Where is the NCAA when you really need it?

It’s been bad enough dealing with the blue turf at Boise State for all these years, with all of the attending stories about ducks dying while crashing on it.

The University of New Haven also has blue turf, but nobody cares about UNH (no offense, New Hampshire).

But now we get to deal with a red field at Eastern Washington, apparently starting this fall. Former player Michael Roos, now with the Tennessee Titans, apparently has pledged $500,000 of his hard-earned money to the project.

If Eastern can raise the rest through private finding, which I guess we can call “blood money,” prepare yourself for more hideousness starting as soon as the 2010 season.

The NCAA, which seemingly has rules for just about everything imaginable, has no rule in place regarding the color of football fields.

Boise State and New Haven may have to be grandfathered in, but the powers that be should call a special meeting if necessary to designate green as the only acceptable color for an artificial turf field for football and other sports it oversees.

And they had better limit it to a certain shade of green. Otherwise, you’ll see things like Lime Green, Baby Poop Green, Puke Green, or whatever.

So come on, NCAA! Stop the madness! If it ain’t green, it ain’t legit! Make it the rule before it becomes the exception.

By the way, click here to see what we could be in for if EWU is successful:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Eastern-Washington-literally-seeing-red-over-new?urn=ncaaf,216240

- Bill Schwanke

It was fun to learn that Shay Smithwick-Hann had committed to play football for the Montana Grizzlies.

Besides being an outstanding football player and athlete, he comes from good stock. I know that, since I’m elderly enough to have been around when his dad played for the Griz the first two years I was the radio voice for UM football and men’s basketball, way back in 1971 and 1972.

Jim was an undersized tight end – at least by today’s standards – who transferred to Missoula from a junior college. It was about halfway through the Jack Swarthout coaching era at Montana.

What I remember most about Jim Hann from those days was what a nice guy he was. Although I haven’t seen a lot of him since those days – I saw more of him during the 13 years I worked in Griz athletics late in the last century – he’s still a nice guy.

I met Shay last year when he and his dad came down to watch the Griz practice. He’s bigger than his dad and – sorry, Jim – probably more athletic. I haven’t met his mom, but I was struck by the fact that he had picked up my favorite trait of his dad. He seemed like a nice kid, with a firm handshake and a willingness to visit with one of his dad’s old colleagues.

He was a quarterback at Kalispell Glacier High School, and likely will try to be one at Montana. Shay is well aware that he will face competition from quarterbacks already on the Griz roster, and a highly-touted one from Oregon who also has committed to UM. He acknowledged as much in his interview with Griz beat writer Fritz Neighbor.

“The thing you have to do to play for the Grizzlies, is you have to compete,” Smithwick-Hann told Fritz, adding, “I wanted to be a Griz, and I know I’ll have to compete every year.”

Make that every day.

So I like his attitude, too. Never-ending competition for playing time and taking nothing for granted are two of the things that have made the Griz so good for so long.

So welcome aboard, Shay. You go, boy!

- Bill Schwanke

The latest grade point average report for University of Montana student-athletes and teams came out this week, and the news is better than ever for the Grizzlies.

UM athletes – 296 in all – posted a 3.06 cumulative GPA for the fall 2009 semester compared to an overall undergraduate GPA of 2.89.

The 3.06 athletes’ GPA is, according to the report, the best ever for UM student-athletes.

Women’s golf and soccer and men’s cross country led the way with team GPAs of 3.43, 3.32 and 3.31 respectively. Others ranking near the top were women’s basketball at 3.29, women’s track and field at 3.24, and women’s cross country at 3.23.

Perhaps the only disturbing thing about the report is the continued dominance of women’s and Olympic – or so-called minor – sports teams. It would be nice to see men’s basketball and football up there near the top, although the sheer numbers of folks make it especially difficult for football.

All in all, though, the report shows that the emphasis on academics for UM athletes, and the ongoing monitoring of their performance in the classroom, continues to pay off.

- Bill Schwanke

I felt like I had a better handle on the University of Montana Grizzlies basketball team earlier in the season than I do now.

Granted, things change – read that, “become more difficult and unpredictable” – once conference play starts, but it’s mind boggling that the same team that won at Oregon and cleaned up on Portland State in Missoula could struggle so mightily at Montana State just two weeks later.

While it’s great to prove you can dig yourself out of a huge hole and have a chance to win at the end, isn’t it much easier to start a game with the intensity you need rather than showing a flair for the dramatic by trying to make it all up at the end? I would think so.

Hey, college basketball teams can be inconsistent, but you’d like to see that inconsistency happen less and less as the season goes on.

The Grizzlies have the second half of a four-game road stretch coming up this weekend with games at red-hot Northern C0lorado and apparently resurgent Northern Arizona, and could find themselves really behind the eight ball in terms of making the Big Sky Conference tournament and/or having a decent seeding for the event.

Better starts in games will be essential. With four of their last six league games coming at home, time also is of the essence.

- Bill Schwanke

It’ll probably be the end of February or early March when the announcement will be made about which city – Chattanooga, Tenn., or Frisco, Texas – will host the Football Championship Subdivision national championship game next year and for some time beyond.

That’s next year, not this December, because the game won’t be played until January 2010 due to the expansion of the playoff field by four teams.

UM athletics director Jim O’Day in on the site selection committee and feels like the group faces a tough decision.

The facilities in Frisco, a rapidly growing community near Dallas, apparently are nothing short of spectacular, with – among other things – abundant practice facilities featuring virtually every type of playing surface imaginable.

The stadium where the game would take place is within minutes of the Dallas airport, another plus.

Chattanooga has made another aggressive bid to keep the game there, where it’s been for the past 13 seasons.

Two things that hurts Chattanooga’s chances are its lack of adequate practice facilities away from Finley Stadium and what seems to be dwindling attendance at the game from the locals.

One of the things that helps Chattanooga is its proximity to the East and Midwest, where so many of the contending teams come from, making travel for teams and fans alike much more convenient.

Should convenience of travel for a large part of the expected field of teams in the title hunt be a primary concern? That’s up for debate. I don’t believe it should.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a big concern for the NCAA, which sometimes has weird priorities when it comes to saving or spending money.

The expansion of the playoff field is another poser. The down side is that it drags an already long season out further for those teams that make the playoffs and puts the national title game up against a major FBS bowl game rather than one of the many lesser ones.

But maybe it’s an effort by the NCAA to provide some kind of boost for the FCS, which could become an entirely different animal – perhaps even an endangered species – when the moratorium on teams moving from the FCS to the FBS ends in 2011.

Would the playoff bone be enough to keep the division from imploding? That remains to be seen.

- Bill Schwanke

Doing my usual thing with the remote Sunday afternoon I decided to check out Altitude Sports to see which Big Sky Conference basketball game was being telecast.

Turned out to be a great game between Northern Arizona and Portland State in Portland. NAU shot an ungodly percentage from the field and upset the Vikings, needing every point they could manage while letting an 18-point lead dwindle to five before pulling it out.

Former Griz player and assistant coach Nate Duchesne, now the top assistant at Portland State, got a little more air time than he had probably envisioned going into the game when the head coach was ejected late in the contest.

Another interesting thing happened while I was watching.

The two-man broadcast crew sent it to a sideline reporter for a timeout  update during the second half, and that reporter ended up being new Griz football coach Robin Pflugrad’s daughter, Amanda, better known as a cheerleader at the University of Oregon.

Seemed like old home week all of a sudden.

And the game was a lot more interesting than Minnesota’s playoff “battle” against the Dallas Cowboys.

- Bill Schwanke

Although nothing has been formally announced at either end, there appears to be some disagreement about where Michael Gray will be the next defensive line coach.

Albeit belatedly, during his formal announcement press conference last Friday new Montana head coach Robin Pflugrad announced that Gray would be Montana’s defensive line coach. The two had worked together on Oregon’s staff before the Ducks’ new head coach decided to replace both of  them in Eugene.

Rumors then surfaced that Gray would join Bobby Hauck’s staff at UNLV instead. An article in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal said “Hauck apparently will hire Michael Gray as defensive line coach . . . ”

The situation raises a slew of questions.

Did Hauck go after Gray AFTER Gray had already verbally committed to Pflugrad? Were Hauck and Pflugrad courting Gray at the same time? Did Gray commit to Pflugrad before he was contacted by Hauck and simply jump UM’s ship for more money, which UNLV undoubtedly can offer?

Did the Pflugrad comment about being on the phone with Hauck the morning of Robin’s press conference chiding Hauck for being after one of Pflugrad’s recruits really refer to Gray and not a prospective player?

Was Pflugrad’s oversight in not announcing Gray as part of his staff intentional because something was going on, or simply an oversight? Pflugrad’s willingness to go ahead – once reminded – and announce Gray with glowing remarks would seem to indicate it was simply an oversight.

Was Pflugrad’s comment that he was going to talk to Tom Hauck about remaining on his staff in some capacity simply a coincidence? Or was he trying to cover his tracks in case Gray indeed bolted for the bright lights and bigger bucks in Vegas?

There used to be a day when a man’s word was his bond. But that was a long time ago.

If Gray committed to Pflugrad, and then was contacted by Hauck, who offered him the bigger paycheck, and Gray went back on his word to Pflugrad, that smacks of something that smells, both on Gray’s part and on Bobby Hauck’s.

We may never know the sequence of events, at least until some kind of formal announcement is made by either UM or UNLV. Even then we may never know what happened when.

For those who might jump to the conclusion that this shows some kind of weakness on Pflugrad’s part, please don’t jump. It might be more a sign of weakness on Gray’s part.

For what it’s worth, Gray still shows up as an assistant football coach on the Grizzlies’ Web site, and is yet to appear on UNLV’s.

- Bill Schwanke

The news that freshman sensation Katie Baker will miss the rest of the Lady Griz basketball season is certainly unfortunate for both her and the team.

It comes at a time when the Lady Griz seemed to be gathering themselves for at least a competitive run through the Big Sky Conference schedule.

The ACL tear happened late in regulation of Montana’s overtime loss at Eastern Washington Friday night, and the team battled gamely the next night against league favorite Portland State before losing 49-47 out in Oregon.

The loss is problematic for coach Robin Selvig and his staff and players, because it changes not only what your team can do, but what opponents can do against you. It gives Lady Griz foes an added advantage defensively, not having to concentrate so much on one player, and it means Montana will be short an effective presence at both ends of the floor as the arduous conference season wears on.

Selvig’s team already had to circle the wagons at the start of the season with the significant scoring and defensive loss from the graduation of guards Mandy Morales and Sonya Rogers.

The emergence of Baker so early in her career might have been unforeseen, but it certainly was welcome on a team that has struggled to score points.

Now the wagons will have to be circled again. The fact that the Lady Griz have single games on the next two weekends will provide a little more preparation and adjustment time. It remains to be seen whether that will be enough.

Meanwhile, other Big Sky teams – already licking their chops knowing how inexperienced the Lady Griz would be this year – must be literally drooling now. What is that old saying about paybacks?

But history shows that the Lady Griz will remain tenacious in the face of this latest setback. And the support of their always rabid fans will be more important than ever when they play at home.

As for Baker, there is some consolation in the fact that her first major injury occurred during her freshman year rather than later in her career.

- Bill Schwanke

I’ve allowed the events of Friday to sink in over the weekend before commenting, and as is not often the case, I feel better about things than I did three days ago.

I’m referring to the official announcement of the hiring of Robin Pflugrad as Montana’s new head football coach, and especially to the new coach’s staff of assistants.

I have to admit some of my comfort comes from more familiarity than I had with the crew that former head coach Bobby Hauck put together.

I was the first-year sports information director at UM when Bob Beers was recruited to play football here. He’s a true character, but beneath that funny facade is a guy who takes his football, and his coaching, very seriously.

I have to admit that, when I first heard the name Bob Beers as a potential assistant, I thought it was his son, Bobby, athletic director at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. It never struck me, even when I was on the phone with Bob, Sr., on another matter just days earlier, that he would be interested.

I like the carryover from keeping Mick Delaney and Mike Hudson on the staff. And I like the idea of bringing back former players like Scott Gragg and Shalon Baker. Both will be in a position to learn and teach, and both are well aware of the tradition here.

All in all it’s a great blend of veterans and relative newcomers to the coaching profession, something that’s not often easy to do at a school UM’s size.

I also liked coach Pflugrad’s comments about the short passing game, likening it to the run game. It smacks of wanting to find more ways to get the ball into the hands of guys who can really do something with it.

Obviously the proof’s in the pudding, but the recipe sure looks promising.

- Bill Schwanke

When athletic director Jim O’Day talked about qualities he was looking in a new University of Montana football coach, one thing he said was that the new guy would have to know what he was getting into here.

To paraphrase, O’Day said some guy from the Southeastern Conference who couldn’t find Montana on a map wouldn’t stand a chance. Beyond that, O’Day was referring to the economic realities of coaching at UM, where salaries are closely monitored at a number of levels from the campus to Helena.

Basically that means there is little wiggle room when it comes to negotiating the “package” a new football coach will receive when he comes here.

It also means dealing with out-of-this-world expectations for success, something I sometimes find both amusing and frustrating given where Grizzly athletics, and football in particular, were in the “old days.”

Pflugrad, who took a step up from relative poverty to relative near poverty when he came as Don Read’s assistant in 1986, is well aware of the economics of the situation. And after all, he’s partly to blame for the rapid rise in expectations.

He’s probably heard that Joe Glenn was verbally lynched by many angry Griz fans when he lost his first game at the helm to Hofstra in 2000 at the start of a 13-2 season. I’m sure he’s also aware that Bobby Hauck set himself up in 2003 by winning at Maine only to lose to “lower level” North Dakota State at home in the second game of his tenure at UM.

While Griz fans are often given credit for their intelligence, too often the expectations dull many a mind into not realizing how good an opponent might be, regardless of what division they’re in.

So put the ropes away, Griz fans, take a hardy swig from a bottle of realism, and be prepared to cut coach Pflu some slack.

Obviously, if the 2010 Griz lose at home to Western State, that could be legitimate cause for concern. But game two is at Cal Poly, and game three at Eastern Washington, so patience would be a virtue, for sure.

As for Pflugrad, knowing what you’re getting into on multiple fronts won’t make his task any easier. And following a guy who went 80-17 in seven seasons, who followed a guy who went 39-6 in three, certainly won’t lessen the strain.

- Bill Schwanke