When Children Fear Mascots

Posted on February 23, 2014 by brent

Yesterday when I wrote about my top five favorite clowns I brought up the somewhat romanticized fear of clowns that adults claim to have. I don’t know if I necessarily buy into the claims of the roughly fifty percent of the people I know who say clowns cause them distress. In my opinion I think it is more talk than fear. Fact of the matter is adult brains can conceptualize that under the paint and wig of a scary looking clown is a regular man or woman. While some folks in our population have serious phobias of such stimuli I don’t believe it applies to the legions of people who make the claim.

Kids are a whole different story, especially younger ones. At an early age children don’t instantly grasp that people dress up in wild and crazy outfits that transform appearance. Minds are still developing and when they see something that can walk and move like a human but that doesn’t look like mom or dad real fears develop. Many young kids have real issues with clowns. Many have issues during Halloween.

Because of one of the responsibilities I hold at work I am exposed first hand to another one of these types of fears that children hold: mascots.

Holding the distinction of mascot coordinator within Grizzly Athletics I routinely see how the most loved personality in the state of Montana can also be the most feared. While Monte, our grizzly bear mascot, has reached rock star status on a national level for his ability to entertain and connect with fans even his one of a kind charm is sometimes not enough to calm the fears of petrified children. At most events or basketball games you can expect to see at least one child ranging in the age of 2-7 meltdown at the sight of him. Kids will cry, scream, run away, or bury themselves in their mom or dad. It doesn’t take a psychology degree to figure out why these young kids are frightened. Seeing an agile, walking bear that blurs the lines between an animal and a human can confuse a toddler to the point of tears.

I get the opportunity to work with our mascots, Monte and Mo

Monte doesn’t get selected to the Capital One All-American Mascot team on a consistent basis just because he can entertain, dance, entertain, and tumble though. His ability to connect with children, adults, and the elderly sets him apart. More often than not I have seen him approach those frightened kids right on the spot and win them over. In the blink of an eye the shrieks turn to laughs and Monte and the kid are embracing.

No one is better with kids than Monte (photo courtesy of Todd Goodrich)

Of course it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes the child is just not ready to enjoy a mascot and Monte lets him or her be. For some children it takes time to outgrow the fear. They will avoid and turn the other way when Monte is in proximity but then a couple years later the fear is gone and the kid, wearing a #00 jersey, is rushing at him to jump in his furry arms. But then there are the extreme cases…

Monte makes thousands of kids smile a year (awesome photo courtesy of Todd Goodrich).

Some youngsters develop a polarizing fear of Monte. Unfortunately that fear doesn’t just end at the arena when the bear is not around. Pictures, mentions, and thoughts of Monte can trigger fear simply when the child is at home or at school. This is when Grizzly Athletics intervenes. Twice since I have worked in the department parents have contacted me about their child suffering from a phobia of Monte. When this occurs I invite the parents and their son (both times it has been a boy) to come to the office and I turn it over to our amazing students who serve as Monte (we employ two talented individuals).

In a calm manner our Monte performer will greet the kid in his street clothes. He will then slowly take pieces of the Monte suit out of his bag and show the child that it is just a costume. Next he will start to put the suit on while talking to the child the whole way through. Once our performer puts the head on to complete the transformation into Monte the kid is no longer having a panic attack and the fear is gone. Both times I have observed this the parents walked out the door with tears of joy while thanking us profusely.

I deal with two very talented and compassionate Monte performers.

Back when I was very young, probably four years old, I had a bad dream involving McGruff the Crime Dog. After that nightmare I dreaded seeing him at the parades and festivals my parents would take me to where he would appear. After a year I grew out of it but even though I was very young at the time I can still remember what that fear felt like which allows me to identify with the kids today who are afraid of Monte.

Sorry to my adult friends who are afraid of clowns but I have more sympathy for the five year old girl who is afraid of Monte. Don’t Blink.

To Drive in the Snow or Not?

Posted on February 21, 2014 by brent

Today something happened in our athletic department that has never happened before since I have worked for Grizzly Athletics: One of our teams had to pull out of a competition because the travel necessary to get to the site was too dangerous. Here is the short summary of what occurred…

The bus transporting our indoor track and field teams to a meet in Bozeman had to put on the brakes just 20 miles outside of town and return to Missoula. Why? The snow and ice covered roads posed too much of a risk to justify trekking the final 185 miles for a chance to compete at the last chance Montana State Bobcat Open.

I guess I should mention it just wasn’t the hazardous roads themselves that deterred that bus from continuing to our rival’s backyard. Also contributing was the forecast for continued precipitation combined with the numerous cars already out of commission on the side of the road and the perplexity of the bus itself getting stuck a few times on the short voyage. In the end the decision was a no-brainer.

However, driving in the winter weather is not always a no-brainer for many, especially those of us who live in the colder, northern states. We were raised driving in the snow and take pride in our ability to navigate through it in our vehicles. To me waking up in the morning and seeing that a few inches of snow fell over the night is second nature. I just get in my car and drive to work. But sometimes we get so confident in our winter driving skills that we fail to see the difference between a few inches of white stuff on the ground compared to much more extreme conditions.

I took this picture this morning. Although the roads were snow covered they were safe to drive on plus it was beautiful out!

Last night I drove home from work after the basketball game right when it started to blizzard out. I made the mistake of taking the interstate and found myself in the middle of the freeway on a snow covered road with absolutely no visibility. I turned off the radio, concentrated on doing the best I could to find my exit, and wondered aloud why I didn’t wait a few minutes or take a different route. Although I only had to drive some four miles those were definitely four white-knuckled miles.

Why did I put myself through it? Why have I put myself through it previous times before? Well in all fairness many times we don’t know how bad it is actually going to be. It is easy to look out the window or assess the conditions from where your car is parked at and go from there. Conditions change and surprises await. That is part of the problem. The other part of the problem though is ego. As I said earlier, many of us have it programmed into our minds that we must drive in the roughest of winter storms, even if we own a Toyota Solara. There is pressure to get places and for many people, especially males, using the roads as an excuse is not acceptable.

Although sometimes I think it is. The track and field bus today did not continue to Bozeman because the driver, coaches, and student-athletes were not comfortable. They stopped at an exit, had a meeting, and made a decision to go back to Missoula. I think all of us are capable of identifying that feeling inside of us that says “I don’t feel safe”. At that point we must act on that gut feeling and not test the roads. Sure, we might have to swallow our pride but it is always better than the alternative of driving and not making it to our final destination. Don’t Blink.

The Successful Tag Team Approach to Social Media

Posted on January 21, 2014 by brent

As social media continues to grow and as people depend on it more than ever for their primary source of information, businesses and organizations must adapt to provide the most efficient and thorough type of coverage possible. In my opinion, great social media coverage is the result of a sound plan and superior organization. While many day-to-day tasks and campaign initiatives within a social media program can usually get tended to by the designated new media person, other situations call for a more collaborative effort from other people on staff.

In my position at Grizzly Athletics I call on my fellow co-workers in the marketing department along with our team of interns to assist me with gameday social media execution. Whereas at one point in the past I used to handle every detail myself it became apparent over time that in order to keep moving our program forward I needed help. This past football season and so far this basketball season our social coverage has consisted of a successful, collaborative effort.

I am trying to push myself to extend our fruitful teamwork oriented social media strategy past just gameday efforts. A huge emphasis for us within Grizzly Athletics is community service. Our student-athletes go above and beyond serving the Missoula community and we make it a priority to showcase the amazing work they are doing through our new media channels. Today our student-athletes took on yet another new community service project. At the same time, Griz Marketing took on a new social media collaboration plan.

This afternoon members from our Griz basketball team and Lady Griz basketball team went to the Missoula YMCA to hang out with kids from the Active 6 program. Our student-athletes shot hoops, played tag, and goofed around with a group of roughly 30 sixth graders. Although I know all the details and although I feel like I know all the kids who were there, I didn’t get anywhere close to the YMCA today. While the Active 6 program kids had a special experience spending time with community heroes like Kareem Jamar and Kellie Cole I stayed holed up in my office. This was of course by design.

At the YMCA covering the event for Grizzly Athletics was Marketing Director Brynn Molloy. While the athletes and kids enjoyed each other’s company, Brynn captured all the action via pictures and video. As she documented the fun she sent the media to me where I sat in my office with my iPhone in hand and desktop computer in front of me. As I received the content I distributed it across three different Twitter accounts, three different Facebook pages, and our main Instagram account. The process worked flawlessly.

The student-athletes and Active 6 kids at the Missoula YMCA today (photo credit Brynn Molloy)

Dividing up these duties no doubt made our coverage more thorough, efficient, and engaging. Brynn had the task of capturing media that told the story of the community service project. I had the duty of taking the content she provided me with and appropriately distributing it throughout our various social media channels. By splitting up these duties we each took different stresses off of each other. Brynn just had to worry about taking compelling photos and videos as opposed to capturing her content and then logging on to various social media services, composing captions, and then posting. That takes a lot of time! Going through that process makes it very easy to miss the action between the student-athletes and kids. I on the other hand had the luxury of sitting in an office and using every tool at my disposal to correctly format the media. If I couldn’t remember the correct spelling of someone’s last name I had the online roster loaded up and ready to go. Instead of hastily typing out everything on my iPhone I could use my desktop keyboard to safeguard against any errors. I didn’t have to worry about my device going dead because I had it plugged in. With high speed internet I never had to fret once about something not posting. We had an organized plan and it worked very well.

Of course both people in an operation like this must have advanced social media knowledge. Not anyone can take photos that are fit for 100,000 people to see (I have seen more than my share of blurry photos or images taken 20 feet from the action). Nor can anyone be trusted to post content (How many times have you seen a post on a Facebook page that you knew didn’t fit?). But if you have the personnel to do something like this go for it! Not only do you upgrade the quality and depth of your content, you also save time. Most importantly though, you get more people contributing. Social media, just like anything else, is more rewarding when it is a collaborative effort. Don’t Blink.

My Technology Hero

Posted on January 16, 2014 by brent

I would credit one of my strong points to staying cool under pressure. While I admittedly have many faults, I am proud to say I don’t get rattled that easily. Working in the sports industry, especially in a game presentation role, you just can’t afford to. Where I can start to get a little anxious though and start generating a fast heart beat is when technology starts to falter. I depend on technology a lot. When a computer goes down, a mass storage device doesn’t get recognized, or an expensive piece of equipment decides not to work, I sometimes start to stress.

Luckily we have an amazing IT guy in Grizzly Athletics. His first name is Aaron and his last name might as well be Einstein. Let me tell you, I have seen Aaron pull myself and some of my co-workers out of dire situations. I am talking situations that if went unresolved there would be a stadium full of 26,000 disappointed people. Or 7,000 confused people in an arena. Or various unimpressed large crowds at events such as pep rallies, fundraisers, and student-athlete talent shows. The guy comes in to very tense situations with a lot at stake and with people freaking out and works magic.

Aaron is a technology genius!

Tonight at our Griz basketball game I was at my normal post in what we call the “music corner.” To my right was Aaron who was trying to boot up our extremely expensive video board software. For whatever reason the main interface wouldn’t come up. With Aaron working on the glitch and with 80 minutes before tip off I wasn’t concerned about the issue not getting resolved so while he worked I asked him a question: “Are there ever any situations that stress you out?”

He actually surprised me when he said, “Actually yes, there are. But I am pretty good at keeping it inside.”

As I said at the beginning, Aaron is a very cool customer. Five people will be going nuts and he will come in with an expressionless face and just start typing on the keyboard, clicking the mouse, switching around cords, and running wires. When he is done, the day is saved. To have him tell me that during these situations he actually feels a little bit of the heat provided me with insight that I never really knew before. It made me realize that Aaron actually is human and not some Tech God from a different galaxy. But he also filled me in on why he never lets the pressure overcome him.

“Technology is unpredictable. Many times it is out of our control so we just have to accept it and do what we can.”

So while he explained the reason behind why I never see any look of alarm on his face whatsoever, his answer gave me the impression that there are times where he doesn’t know the exact answer to a problem and that it isn’t the end of the world. Although he said it, I have never seen it.

I need to take Aaron’s approach to dealing with technology, it will probably save me a few years on my life. I mean if the guy who has the buck stop with him on all technical issues can have such an understanding view of the frustrations of technology, the people like me who don’t even possess one percent of the intelligence of Aaron should also be able to adapt to that thinking. Either that or just thank God that we have Aaron working on our side. By the way, he got our video board program up and running just fine. Don’t Blink.

So Long, Coach Oviatt

Posted on January 15, 2014 by brent

Yesterday we informed Griz Nation via our website and social media outlets that football strength and conditioning coach Rob Oviatt had left the team due to personal reasons. Coach Oviatt served in his position at Grizzly Athletics for four seasons.

I quite often say that I don’t get too close to the coaches. They are busy doing their thing and I am busy doing my thing. While there are some exceptions (I am friends with some of the younger coaches) I never developed much of a relationship with Rob. Of course that had nothing to do with conflicting personalities or a feud, our paths just didn’t cross that much. He was always very gracious when I would bring down groups of young children through the weight room for tours and of course I would see him on a daily basis in the athletic department or out in the stadium but it never led to in-depth discussions about life.

A photo I took of Rob Oviatt at the 2012 Montana Pro Day.

So why am I writing a blog post about Rob Oviatt if I really never had a connection with him? Well, I actually do have a connection that I will get to later but that is not the answer to my question. Rather, I am just writing to say I am sad to see him go because of the reputation and experience he brought to Grizzly Athletics.

Out of everyone in our athletic department, no one matched the resume of Rob Oviatt when it came to experience at top-tier athletic programs across the nation. Not any coach, not any administrator, not any marketer, not any trainer, etc. The places that Coach Oviatt not only worked at but succeeded at would make anyone with just a smidge of intercollegiate athletics knowledge take immediate notice. While he headed the strength and conditioning programs at Pac-12 schools like Oregon State and Washington State, he also worked for several powerhouse football schools as well. We are talking about places such as Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and LSU. During his time at the University of Kentucky he was twice voted the SEC Strength Coach of the Year (1997 and 1998). Yep, during his 30+ year career he left his mark all across the nation.

I snapped this one in North Carolina when Coach Oviatt led the linemen on to the field at Appalachian State.

I snapped this one in North Carolina when Coach Oviatt led players to the field at Appalachian State.

Although I am not qualified to determine what a successful strength program constitutes, others rate his work here at Montana as outstanding. Probably legitimizing that sentiment the most is our head football coach who didn’t even originally hire Oviatt. According to Dave’s release, Mick Delaney credited Coach Oviatt with conditioning the team in such a way that only two players this past season went down with season ending injuries, a rarity for any football program at any level. Mick also noted the high amount of respect that all the players had for him.

I just find it cool that our athletes and staff got to experience the work of a guy who coached at the very highest level of college football and was recognized as the best at his trade. If you worked in our department you would find out that several people have their own good-natured colorful stories and memories of Rob. Mine would be just watching him out at practice monitoring his stop watch and sounding the air horn for practice session changes while also welcoming and chatting with the NFL scouts that would come by to watch practice. He knew them all.

Coach Oviatt was always looking at his stop watch.

But I do have one more memory and it regards the connection I mentioned at the start of this post. During my junior and senior years of high school my football team would travel over to Pullman, Washington, for the Washington State summer team camp. The head strength and conditioning coach of the Cougars at that time was no other than Rob Oviatt. Over the course of those four days in both 2003 and 2004, Coach stretched us out before each practice session under the hot Pullman sun. Then, later in the evenings, we linemen would report to the football weight room and he would put us through a mini workout session. I remember him and the other guy helping to run things made it perfectly clear to us that any collegiate gear other than Washington State apparel was not allowed in the facility…they were always really nice about it.

Of course in my high school state I looked on at college football strength and conditioning coaches with a certain awe and reverence. If you told my 16 year old self that I one day would be on the same payroll as Coach Oviatt I would probably tell you to get out of town.

Best of luck, Rob Oviatt. Griz Nation sends its best wishes to you and your family. Don’t Blink.

The Red Book

Posted on December 13, 2013 by brent

As someone who loves history and as someone who loves to write out detailed daily records, I take great appreciation in a priceless resource we have available at Grizzly Athletics. While I think I have showed commitment by writing out a thorough summary of every day I have lived for the past fourteen years, I am quickly put to shame by a legend who kept handwritten records on a much larger scale for 43 years.

My office is right next door to the office of our Sports Information Director, Dave Guffey. In his own right, Dave is a legend himself in Grizzly Athletics having served as our SID for 35 years. It only makes sense then that one legend cares for the work of the other. The other day Dave and I were talking in his office about something that I can’t even remember but it led him to exclaim “Let’s check out the Red Book!”

Here is me with the Red Book. It is HUGE.

He then went to the end of his office to a book shelf and pulled out the greatest representation of Grizzly Athletics history, the Red Book. Because the thing is so large and weighs so much, I felt some concern as Dave lifted it from the shelf and transported it over to his desk (but he managed just fine). He opened the encyclopedia and investigated the issue at hand. Because of the clarity and the magnificent organization of the book he found the info we were looking for within seconds. The two of us then engaged in a conversation over how remarkable the book is.

The Red Book is one of the most precious items within Grizzly Athletics.

Jiggs Dahlberg was a student-athlete, coach, and athletic director at the University of Montana. He guided the men’s basketball program for many years and holds the school record for most wins. Our basketball arena is named after him. Besides the three roles I mentioned that he held you can also add a fourth: Historian.

Jiggs Dahlberg filled up around 1,000 pages just like this of Grizzly Athletics history in the Red Book.

In 1937, Dahlberg started to write in the Red Book. He reached all the way back to 1897 and started his record keeping there and then updated it all the way through 1937. At thay point he dutifully updated it on a regular basis throughout his whole tenure with Grizzly Athletics and even through retirement, writing his last entry in 1980. As you can see from the image I took below of his last entry, he filled up 963 enormous pages with schedules, stats, rosters, summaries, and more detailing the history of all sports within Grizzly Athletics. In fact, he wrote more than that as at the end of the book you will find “bonus pages” filled with the names of award winners. Jiggs filled up over half the book, as its numbered pages extends past 1,500.

Looking at this image you can see the depth that Jiggs went into, even making sure to include the names of squad members who did not letter.

As Dave and I talked he had me flip to various spots in the book. He sent me to the page chronicling the 1948-49 men’s basketball team that had a spectacular year. Guff and I got a chuckle out of some of the opponents the Griz played that year as they racked up a couple of wins against AAU teams in midseason. He also turned my attention to some of the season summaries that Jiggs would pen. Brutally honest while at the same time giving credit where credit was due, Dahlberg wrote out a thoughtful and accurate recap of each individual sports season in Grizzly Athletics from 1897 through 1980. Dave then had me flip to Dahlberg’s last entry where he wrote that at 82 years old, he felt a younger person should take over the duties of recording the history of Grizzly Athletics in the Red Book. As electronic records became dominant in the industry, that younger person never wrote a single word in the Red Book. To this day, every written letter in those pages is from Jiggs Dahlberg.

Here is the famous last entry from Jiggs Dahlberg in the Red Book.

The care, depth, and accuracy of the Red Book is amazing. It is a true historic gem. It got me wondering how many thousands of hours Dahlberg devoted to its contents. It also validated my reasoning for keeping the meticulous records that I do of my life. As Dave and I thumbed through the pages and enjoyed the historical work of Jiggs Dahlberg, I too hope that one day my future kids and relatives will be able to look through the work that I have done and find similar enjoyment. Thank you Jiggs Dahlberg for your amazing historical contribution to Grizzly Athletics. Don’t Blink

Another Great Weekend for Grizzly Athletics

Posted on November 24, 2013 by brent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

————–

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

Griz Social Media Ranked Nationally

Posted on November 20, 2013 by brent

Much to my enjoyment I got word today that the Grizzly Athletics Social Media program had made a very exclusive list. Thrown in with schools like Ohio State, Florida, Oregon, Alabama, and the other BCS giants, the Montana Grizzlies are represented on the Top 50 NCAA Social Media Rankings list conducted by Sports Fan Graph. Talk about making my day!

Okay, so I do have to admit that Montana is #50 overall on the list but that does not take anything away from the achievement. There is one social media short list in the nation that ranks NCAA schools according to their social media prowess and the Griz are on that list. Our school is not just the only Big Sky Conference institution on the list, it is the only FCS institution on the list. Better yet, there are 120 BCS schools in the country. That means that Griz Nation has a social media campaign that is better than 70+ mostly bigger, better funded, and higher staffed schools around the United States. I can legitimately say Montana beats out over 70+ schools because conferences are also allowed on the top 50 list and the Big 12, ACC, and Big 10 are all on it. That means with conferences taken out of the discussion, Montana would have the 47th ranked social media program in the nation and thus sit in front of 73 other BCS schools.

Griz Social Media is in some pretty good company.

To back track just a little bit, if you remember me referencing this list a little over a year ago you are not going crazy. In October of 2012, schools across the country started to make mention of Sports Fan Graph. The organization had ranked schools and teams from college to all of the major professional leagues on their social media programs using a formula involving Facebook likes, Facebook interaction info, and Twitter followers. When it came to the NCAA, they ranked the top 200 schools! At the time, Griz Social Media was ranked #53. Fast forward a year later and anyone knowledgeable in social media will tell you that Grizzly Athletics moving up three whole spots instead of regressing is a big accomplishment.

I am proud to rock our Griz Social Media t-shirts.

You see, over the past year, athletic departments across the country have really started to go all-in on social media like never before. Athletics directors have finally woken up. They realize that social media is the new and most effective way to report, market, and inform fans about an athletic program. Time, involvement, and care with social media has skyrocketed. Many schools are starting to hire staff members who work solely on social media and nothing else. With the major emphasis on social initiatives by many of the major schools one might have expected the Griz to fall down the rankings.

It didn’t happen.

Instead, Griz Social Media improved and jumped enough spots so that when the Sports Fan Graph chopped its long list of 200 schools down to a short and exclusive list of just 50 schools, the institution located in western Montana with an enrollment of just 14,000 students was on it. The reason why Montana was able to achieve so much success against increased competition centers on a social media program that focuses on creativity, staying ahead of the curve, reporting 24/7, and relying on something pretty important…

THE FANS!

You can have Mark Zuckerberg run the social media program at any school in the nation but if he doesn’t have a fan base that is passionate, supportive, and hungry for information he won’t succeed enough to have his school land on a list such as this. The fans who support the University of Montana are off the charts and it extends all the way through to social media. They bring the passion on a daily basis through their smart phones and keyboards to make everything social in our athletic department a big success. Thanks for once again putting UM on a national list, Griz Nation! Don’t Blink.

November 19th Through the Years

Posted on November 20, 2013 by brent

If you read this blog enough you that in addition to this daily public record that I write, I also have a daily private record that I write. Yes, I am a big time journaler. For almost fifteen years I have written a detailed summary of every day within that span that I have lived. About five months ago I merged my blogging and journaling together. I wrote a post where I used my journals to give you a summary of every June 26 that I had lived for the past ten years. That particular post got descriptive and it also got very long.

I decided tonight to go with a condensed version of what I did in June. By condensed I mean I am only going to go back five years and I might leave some of the detail out. Keep in mind that deciding to do a flashback of November 19 was a totally spur of the moment thing. This date holds no significance to me and as you will see, no earth shattering events occurred. Here we go:

TODAY, Tuesday, November 19, 2013 – Typical busy day with Griz-Cat week in full swing. Got even more in the mood for the big game by attending the weekly press conference and the first practice of the week in the rain. After work I went to the local hospice center where I volunteer at and made about 20 phone calls to people reminding them about an upcoming community event.

Friday, November 19, 2012 – I created our UMGRIZZLIES Instagram account. One year later it has 2,306 followers and I have posted 609 different photos/videos to the account. Also on this day, Christie overheated our microwave in the office and filled up the whole area with thick smoke. The microwave was totally ruined and we had to take it outside where we were able to open the door and take out the charred bag of popcorn.

Saturday, November 19, 2011 – The cheer squad, some fellow staffers, boosters, and myself boarded a bus and we headed over to Bozeman for the 111th Brawl of the Wild. With everyone expecting the #1 ranked Montana State Bobcats to easily win the game, the Grizzlies had other ideas as they kicked the snot out of the Cats, 36-10. Standing on the sidelines watching our football team pull off the upset was a pretty neat deal. To this day it is one of my fondest memories.

Friday, November 19, 2010 – On this day I spent the morning prepping for the football game the next day, conducting a Monte rehearsal, and getting a workout in. I then spent the afternoon working sporting events. Our Griz basketball team played a very rare 3 p.m. weekday game against Montana Tech. The contest was never close at all as the Grizzlies pounded Tech. After that game I picked up my equipment and moved from Dahlberg Arena to the West Auxiliary Gym where I worked the 7 p.m. volleyball match against Weber State. Staying with the blow out theme, our volleyball team swept the Wildcats, 3-0.

Thursday, November 19, 2009 – I worked a pretty regular day and then worked out at 6 p.m. I grabbed a bean and cheese burrito at Taco Del Sol and then my friend Dan and I went to the Missoula Maulers hockey game where it was Mascot Night. During one of the intermissions they had the mascots play (rather attempt to play) a game of hockey on the ice. Besides Monte and Mo and the Maulers mascot, you also had costumed characters such as Red Robin, the Little Caesars guy, and a local taco mascot. It was quite entertaining.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – I rolled out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and walked to the gym for my 6 a.m. workout. Later on in the day I worked on my semester statistics project with one of my group members, Jamie Groy. Man, that project brought about a lot of stress. Staying true to my broke college student ways, I donated plasma after lunch. I weighed in at 188 pounds and I got paid a whole $20 for an hour of discomfort. Later that night I got to experience the famous Jaker’s Happy Hour for the first time.

BONUS: Friday, November 19, 2004 (decided to throw this one in just because it is the oldest record I have here at my apartment…I have older journals located at my parents’ home in Spokane): Ahhh…my senior year at Mead High School. We had an easy workout for zero hour weights. In Accounting we worked on chapter 14. In Trigonometry we took the non-calculator portion quiz of chapter 3. In my Art-History class we looked at Byzantine art. In AP Government I got my 43/48 test back. I then went to basketball practice where I was a manager. I then came home and did homework and watched the Gonzaga basketball team beat Portland State. I then watched highlights of the ugly NBA brawl between Indiana and Detroit.

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Thanks for getting in the time machine with me and going back through the years. Remember, you are never too old to start journaling. It has been very rewarding for me. Don’t Blink.

Congrats on Win #800, Coach Selvig

Posted on November 18, 2013 by brent

Tonight I feel truly blessed to have worked a game that ended in an amazing accomplishment, by far the greatest basketball feat I have ever witnessed in person. Our women’s basketball coach here at the University of Montana, Robin Selvig, picked up his 800th victory as the Lady Griz defeated a tough Portland team, 68-61.

Just a few statistics for you real fast: There are only seven other Division I active coaches who have 800 wins. Coaches with names such as Krzyzewski, Boeheim, VanDerveer, and Auriemma. Coach Selvig has had 33 winning seasons. He has had 28 seasons where he won 20 games or more. He has won conference coach of the year 20 different times . And my favorite, he has guided the Lady Griz to 25 NCAA tournaments! That is worth repeating, he has taken his team to the Big Dance TWENTY-FIVE times.

Coach Selvig delivers his speech after his 800th win tonight

But the number that really strikes me about Robin is 35. That is the number of seasons he has spent as head coach of the Lady Griz. The intercollegiate athletics coaching business is not about loyalty, well at least not to 99% of the people in the industry not named Robin Selvig. Coach could have packed up and succeeded at other head coaching positions but decided to stay at Montana. He could have traveled off to East Lansing when Jud Heathcote asked him to be an assistant coach at Michigan State. He could have pursued a multitude of other basketball related positions with higher salaries in warmer climates. But he chose to stay where he was happy. He chose to stay where he knew he was making a difference. He chose to stay at a place where a rabid fan base needed him.

Coach Selvig spent a happy minute with his team in the huddle after winning his 800th game.

Just a couple personal things about Robin Selvig that I would like to mention. Besides that he is a star employee just based on the fact that he has produced 800 wins for Grizzly Athletics, he is an invaluable employee because of how he conducts himself in the athletic department and how he treats others. Never too big for anyone, Robin always takes the time to look me in the eye and cheerfully greets me with a “Hi Brent” whenever we cross paths in the hall. He never thought twice about helping us out when we filmed a Monte video where we had him stand in an elevator (he played the part perfectly). Don’t put it past him to dress up in a Santa Claus outfit either because he will do that instantly. During press conferences he takes questions from everyone and always responds with an articulate, and many times hilarious, answer (please let me take this moment to say that very few people on this planet come close to matching the sense of humor that Robin has). His heart is enormous and he has helped countless people by way of his program, and I am not just talking players.

Besides everything I just mentioned, I have personally witnessed Robin Selvig stand up for those around him and those he has worked with in big time, high stakes situations. It was incredible to see and will forever make me recognize Robin as an amazing person before I recognize him as an amazing coach.

Congrats Coach Selvig on your 800th win.

Robin Selvig is a legend. There is no other way to say it. He is a giant in the state of Montana, a highly regarded coach nationally, and a stand up human being. I will take it to my grave that I roamed the same halls as Coach Selvig for no less than four years and that I got to stand two feet away from him as he delivered his 800th victory speech. As you could probably guess, he gave all the credit to his players. Ladies and gentlemen, Robin Selvig. Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

Tag Archives: Grizzly Athletics