Montana Mint Sports

Griz Fan Podcast - The start of the 2022 season, scouting Northwestern State

It's time to kickoff the 2022 season!  After a long spring and summer of practice reports, transfer news, and preseason accolades it's finally time for football.   The Grizzlies start the season as a top-5 team and have been voted as favorites to win the Big Sky Conference.  Their defense has 3 players on the Buchanan watch list and the offense welcomes back Marcus Knight.  For all of the questions, hype, and discussion around this time, it's finally time to prove it on the field.  

 

The Northwestern State Demons come to Missoula after a 3-win 2021 season.   A once familiar playoff team (playing in Missoula in 2001, 2002, and 2004) the Demons have had a rough stretch of late.  They now have a new transfer QB, a re-tooled offense, and a defense with a handful of conference standouts.  On this pod the guys have plenty to cover when it comes to expectations, questions, and what to look for.   There's discussion on other Big Sky games, FCS games, and thoughts on the gameday atmosphere.  As always the pod ends with fan questions, topics, and wild scenarios.  

Griz Fan Podcast - The ’22 Griz FB season is almost here! With guest Riley Corcoran

After a long summer break, the GFP is back!  Riley Corcoran, the Voice of the Griz, joins Mike and Brint to talk about media day and early camp impressions.  There’s a lot to discuss as well!  Who are the fresh faces standing out so far?  How are the new transfers fitting in?  What are the strengths on the team, and where are the possible challenges? 

 

Over a few beers, with a Dodgers game on for Riley, and with some frequent interjections and opinions from James – the guys spend 2+ hours talking up the 2022 season.  There’s some discussion on early predictions for the regular season schedule, and some looks around the other top teams in the conference too.

 

Griz football kicks off in a little over 2 weeks, and the GFP cannot wait!

Chapter Ten: The Big Store

In the last episode of Land Grab, we try- as best we can- to unravel the twisted up tentacles of the Missoula Octopus> As the Great Depression washes over Montana, one organization seems remarkably immune: the Missoula Mercantile Company, which imbedded within every industry in the county, and floats the entire region throughout the turmoil. 

Throughout the run of this show, we’ve seen the Merc spread across Western Montana, ruling Missoula county and pulling  in a constant, steady stream of cash from everyone in the area. But, starting at the turn of the 20th Century, that vast majority of that wealth, generated in Montana, began flowing upward and outward to the West Coast. This chapter, we follow the money and catch up with an old friend in San Francisco: Andrew B. Hammond.   

Find out more about Land Grab, and consider making a contribution at www.landgrabpodcast.com and find us on social media @landgrabpod

Chapter Nine: Under Ditch

In the penultimate episode of Land Grab, we conclude our narrative on the ground on the Flathead Reservation with the story of the Flathead Irrigation Project and the construction of Kerr Dam. After tracing the path of multinational corporations like Standard Oil and Amalgamated as they took over Montana in the early 1900’s, we are going to see in this chapter how those multinationals imposed themselves on the Reservation, and confiscated the tribes’ most valuable remaining resource: the power site on the Flathead River Falls. 

 

Find out more about Land Grab, and consider making a contribution at www.landgrabpodcast.com and find us on social media @landgrabpod

Chapter Eight: Kicked by a Copper Boot

In Chapter Eight of Land Grab, we take a deep dive into the  takeover of the Anaconda Company by Standard Oil, and  the vicious decades of hegemonic corporate rule  that followed in the 20th century. We look at how this reviled villain in “The Company”, and the devastating bust that brought an end to the homestead boom we covered in the  last two chapters, conspired to bring Joseph M. Dixon out of the political wilderness to run for Governor in 1920, finding himself right at the heart of a conflict with Anaconda that would define a decade of Montana history.  

 

Find out more about Land Grab, and consider making a contribution at www.landgrabpodcast.com and find us on social media @landgrabpod

Chapter Seven: Making Checkers

The Flathead Allotment Act was passed in 1904, but the reservation was not opened until 1910. But those 6 years were far from idle. This chapter of Land Grab looks at how the white community of Missoula circled around the reservation, smelling a profit, while the native Salish, Pend D'Oreille, and Kootenai people fought  to hold on to the last vestiges of their homeland. 

This chapter also examines the massive homestead boom into Montana in the 1910’s, that brought tens of thousands of honyockers onto the Flathead and the  whole state, inspired by railroad propaganda to claim as much government homestead land as possible and plow Montana’s arid prairies into vast wheat farms. 

Find out more about Land Grab, and consider making a contribution at www.landgrabpodcast.com and find us on social media @landgrabpod

Chapter Six: Savage Habits

Land Grab is back with the first episode of the second part of our series on the history of the Missoula Mercantile Company, corporate control of Montana, and the allotment of the Flathead Indian Reservation at the turn of the 20th century in Western Montna. In this chapter, we look at the rise of Montana politician Joseph Dixon, a young North Carolinian who moved to Missoula and ascended rapidly to national office with the support of the Missoula Mercantile’s political machine. 

In Congress, Dixon worked to find a legislative means to force the Flathead Reservation open to white settlement over the vehement opposition of the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend D'Oreille tribes. At the same time, his employers- the Missoula Merc- were moving their enterprise onto the reservation, and getting in prime position to clean up once the Flathead goes on sale. 

Find out more about Land Grab, and consider making a contribution at www.landgrabpodcast.com and find us on social media @landgrabpod

Griz Fan Podcast - Spring camp wrap up

Montana's spring camp has wrapped up and now the Grizzlies look to full prep for the 2022 season.  With Luke out on assignment, Mike and Brint, with guest Kyle got together to discuss what their overall thoughts on where the team is at right now.  Who stood out in spring ball?  What new names will you be hearing a lot from this season?  We're going to have a new QB this season as well, how did the QB group look?  Some thoughts are shared from the spring game and scrimmages that were seen as well.  We also cover areas where we might expect to see some off-season help, discuss transfer portal activity, and look ahead to the 2022 schedule.  

Griz Fan Podcast with Jace Lewis

Montana's current bearer of #37, Jace Lewis, joins the guys for beers to reflect on his time as a Griz.   We chat with Jace about his upbringing, playing football in Townsend, and his recruitment to Montana.   There's insights into what it was like during the coaching change at Montana.  Additionally there's plenty of stories from this season where fans will appreciate a players perspective from some of the biggest games.  We get some fun looks into some of the dynamics of the team, what to look forward to, and some names to keep an eye out for.   For best enjoyment of this episode we recommend to grab a few CL Smoothies, sit back, and enjoy!

Griz Fan Podcast - Signing day, basketball, and siding in the DM’s

It's been over a month since the GFP was together!  Now, with the holidays behind us, signing day complete, and the basketball season in full swing we found plenty of topics to cover.  There's plenty of discussion given to the newest additions to the football roster.  Where will the new transfers fit in?  Who should we expect to see right away?   What positions still need help?  For most of the first segment of the show Mike, Luke, and Brint share their thoughts overall.  From there, the discussion moves to basketball as both the Griz and Lady Griz are in the final stretch of the regular season and poised pretty well for favorable tournament seeding.  And of course, it wouldn't be a GFP without those fan questions.

We've got some funny stories, and preview some upcoming guests, including who slid into President Bodar's DM's.  

TOC:

0 - 11: Intro & update from James

11 - 25: Catchup, UM happenings, updates

25 - 1:15: Signing day, roster talk, practice bubble

1:15  - 1:30: Basketball

1:30 - 2:08: Fan questions