Montana Grizzlies Sports, Football and Basketball : Grizzoulian

The posts haven't been as frequent as we sink into the offseason and the Missoula weather starts to change but here's something new: the first ever Grizzoulian podcast. I hope to do one more this month then make it a more consistent feature in the fall.

My guest on the first one is University of Montana Athletic Director Jim O'Day. We start by talking about next years hoops team then move onto football scheduling, the draft, the expansion and more.



To download the half-hour long podcast, right-click on the link below and select 'download link target' or something similar.

• Download The Grizzoulian podcast

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks

For the reporters out there who think they can endlessly update their live blogs on NCAA bowling, watch out. Your days of giving up-to-the-minute, detailed reports on strikes and spares are over. The NCAA has set a limit on the number of updates that can be given in a live blog on an NCAA event. If the reporter exceeds the limit, they'll lose their press credentials.

Deadspin has the complete .pdf and a list of just how many updates you can give per sport:

Fall Sports
Soccer: Five times per half; one at halftime
Field Hockey: Five times per half; one at halftime
Volleyball: Three per Competition; one in between Competitions
Football: Three per quarter; one at halftime
Cross Country: Ten per day/session
Men's Water Polo: Three per quarter; one at the halftime

Winter Sports
Ice Hockey: Three per period - one in between (includes overtime)
Basketball: Five times per half; one at halftime; two times per overtime period
Wrestling: Ten per session
Indoor Track and Field: Ten per day/session
Swimming and Diving: Ten per day/session
Bowling: Ten per day/session
Gymnastics: Ten per session

The best response I've seen to this comes from a commenter on Deadspin:

Help Wanted: NCAA Blog Wrangler

Must have prior experience looking over other people's shoulders. Abacus provided for counting, but applicant must procure own horse-and-buggy ride to/from athletic facility.

The reason behind the regulation: the NCAA is worried fans will go to a live blog instead of getting their updates from media who paid for the writes to broadcast the game. Yeah, right. I read a lot of live blogs and I've never thought of reading one instead of watching or listening to a game. Who would? Well, I could watch this game on tv... or I could read a sarcastic and satirical post on it without any play-by-play. Right.

The NCAA needs to wake up. Not only does this have little effect seeing as most live blogs are done by people who themselves are at home watching games watching TV, but it also negatively affects college sports. More coverage means more exposure and attention for athletes. It means more information for fans. Why limit that when, realistically, it isn't hurting anyone? On top of limiting the big time sports, they limit posts on other, non-revenue, ones as well. If a member of the press wants to provide an endless stream of updates to a cross country or a track meet that otherwise has no media exposure, why stop them?

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments
• Trackbacks

You may not have heard this, but there's more than one sport played by the Griz during the fall. Golf happens to be one of those other, little-known sports. For some reason, we don't have a guy's team. Not that I'd have any chance at all at making it, but it's kind of odd. Anyway, the ladies finished 14th at the Nebraska Invitational.

The University of Montana golf team shot a final-round 314 on Tuesday to finish the Nebraska Invitational in 14th overall with a 54-hole total of 964. The Grizzlies third-round score was their best of the tournament, having carded a 331 and a 319 on Monday’s first day at the Woodland Hills Golf Club in Eagle, Neb.

Texas State took the team title with a 45-over-par 897. TSU’s Linn Gustafsson earned individual medalist honors with a 1-under-par 212, eight strokes better than the trio of players who tied for second.

Freshman Carissa Simmons was Montana’s top finisher in the tournament, firing a final-round 76 to match senior Brittany Williamson for the low tournament round of any Grizzly. Simmons, from Boise, Idaho, finished tied for 26th overall with a three-round total of 233 (77-80-76).

The MontanaGrizzlies.com article fails to mention how many teams were in the tournament. That's not good.

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Class resumed as normal yesterday as students returned from exotic trips to places like Cabo, Cancun, San Diego and Boise. Just about every sport had games/events over break but if you look at the results, they went on a mental trip of their own.

• The men's tennis team went 1-4 over the break as they went 1-2 in at the Red Lion Spring Break Tournament at Boise State. They also lost to Nevada and Sac State in the opening weekend of Spring Break.
• The women's tennis team did manage to end a 6-match losing streak with a win over Lewis and Clark State. No Griz team should ever lose to a team with a school name like that. Well, unless it's in chess or scrabble or maybe slack-lining. They couldn't keep it going though, as the ladies lost to Idaho on Friday. They are now 2-12. Ouch.
  
• The Griz golf team traveled down to Cali for the UC-Davis hosted Anteater Invitational. Anyone know if there was an actual anteater on hand? Or is that their mascost? Had there been an anteater there it would've been the most interesting thing for a Griz fan as our team finished last out of 15 teams.
• Last week, I touted the Griz lacrosse team a bit and told Griz fans to head to Wash-Griz to check out our solid squad in a few matches. There Griz went 0-2 in those matches with losses to Montana State (come on) and Utah Valley State College. Another school we shouldn't lose to due to a name that just makes them sound bad. I know they were #4, but we were ranked higher and we're University of Montana. Named for a whole state... without a 'state' attached.
• The Griz track team, who I also touted before taking my own break, did manage to meet my expectations as they kept their eyes on the prize instead of the wet t-shirt contests they might be missing by staying in Missoula. The runners, throwers and whoever else dominated at the Al Manuel Invitation held here in Missoula. The Griz swept the weekend as both the men and women each won duel meets over Easter Washington and Montana State. Sixteen individuals qualified for the Big Sky Championship — yeah, it's kind of odd you can do that in the first meet of that season — and thirteen won their events.
  

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments
• Trackbacks

The golf season in both high school and college has always really confused me. I remember the UM team finishing sometime after the rest of the students had gone home and started right back up in the fall. It seems like they play the whole year and I'm pretty sure they kind of do.

Anyway, the Griz golf team finished up the fall portion of it's season with a 5th place finish at the TaylorMade Aztec Fall Classic, what a great name. UM finished in a tie with Notre Dame while Sac State finished in 10th, Portland State in 14th and Northern Arizona in 16th.

The season starts up again in April with the Northern Arizona Invitational. What if football or basketball had to do this? Could you imagine the Griz making it up to #2 in the rankings, being undefeated in conference play then just calling it a season until they could go outside without seeing their breaths? Sure golf is best in the summer and we can't have students playing then but this just seems a little weird.

In other golf news, UM might purchase Highlands golf course so athletic and academic buildings can be built on the current 9-hole course.

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments
• Trackbacks

So they're probably pretty quick when it comes to adding up their scores.

From an article on MontanaGrizzlies.com, the women's golf team at the University of Montana made NGCA's All-Scholar Team Top 25, coming in at  #16 with a 3.567 GPA.

Krista Swanson, a junior in 2005-06, who had a 4.00 GPA in elementary education, won the UM President's Award (the highest individual GPA over the previous two semesters) in April for the second consecutive year.

Swanson and Jasi Acharya, a senior in 2005-06, who had a 3.79 grade point average in business administration, were named to the first team of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII At-Large Team in May.

My personal goal for next year is to beat them, in GPA, definitely not golf. From the UM golf course, my slice would land somewhere up on Sentinel.

• Send To A Friend
• Print This Article
• Comments
• Trackbacks