Morning coffee... August 13, 2010

It's football time, ladies and gentlemen. The high school football teams in the state of Montana can now officially practice. As NFL teams are kicking off their preseason games and college teams are now deep into their late summer camps, it's now time for the boys to get high school gridiron action started.

I went to Charlo's midnight practice last night (or this morning, however you look at it. Probably the latter since that's the legal one of the two) and boy was that something special. I don't know how Charlo football head coach Mike Krahn was able to pull it off, but the town allowed him to leave the lights on at the football stadium for the midnight practice. That meant you could see the lights from miles around in the medium downpour of rain. Pretty cool sight, but the sounds of football players and whistles probably kept up all the neighbors.

Went to Ronan practice this morning, and again, early morning clouds peaking over the Mission Mountains served as a backdrop. Pretty freakin' cool.

Can't wait for games to start.

College News

University of Montana-Western hitting the field for preseason football
Is it cliche to say, who let the dogs out?

Montana Tech welcomes 135 football players to camp
Does anyone else think that is an insane number of players?

Montana Tech forming ice hockey team
And it looks like I'll be traveling down to Butte to get my hockey fill

National News

Big Ben expects cheers in opener
And roughly 45,000 dads of college age daughters at Henz Field will then promptly kick his butt.

Jonathan Papelbon sucks
Believe me, I know.

Untamed New England Adventure Race Journal

Co-worker Ali Bronsdon is currently doing the Untamed New England Adventure Race and sending updates via email. It's a three-day race through New Hampshire and Maine and from the sound of it... it's pretty freaking crazy. Without further delay, here's the first update from Ali...

After three fun, including one red-eye, flights last night, I've already been up for 24 hours. A little sleep tonight and race start tomorrow around noon. You can follow online at untamedne.com. Our team is #14 GOALS ARA 2. We're packed with enough food and spare clothes for 40 miles of paddling/portaging, an orienteering relay (unknown length), 3 small conservation projects, a 30 mile bike, 35 mile trek, including a ropes course. 

So, we're carrying A TON OF CRAP! It's the most, by far that I've ever had to carry, so we'll see how the heavy load will affect energy. Also, the orienteering relay could be at night, which means COLD and wet, coming off the water. We won't see our gear/food bins until after that 35 mile trek, so we're thinking Friday night or Saturday morning. Then it's a 12 mile trek/swim, and 65 mile bike with a waterfall rappel and more conservation projects mixed in. The end of the bike marks the end of the official course, but there is an optional bonus rogaine section at the end, where we will try to nab as many points as we can before the race time ends. This will be where strategy and race planning will come into play. 

Teams that are in better mental shape should be able to plan the better attack and get more points on the rogaine. We are planning to sleep in one of the transition areas, maybe Friday night for an hour or two, depending on where we are. We haven't seen any maps yet, so things may change, but this is as much as I can tell you and the last time I can update before Sunday. I'm sure I'll have some good stories by then... hopefully we'll make it to the finish!
Thanks for all the support!

Oh and meanwhile, I'll be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos tracking the race. I'm that cool.

Big Sky Womens' Soccer preseason poll has NAU on top

With fall sports just around the corner, the Big Sky Conference coaches poll has been released and the winner is... Northern Arizona. Now all they have to do is play the games.

Of the eight head coaches in the league, six gave their first-place vote to the Lumberjacks, for a total of 48 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Northern Arizona won its second straight conference title last season, beating tournament host Portland State on penalty kicks and then Idaho State in the championship match.

2010 Big Sky Soccer
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Team (First-Place Votes)Points
1. Northern Arizona (6) 48
2. Sacramento State (1) 38
3. Portland State (1) 36
4. Weber State 30
5. Idaho State 27
6. Eastern Washington 16
7. Montana 15
8. Northern Colorado 14

Midnight Hoopz Results

Here are results from last Thursday's Midnight Hoopz, which was held at Two Eagle River High School in Pablo.

Click on the "read more" to see the full list of results.

Morning coffee... August 12, 2010

Former MSU Bobcats Mike Kramer settled his lawsuit with the university after a pretty messy ordeal that lasted three years. I'll be one to back Kramer, his firing was ridiculous. It stemmed from players involved in a drug ring, but Kramer dismissed all those players. What else did the university want him to do?

It essentially ruined Kramer's career, as he couldn't get a head coaching job after the fact. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

College News

University of Montana and Portland State top Big Sky Conference preseason poll.

National News

K-Rod charged with assaulting Father-in-Law
That's what playing for the Mets will do to you.

Randy Johnson now a rock n' roll photographer
Umm...

Local News

Charlo Football will open its season tonight with a special midnight practice. Check it out!

Southwest Youth Rodeo Results

Here are the results from this week's Southwest Youth Rodeo, held Sunday in Ronan.

Click on the "read more" to see the results.

SKC to play Eastern Washington University

I just heard this news and couldn't be more excited. Big news that involved Lake County and my favorite school, Eastern Washington University.

SKC's men's basketball team will be playing Eastern Washington University on Nov. 19 in Cheney, Wash. It will be the first Div. I opponent in school history for SKC.

Great news for the Bison, I think this is a big step for them and will open up a lot of doors for other Div. I schools (cough, cough, Montana right down the road) to play them.

Get this week's issue of the Lake County Leader for more info.

Morning coffee... August 9, 2010

Veterans on the Denver Broncos gave Tim Tebow this haircut during training camp. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

College News

Montana State opens camp with big hopes
They went 7-5 last year and return a lot of starters.

University of Montana, Montana Tech make top colleges list
Strangely enough, Eastern Washington is nowhere to be found.

National News

Jeter passes Babe Ruth on the career hits list
... as the Yankees crushed the Red Sox.

Seahawks applaud ref who admits Super Bowl guffaw
I don't think this makes Seattle fans feel any better though.

Former Seattle pitcher nearly throws no-hitter, strikes out 17
Aren't they glad they got rid of Brandon Morrow?