My Wedding

Griz Baseball

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Montana Griz baseball is in full swing. The team is currently on a 12 game winning streak.  They finished up a three game series against Eastern Washington earlier today.  They looked good this weekend with some weaknesses here and there.  In game one Hunter Day started on the mound for the Griz. He gave up a 2-run homerun that put the Eagles on top early.  The Griz would come back to score two runs in the bottom of the first to tie up the game.  After the first inning Day really began to settle down, and did not give up another run until the ninth inning.  Meanwhile the Griz poured in on scoring three in the second and two in the third.  They  would not score again until the sixth inning. They scored one in the sixth to take an 8-2 lead.  Following that they scored two more in the seventh to put the score at 10-2.  This did not discourage the Eagles though.  The Eagles came on strong in the ninth, scoring three runs.  Hunter Day officially pitched 8 1/3 innings with 6 strikeouts and 3 earned runs.  He was relieved in the ninth by Steve Attleberger a hard throwing lefty.  Attleberger gave up 2 runs in the ninth to bring the Eagles total to 5.  The Griz put an end to the scoring and finished the game with a final of 10-5.  The Griz finished the game with 10 runs on 17 hits and 2 errors, next to the Eagles 5 runs on 8 hits and 4 errors.  The player of the game was Brad Bell who went 3-4 with a triple, double and single only a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle.

In game two the Griz had Ryan Fowler starting on the mound.  Fowler also gave up two runs in the top of the first inning.  The Griz would then scratch and claw to score a run in the bottom of the first.  The Eagles did not score in the top of the second, but the Griz came back with the bats and scored two more runs in the bottom of the second.  The third inning became a little controversial. The Eagles scored 1 run in the top of the third. In the bottom half of the third the Griz would get to have runners on first and second with Cliff Stocker at the plate.  Stocker hit a solid groundball between the third baseman and shortstop, which would bring Ryan Tacke home from second sending Cliff's brother Calvin to third.  This is where the game became interesting. Calvin would be thrown out at third while Tacke was simultaneously scoring.  The homeplate umpire would call Tacke safe giving the Griz a run while Calvin being thrown out at third was the third out of the inning.  Eastern Washington's coach was very un-pleased with the cal at the plate.  The umpire simply stated that the run counts.  The game continued to get heated as the Griz continued to score.  They scored two more in the fifth.  The Eagles would score another run in the top of sixth.  Both teams would not score another run the rest of the game.  The Griz would go on the win with a final score of 6-4.  The Griz had 6 runs on 10 hits and 1 error.  The Eagles finished the game with 4 runs on 8 hits and 3 errors.  The player of the game was Ryan Fowler for going all 7 innings giving up only 2 earned runs and three strikeouts.

This morning the Griz brought the bats early and often.  Now the Eagles scored a run in the first, but that did not put fear in the Griz at all as they would score 6 runs in the bottom of the first.  The first three batters of the game reached base.  All three of which hit it to the shortstop, and all three ended with the shortstop booting the ball.  Eric Ostrowski started on the mound for the Griz.  He would then give up 2 runs in the second and third to bring the game within one.  But in the bottom of the third the Griz would score three more runs to put the total at 9-5.  At this point the Griz had 9 runs on 8 hits and 4 errors.  The Eagles had 5 runs on 5 hits and 5 errors.  All five of the errors committed but Eastern Washington were charged to their shortstop. The Eagles would score three more runs in the fourth before the Griz pulled Ostrowski to bring in Michael Albert.  the Griz won the game by a final score of 9-8.  The Griz had 9 runs on 11 hits and 4 errors, while the Eagles had 8 runs on 7 hits and 5 errors.  The player of the game was Michael Albert for coming in and preserving the 1 run lead while pitching three innings of shut out baseball.

The Griz have been looking strong all season.  They are currently 9-0 in conference with a 14-2 overall record.  The only two losses of the season came in the season opening tournament, in Mesquite Nevada.  They lost to Utah State University and Western Washington University.  Both games only by two runs.  This upcoming week the Griz are slated to face the Broncos of Boise State.  This will be the final home stand of the season for the Griz.  If you are in the Missoula are come out and watch next Saturday and Sunday.  Game one starting at 3 pm Mountain Standard time.  If you are not in the Missoula area, you can follow me on twitter @griznation99 for in game updates.

As always feel free to post comments and ask questions.  Until next time, thank you for reading and GO GRIZ!

Brawl of the Wild!

The 112th meeting in Missoula

Today, November 17th, 2012 is the 112th meeting of the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State University Bobcats. This year the Brawl Of The Wild is in Missoula. Washington Grizzly Stadium is going to be packed full with Griz fans from all over the state of Montana and United States along with some sprinkles of that disgusting blue and puke yellow color combination wearing cat fans. Now it's time for the Griz to get serious. This season has been a disappointment for the Griz, with their record at 5-5. The Griz have already lost two games at home this season which as any Griz fan knows is very uncharacteristic for an Griz team. Today's game is extremely important because if the Griz don't win they face their first losing season in a very long time. Now as for a game plan. I would like to see the Griz come out and be aggressive right out of the gate. I would think that if they win the toss we should receive and go no huddle to set a quick tempo and put those pussycats on their heels right away. As the game goes on I believe we should not hold back on defense either. The more pressure the cats quarterback has on him forces bad decisions. Bad decisions leads to turn overs, turn overs lead to Griz scores and Griz scores lead to a win for the Griz. 

Griz Nation!

Last season the Brawl of the Wild was in Bozeman Montana. The cats were ranked #1 in the country and analysts predicted the cats were going to walk over the Griz without much resistance. This was not the case the Griz came into Bozeman and were aggressive and walked all over the cats defense and then made their so called offense look like children playing in the mud. 

Today will be a great day for Griz fans everywhere. Defense is Everything D.I.E.

Time for the Griz to do work!

The Rain has come

Finally the rain has come and hit Missoula. I have personally been waiting a while for the rain to come back. Well let me update you on what has been shakin' this past month. First things first, the Griz have had what I would call a very disappointing season so far. They have lost four games this season. Anyone that knows the Griz knows that this is extremely uncharacteristic of the team. Their most recent loss was to Southern Utah University. Now this game should have been a win. The Griz went into half time with the lead and I know that, that does not guarantee anything but it seemed that in the second half the defense was a bit lethargic. But enough about the Griz.

Now to the most important part of this blog. My little sister moved into college at Eastern Washington University. I am so very proud of her. She was a bit nervous, but fought through it and so far is having a BLAST! I am so very proud of her for being so awesome.

My mom and sister putting away the clothes in Julia's dorm room!

As always I appreciate everyone that takes the time to read this blog and if you have any comments please feel free to post. Well until next time.

Griz Football Has Begun!

This is the only way to tailgate. Out of the back of your pick-up . Lets get after it.

As the title states Griz football has begun. The Griz are 1-1 so far this season. We are playing Liberty this week who are currently 0-2. With conference play beginning next week the Griz could really use the Win. Today is my first game of the season. I worked for the first game against South Dakota. IN the game against South Dakota the Griz caught the turn over bug a couple of times but were able to pull out the W in the end. The Defense looked great and the offense definitely had some things to work on. But with Freshman QB Trent Mckinney at the helm they look strong. Last week the Griz were in Boone North Carolina playing Appalachian State University. It was a duel between two top ten teams. Again the Griz were infected by the turnover bug and made some other costly mistakes that lead to a loss. But this week the team looked good in practice. Now as a tradition I must stop telling my fans or my audience and begin tailgating as it is a tradition at the 721 house. I will update after the game with a full write up about the game.

Summer Winding Down

As the summer nears the end, I can only think to reflect on how this summer has been. Well lets begin with my little sister graduating from High School. Congrats again kiddo. My sister has chosen Eastern Washington University as her school of choice. Words can not express how proud of her I am.

As the summer went on I began working at Finish Line selling shoes and apparel. This job was a little out of my comfort zone when I began there. It was weird at first trying to get every customer I greeted to buy a pair of shoes. But it was fun because it was competitive. Every week was a new week trying to make a profit for the store. But I enjoyed it for the most part. I enjoyed my time there and the people I worked with.

As most of my friends know I turned 21 in July. Holy cow! I would like to thank all of my friends that attended and helped make it an awesome birthday. I was lucky enough to have my godfather come through town a couple of days after my birthday. It was great to see him again. The Olympics began three days after my b-day and I was a happy camper to say the least. The summer games are my favorite of the two. I love being able to watch the best athletes in the world compete for their countries and go for gold. I would also like to congratulate Eric and Lauren Loomis on their marriage on July 14, 2012. I wish you both a long and happy marriage.

As August came around I began to get ready to go back to school. Being the only person in my house has definitely made it a long summer. But the summer kept pressing on. I was lucky enough to be able to go home and visit my family last week, and I will tell you it was much needed. It was great to see my mom and sister. I was also able to see my cousin Natalia who I have not seen since I was 11 years old. She and her friends had been on a road trip from Yellowstone and the stopped by to say hello. So like true Glassman fashion we had a feast haha. Yesterday I attended Frank and Cheyenne Hughes wedding. I would also like to congratulate them. I wish you both a long and happy marriage as well.

So all in all it was a pretty darn good summer. I am definitely ready for school to begin and ready to get back to driving buses. I would also like to thank all of you who read this blog. Again please feel free to e-mail me with topics of discussion or questions you would like answered. Well until next time. Bon Voyage.

Max

When I was in second grade my family adopted our first dog. Max Glassman from the Pomona shelter. Max was an extremely special dog. He was not like the rest of the animals at the Humane Society. All of the other dogs were up on the cage barking and showing their teeth, but Max was sitting quietly in the back of the kennel. It was at that moment our family knew that Max was our dog. We took time to meet one on one with him in the outside cages away from the rest of the other animals. He was so calm and ready to be loved. It was then that the decision was made to bring him home. My sister Julia and I were both very excited because we had a new best friend. The best part about adopting this new best friend is that he had one day left on his ticket. So we got the opportunity to save this dog and we took advantage of it.

This is Max and Mickey. Max is on the right and Mickey on the left. Goofy dogs!

 I remember the first day we brought him home. He was tired and a little drowsy but still made himself known in a rather funny fashion. He mistook the fake tree in our living room as a real tree and well like most dogs, he made it his. It was difficult to be mad at him. I mean it was an honest mistake. as time went on Max really became the families best friend and a beloved dog on the street. Everybody knew him. One year at Christmas time we took him and our other dog Mickey on a walk to look at the Christmas lights around the neighborhood. We came up to one of our neighbor's house and they had a reindeer fixture that would move it's head up and down as if it was eating grass. Well Max took it upon himself to mark the reindeer and make it his. That was probably one of the funniest things I had ever seen. My parents pretended to be upset but i think that deep down they were laughing hysterically. Well as time went on my relationship with Max only grew stronger. He was always there through the good and the bad. When we moved back up to Washington, my mom and I drove because we had the dogs and it was easier then flying them up. Well that road trip was absolutely amazing driving through the mountains and up into WA. The first couple months up there were different. I had never seen so many trees in one place before. I liked it and so did Max. So many outdoor trails to take him on. So many nature walks. Well as I progressed in my life I was very much into sports and Max was a fan. My mom brought him to baseball games and although he was a little too lazy to fetch foul balls it was great to know he was there. As the years went on Max and I became closer although I had moved to Montana for school. 

Max during Christmas time. He was a pretty cute make shift reindeer. 

The last time I saw my old man was at my sister's graduation. He was still going strong. Unfortunately earlier this month Max passed on. He was 15.5 years old. This brought sadness to our family for this dog had seen and done it all with us. It was and is still tough for me but I know in my heart he is happy and pain free. Max I love you buddy and I will never forget you and your willingness to sleep on the couch all day. This post is for man's best friend and my best friend and beloved dog Max Glassman. I love you Max!

This is my favorite picture taken of Max. This was Christmas during my freshman year of college.