We often hear about the influence really good coaches can have on the boys, girls, men and women they coach, at whatever level or age.

A new book called “Coached For Life” – co-written by Ed Flaherty and Jack Uldrich – really brings home how meaningful that influence can be.

Flaherty, one of 37 young men who played on Great Falls Central’s 1962 state championship football team under the guidance of head coach Bill Mehrens and assistant John “Poncho” McMahon, had the time, resources and -  more importantly – the desire, to research and write the book.

“Coached For Life” takes you through the 1962 season from start to finish, but Flaherty and Uldrich have deftly interspersed life stories of the young men who played and worked so hard for that team.

Men like Bill Sprinkle, perhaps best known for his work with the Montana High School Association, and Byron Weber, who dealt with Viet Nam War post traumatic syndrome and became a highly regarded second-grade science teacher in Florence, MT.

Not all of the stories have a happy ending, but the common thread throughout each one is the impact Mehrens, McMahon and teammates had on 37 lives.

What does this have to do with the Montana Grizzlies? Not much, except that Flaherty chose to play college football at Wyoming rather than UM or MSU while GFC cheerleader Patty (O’Loughlin) Murphy – mentioned often in the book – was a Grizzly cheerleader and has been a personal friend since our college days together.

Many of the people mentioned in the book I’ve come to know, or know of, because the GFC players graduated from high school the same year I did.

But mostly, it brought to mind the number of stories I’ve heard from Grizzlies and non-Grizzlies alike about how one of more coaches have had a profound influence on their lives.

And, despite some of their common idiosyncrasies, it further deepened my admiration for those who devote their lives to coaching young men and women.

For more information, please go to www.coachedforlife.com.

Brace yourselves!

I’m actually going to say something good about Big Sky Conference football officials.

The illegal touching call they made when a Griz offensive lineman caught a fumbled football in midair against Western State last Saturday was correct.

Basically the illegal touching rule says a player who is ineligible when a play starts remains that way unless the ball is touched by either a defensive player or an official. Had the loose ball been corraled by either an eligible receiver or a running back, no problem.

It’s unfortunate because the natural reaction from any player is to grab a ball when it’s hanging in front of him, and not think about whether touching it would be against the rules or not. After all, how often do linemen on either side of the ball smell the goal line unless they’re lying on top of it with their head smashed against it.

Even the Big Sky Conference conference – the name I’ve given the seemingly endless meetings Big Sky football refs have when making what often seem to be simple calls – was likely correct in this case. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt by assuming they were discussing whether or not the ball was touched by the defender who made the hit that caused the ball to pop temptingly into the air.

But while I can back up the Big Sky’s “finest” in this case, I still can’t stomach most of their conferences. When you’ve watched enough television to see officials in other leagues make a call, enforce it, and allow play to continue within a matter of seconds in most cases, it’s nothing short of grating to watch the BSC bunch stumble over their flags and basically interrupt the flow of a game when they shouldn’t have to.

There, I feel better!

I’ve been gone awhile in terms of this blog. Seems like summer is pretty spotty for Grizzly sports.

But the news that an effort is under way to bid to host the 2010 FCS championship game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium piqued my interest. Just took me awhile to gather my thoughts (then remember where I set them down!).

On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope that the bid, if it gets put together, will be successful.

While the NCAA loves money, hopefully they’ll look beyond the dollar signs at some of the other problem areas that come with putting such a game in Missoula.

One, despite what the comparative average temperatures are in Chattanooga and Missoula at that time of year, weather could still be an issue, and not just on the playing field.

Anyone who has traveled from Missoula to West Virginia or Chattanooga and back for a national title game probably has had some issues with getting out of Missoula or getting back in. If the NCAA does its homework, they likely will be concerned with having to bus fans, and more importantly teams, to and from Missoula from spots like Spokane, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell or Butte.

Not a pretty scenario.

The issue of needed upgrades to the visitor’s locker room and the press box to accommodate such a game have already been brought to light. If I was the NCAA, I would be nervous about those things being taken care of by December or 2010 or January of 2011. Shoot, if I was the University of Montana, I’d be nervous about getting those things done in that time frame, even if those projects are already on somebody’s drawing board.

The other thing that strikes me is how upset people were when the Grizzlies had to play Marshall on its home turf in 1995 and 1996 when Huntington had the national championship game contract.

There was outpourings of “unfair” and whatever other adjectives people could come up with when that happened.

So would it be any less unfair if UM became the host site for a national championship game the Grizzlies might qualify to play in?

I don’t think so.

The NCAA needs to find a site that has the greatest opportunity to be a neutral site. Chattanooga hasn’t had a contending team in the past, and doesn’t seem likely to in the future. But the possibility of the championship site being a possible home field advantage for a team should be high on the list of the NCAA’s concerns.

Sorry, but fair is fair.