True Fans - Washington Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Montana

“Neither snow, nor rain... nor gloom of night..." -Herodotus (500 BC). 

True fans braved slushy skies to cheer the University of Montana Griz to yesterday's FCS Playoff Round 2 win, leading to Round 3 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium!

Best People Watching- Fans On the Field, FCS Semi Final - Missoula, Montana

University of Montana Griz fans defy being crammed into any stereotypical box. So a hometown football game provides ample people watching delight. You see Fifth-Avenue-attired city folk next to a bona fide rancher sporting Carhartt coveralls, a Stetson hat with fleece ear flaps, and an impressive greying walrus handlebar mustache. Little kids with their parents and too-cool teenage siblings in the same row as octogenarians in original booster club winter parkas. And of course the make-it-epic fans in full length furry coats - including bear-face hood and clawed paws that drop from the sleeve cuffs. Oh, and we can’t forget Section 104’s beguiling Twinkie tossing man. (What does it MEAN??! & how DOES he smuggle them all past security?!)  Think of any “group” and you’ll see them on game day in Missoula, Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium. 

And the unifying factor among them all: They love the Griz - for whatever reason - enough to show up and yell themselves hoarse in concert-level 95+ dB roars. 

IF I were in an especially schmaltzy mood, I’d end with: And in them all beats the heart of a Grizzly. 
But I’m not, so: Go Griz - all the way in Frisco!!!

Go Griz!…to FCS Semi-Finals - Missoula, Montana

Mount Sentinel’s iconic M will be lit again for Saturday’s  FCS Semi-Final playoff game. Go Griz!

Last Night’s Last Fans - University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

Giant snowflakes didn’t dissuade dedicated fans like these two from cheering the U of Montana Griz to last night’s playoff win that advanced them to the FCS quarterfinal round on December 7, 2023, back at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Go Griz... - Missoula, Montana

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for college football under the Big Sky - as attested to by 26,182 fans in attendance at Washington-Grizzly Stadium - even if the hometown Griz lost bitterly to their cross-State rivals, the MSU Bobcats.  (Sigh.)

Consolation prize: 412,067 pounds of food were collected for key food banks in each team's city.

Go Griz - Missoula, Montana

It’s gonna be a hot time in the big town tonight as Missoula gets ready for the University of Montana Grizzly football team to host San Diego’s Toreros in tomorrow’s playoff game. Depending on the outcome, tomorrow’s match could be the last on-the-job game for retiring Griz coach Mick Delaney, revered as an all-around great human being, as well as a noteworthy football coach. Go Griz!