I had just turned 18 years old when I started covering University of Montana athletics for the college newspaper, the Kaimin. It was a good gig for a freshman with journalistic ambitions, but as the youngest member of the paper’s staff, really still more of a high schooler than a college student, it felt like a weighty responsibility. Put another way: I barely had a clue what I was doing.
At the time, the Grizzly football program was at the height of its powers, and the public closely followed its every move. One avenue for fans, especially students, to glean information and meet the program’s personnel was through my stories. They only saw the byline, not the nervous young man behind it.
But I learned on the job, and I relished the work. My single-minded career ambition since childhood had been to become a writer — to tell people’s stories. I was getting my chance, even if interviews filled me with near-crippling anxiety.
I wrote for every edition of the Kaimin’s popular Game Day publication, widely distributed at home games. It was exciting and nerve-wracking at once, knowing all those people were reading my work. I poured myself into each assignment, cranking out copy in my dorm room while balancing coursework.
I was grateful to have good editors, elder journalism students who patiently guided me, especially Courtney Lowery. It was a tremendously formative experience for my professional writing career, and no single event left a bigger impression than the Cat-Griz showdown. It was the biggest game in the state, and it felt like I was right in the middle of the action.
When UM hosted the Bobcats my freshman year, on Nov. 23, 2002, the Grizzlies were riding a dominant 16-game winning streak in the rivalry. The last time MSU had defeated its cross-state foe was 1985. The Grizzlies had also won the NCAA Division I-AA national title in 2001 and were hungry to repeat as champs.
But the Bobcats stunned the Grizzlies and won 10-7. The post-game scene was grim, with thousands of shocked fans wallowing in defeat, trying to comprehend the result. The mood seemed to ripple from campus throughout Missoula.
The Bobcats then won again the following year, beating the Grizzlies 27-20. By that point, my sophomore year, I was covering games from the press box and writing the main features in Game Day. Earlier in the fall, I had written a cover story on new coach Bobby Hauck, who was trying to return the Grizzlies to national championship glory, or at least start another winning streak against MSU.
Hauck never got that title, although he led UM to three national championship games in 2004, 2008 and 2009, falling short each time. The Grizzlies under Hauck also beat MSU five of six times, including four straight, following that initial loss.
Hauck, of course, is back as head coach of the Grizzlies, and the football program appears to be back to contending form after a prolonged period of mediocrity. There’s a lot riding on this weekend’s Cat-Griz showdown. I won’t watch the game from the press box, but if I close my eyes, I can transport myself back there, to the place where, for all intents and purposes, my journalism career began.