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"Going National"

citygriz

Well-known member
Over on another thread, griz71 asked if the women's softball team will become the "new darlings" of women's athletics at Montana. Yes--if they "go national." That's the first step to developing a following at Montana. Every major program here has done that, and it's not only the way to develop keen interest in a program, but to appeal to the Griz fans who show up at bars throughout the country for Griz football games.

Football: Two national championships. At least two fabulous games on national television--the wins over App State and North Dakota State. Plus countless nationally televised playoff games. If it ain't on TV, it ain't happenin' folks. Period. The national TV exposure our team has had is the reason football is king at Montana.

Basketball: For decades, pretty much a "Montana" thing--Lou Rocheleau, Bob Cope, Danny Balko, Steve Lowry, Bob O'Billovich, Duane Ruegsegger, Ray Howard, Russ Sherriff, Zip Rhoades. Good guys who never really won anything. Even the promise of the "Fabulous Frosh" fell flat, thanks mainly to the injury to Howard. But then along came Jud Heathcote, and a few short years later, "The Game." UCLA, the kingpin of college basketball. John Wooden in the last year of his legendary coaching career. And our kids nearly de-railed them, losing by only three, on...national TV. What ensued was a 20 year run of basketball excellence at Montana, kept alive recently by the NCAA tournament appearances-- the win over Nevada, the near misses against Boston College and New Mexico. A tradition waiting to be revived, once we get back to...national television.

Lady Griz: Okay, hard to make the case for national TV here, since it took a long time for women to catch the camera's eye. But it is inarguable that during the Shannon Cate era, the Lady Griz "went national," with a victory over Wisconsin at Wisconsin, and a near upset of the USC Trojans in Los Angeles against the legendary Lisa Leslie. That game certainly fueled my hope that the Lady Griz could transcend the "Big Sky Power" tag, and become an important force nationally on the women's basketball scene. Unfortunately, Robin Selvig's Outlook was not my outlook, and I simply lost interest in the Lady Griz.

As for me, I find women's softball to be a riveting sport. I find myself, like football, to be watching games I have no rooting interest in, just to watch skilled athletes performing at incredibly high levels. And once Montana is on ESPN, playing in a national tournament, our softball team will definitely become the darlings of Montana women's athletics. Maybe the darlings, period.
 
National television coverage will be a hard thing to get since women's softball in general dosnt get much airtime except on espnU or you play in the SEC. if we can hold off Weber and host the tourney we will have a good chance of winning and making it to the national tourney. Hell, if Hoods in the circle, no matter where we play, we have a chance.
 
Paytonlives said:
Maybe not National yet... but next weeks Saturday game is on SWX

Wonderful...which means their app will only work in their "primary coverage area." Sheesh!
 
Good stuff Citay. I would add only that the Big Time also requires a forum topic on egriz! Win the BSC and Griz softball deserves its own forum!
 
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