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

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.

Monte Suffers a Loss in the 2013 Mascot Challenge

Posted on October 6, 2013 by brent

About an hour ago Monte was dealt his first loss in the 2013 Mascot Challenge in a down to the minute race with Sparty the Spartan from Michigan State. The close 51% to 49% defeat not only gave him a mark in the loss column but it knocked him out of first place and stripped him of his #1 ranking. Definitely a less than ideal way to end a weekend in which our football team crushed Portland State in the much anticipated Homecoming game.

Once the standings refresh on the Capital One website, Monte should sit in either third or fourth place depending on the tiebreaker method used in the competition. Two mascots hold unblemished 5-0 records while four mascots (including Monte) hold 4-1 records. Two of the mascots with 4-1 records suffered their lone loss in the competition to Monte.

During the last hour of this week’s round, I watched a noble and frantic effort by Griz Nation to push Monte to yet another victory over another giant in the BCS landscape. In the end, it fell just a little short. My Twitter and Facebook feeds were overloaded with people answering this past week’s question of “If Monte started a band, what would he name it?” Besides my actual Facebook friends and Twitter followers aggressively pushing for a Monte victory, everyone else in Montana seemed to be doing the same. Just searching the #CapitalOneMonte hash tag on Twitter yielded hundreds and hundreds of tweets coming in by the second! I got a good laugh at reading everyone’s take on what Monte’s band should be named.

If I was in Monte’s band I would play the recorder!

Of course anyone could see that the tweets marked with the #CapitalOneMonte hash tag vastly outnumbered the #CapitalOneSparty hash tags. Because of this, some might speculate that the final tally was not reflected correctly. However, standard voting is also a big part of the equation and the fact of the matter is that Michigan State has 50,000 students at its school while almost 10 million people live in the state. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that with a population size that large comes with it a distinct advantage. If a majority of those people are voting, it doesn’t matter how many tweets we are sending out… those sheer numbers will win every time.

But notice how I said if. We have absolutely no idea how many people are voting. The organizers of the competition elect to only give us percentages as opposed to concrete point totals. As I have said from the beginning, I have a tough time trusting internet voting formats. I have an even tougher time trusting internet voting formats where we can’t see the raw numbers. Judging by the comments on our social media outlets, many people have the same trust issues as me.

But in all honesty I have little to complain about. This competition has already given us great exposure, a nice check for our program, and a special experience for our Monte performer (he got to travel to New York City for photo/video shoots). Although I am not 100% convinced that we got a completely fair shake in this past round of the competition, I do realize that in the four prior rounds it is possible that we could have gotten the benefit of the doubt.

Life moves on in the 2013 Mascot Challenge and this week Monte is up against Baldwin the Eagle from Boston College. Just like during any other season in any other sport, you have to move on from defeat and come back with more tenacity and more hunger for the next opponent. I promise you that Monte and Griz Nation will come back stronger than ever. That Eagle better watch out. Don’t Blink.

Photography and Social Media

Posted on September 9, 2013 by brent

Today while out at South Campus Stadium on an absolute gorgeous evening watching our Griz soccer team thoroughly defeat Utah Valley, 3-1, I had the opportunity to participate in an interesting conversation. While standing on one of the sidelines snapping pictures, I talked with our university photographer, Todd Goodrich. With 22 years under his belt as the main photo man at the University of Montana, Todd is a gold mine of information and cool stories. He is one of those people who you really want to spend some time picking his brain.

University of Montana photographer Todd Goodrich at today’s Griz soccer game.

We got to talking about his career. In addition to his 22 years at the University of Montana, Todd has also worked for two newspapers in the state of Montana, including a stint at the Missoulian. We talked about how photography has evolved so much over the years and the challenges that have presented themselves throughout the journey. We pointed out the dramatic upgrades in technology and the complete acceleration in turnaround time for the final product as major characteristics in the ever changing business. But while these changes would have any veteran photographer on his toes and his head spinning to keep up, Todd said they never rattled him much. Technology and decreased turnaround times are givens, he said, and he just takes them in stride.

However, he said there was a change inside the world of photography that did take him some getting used to. A change that he was initially weary of and to some degree even fought. A change that pretty much overhauled his industry and that made him look differently at how he valued his work. Todd, what is this major change you are talking about?…

Social Media.

I listened with wide open ears and great interest as Todd explained that my passion was his Achilles’ heel for a short period during his career. The culture changing phenomenon that swept through life as we know it and continues to shape our daily experience today was not warmly embraced by Todd and the photographer industry. Listening to him speak about the detriments that social media had (and continues to have) on the work that photographers do made complete sense.

Todd explained to me that photographers deeply value their work. The photos they capture are essentially their personal stamps, their glory, their labor. When social media entered the picture it made the photographer anonymous and took the beautiful images that he/she produced and made them available for the masses to see but not truly for the masses to appreciate. People could now easily see a cool photo but they didn’t know the back story of that image, they didn’t know the photographer who was behind the lens. Instead of the picture finding a home in a glossy publication or on the crisp pages of newsprint, people could now instantly see it on a computer screen or on their phone. For photographers, it seemed to cheapen their work.

It took Todd time to accept this new (and unfair) direction photography was taking. As someone who directly capitalizes off of the new way we use photography I felt bad. I use Todd’s amazing work all the time through our social media channels to advance the brand of Grizzly Athletics. In an attempt to justify what I do and to see if he really was warming up to how social media has transformed the role of photography I asked Todd if he finds any satisfaction in seeing a photo that he took receive wide viral appreciation and acclaim. For example, just last week I shared a breathtaking skydiver picture that he captured at our first football game that garnered 2,052 likes, 300 shares, and 50 comments. Todd answered yes.

Todd captured this amazing skydiving picture that was an instant viral hit.

While Todd has learned to accept the way that social media feeds off of photography, others in his business have not. I honestly can say that I don’t blame those photographers one bit. Likewise, I have an immense amount of respect for Todd that he has come to terms with the very non-reciprocal relationship that exists.

If you ever see a picture on social media that touches you or captures your attention, contact the administrator of that particular social outlet and ask who the photographer is and then send a note of appreciation to that person. If you are in my position and use the work of talented photographers, make sure you let those people know how much you appreciate them. They are just as much a part of your success as whatever you are doing to market/supplement your social outlets. While the photography business gets more and more thankless, it also gets more and more important. Myself and Griz Nation would be lost without people like Todd Goodrich. Make sure to thank a photographer this week. Don’t Blink.

A Special Mascot: Support Monte for National Mascot of the Year

Posted on September 2, 2013 by brent

I feel fortunate to have a job that I love so much that I constantly feel the need to write about it. I apologize if I have gone Grizzly Athletics overload on you the past few posts but I can’t help it. But let me preface by saying that tonight’s topic is pretty cool!

Once again, Monte, our mascot at the University of Montana, has made the 2013 Capital One Mascot Challenge team. Each year a number of mascots are chosen from across the country to engage in a contest to see which furry creature will come out on top and become the National Mascot of the Year. In the past the winning mascot has been chosen through a voting system. This year a version of the voting system is still in place but there is an added twist to the mix. More on that later.

Monte and I at the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

It is truly a big compliment that Monte continues to get chosen to the Mascot Challenge team (he has made it in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013). Pretty much all the other mascots on the team hail from large, BCS schools. The fact that a mascot from a smaller school in the FCS can continue to crack the team speaks to the talent, creativeness, and marketability of Monte. Each year we submit an application to Capital One. The required materials call for a highlight video, a couple high resolution photos of the mascot, and a completed paperwork form. You can then add any supporting documents that you see fit to improve your mascot’s chances of getting selected. We always see to it that we go above and beyond when creating our application.

When we got word that we made this year’s team we were ecstatic. Besides the great publicity and notoriety that we knew we were going to get from making the team, it also came with a $5,000 prize that went straight to our Mascot program. The payoff for taking the time to create a superb application packet is immense.

Monte and I close up style.

The senior of the two Monte performers who I oversee traveled to New York City in June to shoot the commercials and other promo materials that make up the Mascot Challenge. This student got the luxury of an all-expenses paid trip to the biggest and best known city in the nation to hang out with fifteen other mascots, stay in a nice hotel, and do some filming. Not a bad perk of the job. When he returned from the Big Apple he told me that he really tried to make Monte standout from the other mascots during all the shooting.

Monte and I goofing off.

From the time of us submitting the application to hearing the good news to sending our mascot to New York it seemed like a lot of time had passed. So last week when the competition finally went live I think we were all ready to finally start the long campaign. But before we really started to ask people for their support for Monte, we needed to make really clear how they could support Monte. You see, things this year had changed.

In a quest to create more engagement and to take advantage of the ever increasing landscape of social media, Capital One introduced a three level point system. While you can still go with the old-fashioned way of simply voting for Monte there are other options that can boost his status in whatever head-to-head competition he is engaged in that week. While voting will only get you 1 point, you can complete “challenges” that will award Monte more points. Each week the contest organizers will present a question or task. If you answer or complete the task and use the appropriate hash tag of #CapitalOneMonte on Facebook or Twitter you get 25 points. However, if you want to put a little more effort into your support you can take the 25 point challenge a step up send 100 points Monte’s way.

Monte and I at the UCA championships this year.

Take for example this week. The 25 point challenge is to write a cheer for Monte. However, if you perform it in public and video it and then submit to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram with the appropriate hash tag you add 100 points to Monte’s schedule. I have no idea what the other challenges will entail but they should be fun for fans to complete.

Here is the cool thing about Monte in this competition: Each time he participates in it he does well. Even though out of all the other mascots he is from the smallest state in the smallest city at the smallest school (population wise), he always manages to make a great run deep into the competition. Because of the strong passion Griz Nation has coupled with the strong social media presence of Grizzly Athletics, Monte has a chance to win a competition that he really should have no business doing so. It is a beautiful thing and a pretty cool tribute to one of the best fan bases around.

I ask that you please go here and complete the challenges for Monte and then vote 100 times for him. Remember to use the #CapitalOneMonte hash tag. This week we are up against CAM THE RAM from Colorado State University and we need your support. Yes, we do have a good lead on him right now but with any competition that hinges on social media things can change drastically and quickly. Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and please support Monte for National Mascot of the Year.

Random Notes From a Hungry Guy

Posted on August 26, 2013 by brent

It is one of those nights where it is late, I am hungry, and I am tired. But it is also one of those nights where I feel guilty if I don’t sit down and write a blog post for my readers. With that said, I want to offer up one of my “slacker” brief posts that hit on a few random topics. The sooner I finish this the sooner I can eat, let’s go!!

You ready for four random thoughts?! Here we go..

Miley Cyrus’ VMAs Performance: I am a Miley Cyrus fan but even I have to say that her performance last night was a little too out there for me. To be honest though, it wasn’t the twerking, the raunchy singing, or the weird bears that did me in. I felt the most ill by watching some of her facial expressions. They made my stomach turn a little bit and had me questioning my fandom for her. I wonder what my mom will tell me about that performance. My mother disliked Miley even when she was just sweet and precious Hannah Montana so I am a little curious to hear what she has to say. Whatever it is though, it can’t be worse than some of the stuff I read on Twitter and saw on Facebook about ol’ crazy Miley.

School Starting at UM: Classes started back up again today at the college campus that I work at and let me tell you, the presence was felt. All the reminders seemed to be a little more intense this go-around. Traffic before 8 a.m. was backed up past the Madison Street Bridge and I noticed many more people walking by the Adams Center than usual (where we have our athletic offices housed at). But where the biggest onslaught of student humanity could be found was at the gym. Of course it happens at the start of every semester that the gym gets slammed for the first couple weeks but today was even much worse than usual. I walked into the rec center at 12:30 p.m. and it was a complete zoo with every machine occupied and pretty much every space taken up. Here’s hoping that many of these kids find other fun college things to do besides work out.

Lamar Odom Missing, Now Found: A report came out yesterday that Lamar Odom was missing and that he had been battling a drug problem. I really don’t think it is a joking matter when a person is uncounted for and at risk. So of course something that I didn’t find funny in the first place wouldn’t make me even crack the smallest of smiles when the jokes are so lame and obvious. I don’t know how many times I heard/saw the “how do you lose a 6-10 black man?”. Stupid, uncreative, and insensitive. If there is one thing that is seemingly impressive it is that Odom’s wife, Khloe Kardashian, posted a profanity laced tweet that over 7,760 people found worthy enough to retweet.

Thank goodness that Lamar Odom has been found.

Maroon Out: I hope to go into detail a little bit more about this huge week for Grizzly Athletics in a couple more days but I do want to plant this seed now: If you are going to the Montana-Appalachian State football game this Saturday, WEAR MAROON. We are going to make this the best and most successful maroon out ever and we need your help. The biggest regular season game in the history of Washington-Grizzly Stadium also deserves the biggest turnout of fans dressed in maroon. Don’t forget!

Hope Monday went well for everyone! Let’s make sure to always count our blessings that we are alive and that we live in such a blessed country. Talk to you soon! Don’t Blink.

My Time as a Resident Assistant

Posted on July 23, 2013 by brent

I usually get one of two responses when I tell someone that I served as a resident assistant during my college years: 1. Wow, really? That’s kind of crazy. Or…. 2. No offense, but that doesn’t surprise me at all.

Of course the second response is made in a way that implies that I am a nerd with no life, which of course is only half true. But more on the makeup of a resident assistant in a little bit. First, some bio information: Over the course of three academic years from 2006-2009 I was employed by the University of Montana as a resident assistant (RA). For those who don’t know, a RA is someone who manages a floor in a dorm on a college campus. Such a person keeps order on the floor, deals out discipline, stages events for the residents on the floor to take part in, and works with the other resident assistants in the building to make sure that the residence hall is ran in an efficient, safe, and healthy manner.

This is me at a Griz football game with residents from my first ever floor during the 2006-07 school year.

Everyone who serves as a resident assistant will have a vastly different experience. I know for a fact that my experience at UM probably differed tremendously from other resident assistants working around the nation at my time. I worked during the twilight years of a residence life advisor who had overseen the program for decades. Because of this, things were ran a little old school. Residence halls were still called dorms, the end of training was celebrated with a party that included a couple kegs, and most discipline problems (including alcohol) were dealt solely by the resident assistants. Although much of this has now changed I can say that from the eyes of a former RA that the residence life program at Montana ran very smoothly.

My first year I worked in a dorm which was, how shall I put it, showing its age. I presided over a floor of around 50 freshmen boys so in addition to its age it was also a dump. I spent a lot of time doing alcohol and drug write-ups. My second and third years I had the luxury of working in an apartment style living building with mainly upperclassmen. The floors were co-ed and the people were clean. I had very few discipline issues. Despite the obvious differences between the two different residence halls I worked in, I had a great time in both.

Me hanging out with some of my exchange students.

At Montana, and at many other schools, resident assistants are compensated well. I received free room and board, a huge burden lifted from someone who was trying to do everything possible to save money. Montana’s system also allowed for money to be earned for the hours worked at the front desk after a certain amount of contract hours were met. Many people consider drawbacks of the position to be a lack of freedom, a sacrifice of certain holidays, and a glorified babysitting role.

So is the compensation actually worth it? I mean who wants to miss out on Friday night college shenanigans? Who wants to call the custodian to clean up vomit? Who wants to miss spring break? Who wants to write incident reports at 3 a.m.?

The answer to my first question is NO. Although it did help me a lot, the room and board compensation alone is not worth it. What makes the job worth it is purely the relationships that are built and fostered during anyone’s tenure as a resident assistant.

A big part of the new relationships come directly from the people you work with on a daily basis, your staff. Although you work closest with the resident assistants in your particular building, you also become part of the whole community of resident assistants on campus. Through orientation and events throughout the year, friendships and connections are made. As I alluded to at the start of this post, 95% of resident assistants are nerds (including myself) but that same percentage are also very driven and intelligent people. You meet many stellar individuals with bright futures.

Here I am pictured with some fellow resident assistants who I got to know pretty well.

Because there are so many cool members on staff many resident assistants will fall into a trap of hanging out mostly with other resident assistants but I was tipped off from the beginning not to do that and I made sure to follow through. By and far, the best relationships you can make in a resident assistant position are with your residents. With fifty students each with a different story and background living on your floor in a given year, the opportunities to expand your horizons are limitless. I did all I could to connect with each resident and develop some type of a relationship with each one. Sure there were a few who I never want to cross paths with again just because they were bad people but for the most part I found common ground with everyone. Playing intramurals, hanging out in the hallway, and participating in my weekly corny floor activities served as the basis for developing relationships that have lived on past the time in the dorms. To this day some of my closest friends are from the floors I was a resident assistant on.

If you hate free room and board and despise relationships, become a RA just to observe student culture at its finest. You get to see students prosper and you get to see students completely implode. You get to experience different traditions, try new foods, and get different point of views. You get to monitor the homegrown Montanan, the kid from back east, and the exchange student from Italy all at the same time. You get to watch fifty people who don’t know each other converge on the same floor for a whole school year and see how the different attitudes and backgrounds play out. It is pretty interesting.

During RA training I grabbed hold of a stick.

I would recommend becoming a resident assistant to most people, even the ones who worry about missing out on a lot of college’s fun experiences. To be honest, another thing that I got from my time as a RA was structure. The nights I stayed in and the day festivals I missed helped me be a better student and a better mentor to my residents. Apply to become a resident assistant and reap as much from your experience as you put in. Don’t Blink.

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BONUS MATERIAL

Makeup of a Resident Assistant

I poked fun at myself for being a resident assistant at the start of this post but it is true, you have to have a level of nerdiness in order to apply and accept a position as a RA. Although all of us have this trait, from there you can then categorize the makeup of a resident assistant staff into four different groups:

1. The Overachiever: The overachievers are the students who were 3-sport athletes in high school, valedictorian, held leadership positions, and had an awesome freshman year of college.

2.The Turtle (Coming out of his/her shell): These people become resident assistants because they want to meet more people and take on a challenge that they normally would not. Many of these people will attribute their desire for pursuing the position because they had an exceptional resident assistant of their own.

3.The People Person: These people don’t necessarily have a standout past, rather they just love life and love people. They are accepting of everyone, hold many quirks of their own, and just want an outlet to let their personality shine.

4. The Mistakes: These are the people who are awkward, don’t make an effort to reach out to people, and who most likely play video games all day long. As with any position, sometimes unqualified people are hired.

To the People I Missed

In my main post I didn’t mention the hall secretaries and custodians. This just goes back to the relationship piece I talked about. I developed great friendships with the two hall secretaries that I worked with, friendships that still exist to this day. Also, I became very well acquainted with the hall custodians…talk about the most thankless job on the planet.

Fun on Brent’s Floor

When you sign a resident assistant contract you agree to stage a certain amount of hall activities during each semester. I went a little overboard and staged them on a weekly basis, sometimes even twice a week. Some of my floor activities included: Name That Tune, Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament, culture night with exchange students, karaoke night, 2012 End of the World Debate, bouncy castle extravaganza, Mafia Night, SPOONS, didgeridoo demonstration, Mario Kart competition, and Missoula Restaurant trivia.

Supervisors

In each residence hall at the University of Montana you have a head resident and an assistant head resident in charge of the resident assistants. Both of the positions just mentioned (the term “supervisors” is used as an all-encompassing term) are filled by students as well. For the head resident and assistant head resident the responsibilities and pay are both more than that of a resident assistant. I applied for a supervisory position going into the final year of my time as a resident assistant. I ended up not getting one of the positions and to this day I still consider it as one of my greater personal disappointments.

Training

Believe it or not, back in my day they put us through a month long training/orientation session. Starting at the beginning of August and running until the start of school we sat through lectures, demonstrations, and staff bonding exercises. Although I thought it was pretty excessive I never complained when they took us up to a super nice lake area for the ending portion of the training where they let us enjoy the Montana outdoors and eat like crazy.

Closing Memories

Whenever I pay my rent check I always thing about how nice it was to live for free/Whenever I buy groceries I always think about how nice it was to walk 20 yards and eat all I wanted for free/ I don’t miss “making rounds” around the building/ One of the hottest, most gorgeous girls I have ever met happened to be a resident assistant/ Participating in the Homecoming Parade was always fun/ I continue to have a lot of respect for the residence life director who was in the position during my time/ Don’t Blink.

Fun at the Homecoming Parade!

Disgracing Freedom of Speech

Posted on April 22, 2013 by brent

Ever since I stepped foot at The University of Montana, I have seen my fair share of the “doom and gloom” type preachers who crawl onto campus with their message of hate. A few times each year they randomly show up on a sunny day, pick a spot on a heavily trafficked area of campus, plug in their cheap P.A. system, and condemn everyone to Hell.

Just the way these crazy people like it, they always attract a large crowd of college students who are appalled at the anti-diversity/anti-gay/anti-anything-different-from-them message that they spew. I have watched as these preachers engage the enraged crowd in debate, citing out of context bible verses and dismissing any type of message that has to do with love and compassion. These guys are losers and I cringe every time I see them set up shop on campus but I do support their first amendment right of freedom of speech.

Fact is, I get irritated by a lot of garbage that people say. This includes the guy who unmercifully rips a student-athlete on a message board. Or the person who calls in to a radio show and brings up wild conspiracy theories. Or the extreme talking heads on cable news that don’t care about the actual facts and just want to be loud. Or the racist who pushes his propaganda to no end. Or the person who uses fear (before the point of a threat) to scare and control others. I despise this all but in the back of my head I know it is their first amendment right and a guiding principle that this nation was founded on.

So while I can get past most of the crap that is the byproduct of a gift so important and valuable as freedom of speech, there is something covered by it that is so ugly that I will never be able to accept it. Most of you have heard of the Westboro Church. Headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, you will not find a more hateful group of people in the country. They call themselves Baptist but let’s be honest here, they are about as closely aligned with the Baptist way of life as Babe Ruth was aligned with a healthy way of life. They hate Catholics, they hate Jews, they hate Muslims, they hate homosexuals, they hate blacks, and they hate everyone else who does not belong to their 50 person “strong” congregation.

Okay fine, why should I be so concerned with a small group of demented people down in Kansas? Why not just let them cast out their pathetic message amongst themselves and forget about them? Well, they let their presence be known in a way that makes that impossible. For around 20 years now, the “church” (I use the term very loosely) has picketed funerals. Wait, what do you mean by that? I mean they travel across the country to funerals of people they have no association with and stand outside the church services and graveside ceremonies and condemn the deceased and their families. They hold up derogatory signs, start hateful chants, and disrespect the dead in a way that will overwhelm anyone with sadness and anger. But it gets worse. Westboro Church does not picket the funeral of murderers and child molesters. Rather, they go to the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in action, kids who suffered death in tragedies, and gay men and women who were victims of violent hate crimes.

The point that I finally said enough is enough and just threw my hands up in the air in frustration and helplessness was last week when Westboro announced that they would attend and picket the funeral service of Krystle Campbell, one of the three people who was killed in the Boston Marathon bombings. At a point when our country was hurting from an act so random and so disgusting I could not bring myself to care one bit about the shallow first amendment rights of this hate group. To try to disrupt the memorial service of a woman who by all accounts touched so many people and then had her life savagely robbed from her in a split second made me throw up a little in my mouth. First amendment be damned, this was wrong.

Westboro claims to picket at these funerals to let everyone know that these deaths are the wrath of God. They say that God is exacting revenge on the United States. Never mind that the U.S. is giving them the right to protest in such a distasteful way in the first place, these people are too stupid and ignorant to realize that. They instead say that the country is too morally corrupt, too accommodating to gay rights. Holding up signs that say “God hates faggots”, “Thank God for IED’s”, “Rot in Hell”, “Thank God for 9/11”, “God is angry every day”, and other despicable slogans and images these people terrorize both the living and the dead during very sad and emotional times.

I couldn’t imagine losing a family member suddenly because of a senseless violent act or a natural disaster and then going through the gut wrenching process of grieving and planning a funeral. That in itself is something that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. But after all that, how completely unfair and sickening is it that they then have to worry about some insane people showing up to their loved one’s service to glorify God for their death and announcing that their soul is now in Hell? How could a grieving person continue? How could anyone possibly accept that?

Like I said, I cherish the first amendment for the most part but I can’t get past what the Westboro Church is able to do under the disguise of it. Yes, the amendment is there so everyone can express themselves, even if they want to express themselves with hate. But there has to be a point where we disallow the freedom of speech to dishonor, condemn, and torture the innocent…especially during their most sad and vulnerable hour.

Today was Krystle Campbell’s funeral. Boston was hell-bent on not letting Westboro disgrace Krystle’s final hour. Hundreds of union members from Teamsters Local 25 showed up to form a human shield between the church and the bigots from Westboro Church. But guess what? After all the talk, all the Tweets, and all the threats, Westboro did not have any representation at the funeral. The cowards never showed…not a single one. Try to tell me that wasn’t a sign from God. Don’t Blink.

Serving the Youth

Posted on October 29, 2012 by brent

A cool part of my job centers on the fact that I get to do interesting things that are not necessarily always completely focused on the Griz. Because of my background as DJ for Montana athletics, I get hired to do similar type work for other functions. I have DJ’d numerous cheerleading competitions, social events, University of Montana academic rallies, Tim Tebow’s stop in Missoula, and various other events and situations. Just a few weeks ago I got to help with an engagement proposal at midfield inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium. However, this past week I got to work an event that topped all the other non-Griz things I have done.

On Friday night, the Missoula Youth Football (MYF) league held its championship games under the lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. MYF is the Missoula version of Pop Warner football. In its inaugural season, the league produced strong numbers for kids participating in its two divisions, third/fourth grades and fifth/sixth grades. After a hard fought season, two teams from both divisions faced off to become the first champions of the newly formed league.

At first, I didn’t think I would get the opportunity to help with the championship games. I had been hired to do music for the Missoula Mayhem fights that night. Late Friday afternoon while I was testing equipment for the event, one of the employees of the Adams Center came over and notified me that the Missoula Mayhem organization would bring its own DJ to the fights and that my services would not be needed. I immediately became ecstatic as I am not an ultimate fighting fan and was not looking forward to the evening by any means. Suddenly, my Friday night had opened wide up and I planned to finish my prep for the Griz football game the following day and then go home and relax the rest of the evening.

With only about five minutes separating me from a non-eventful, relaxing evening at home, I heard Christie call my name from her office. I went to see what she wanted. Christie had already volunteered to help with the MYF championship games. She was going to run sponsor ads up on Griz Vision. She also planned to download a National Anthem clip to play prior to the start of both championship games. However, she could not seem to be able to download the certain clip which was way she called me into her office. Not knowing a solution to the problem either, I told her that I would just go up into the press box with her and set up my equipment and play the anthem. It would take just a few minutes to go up into the box, play the song, and then get out of there and head home. That was my initial plan anyway.

The awards ceremony for the third/fourth grade game. Lots of fans came out to watch.

Christie and I practically ran up to the press box as we were running late. We climbed the stairs and entered the control room and as I looked out the windows and onto the field, I knew I would not just be sticking around for the anthem.

A large crowd of around 1,500 to 2,000 people had gathered in the west stands of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Although still light out, the stadium lights were turned on. Our inflatable Griz helmet that serves as the entrance for our own football team was erected. I got audio set up and was told that the teams would soon run out of the tunnel and onto the field. I immediately cued up the entrance song that we use for the Griz and hit play. As “Bring ‘Em Out” blared over the house speakers, the third and fourth graders ran out onto the field, waving their arms up and down in the motion for the crowd to get loud. The sight of how small the young kids looked in the large stadium immediately brought a smile to my face. Here they were playing in their own little Super Bowl inside the best stadium in Montana. Right then, Christie and I knew we were going to give them the best experience possible.

Treating the MYF championship game just like an actual Griz game, Christie and I pulled out all the stops. All the “TOUCHDOWN”, “FIRST DOWN,” “TURNOVER.” etc prompts were used on Griz Vision. Signature clips such as Godzilla and the Animal House “You Make Me Want to Shout” scene were shown during both championship games. The songs synonymous with Griz games including “We Like to Party” and “Cotton Eyed Joe” echoed through the stadium as fans danced along. Griz football color man and MYF board member Scott Gurnsey served as the PA announcer and did an amazing job recognizing the kids. Joining the three of us in the control room included a scoreboard operator, a cameraman, and then two of our hard-working marketing interns.

Christie and I up in the box on Friday evening. We had a great time.

Instead of leaving work at 6 p.m., I knew I would be there until 10 p.m. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Christie and I were having such a good time running our usual gameday production in a non-stressful environment. Darkness finally overtook the stadium and our brand new lights illuminated the field and the youngsters playing on it, making for a great scene. Watching the young kids playing football and reacting to everything that was going on was pretty special. A couple times Christie and I mentioned how these kids would remember playing in this game for the rest of their lives. To know that we had a part in shaping it definitely brought some satisfaction.

In the third and fourth grade championship, the Alamo Rent-A-Car Ravens defeated the Mountain West Bank Chargers. In the fifth and sixth grade game, the Sleep City Steelers became champions by defeating the Lifestyle Fitness Falcons. As “We Are the Champions” filled the stadium as the Steelers received their trophies during the awards ceremony under the bright lights to conclude the evening, I realized that not only the kids would remember this night for a while but I would too. Needless to say, I was very happy I did not leave work early that night. Don’t Blink.

A True Professional: Barry Anderson

Posted on September 25, 2012 by brent

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.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

Tag Archives: University of Montana