-
Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
Smoke screen?
- Thread starter signedbewildered
- Start date
Bisonation
Well-known member
Raider said:
Similar result?? I keed I kid..
Grisly Fan
Well-known member
Yeah, especially the "down" part...wbtfg said:
I heard that the University is going to bring in Smokey Bear in as a guest mascot alongside Monte for the NDSU game.
Who would schedule a game in August? Wayne Hogan? Jesus!
It won't be cold but it will be smokey. Everyone is just antsy for it to be game time!
Interesting read. Thanks AJ. I think it's smoky though. Smokey is the bear.
Griz football: Play continues through smokey conditions
by AJ Mazzolini
Take a sigh of relief football fans; just don't inhale too deeply. The Grizzlies' game with preseason No. 1 North Dakota State will go on as planned.
Changing winds and dry conditions have made Montana a tinderbox this month, diluting air quality to a point less than ideal for athletics. Still, the air quality has not reached -- or come close to -- a level that would cause UM to consider calling off Saturday's contest with the Bison.
"It would have to be really, really, really, really bad for us to shut it down," said Chuck Maes, Montana's associate athletic director of internal operations. "Not saying never because you just don't know, but for the game itself, it would be really hard to cancel it."
Explosive wildfires in most all directions from Missoula have led to daily air quality checks whose results have turned up unhealthy findings. That's unhealthy not just for sensitive groups, but all folks.
Missoula's air has at times surpassed 90 on the Air Quality Index (micrograms of smoke pollutant per cubic meter of air space), an unhealthy amount for even one hour of outdoor activity. Such a level comes with visibility of under 5 miles. As of Monday evening, the air had settled into a merely unhealthy-for-some category (50-89 µg/m3).
The official university policy on air quality recommends cancellations only if conditions become hazardous, where pollutants rise to 300 µg/m3 and visibility drops to 1 1/4 miles or less.
That's still a long way off. Even a "very unhealthy" prognosis (more than 200 µg/m3) calls for a cull on activities that do not increase an individual's respiratory rate.
At the unhealthy stage, "student-athletes with a history of respiratory problems are to be monitored" and "practice for these individuals or other individuals who develop respiratory problems will be restricted," but practices will continue in full.
Head athletic trainer J.C. Weida is in charge of monitoring both the conditions and football players' reactions to them, making player health a priority.
For now the smoke isn't so much an issue as an oddity.
"It's kinda weird out here; you can barely see the mountains," Griz quarterback Brady Gustafson said. "You've got to get used to it because who knows what we'll have Aug. 29."
***
Football programs practicing for their season openers around the region have been slowed by the outdoor conditions, teams from Hamilton High up the Bitterroot Valley to Eastern Washington University outside Spokane canceling practices.
So far Montana has trudged forward, continuing to hold its practices outside in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
"I know in the past when we've had smoke, where a high school would cancel, we wouldn't cancel," Maes said. "We just let people know whether you should be here or not. If you have problems, we try to get everybody educated on what the smoke means."
Air quality may keep some fans away from the stadium this weekend, one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory, but the smoke won't have any affect on the broadcast, Maes assured. ESPN -- the network's SEC Game of the Week crew will be on site -- will televise the game live nationally as part of the ESPN FCS Kickoff.
The only likely difference for them, Maes said, is in their preparation shots. After arriving this Wednesday, the ESPN cameramen would usually seek out "beauty shots" of Missoula and the campus, something that might take a little creativity in the haze.
"But weather is something they deal with on a weekly basis down there," Maes said. "Smoke is nothing compared to tornadoes and hurricanes."
Smoke is nothing new to Missoula either. Dry summers leave wildfires lingering into early fall every few years and the university has a plan of action in place to deal with it regarding athletics.
The 2012 fire season created some of the worst conditions to start a football season in Maes's 18 years at UM, culminating in a choking cloud that descended that September when Liberty visited the Grizzlies.
Maes remembered the smoke was so thick in Missoula the local Big Sky High football team, on which Maes's son played, rescheduled its game up north in Bigfork. At the university though, it was business as usual.
The game with the Bison will kick off at 1:30 p.m. in Missoula -- and nowhere else. Moving an event of this size is even more difficult than canceling it altogether, Maes said.
Smoke could worsen in the next few days as westerly winds bring new pollutants into Montana, the Missoula County Health Department warns. A high pressure ridge will also push down new smoke, settling it into the valley.
Griz football: Play continues through smokey conditions
by AJ Mazzolini
Take a sigh of relief football fans; just don't inhale too deeply. The Grizzlies' game with preseason No. 1 North Dakota State will go on as planned.
Changing winds and dry conditions have made Montana a tinderbox this month, diluting air quality to a point less than ideal for athletics. Still, the air quality has not reached -- or come close to -- a level that would cause UM to consider calling off Saturday's contest with the Bison.
"It would have to be really, really, really, really bad for us to shut it down," said Chuck Maes, Montana's associate athletic director of internal operations. "Not saying never because you just don't know, but for the game itself, it would be really hard to cancel it."
Explosive wildfires in most all directions from Missoula have led to daily air quality checks whose results have turned up unhealthy findings. That's unhealthy not just for sensitive groups, but all folks.
Missoula's air has at times surpassed 90 on the Air Quality Index (micrograms of smoke pollutant per cubic meter of air space), an unhealthy amount for even one hour of outdoor activity. Such a level comes with visibility of under 5 miles. As of Monday evening, the air had settled into a merely unhealthy-for-some category (50-89 µg/m3).
The official university policy on air quality recommends cancellations only if conditions become hazardous, where pollutants rise to 300 µg/m3 and visibility drops to 1 1/4 miles or less.
That's still a long way off. Even a "very unhealthy" prognosis (more than 200 µg/m3) calls for a cull on activities that do not increase an individual's respiratory rate.
At the unhealthy stage, "student-athletes with a history of respiratory problems are to be monitored" and "practice for these individuals or other individuals who develop respiratory problems will be restricted," but practices will continue in full.
Head athletic trainer J.C. Weida is in charge of monitoring both the conditions and football players' reactions to them, making player health a priority.
For now the smoke isn't so much an issue as an oddity.
"It's kinda weird out here; you can barely see the mountains," Griz quarterback Brady Gustafson said. "You've got to get used to it because who knows what we'll have Aug. 29."
***
Football programs practicing for their season openers around the region have been slowed by the outdoor conditions, teams from Hamilton High up the Bitterroot Valley to Eastern Washington University outside Spokane canceling practices.
So far Montana has trudged forward, continuing to hold its practices outside in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
"I know in the past when we've had smoke, where a high school would cancel, we wouldn't cancel," Maes said. "We just let people know whether you should be here or not. If you have problems, we try to get everybody educated on what the smoke means."
Air quality may keep some fans away from the stadium this weekend, one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory, but the smoke won't have any affect on the broadcast, Maes assured. ESPN -- the network's SEC Game of the Week crew will be on site -- will televise the game live nationally as part of the ESPN FCS Kickoff.
The only likely difference for them, Maes said, is in their preparation shots. After arriving this Wednesday, the ESPN cameramen would usually seek out "beauty shots" of Missoula and the campus, something that might take a little creativity in the haze.
"But weather is something they deal with on a weekly basis down there," Maes said. "Smoke is nothing compared to tornadoes and hurricanes."
Smoke is nothing new to Missoula either. Dry summers leave wildfires lingering into early fall every few years and the university has a plan of action in place to deal with it regarding athletics.
The 2012 fire season created some of the worst conditions to start a football season in Maes's 18 years at UM, culminating in a choking cloud that descended that September when Liberty visited the Grizzlies.
Maes remembered the smoke was so thick in Missoula the local Big Sky High football team, on which Maes's son played, rescheduled its game up north in Bigfork. At the university though, it was business as usual.
The game with the Bison will kick off at 1:30 p.m. in Missoula -- and nowhere else. Moving an event of this size is even more difficult than canceling it altogether, Maes said.
Smoke could worsen in the next few days as westerly winds bring new pollutants into Montana, the Missoula County Health Department warns. A high pressure ridge will also push down new smoke, settling it into the valley.
