Montana Grizzlies Sports, Football and Basketball : Grizzoulian

I'm not going to give much of an in-depth recap because I'm so sick of everything Gonzaga-related I can hardly stand.

With that, here's a quick outline of things we did in Sunday's game that would've meant a loss to any team, no matter how good they were:

• Come out flatter than Qvale's feet on the dunk above. At first, we didn't seem intimidated but once the game started we were a little brushed back. Not by the crowd, but by GU's speed. Their pressure on defense rattled us a bit. From the first offensive possession, I could tell we were going to have a tough time getting confidence.
  
• Not rebound. GU has a size and strength advantage at just about every position but we looked exceptionally bad on the boards. No boxing out, waiting for the ball to come down to us, etc.
• Not making and taking open shots. There were shots that could've kept us in the game. We didn't make several open shots and even more were left untaken. There were several times where an open shooter would get a pass, then take a dribble so he was no longer open and then take a contested shot.
• Go down early. We did this throughout last year. We'd go down by 15+ to teams that were a lot worse than he Zags. This has a lot to do with coming out flat. The problem has to be figured out and solution needs to be applied. We cannot do this all season.
• Miss foul shots. A big reason GU built the early lead it did was because we couldn't make our free throws and they made pretty much all of theirs. Not once did someone step to the line who made me think "alright, two easy points." That needs to be fixed.
• Don't be selfish. This wasn't a huge problem but I know there were at least two instances where a Griz player should've made another pass. One was not kicking it out for three while the other was not giving it up on a fast break.

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The Griz soccer team was outplayed in both of their matches this weekend but the total differential for the games ended up being a mere two goals.

The Griz lost 2-1 to Washington State in their season-opener on Friday. As I said I would, I made it to this game. The stats may or may not tell otherwise but Washington State controlled the play in this game. The Griz went up 1-0 on a lofty cross from the right side that found it's way into the left side of the net. Less than ten minutes later Wazzu tied it up as a forward got behind the D. Only three minutes later, the Cougars scored again from a shout outside the 18-yard box.

Like I said, the Griz were dominated in this match. They were outshot 19-4. That's a lot.

I wasn't able to make it to Sunday's game, a 1-0 loss to Gonzaga. The shots were closer but not as close as they should be. It was 15-10 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Next weekend the Griz travel to Oregon for matches at Oregon and Oregon State.

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The Griz soccer team opens its season tonight at South Campus Stadium against the Washington State Cougars. The Griz also face the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday at 2 against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Here's head coach Neil Sedgwick on the tough games:

“We’ll be facing two solid opponents from two strong conferences. Washington State we played down there the last two years – its good to have them back at home. That should be an exciting game for the supporters in Missoula. Same with Gonzaga, the matches with them have been close. They play in one of the most competitive conferences in the country. They are always a close challenge in a relatively close rivalry.”

Tonight will be my first Griz soccer game. It's kind of embarrassing to admit seeing as this is my third year on campus but it's better late than never.

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The University of Montana's first athletic competition of the 2007-2008 school year took place last night and, unfortunately, it was a loss. The volleyball team suffered a defeat at the hand of UC Irvine.

The University of Montana volleyball team lost 3-1 to UC Irvine Friday evening in the the season-opening match for both schools at the Ruby's Montana Invitational. The Anteaters improved to 1-0 with the 30-27, 24-30, 30-20, 30-20 win at the West Auxiliary Gym in Missoula.

The Griz (0-1) face a pair of matches on Saturday, the final day of the weekend tournament. UM has a noon (MTN) contest against Canisius (0-1) and a 7 p.m. tilt against Gonzaga (1-0). Gonzaga rolled to a 3-0 sweep of Canisius in Friday's earlier contest.

Three Grizzlies recorded double-figures in kills against the Anteaters, led by junior outside hitter Jade Roskam who recorded a team-best 14. Senior middle blocker Jessica Petersen tallied 11 kills while hitting a team-best .381. Also contributing offensively was junior outside hitter Micaela Parker who registered 10 kills with a .222 hitting percentage.

The Griz volleyball team didn't stay under .500 for long as they won the noon match against Canisius, 3-0. Wow, tough tournament for them. Travelled all the way from Buffalo too. Sorry ladies.

Yes, the Griz sports season is officially underway, time to put the rest of your life on hold for a few months.

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AOL Fanhouse has started doing a ridiculously early look at they they believe are the top 25 college hoops teams. Griz opponents Gonzaga and Washington State were up today as they came in at 15 and 11 respectively.

Each preview gives a brief intro to then sections on why the team should be ranked where it is, why it should be ranked higher and why it should be ranked lower. Seeing as these are both legit top 25 teams and we or may not crack the top 144, let's take a look at why they should be ranked lower for hope we can pull off the upset.

No. 15 Gonzaga

Why This Team Should Be Ranked Lower: There's still the issue of when and how effective Josh Heytvelt will be when he returns. Because of the rest of the WCC, Gonzaga can't afford an inconsistent start to the season. If they stumble, early there won't be much of an opportunity to recover in the polls.

I absolutely hate that Josh Heytvelt is on this team. He was caught with hallucinogenic mushrooms, a felony. Because he hadn't been caught before, he got off on community service or classes. Maybe it's just me, but you'd think a private Catholic university would take a tougher stance on this. If it was someone outside the starting 5, they'd be gone.

No. 11 Washington State

Why they should be ranked lower: The surprise factor is gone. The Cougars were the darling of the West Coast last season, and they were able to sneak up on just about everybody. Even when they got ranked highly, opponents still seemed to fear the Cougs' cross-state rival more than WSU during the Thursday/Saturday match ups. People will be ready for the Cougs this year, so the guerrilla tactics of college hoops are obsolete.

The hope with this team is that we can sneak up on them like they snuck up on everyone else. Maybe an early season loss will shake their confidence and remind them of the team they were two years ago.

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An official announcement is expected to be made later today but Wayne Tinkle spoke last night in Great Falls about the class of incoming recruits.

"We've signed a couple of junior-college players, one from Texas and one from Kansas, who I think will really help us in the backcourt," Tinkle said. "Along with the high school kids we signed in the fall, it really is shaping up to be a pretty darn good class."

"One kid's a 6-1 combo guard. The other kid's a 6-3, 6-4 wing who will add a lot of toughness and athleticism. Both are highly touted players," Tinkle said. "Then we've got a third kid who we've got to go through the process and finish the paperwork on who I think will really add to the class as well. We're pretty excited and looking forward to it."

Well, this is kind of what we expected. I'm almost certain the first two players are Lloyd Phillips and Sean Watson with the third questionable kid being Ceylon Elgin-Taylor. Phillips is listed at 5-10 and is more of a strong shooting speedster than a combo guard. He's closer to a pure point than people like Zach Graves and Matt Martin.

There was also news on the upcoming schedule:

"We're looking to go over and play Gonzaga in Spokane and it looks like we'll be in a tournament with Washington State in Spokane also," he said. "Air Force and Mississippi Valley will be there.

"We open up with Colorado State in Missoula. So we're going to be challenged the first couple of weeks out of the game, but that's the way we wanted it."

The games against Gonzaga and Wazzu in Spokane were expected but it's good to hear about some other teams. I love that we now know who we'll be opening with. It makes hoops season seem just a little bit closer.

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Get excited Griz hoops fans, sources say the University of Montana basketball team will face the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Washington State Cougars next season.

The game away game against the Zags will likely be held in early November and the Griz will compete in a holiday tournament at the Arena in Spokanistan.

Mark this down as one of the many reasons I like the Griz basketball program more than the football one. While the Griz football team plays Sisters of the Poor Nunnery and the Sentinel High School Freshman squad, the hoops programs schedules a mid-major powerhouse and one of the best 15 teams in the nation. Even during something of a down year, they faced West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Minnesota and Boise State; and they beat Minnesota and Boise State!

UPDATE
My brother, Eamon, had me take a look at Andy Katz's preseason top 25. Gonzaga is at 11 and Washington State is 5. I'm not saying I agree, but still, if someone who does this for a living think's they're this good then they have to be in the at least somewhere in that range.

I think we got a shot at the Zags. They play in a conference that isn't a whole lot better than ours and they their lost veteran point guard, Derek Raivio. If anyone knows how much that hurts, it's Griz fans. Oh, and what happened to being all upright and holy? This is a Catholic private school that charges students their weight in frankincense and they allow Josh Heytveldt  — the guy that got busted with mushrooms — back on the team. Then again, that fine, fine institution did produce this nut.

WSU is a bit tougher but you have to try to get up and make them think they're really not that good. You know, hope for some kind of mental collapse. They played way above their heads last year and their talent level doesn't quite match their record. Wait, Tony Bennett didn't move up to take a better job? Nevermind then.

I'm not gonna lie, these teams are probably way better than us but this is still going to be a lot of fun.

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Yes, this makes two entries in a row containing media from Deadspin, but I'm not going to talk about how great it was to see Tennessee head coach going topless or how Tinks should do the same. Instead, take a look at the bottom line: Gonzaga @ Portland. Yes, I know you and pretty much everyone didn't care about this game but for some crazy reason it was shown on the 'family of networks' Monday evening.

I watched this game and it was pretty awful. I don't understand why ESPN sends a crew to the tiny gym in Portland but can never bring one to the Zoo. I often watch these games and wonder how all these other schools can have such great fans but I've started to see what's going on. A majority of these big schools consistently have great fans but a lot of these other places have fans who are getting up and coming out for the game because it's being brought to you by the mightiest four letters in sports.

How great would it be to have ESPN in Missoula for a basketball game? I know I want to see painted fans and an absolutely packed Dahlberg. Seriously, ESPN and ESPN 2 do not have much better to show at some of these times so they might as well take a chance on a BSC game. They have billiards, darts and ping-pong on sometimes, why not some college hoops from out in the boonies?

And if we can't see Wayne Tinkle painted and shirtless then how 'bout Robin Selvig?

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