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