Our favorite Cat/Griz memories [montana mint superfans]
We asked the Montana Mint Superfans about their favorite memories from Cat-Griz weekend. Suprisingly, only some of them were about the games. From ending the streak to making fans out of non-Montanans, this is what the Superfans most fondly remember.
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): My favorite memory is when Corey Smith took the opening kick back in 2003’s Cat-Griz game. I swear to this day, I told my friend “Dude, this guy can fly. He’s going to take the opening kick to the house.” 8 seconds later my prophecy was true. It was unbelievable. The student section was going insane and there was so much snow and ice in the stands people were falling over, throwing snow. I was jumping up and down so much I lost my flip phone in the snow bank under my bench seat but it still worked which was a big plus too. I still get goose bumps watching it on YouTube.
The beginning of our own little streak that year – Lulay was the man.
Z-Train (Griz fan): Mine was in 2007 in Bozeman. The cats were soooooo cocky that year (maybe because I was staying with Coach and Hot Take Nate). I remember Lex Hilliard just rolling over cats. He went for 180 that day. It was rainy and muddy and he just seemed unstoppable, and he broke the career rushing TD record in that game. That same night, I had to buy a sweatshirt from a kid that said “griz suck” for $10 because I was cold. I walked home, put (and forgot) a pizza in the over, passed out, pizza turned into a black briquette, and woke up to Hot Take Nate smearing ice cream on my face and wrestling me at about 3:30 am. Just magical.
I also loved in 2008 when UM came out in those old school copper and gold jerseys and just POUNDED the cats 35-3. When the Griz ran out in those, no one knew it was going to happen, the crowd went absolutely insane. I remember a friend texting me and asking “who is this kid from Drummond?”, meaning Chase Reynolds. Cool game to see him break onto the stage.
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): The only Cat/Griz game I’ve attended in person was when the streak ended in 2002. It was cold, rainy, and depressing. I went to college out East, and would go into NYC every year where the Montana state society would rent out a bar and show the game. I would always drag some reluctant friends along, who would immediately fall in love with the Montana/Montana State rivalry. There were new people every year in our group, but their experience was always the same: (1) annoyed we were going to this bar (20 minute walk to train, 30 minute train ride, 20 minute cab), (2) get in a conversation with a friendly Montanan, (3) get drunk, (4) get super into the game, (5) talk about how great the experience for the rest of the year, and (6) continue to text me ten years later on Cat/Griz weekend about how much they loved it.
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): It’s so true how your random Non-Montanan friends fall in love with the rivalry. I took my friend from Virginia to the game in 2011 when we were #1 in the country and he loved it. He had a ton of Firefly Vodka, woke up the next day, saw the M, and asked if that mountain had been there the whole time.
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): The Bleskin Fiasco last year was memorable too, but not fun by the end of the game. We were all laughing so hard for the first few turnovers, but felt bad by the end of the game cause Bleskin is a Montana kid. We also posted something on the Mint poking fun at Bleskin that night for being a “general studies” major and suggesting he should find a more marketable degree. Easily the least popular thing we’ve ever posted. People, including Griz fans, were furious that we made fun of a Montana boy. We got emails for weeks.
Clarence Toole (Griz fan): I’ll never forget Cat-Griz 2011. This game was in Bozeman in the year after freshman DeNarius McGhee won Big Sky Offensive MVP and a moneyshot of other awards. People were comparing McGhee to Russell Wilson. Meanwhile, Jordy Johnson was making all kinds of noise in his first year as starter. There was a lot of talk around the league (or at least Montana) over who was the better QB. What we knew going into that game is the BSC had two fantastic young QBs (and a 3rd, Vernon Adams, who began his career at EWU in 2011). This was truly a tossup game. Griz were nervous after being shocked at home the year before.
One of the most memorable parts of the game was the tailgating. One of my MSU friends, a true blue-blood farmer from the Hi-Line, jerry-rigged a hot tub on the back of a flatbed trailer by heating up one of those 1100 gallon circular horse troughs with a series of of coils. I don’t think he or his friends went into the game. They slammed Busch Light and slurpled chicken wings off the bone like some king in Sword of the Stone.
In the stadium Cat fans were crazed. Confident, drunk, and led be the best QB since Lulay, they weren’t afraid to be vocal and borderline hostile. I had to walk past the student section to get to my seats, and some shirtless MSU student reached out and pulled the Griz beanie off my head. When I turned around he was some 130 pound bag of knees and elbows. He was in a crowd of drunk, cheering MSU students who were all screaming and having fun fucking with Griz fans. He threw my beanie back and I gave him a fairly light stiff arm that sent him back into the swarm of Bobcats. It was all in good razzing, but for about a 2-Mississippi I thought I was being attacked.
I loved that 2011 Griz team. Brock Coyle, Tonga Takai, Jordan Tripp, Caleb McSurdy Jordy Johnson, Dan ‘The Muscle’ Moore, Jabin Sambrano, Tru, and a small town folk hero Greg Hardy.
That squad delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to the Cats and beat them 36-10. It started off crazy with an MSU missed FG that shook ice from the uprights. Then UM answered with a FG and forced a McGhee to take a safety. He looked human for the first time, and I actually started feeling bad for the dude. Griz followed up with a TD in the second quarter, and led 12-0 at half. McGhee threw a TD to start the 3rd quarter but then the Griz took control. Johnson threw the ball like 50 yards in the air to hit Sambrano deep in the middle of the field for a TD. The Griz then went ground and pound with Dan Moore, a power-lifter/halfback/moster-truck. There was nothing that Cat team could do to slow down the Griz. Holy shit I miss that team!
Coach (Cats fan): Cat-Griz brings up entirely different memories and feelings for me, especially as a Cat fan. While Clarence, Z, and Bear Tycoon look back fondly and with warm smiles on their faces, I usually remember days of heartache (and weeks following).
I realize it was (somewhat) my choice to become a Bobcat fan and I could have chosen either side, but man did our generation ever jump into this rivalry during a rough stretch for the Cats. That streak completely removed any joy surrounding this game for a solid 10 to 12 years. I remember crying and being teased endlessly as school. I honestly think I have PTSD because of the streak. I want to look back on those games and watch cool highlights, but deep down it’s just too hard and brings back too many horrible memories. I can still hear my dad yelling or throwing his hat and my mom sneaking off into their bedroom to watch Lifetime. I’ve never wanted to punch someone more than I did during those games.
Had the Cats won a game or two during the streak years I probably wouldn’t hate the griz so much. Alas, we lost 16 in a row and um fans let us know it year after year and still do, thus I have nothing but pure hatred for the program and many of the fans.
I remember the game in ’97 sucking so bad. I watched from the standing room only area and remember being so pumped that the streak might end as Eric Kinnamon scampered into the end zone to give the Cats the lead, only to have my heart ripped out and eaten right in front of me. And by a GFH grad at that! How could you Kris Heppner? Yet another Cat-Griz scar.
1998 wasn’t much better, but it didn’t sting quite as badly as 97. Yet another GFH legend (Dallas Neil) rips my heart out and eats it in front of me. What’s that? Another Cat-Griz flesh wound that will never heal.
The two most enjoyable Cat-Griz memories I have are from 2002 (the year Junior Adams and Travis Lulay combined to end the streak) and 2010 and 2012 (both wins coming in the depths of Wa-Griz).
In 2010 I watched Michael Rider seal the deal on a late pick and remember being so excited to go to school on Monday morning. I clipped out the Missoulian front page and hung it proudly on my wall right next to my bed. I wanted to pin it to my sweatshirt and wear it around campus proudly, but I knew a thin piece of newspaper would never stay intact even with the strongest safety pins.
In 2012, I was fortunate enough to attend my first ever Cat-Griz game in Missoula and man was I nervous. I was on edge; ready for a fight, equipped with witty comebacks I’d practiced all week long. As it turns out my wife and I got our very own seats (the only two in the row) at the top of the west side of the stadium. I didn’t have to crawl over one Griz fan and the people in front of us were actually quite pleasant. As the final seconds ticked off I snapped a photo of the scoreboard (16-6 BOBCATS) and shook hands with the nice folks in front of us. Then, I looked to my right and noticed Hot Take Nate (clad in a retro Starter Bobcat jacket) hanging over the railings under the scoreboard yelling POOR GRIZZLIES to the SECURITY STAFF. Of course, they hardly paid him any attention. He continued to yell until the Bobcats came over and began belting Stand Up and Cheer.
All in all, there have been some incredible highs for me in this rivalry. Unfortunately, there have been some incredibly deep lows. If we lose Saturday I’ll probably retreat to my room and not come out until Monday at the earliest. Every loss makes me hate um a little more. A win Saturday would go a long way in healing the pain of the woeful 2015 season. We need it way more than the Griz. Here’s to hoping we play with the urgency we need to.
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