marc beat me to the punch on tonight's 1-AA championship contest featuring t.s.o.a. alma mater (can i still call it that even though i remain 4 credits short of graduating?) James Madison University and some college from one of those underpopulated Handsome Western States.
OK, so Montana is pretty fearsome what with their near-annual trips to the finals and a huge throng of supporters who have traveled to Chattanooga to see them. but what's really important here is the wager between me and loyal Griz supporter and native Montanan David L. in the tradition of mayors from opposing World Series cities, we discussed betting products native to the regions of the respective schools. after some debate, i'm prepared to put a bottle of Shenandoah Valley wine on the table, hopefully from Landwirt Vineyards in Harrisonburg (backup is North Mountain Vineyard and Winery). Dave made a preliminary offer of some authentic Montana Elk Jerky and i think putting up 1lb. of that should be sufficient. Let's go Dukes!
Posted by jamie at December 17, 2004 01:33 PMI can't believe you stole my line for your nefarious purposes. Grizzlies scoop up victories like so many salmon. Dukes powder their wigs with the talcum of victory, or something similarly foppish. Next you'll have an entry titled "Blow, Icy Winds, Blow!"
I was gonna call you today and suggest that you should wager as Virginia's delicacy a carton of cigarettes. But wine will do nicely, thank you. Mom has been informed of the potential need to make a shipment of venison jerky, though she, like me, is confident that it won't come to that.
Good luck tonight. I leave you with the haunting words of the UM fight song:
Up with Montana, boys,
down with the foe,
Good ol' Grizzlies
out for a victory;
We'll shoot our backs
'round the foemen's line;
Hot time is coming now,
oh, brother mine.
Up with Montana, boys,
down with the foe,
Good old Grizzlies
triumph today;
And the squeal of the pig
will float on the air;
From the tummy of
the Grizzly Bear.
by the way, alma mater is, according to Webster's, "the college or school that one attended." So say it loud, proud Duke.
Posted by: David at December 17, 2004 07:49 PMTwo minutes left, Dukes up 31-21. It seems that squeal I hear is coming from James Madison's tummy.
Congrats, apes! I'll see if I can hook you up with some kind of combo pack of elk, deer, bison--all of Montana's great herbivores.
Wow. That is an amazing fight song. I particularly like the word "foemen". Even though your team lost, David, I hope you manage to have a merry Grizmas.
Posted by: jim at December 19, 2004 10:21 PMyes, JMU certainly gave the Griz a reading of the Federalist Papers that they aren't likely to soon forget. i look forward to receiving my package of dried game meats from the Big Sky State. at least we finally have something to feel good about other than that Field Hockey National Championship in '94. way to go, boys!
Posted by: jamie at December 20, 2004 11:00 AMDid anyone catch the highlights from the game? I saw an image of a Mt defender jumping toward the QB and punching him in the face. Did I see it correctly? It appeared to be on par with the hit Darius put on Robert Ferguson yesterday.
Posted by: jake at December 20, 2004 01:19 PMi did see that highlight and it looked pretty blatant. but that's typical behavior from the football factory in Missoula. i'm betting they're about one p.o.'d "tutor" away from a major scandal.
Posted by: jamie at December 21, 2004 09:51 AMHey, that reminds me. Didn't Craig Ochs go to Colorado, then transfer to a 1-AA school for playing time? That sounds so familiar! In that case, correct me if I'm wrong, Larimer, but doesn't that mean Montana Cheats?
Posted by: jake at December 21, 2004 10:32 AMMerry Grizmas to you, too, Jim. (What a nice young man.) Yes, the Griz fight song rules. I love it when schools never update the lyrics to their fight songs even when they contain turns of phrase that haven't been heard since the ragtime era.
I never saw the punch in question. Really, I never did.
Craig Ochs transferred because he had four concussions in a year at Colorado and Gary Barnett gave him shit for it. (Plus Ochs respects women, and Barnett gave him even more shit for that.) So Ochs left, then found what he was searching for in Missoula close to a year later. Marshall on the other hand, planned to move up from I-AA to I-A, and so a year ahead of time put out an APB for ringers at every university, bail bond office and jail in Florida. Then they drove a wagon full of cash, corn liquor and fatback onto the lawn of the Moss residence.