Tom B.
Yelp
This review applies to the football stadium and the football team. It seemed to be the most relevant checkin that the mobile Yelp app would allow me yesterday. I would have checked in to Washington Grizzly Stadium if it had shown up in search results, but it didn't.
This is a small stadium with a rabid following. They have won two national championships in the last two decades, and the fan base clearly relishes the next championships they'll win. One of their arch-rivals, Eastern Washington, won it all last year. Every loss to those Eagles burns in the throats of Griz fans, and every victory over those Eagles warms hearts in Missoula. It was, in fact, those Eagles in town yesterday. Washington-Grizzly Stadium set an all-time attendance record with 26,066 on hand.
The fans throng every side of the stadium, grilling out, tossing balls around, cracking cold ones. Most impressive was the trailer-size smoker set up by a western Montana Peterbilt dealer, serving oak and pecan-smoked ribs to passersby out of the goodness of his heart (and with an eye toward promoting his business). The custom welding and fabrication work of the trailer, serving table, smoker, and firebox consumed 300 hours, and they have more amenities to add. Quite a sight.
Past the smoker marched the Griz marching band. Outside, they seemed a little quiet and not as crisp as they could be, but once they warmed up and got inside, they sounded fantastic, even hitting some pretty ambitious show tunes with choreography during their halftime show.
The concrete bleachers (aluminum seats) reach practically to the sidelines, hardly leaving room for the players and cheerleaders. Great for the fans. The Griz defense gutted out a big win over Eastern with precious little help from the offense. They sealed the first half and the second half with big interceptions. The first half, in fact, they sealed with a goal-line stand of seven snaps inside their own 10 yard line. This is a noisy stadium by any standard, but especially with such small capacity--but you back the Griz D against the wall for seven plays in a row, and it turns into absolute bedlam. It somehow got even louder with Mike McCord leaping for that interception and ensuing 78-yard runback. It looked unreal; even as a Griz fan you had to imagine how frustrated Mitchell was, seeing McCord leap out of nowhere to snag the ball and burn down the field. What a sight--what a ruckus.
Overall, I could have done with a little less venom directed toward the Eastern players (they're just kids; don't punish them for having rude fans). But that's a minor quibble in an environment that maintained a collegial, sportsmanlike nature throughout. And it's genius to have the crowd chant "Montana!!!!" after every first down--stokes your players, intimidates your opponent, and keeps your fans in the game.
I still shiver at the thought of that playoff game against Appalachian State two years ago in that blinding blizzard. And that game, I only watched on *TV*. Must have been quite the spectacle to sit in this stadium and see it in person. This is college football.
