Montana Grizzly Football Season 2009 Begins

University of Montana Grizzly Football dominates autumn Saturdays in Missoula.

Organizers of any other Saturday event in Missoula during September, October, and November MUST take into account whether or not it is a HOME GAME day for the Griz.

Even road games mean thousands of folks will be glued to television sets at home or out at local sports bars.

I would have to be totally out of touch if I didn't include some mention of Grizzly Football in this blog, and so I have added a link to their schedule, which will also include game results.

This link sends visitors to my Grizschedule blog that includes a Google Spreadsheet I have created. The Google Spreadsheet is updated with game results and final scores during the season.

I also retained the spreadsheet of the Grizzlies' remarkable 2008 Season, which included a playoff run to the National Championship, which they lost, unfortunately, to the University of Richmond.

The Grizzlies have a new quarterback this year, and that sometimes means a shaky first few games. Luckily, the Griz schedule starts at home, Saturday September 5, against Western State College of Gunnison, Colorado, a small school with enrollment of 2,500 and a stadium that seats 4,000.

The second game this season will be on Saturday, September 12, at the University of California at Davis. UC Davis came to Missoula last year and nearly picked off the Griz, but fell just short 24-29.

I'm certain that the Aggies will be gunning for the Griz this year when they have them in the 10,000-seat confines of Aggie Stadium. We shall see.

I noticed that the Grizzlies are ranked #3 in the nation in the pre-season FCS poll, behind Appalachian State (#1) and the University of Richmond (#2). The Griz did not receive any "first place" votes in the pre-season poll, which kind of indicates that their high ranking is based on previous performance and reputation.

Appalachian State brings a big record of success with national championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Appy State also brings back last year's Walter Payton Award winner in Quarterback Armanti Edwards.

Richmond is the team that beat the Griz in last year's national championship game. A re-match would be cool, but that is a LONG way off in the future.

GO GRIZ!

Semi-domestic Urban Whitetail Deer

I headed outside and fired up the big ol' lawn tractor, all 35 horsepower, 54-inch cutting deck and all, ready to attack the South African veldt that overtakes my yard every summer.

Firing up to full throttle, I cruised up the driveway and engaged the blade, while two whitetail bucks just stood there 20 feet away, as casual as zoo animals.

The older one looked at me as if to say, "Your not the first tractor that I've seen, and certainly NOT the BIGGEST! Putt, putt, putt."

A bit later, upstairs with my camera I spotted "junior" here, taking a "pause" during his lawn dinner to doo his duty in my yard. There are HUNDREDs of little deer reminders in my front yard alone, and thousands more out back in the open area. They even jumped my four-foot chain link fence to get at young trees and shrubs, and left a deposit in the middle of the back yard to show total disdain for my fence.

A balancing act of the first order. (Clicking on photos will open a larger views)

Can I Watch TV in Heaven?

Have you ever wondered what happens after....?

Does everything just go on as usual except...we are not "here" technically?

I wonder if there is television in the hereafter.

What kind of ultimate reward would NOT include the ability to watch our favorite programs? What would death be like without Dr. House, Grey's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives?

Would "reality tv" take on an entirely new meaning for souls that have passed over?

And will Monday Night Football still be on? And still on Monday?

Would there be only one channel and we all have to watch whatever someone else decides?

And who decides anyway? St. Peter? Who's got the power to say "No TV tonight"?

Are there football fans in Heaven? Or do they get to watch from hell? Or just Raiders fans?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, are there commercials and summer re-runs in Heaven?

The Skill of Deceit

The most skillful deceiver in the World today is the PC Hacker. Some of these people steal identifications, some steal credit card numbers, some infect and destroy what others have built.

Today I read about the "record holder" for credit card and debit card data theft. While he was under indictment for stealing 40 MILLION credit account numbers, he stole another 130 MILLION!

His name is Albert Gonzalez. He worked as an informant for the U.S. Secret Service. And, while he assisted the U.S. Govt in tracking down fellow hackers, he was simultaneously funneling information to the very same hackers and criminals about ongoing investigations, etc.

It is difficult to say which job was his sideline and which was his primary. We do know his career fields: Cyber criminal. Thief. Con Man.

Is it the "challenge" that leads people to become computer criminals? Do they enjoy pitting their skills and intelligence against those who seek to defeat them? It sounds almost like a video game! Is it just a "game" to them? (I was a victim of debit card fraud last year and it was not a game to me.)

Where do these "hackers" obtain their skills? Who exactly teaches them how to "hack"?

As individuals we are defenseless against them. We depend upon others to defeat them. We hope that the anti-virus, anti-spyware companies like Symantec, McAfee, AVG, etc. have hackers that are as good as the criminal hackers.

Are the good guys as "good" as the bad guys? And, how many of the "good" guys are working both sides?

Fifty-Six degrees of Separation from Summer

Just dropping a short note to mention that it rained again all day yesterday, and so far all of today, plus wind...oh LOTS of wind!

The thermometer on the deck says 56 degrees...3 pm...Friday, AUGUST 14th.

The puppy won't stay outside long enough to do her business...she passes gas like her daddy!! Speaking of smell....

One good thing...starting to smell like football season outside. At least the Montana Grizzlies can practice in GAME-LIKE CONDITIONS! I imagine the players are glad that it is not 98 degrees...a more typical August 14 temperature.

Keeping up with Crabgrass

Now that the rain has stopped, our lawn, crabgrass and all, has been running absolutely WILD the past two days.

I think that is what exhausts me most about summer: Mowing a lawn that grows so fast that I can actually see the difference in height from day to day. In fact, with an acre to mow, it sometimes take two days (mornings only) during the hottest part of summer.


By the end of day two, I can see an inch growth from where I began on day one, and will need to cut again in just two days. Two inches of growth every four days. Crazy. I am so glad this only goes on for a couple of months. Our problem is that we have sunlight from five in the morning until ten at night. That is a lot of growing time each day.


A quick solution would be to stop watering, but the wife would never allow that. I guess we don't really want the place to look abandoned.


At least the price of gasoline is better this summer. Last year I had to pay nearly $25 for a 5-gallon can of gas. I only get about three cuts out of 5 gallons.

When it RAINS in Montana

We don't receive a lot of rain out here. In the winter (and fall and spring) we receive SNOW.

During the few months when we enjoy relatively warm weather around Missoula, rain showers are few and far between, other than FAIR week, which has always been a problem. So much so, that a few years ago, the Western Montana Fair changed its schedule to avoid this first week of August, when it not only rains, it POURS!

True to form, this week we have rain, and wind, and cold temperatures. High today only 67, tonight: expected low of 49. This is August. Everywhere but here it seems.

Another thing about the rain...in Montana. The water is always COLD! Does not matter what month...does not matter what time of day or night...the rain water is ALWAYS COLD. I wore a jacket today. August 7th.

(Photo taken one June morning in Montana)
One year I was in Butte Montana, August 9th, 1974, the night Nixon resigned as President. Frost on the ground the next morning in Butte, and the snow line on the mountains was just above the city's tallest building. Ever been to Butte? Not a skyscraper in sight.

You may know, perhaps, that it snows somewhere in Montana every month of the year. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in Glacier Park, where I have been snowed in at the top of Logan Pass on August 15 a couple of years ago.

ALWAYS, There is the Weather

Mother Nature seems never to tire of surprising us with shifts in weather.

This morning, just two days after enduring 98 degree temperatures, it was 59 degrees here at my house. By 10 am, it was 63. I think the warmest temp all day was 74. Amazing.

This afternoon the wind blew SO hard, the smoke from wildfires southwest of us swept into our valley and blocked out the sun.

This evening, Severe Storm Warnings for thunderstorms and two-inch hail to the northeast of us.

Most amazing. We even received some rain.

Over the past few years I have seen heat waves and cold spells like never before. I don't know if the global weather changes are being reflected in our Montana weather, but I wouldn't be surprised at all.

This past weekend, the very hot and dry weather was something we endured while out camping in the semi-wilds of western Montana. Here is a link to that post: Gruggers Way - Moving Along in Life: the RV Phase

Smoke in my Eyes - Wildfire or Forest Fire

Whether we call them "wildfires" or the outdated term "forest fires," the annual summer time "burn season" has arrived out West.

Here in western Montana we have smoke in the air and a nasty wildfire up in the mountains about 20 miles from me. Authorities have been letting it burn for the past week because it was small and nearly inaccessible, way up high in the Bitterroot Mountains, due west of the town of Stevensville, and physically, between the Bass Creek and Kootenai Creek drainages.

(NOAA.gov stock photo)

Yesterday afternoon the wind picked up and again last night, so that the fire has quadrupled in size and is moving in more than one direction. We will have to wait to see if authorities decide that it is time to work some suppression methods on the lower portion of the fire, nearest to the mouth of the Kootenai drainage. The hiking trails have been closed for over a week.

Overall, Fire Danger in our area is currently listed at "Very High," which is just one step below the highest rating of "Extreme."

Right now, the wind has settled down and we even received just a sprinkling of rain, which is what is needed most.

We have all learned to keep our eyes open during the summer months and exercise extreme care with campfires. It has become a way of life for those of us who have chosen to live here.

Here is a link to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which maintains a complete list and status of wildfires.