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Grizzly gridders still looking for game to fill gap in schedule
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
The Montana Grizzlies' 2007 football schedule is about 90 percent done, and director of athletics Jim O'Day figures to have it completed within a month.
He doubts that Southern Cal is the final piece to the puzzle, however.
O'Day, who has been Montana's AD for 18 months, said he has heard the rumors about the Griz playing national power USC this coming fall. But he says he hasn't heard from USC.
“You would always listen,” he said of playing the Trojans, who finished No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll. “But I haven't heard from anybody. I don't know where they would've come from.”
Such a game would've been another leap for one of the top programs in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly Division I-AA. In 2004 the Griz played at Oregon for $450,000; last year they went to Iowa for a $650,000 paycheck.
The Grizzlies, who finished last season ranked No. 4 after losing in the I-AA semifinals, have open dates on Sept. 15 and Sept. 22. O'Day is clear about what needs to happen for UM, which has six home games on the docket, to complete its schedule.
“It will either be a home game or a guarantee game,” said O'Day. . . .
O'Day hopes to schedule a home-and-home series with another FCS program, but that's dicey considering Montana's recent history. The Griz haven't been to Cal Poly, a nearly perennial foe, since 2001. They bought out a return trip to Hofstra scheduled for 2005, irritating Pride coach Joe Gardi.
They just bought out South Dakota State instead of taking a trip to Brookings in September, hence the two-week gap in their schedule. O'Day is hoping to restart a home-and-home with the Jackrabbits, with it starting at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2007. So far, SDSU isn't on board. . . . (read more)
No way would I ever sign a home and home with Montana with the first game at Washington-Grizz. To my way of thinking it would need to be a 2 for 1 with Montana coming to Brookings for the first two (game one is payback for our 2 for 1 that we did, game two is the front half of a home and home, and assuming all went well game three, in Missoula, is the back half of the home and home).
Go State!
Grizzly gridders still looking for game to fill gap in schedule
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
The Montana Grizzlies' 2007 football schedule is about 90 percent done, and director of athletics Jim O'Day figures to have it completed within a month.
He doubts that Southern Cal is the final piece to the puzzle, however.
O'Day, who has been Montana's AD for 18 months, said he has heard the rumors about the Griz playing national power USC this coming fall. But he says he hasn't heard from USC.
“You would always listen,” he said of playing the Trojans, who finished No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll. “But I haven't heard from anybody. I don't know where they would've come from.”
Such a game would've been another leap for one of the top programs in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly Division I-AA. In 2004 the Griz played at Oregon for $450,000; last year they went to Iowa for a $650,000 paycheck.
The Grizzlies, who finished last season ranked No. 4 after losing in the I-AA semifinals, have open dates on Sept. 15 and Sept. 22. O'Day is clear about what needs to happen for UM, which has six home games on the docket, to complete its schedule.
“It will either be a home game or a guarantee game,” said O'Day. . . .
O'Day hopes to schedule a home-and-home series with another FCS program, but that's dicey considering Montana's recent history. The Griz haven't been to Cal Poly, a nearly perennial foe, since 2001. They bought out a return trip to Hofstra scheduled for 2005, irritating Pride coach Joe Gardi.
They just bought out South Dakota State instead of taking a trip to Brookings in September, hence the two-week gap in their schedule. O'Day is hoping to restart a home-and-home with the Jackrabbits, with it starting at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 2007. So far, SDSU isn't on board. . . . (read more)
No way would I ever sign a home and home with Montana with the first game at Washington-Grizz. To my way of thinking it would need to be a 2 for 1 with Montana coming to Brookings for the first two (game one is payback for our 2 for 1 that we did, game two is the front half of a home and home, and assuming all went well game three, in Missoula, is the back half of the home and home).
Go State!
Wow........I almost felt sorry for the Montana atheltic department there. Because they had no clue how to balance a budget, they relied on the football program to rough up a bunch of non-conference schools with home-home-buyout deals, tarnishing its reputation and further dirtying the image of the BS Conference.
I think its pretty safe to say they aren't the only athletic department with money issues.
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