maria inflicted on the country, it was not possible to hold the tourney in Puerto Rico. Scrambling to find somewhere else to play, the organizers of the event graciously accepted the offer from Coastal Carolina University to hold the tournament on our campus. The games started this morning and eight teams are participating (Appalachian State, Boise State, Illinois State, Iowa State, South Carolina, Tulsa, UTEP and Western Michigan). As in the past for other big basketball tournaments, a giant sand sculpture was made to welcome the squads and fans. A few years ago, I specifically wrote about the sculpture that was created for the Big South Conference tournament.

This is the sand sculpture that is welcoming players and fans to the 2017 Puerto Rico Tip-Off

From The Archives – With NFL Thursday Night Football receiving so much heat these days, I want to remind everyone that I have been against the idea for a long time. Two years ago on this date, I wrote about how the Thursday night games do nothing but oversaturate the product and take all the luster away from the once coveted Thanksgiving games. Three years ago on this date, I wrote about why I forced myself to go watch “Dumb and Dumber To” in the theater even though it looked horrendous in previews.

Outside the theater before watching “Dumb and Dumber To” in November of 2014.

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From the Reser household to your household, I wish you a great weekend. Start saving up your appetite now for next Thursday. Don’t Blink.

Thursday Night Lights Rundown

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Good evening to you all! No time for small talk because I have a football game to work, so let’s get right to the latest Thursday Rundown…

Thursday Night Lights – Obviously I just can’t mention something in the introduction and not explain it. This evening, the Coastal football team will host Liberty at 7 p.m. in Brooks Stadium. The fact that it is a Thursday night game is interesting in and of itself, but here are a few more things adding intrigue to it for me. First, the game will be nationally televised on ESPNEWS. Second, it is a rivalry game and most likely the last time the Chants will play Liberty for quite some time because of the move to the FBS. Finally, a Coastal Carolina win could help the Montana Grizzlies (who I still root for) make the FCS Playoffs. Should be an interesting night.

Baby Update – Sidney is now at the halfway point of her pregnancy, and, (drum roll)…..we now know the gender of our new baby!! You better believe that Sid is already on the internet looking at items and themes that will fit with the daughter/son we will have in less than five months. It is a very exciting time and Sidney is feeling great (stay tuned down the road for a gender announcement).

A Unified National Anthem – The Kent State men’s basketball team came up with a powerful way to promote respect during the Star Spangled Banner. Last night before the team’s latest game, the players went into the stands and each invited a fan out on the court to stand with them for the anthem. It was a touching and proud tribute. Because it went so well, the Golden Eagles will do this at every home game this season. Please read the story to see some of the great quotes from the student-athletes but the overrall message was that the display was about community unity. Well done!

The Great Gatsby – Last night, “The Great Gatsby” (Tobey Maguire/Leonardo DiCaprio version) was on television. I had never seen the film before so I decided to watch some of it. OMG, the party scenes are incredible. The colors, the costumes, and the extravagance were all pretty spectacualr. The people behind that movie really did a great job making it. However, I never realized that the famous Leonardo DiCaprio meme backdrop was taken from “The Great Gastsy.” It was kind of weird to see the image I have seen about a million times over the internet actually in context right in front of me on my TV.

This is the infamous Leonardo DiCaprio meme. I had no idea it was from "The Great Gatsby" until last night.

This is the infamous Leonardo DiCaprio meme. I had no idea it was from “The Great Gatsby” until last night.

From the Archives – Although I have written a lot of garbage in my time, I kind of like some of the posts I have penned on November 17 in the past. In 2015, I described the ten mistakes social media professionals make (yes, plenty of homemade memes are involved). In 2014, I paid tribute to former Griz football coach Mick Delaney. Then, on Nov. 17, 2013, I wrote about what makes the #GrizCat Brawl of the Wild football game so passionate and special. For once I actually encourage you to click on these links.

This is one of the memes from Nov. 17, 2015. Follow the link above to see all 10! Remember, social media pros can never be found asleep on the job.

This is one of the memes from Nov. 17, 2015. Follow the link above to see all 10! Remember, social media pros can never be found asleep on the job.

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If you aren’t in Brooks Stadium tonight, make sure to tune in on ESPNEWS. Also, remember to rejoice…we are just a week away from Thanksgiving. Don’t Blink.

Thursday Rundown Feast

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Good evening to all my loyal readers. As always, we cut the small talk on this day of the week. It is time for the Thursday Rundown!

Most Used Words on Facebook: The hottest thing on Facebook at the moment is to utilize an app that will calculate and display the words you say most on the social media giant. I knew even before I decided to run the data that “explain” would be my top word. As most of you know, a signature line of mine is “I explain in tonight’s blog post.” I was happy to know that the words Sidney, Coastal, and Carolina all took up significant space in the graphic as well.

These are the words I use the most on Facebook.

These are the words I use the most on Facebook.

The TEAL Nation Thanksgiving Feast: Yesterday I announced our latest fun initiative for #CCUSocialMedia. Called our TEAL Nation Thanksgiving Feast, I am asking our students to send me photos of them and their families around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Students will take the photos on Turkey Day and send them my way. Then, throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, I will post them to our Instagram account. My goal is to show off the different traditions and food spreads of our numerous Chanticleers. We are staying organized by capping participation at 50 students.

The Teal Nation Thanksgiving Feast will take place over Thanksgiving weekend (graphic designed by Ron Walker).

The Teal Nation Thanksgiving Feast will take place over Thanksgiving weekend (graphic designed by Ron Walker).

Weekend Plans: This Saturday, I will be heading to Columbia, S.C., with Sidney and her dad. We will be making the journey to Williams-Brice Stadium on the campus of the University of South Carolina for some Gamecock football! As I visited Clemson’s Memorial Stadium twice last year, I wanted to make sure to visit the other major stadium in the state this year. Although South Carolina will be playing the Citadel, a FCS foe, I am just really excited to step into a new stadium and watch a football game as a fan.

Never Thought I Would See This: According to the Facebook feature that tells you how long you have been friends with someone on the service, I know that my mom recently marked her fifth anniversary on Facebook. How did she celebrate? She decided to get a Snapchat account! You read that right, my mom is now on Snapchat. If you would like to add her, type in “marykreser5”.

Make sure to follow my mom on Snapchat.

Make sure to follow my mom on Snapchat.

Football Shout Outs: The Coastal Carolina football team will close out its regular season this evening with a matchup against Liberty in Lynchburg. Not only is the contest a special Thursday night game but it will also be broadcast nationally on ESPNews. There is much at stake for the Chants as the team tries to wrap up a playoff bye.

While I am at the South Carolina game on Saturday, I will keep a close eye on what is going on in Bozeman, Mt. The University of Montana and Montana State University football teams will duke it out in the 115th Brawl of the Wild football game. I can’t express enough how superior the athletic program at the University of Montana is compared to the one at Montana State. With that said, it is always fun to reinforce the obvious each year in football. When I recounted my top ten moments working for Grizzly Athletics, one of the items came from watching Montana destroy the Bobcats in their home stadium. Nothing is sweeter. I am counting on it to happen again this weekend.

Brynn and I on the field after another #GrizCat football victory in 2013.

Marketing Director Brynn Molloy and I on the field after another #GrizCat football victory in 2013. Those wins were always sweet.

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As you learned from my last rundown item, I have some football to watch! Have a great weekend everyone and GO Chants and Griz!! Don’t Blink.

Dominating Your Rival #GrizCat

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Nothing beats defeating your rival. Well, let me rephrase that: Nothing beats defeating your rival over and over again.

Tonight both Montana basketball programs defeated Montana State, securing a season sweep resulting in a 4-0 combined record by the Griz and Lady Griz over the Bobcats this basketball season. It is a testament to blank a rival school on the hardwood, let alone the utter domination I am about to explain.

Besides just basketball, Grizzly teams this season went undefeated against Montana State in revenue-generating sports (football, volleyball, and basketball). With the two volleyball victories during the 2013 season and the BIG football win in November added with the 4-0 basketball record the Montana Grizzlies came out with a spotless 7-0 record against MSU.

Defeating Montana State in Bobcat Stadium this past November was definitely a sweet moment.

Defeating Montana State in Bobcat Stadium this past November was definitely a sweet moment.

But by no doubt the most satisfying exclamation point at the end of the #GrizCat rivalry came over this past weekend. With both the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams finishing ahead of Montana State at the Big Sky Conference championships our athletic department wrapped up the title for the inaugural Blue Cross Blue Shield/Town Pump Brawl of the Wild year-long competition.

This is the nice piece of hardware we get to keep for defeating Montana State in a yearlong competition.

This is the nice piece of hardware we get to keep for defeating Montana State in a yearlong competition.

This athletic season the Griz and Bobcats entered into a competition that incorporated the 13 different sports that both schools have. I won’t get into all the small details but each time we face off against Montana State in a game or meet, points are at stake. There are 16 different competitions with 17 points up for grabs. By Saturday evening Grizzly Athletics had already reached the magic number of 9 thanks to the efforts of our indoor track teams.

Tonight the lead stretched even more. First the Lady Griz defeated Montana State in Bozeman. Then, just a couple minutes later the Griz dropped the Bobcats 53-50 here in Missoula. It was an awesome game to work with a loud and engaged crowd. When the clock read zeroes on the Dahlberg Arena scoreboard the other scoreboard keeping track of the year-long rivalry showed 11-2 in favor of the Maroon and Silver.

Although not the prettiest game tonight it was good enough to sweep the Cats in basketball this season.

Although not the prettiest game tonight it was good enough to sweep the Cats in basketball this season.

As I have said in previous blog posts, a healthy rivalry makes everyone work harder. I do all I can to make sure the areas I oversee triumph over the equivalent areas at MSU. My co-workers do the same. But in the end the ultimate victory is when our student-athletes dominate our friends from Bozeman. After all, this phenomenon called intercollegiate athletics is 100% about the student-athletes. Without them I wouldn’t have a job. Without them there would be a lot of people both young and old looking around for inspiration.

Congrats to our student-athletes for wrapping up the inaugural Brawl of the Wild year-long competition.

Congrats to our student-athletes for wrapping up the inaugural Brawl of the Wild year-long competition.

Congrats to all University of Montana student-athletes for really elevating Griz Nation in this state. What do you say we get those final four points still available in the competition? Go Griz! Don’t Blink.