We’ve heard it before. Win or go home.

The Montana Grizzlies and the Montana Lady Griz took very different paths to the semifinals of their respective Big Sky Conference tournaments this week.

The Grizzlies, at times playing like the best team in the conference, wound up with only a No. 4 seed due to some bumps in the road at Bozeman, Pocatello and Cheney along with their home beating at the hands of Montana State to wind up the regular season.

But they blasted Northern Arizona in a home-game quarterfinal Saturday and, thanks to the Cats losing at home to Portland State, will face Northern Colorado Tuesday evening in the semifinals rather than regular-season champ Weber State on its home court.

Portland State gets that pleasure, and the Wildcats had better be ready. But then, so had the Grizzlies.

The Lady Griz needed a lot of help, but thanks to the tie-breaker system wound up with a second seed despite a 10-6 league record.

That put them in a three-way tie for second with surprising Sacramento State and Idaho State, while Portland State, the pre-season favorite, struggled to a 9-7 conference mark and wound up tied for fifth with Montana State.

While the Grizzlies know who they will face Tuesday because the men play quarterfinal games on home courts rather than at the tourney site, the Lady Griz won’t know until Thursday’s quarterfinals at Cheney, Wash., are complete.

They will get the highest remaining seed out of match-ups between No. 3 Sac State and No. 6 seed Montana State, or No. 4 Idaho State and No. 5 Portland State. Given the season Montana has had, there are no guarantees of success or failure regardless of which team it draws.

For the Griz and Lady Griz it will come down to whether or not they’re just happy to be there, and some breaks. Based on overall talent level and how the regular season went, the men seem to have the best chance.

But after all, this is March Madness.

- Bill Schwanke

One of the options the University of Montana is looking at to alleviate its economy-induced budget woes is cutting the number of out-of-state scholarships that could be offered to prospective athletes.

It’s an attractive thought to some because five in-state scholarships can be offered for the same cost as two out-of-state ones.

But can UM realistically compete in the Big Sky Conference using only in-state athletes, and can it compete nationally in football under that scenario?

The answer is a resounding, “No,” as much as fans of using in-state athletes (and I’m one of them) would like to think so. While the state produces a lot of good athletes from its small population, and while those athletes generally have a work ethic and desire second to none, it’s simply not realistic.

And if, or when, UM is forced to leave the Football Championship Subdivision for the Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA (or I-AA for I-A for us purists), limiting out-of-state aid would only increase the damage done to the competitiveness of Grizzly teams.

There was a time when the University System authorized a fairly large number of so-called fee waivers which basically gave member schools the option to offer out-of-state scholarships at the cost of in-state aid. While athletics used a hefty share of those, they were available to other students as well.

Resurrecting fee waivers might be another option University System officials could consider. Regardless, they need to find a solution other than limiting out-of-state scholarships, because less competitive teams, especially in the sports of football and basketball, will mean smaller crowds, dwindling ticket revenue, and . . . need I go on?

- Bill Schwanke

I stopped by to pick up tickets for this Saturday night’s first-round Big Sky Conference men’s tournament play-in game between Montana and Northern Arizona, and wasn’t really surprised that sales are slow.

That’s because I was on hand last Saturday night when the Griz laid an egg in their loss to Montana State.

Two huge end-of-season crowds – almost 7,000 were there last Saturday night and more than 6,000 watched the Bobcats dismantle the Griz in 2009’s first-round tournament game – saw basically the same thing both times.

What many of them can’t figure out is why.

The possible reasons are numerous: one team simply outplays and outhustles the other team; the Grizzlies came out either flat or perhaps too tight for whatever reason; they were facing an opponent that had beaten them twice in a row counting last year’s finale and this season’s game earlier in Bozeman, another sub-par effort by the Grizzlies that appeared to have turned them around; Senior Night; the lack of playing time for center Brian Qvale, reportedly knocked down by strep throat; and, the one fans always like to fall back on, poor coaching.

And there’s always the possibility that a combination of factors played into Montana’s sub-par performance against the Bobcats.

But in more fairness to the fans than I usually like to grant, it’s tough to respond to more hype for crowd support when, as demonstrated by the last two home games against the Cats, they show up and the team doesn’t, for whatever reasons.

But like they say, the ones who really care will be there Saturday night, not because of what the team did in its last outing or what its record is, but because they are loyal and want to do whatever they can to show support.

So Grizzlies, when you play Saturday night, don’t play so much to or for the crowd. Play with pride in yourselves, and play to win. After all, team members really have no one else to answer to than themselves and each other.

A win Saturday night will mean a semifinal match-up against regular-season champion Weber State on its home floor, and it will mean a 20-win season. Those things should be more than enough to get a team ready to play, regardless of other factors.

- Bill Schwanke

The Lady Griz have gotten a lot of help from their “friends” this season. Despite struggling mightily in conference play, and on the road in particular, they are still in the hunt for the top spot in the Big Sky Conference.

With two weekends of regular-season conference play left, surprising Eastern Washington still leads the pack with a 10-3 record and a two-game margin in the loss column over Portland State, the preseason favorite, and Montana, both at 8-5.

Only Northern Arizona and Weber State, with 10 losses apiece, are out of the post-season league tournament hunt. Talk about unfamiliar territory for those two teams!

Everybody else has a shot to make it to the post-season affair. Where Montana fits into the seeding picture depends on how the Lady Griz fare in their final three outings.

It starts with this Saturday afternoon’s home game against Montana State, a team the Lady Griz handled in Bozeman back on Jan. 23. After that, the Griz go on the dreaded road, albeit against bottom dwellers Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona.

After last weekend’s 100-83 loss at Sacramento State – a game with unwanted milestones like giving up 100 points for the first time in program history while losing to Sac State for the first time ever – it’s anybody’s guess how the Lady Griz will fare this weekend and beyond.

They badly need to find their shooting touch, and we’re not talking just outside shooting here. Even the area right under the basket has been a tough-score zone for Montana too often this season.

The inability to make even uncontested lay-ups early in the game at Sacramento State cost the Lady Griz a chance to build an early lead that might have changed the opposition’s mind set and approach for the rest of the game.

Other Big Sky teams have figured out that these are not the normal Lady Griz, giving them much more confidence than they’ve had in past years against Montana, even at Dahlberg Arena.

Montana State has fared well of late, and sits right behind Montana and Portland State in the standings.

What the Lady Griz can’t afford to lose is the support of their home fans. But that’s one thing that hasn’t changed during this season of struggles, even given the economy-caused downturn in attendance for both the UM men and women.

The Lady Griz fans who have been showing up at Dahlberg have been just as loyal and vociferous as ever.

They’re going to have to be Saturday if they want the Lady Griz to have any chance of gaining a first-round bye or decent seeding in the post-season tournament.

- Bill Schwanke

When the announcement came during Saturday afternoon’s Griz basketball romp over Sac State that Anthony Johnson had become the first player in UM men’s hoops history to score more than 1,000 career points in just two years, the senior guard received a standing ovation from the partisan crowd.

It’s odd, because that night I had someone tell me he would have been a much better player if he had shared the ball more with his teammates.

My immediate thought was twofold: first, Johnson was recruited because he could score, although I don’t think any of us realized what a scoring machine he would be. Second, Johnson was more than willing to share the ball with his teammates, more than willing to bust his butt on defense, and more than willing to take his share of the blame when the Grizzlies lost.

As I thought further about it, though, I realized what people might be missing is Anthony’s best trait of all: his leadership ability.

I’m not sure coaches anticipated that leadership would be part of the package when they signed him out of junior college in Washington two years ago. But what a bonus!

His leadership comes largely by example. Anthony’s not a rah-rah player, although he shows enthusiasm in everything he does on the court. He plays hard, doesn’t get many minutes of rest, and encourages his teammates. I think he’s been invaluable in bring talented freshman Will Cherry along.

The really scary thing about Anthony Johnson is how much his absence will be noticed next season and beyond.

Thanks for the good times, Anthony, those you’ve given us so far, and those yet to come as this season winds down.

- Bill Schwanke

A few days ago there was a piece in the paper about the NCAA cracking down on taunting, specifically when the taunt is performed by a player scoring a touchdown.

In the past, on those very rare occurrences when current taunting rules were actually enforced, the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct by a scoring player usually was assessed on the extra point, which only mattered when a team might have been thinking about going for two points, or when a team had a shaky kicker.

The new proposal calls for the penalty to be a spot foul with the touchdown being disallowed.

Finally, some real teeth in a taunting rule.

Problem is, most football officials must have false teeth that they remove before working a game. Problem is, most NCAA rules against taunting are either unenforced or misenforced.

So will this new proposal even pass and, if so, will there be a meaningful attempt to actually enforce it? I’m not holding my breath. I would suggest that you not hold yours, either.

- Bill Schwanke

I don’t know what was harder to deal with Sunday afternoon – watching the Griz basketball team struggle for a half, rally back to take a solid lead, then struggle again down the stretch in a one-point loss to Eastern Washington,

OR,

the Altitude Sports telecast itself.

The two announcers were quick to jump on whichever bandwagon was rolling at any given time, oozing relentlessly over the Eagles during their strong first-half showing while wondering what in the world was wrong with Montana’s Anthony Johnson, then oozing relentlessly over Johnson when he took the game over in the second half, not having done enough research to know that he’s been a strong second-half presence – as have the Grizzlies as a team – much of the season.

The color commentator also was relentless in calling the Grizzlies Montana State for a major portion of the first half before someone mercifully corrected him. He slipped in another Montana State in the second half, but quickly corrected himself that time.

And then there were the obligatory name mispronunciations, such as muh-THEE-us instead of muh-THIGH-us Ward of Montana.

Finally, to top off a sterling effort, those in control decided to focus the camera on Eastern’s mascot sitting between the two announcers, missing some key baskets when the Eagles were rallying to regain the lead in the second half while the announcers chatted amiably with said mascot to the point of not even realizing that Eastern HAD retaken the lead.

Maybe these ESPN wannabes are just bored with having to lower themselves to do Big Sky Conference games. Who knows?

Whatever the case, it was painful to watch.

- Bill Schwanke

Fellow Missoulian employee Chris Arvish called my attention to this quote from a Spokane newspaper story about the ongoing “controversy” or discussion about Eastern Washington’s proposal to install red artificial turf at Woodward Field.

“If there is one reason on this entire planet that makes me feel certain we’re doing the right thing with this red turf project, it’s because Montana hates it.”

The comment was attributed to Marc Hughes, EWU’s associate athletic director for development. He’s the one who will be trying to raise enough dough to supplement the $500,000 contribution former EWU and current NFL star Michael Roos and his wife made to kick start the effort.

Talk about the Grizzly tail wagging the Eagle. But it’s not unusual to have what the Grizzlies say and do influence what other programs do.

EWU already has achieved one benefit from the proposal. The publicity has been worth its weight in turf, at least so far. Whether it’s worth enough to allay the fears of some that the turf, in time, might fade to pink – a fear that’s been countered by potential suppliers – time will tell.

If EWU really hopes to have the new turf installed by this fall, the money will have to show up sooner rather than later. There’s a lot of prep work that goes into removing natural grass and replacing it with fake, no matter what the color.

Other teams in the Big Sky and elsewhere can only hope the red rug doesn’t make Eastern’s football team better. It’s already tough enough.

To see the entire article, go to http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/feb/09/national-spotlight-on-eastern/

- Bill Schwanke

At least the travel situation promises to be easier for the Montana Grizzlies this week.

Thank goodness, because the games won’t be.

The Griz, fresh off an impressive home weekend of wins over league-leading Weber State and sometimes-nemesis Idaho State, now face road outings at Portland State Friday night and Eastern Washington Sunday afternoon.

Portland State likely is still smarting from the 90-58 pasting bestowed on the Vikings by the Grizzlies about a month ago in Missoula, and the Vikes are trying to stay alive for a top-two regular-season finish, as are the Grizzlies.

While it’s nice that the Griz will have a little extra time to get from Portland to Cheney – let’s hope they haven’t painted the entire Eastern basketball court red by then – they will have to avoid any kind of letdown regardless of Friday night’s result in the Rose City.

That’s because Eastern, no matter what the sport, counts any game with Montana as a big deal, even though this year’s Eagles are on the verge of being out of Big Sky Conference tournament contention.

So batten down the hatches, Grizzlies. You’re in for another interesting road weekend in the Big Sky Conference.

Let’s hope the toughness that the Griz displayed so abundantly last weekend is on display again this weekend.

- Bill Schwanke

I don’t know if fans have much understanding of how much goes into recruiting for college athletic teams, especially football where the numbers are so high.

While the proof is always in the pudding, it sure looks like new head coach Robin Pflugrad and his staff used the r0ughly three-week period they had to put together a whale of a recruiting class. I use the word whale because of the sheer size of some of the linemen who signed on the dotted line.

I like the size not only of the offensive linemen but also of the new wide receivers. And it sure looks like they’ve made serious strides to keep the quarterback position solid for a few years to come.

I also like the fact that physicality was a prime concern for incoming recruits, regardless of the positions they will play here. It’s something that Montana football has had, especially over the past 24 years, with some of the best blocks and hardest hits being leveled by some of the smaller players.

The never-ending need for increased team speed is something this staff obviously is well aware of, and something they addressed with this group as well.

I’m sure many people are disappointed with the small number of Montana kids signed with the main class (3 of 19), but don’t read that as a lack of interest on the part of Pflugrad or his assistants. They know how important it is to Montana fans to have Treasure State players on the roster and on the field.

Hopefully this year’s Montana “shortfall” will be addressed through the walk-on program, which has produced its fair share of stars for Grizzly football, the most notable of late being Marc Mariani.

I can’t wait for spring ball and the 2010 season!

- Bill Schwanke