Coach K

Polson head boys soccer coach Jess Kittle has done so much for the program during his tenure, and he was recently honored as the Coach of the Year by the NSCA. Here is a snippet from the feature story we did on him in last week's Leader...

POLSON - Polson boys soccer head coach Jess Kittle doesn't like to take credit, but his own peers gave it where it's most certainly due.

The National Soccer Coaches of America just named Kittle their Class A boys soccer head coach of the year after the Pirates finished this season by advancing to the state championship game, and the seven-year Pirates coach believes that it highlights the hard work his kids put in this season.

"I don't see this as an individual award, I see this as for the team," Kittle said.

Since 2005, Kittle has been the head coach of the boys soccer team and he credits the success of the team to the players that suit up.

"We have an amazing group of guys, they're the ones that have built this program," Kittle said.

You can read the full story here.

Football 6-B All-Conference teams

Here are the 6-B All-Conference teams for football. I have also heard that Jack Humphreys and Jake Skelton were named to the Class B All-State teams for Ronan. Congrats guys!

DEFENSE ALL-CONFERENCE
1st team - DE - Ronan - Robert Faoa - 6'3" - 210 - Senior
2nd team - DE - Ronan - Chris Clary - 6'1" - 215 - Senior
2nd team - DE - Mission - Nikko Alexander - 5'10" - 185 - Junior
1st team - NG - Mission - Fabian Camacho - 5'9" - 285 - Senior
1st team - DT - Ronan - Colby Roberts - 6'1" - 225 - Junior
2nd team - DT - Ronan - Thane Tobol - 6'0" - 190 - Senior
1st team - ILB - Ronan - Jake Skelton - 5'9" - 190 - Senior
2nd team - ILB - Mission - Barrett Sargent - 5'10" - 185 - Junior
1st team - OLB - Ronan - Carsten Baerstch - 5'9" - 160 - Junior
2nd team - OLB - Mission - Josh Durglo - 5'11" - 180 - Senior
HM - SS - Ronan - Dalton Molzhon - 5'10" - 165 - Senior
HM - SS - Mission - Dylan Evans - 6'0" - 175 - Junior
1st team - FS - Ronan - Robbie Gauthier - 5'11" - 180 - Senior
1st team - CB- Ronan - Jack Humphreys - 5'9" - 155 - Senior
2nd team - FS - Mission - Austin Durglo - 5'10" - 175 - Senior
2nd team - CB - Ronan - Marcus Hungerford - 5'9" - 170 -Senior
HM - CB - Mission - Ryce Hegwood - 5'10" - 160 - Sophomore

OFFENSE ALL-CONFERENCE
2nd team - Punter - Mission - Raymond Matt - 5'11" - 145 - Freshman
HM - P - Ronan - Dalton Molzhon - 5'10" - 165 - Senior
2nd team - QB - Ronan - Robbie Gauthier - 5'11" - 180 - Senior
HM - QB - Mission - Dylan Evans - 6'0" - 175 - Junior
1st team - Right RB - Ronan - Jake Skelton - 5'9" - 190 - Senior
2nd team - Right RB - Mission - Austin Derglo - 5'10" - 175 - Senior
2nd team - Left RB - Ronan - Jack Humphreys - 5'9" - 155 - Senior
HM - Left RB - Mission - Dakota Gunhammer - 5'10" - 165 - Senior
1st team - FB - Ronan - Chris Clary - 6'1" - 215 - Senior
1st team - FL - Ronan - Marcus Hungerford - 5'9" - 170 - Senior
HM - FL - Ronan - Dalton Molzhon - 5'10" - 165 - Senior
1st team - TE - Ronan - Robert Faoa - 6'3" - 210 - Senior
2nd team - Tackle - Mission - Josh Durglo - 5'11" - 180 - Senior
1st team - Guard - Mission - Fabian Camacho - 5'9" - 285 - Senior
2nd team - Guard - Ronan - Thane Tobol - 6'0" - 190 - Senior
2nd team - Guard - Mission - Barrett Sargent - 5'10" - 185 - Junior
HM - Guard - Ronan - Dustin Goldsby - 6'0" - 175 - Senior
1st team - Center - Ronan - Colby Roberts - 6'1" - 225 - Junior
HM - Center - Mission - Nikko Alexander - 5'10" - 185 - Junior

Congrats to all!

The ESPN-FCS Playoff saga continues

From KPAX...

What rivalry?

Fans of the Bobcats and Grizzlies have united in trying to find a way to get their disappointment across to ESPN when it comes to broadcasting the Football Subdivision Playoffs.

Word spread across the state Monday that Montana fans would not be able to watch (on television) their Bobcats and Grizzlies take the field on December 3rd for the 2nd round of the FCS playoffs, and now, responses from fans have began to manifest in the form of a rapidly growing petition on the social media giant Facebook.

Currently, there are more than 5,700 people who have joined "Petition to have ESPN Have Feeds of FCS Playoff Games".

Another 38,000 have been invited to join the page which began at 2a.m. on Tuesday.

The numbers continue to rapidly swell throughout Tuesday evening.

The Worldwide Leader is certainly getting an earful for this.

The ESPN-FCS Playoffs SNAFU

Saw this little tidbit in the Daily Interlake today about the upcoming Montana and Montana State playoff games...

MISSOULA - The University of Montana and Montana State football teams are headed to the postseason, but many fans in the state might not be able to watch the games on television.

ESPN has the rights to the games and plans to only show the first and second round games as well as some of the quarterfinal contests on ESPN 3, an internet-based channel many Montanans can't access. MSU Athletic Director Peter Fields says he has no say in ESPN's decision, but the schools can lobby to have their games picked for broadcast.

Meanwhile, Gordie Fix, owner of Missoula's Press Box sports bar, says "we're finding out pretty much that we're out of luck."

MSU will host New Hampshire on Dec. 3. The Griz will play at home the same day at 12:05 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's Central Arkansas-Tennessee Tech game.

And now it gets serious as state senators push for a TV change

"In Montana, college football is a treasured tradition," Montana Senator Jon Tester wrote in a letter to George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN-ABC Sports.

"Within hours after hearing your decision, Montanans put their friendly rivalries aside to cheer for a common goal: to encourage ESPN to reconsider," Tester wrote. "I am proud to join these Montanans in their unified plea. Please consider working with Montana broadcast stations or cable providers to make TV feeds of these (Football Championship Series) playoff games reasonably available to Montana fans. Airing these games in Montana will allow ESPN to be part of a time-honored pastime in the Treasure State."

The Bobcats are scheduled to host New Hampshire in a second-round playoff game on Dec. 3 in Bozeman.

The Grizzlies will host the winner of the Tennessee Tech-Central Arkansas game the same day in Missoula. If the Montana teams advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs, those games might be broadcast on the ESPN or ESPN2 cable television channels.

According to Monday press reports, the ESPN3 online service is extremely limited in its availability in Montana.


Considering the following that both the Griz and Bobcats have, does ESPN really want to feel the burn from those fan bases? And this whole thing just goes to show that ESPN has ceased to become a source for sports news and has become a sports entertainment company with its own agenda (in this case, pushing their online channel onto people because it's the only option). This gets worse in the future for the Worldwide Leader...

I just don't get it, do I?

Leader report Dylan Kitzan took exception to the Detroit Tiger's Justin Verland being named the AL MVP award in baseball. As a life-long Boston Red Sox fan, here are his thoughts (lots of them).

Great Dr. Evil title, really excited about it. Moving on.

Can somebody please give me a rational explanation as to how Justin Verlander can be named 2011 AL MVP but 1999 Pedro Martinez was only good for second? For all you wise guys, I'm not looking for "He had more voting points."