By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
Sunday was a big day for Coach Ks as both Mike Krzyzewski and Larry Kryskowiak secured milestone wins. Krzyzewski got his 1,000 win as a college head coach while former Griz star player and coach Krysko got his 100th college win. Krzyzewski got his first win in November of 1975, while Krysko’s first win as a college head coach came in late November of 2004. The 2 Coach Ks have something in common when it comes to the NCAA tournament, both coaches faced the University of Washington in their initial NCAA tournament game and both lost to the Huskies.
Apparently Kryskowiak and Wayne Tinkle were paying attention at practice to the teachings of Mike Montgomery and Stew Morrill as the two former Griz have their current teams among the defensive elite in Division I basketball in defense. Utah under Kryskowiak is 11th in scoring defense while Tinkle‘s Oregon State Beavers are 12th in that category nationally.
As we approach the midpoint in the Big Sky Conference’s league schedule there is a strong possibility of a double Big Sky basketball tournaments this season. Montana, Eastern Washington and Sacremento State all are in the thick of the races in both the men’s and women’s title chase. Montana’s teams average nearly 3,000 a game in attendance while EWU can count a solid 750 fans and Sacremento State gets about 500 fans for a conference game. Montana has hosted both tournaments 3 times before and it is likely that the league brain trust wouldn’t mind a fourth go around in Missoula.
On both the men’s side and women’s the two winning streaks currently belong to Montana and Sacremento State. The Hornet wwomen have 7 straight wins while the Lady Griz team has won its last 5. Both the Sac State men and the Griz have won 4 straight coming into this weekend’s play.
The Sacremento State women Saturday afternoon will have a somewhat larger cheering section than usual in Missoula. Sophomore forward Hailey Gennett hails from Post Falls Idaho and should have some vocal support. Gennett has been a big part of the Hornets success this season ranking 6th in the Big Sky in 3-point shooting percentage.
The Sacremento State women have 6 of the top 14 in steals per game in the Big Sky. Sac State men’s star Minh McKinney is fourth nationally in steals.
Thursday night when the Griz take on Portland State in the Rose City it will bring back some fond memories for Griz assistant and former PSU head coach Ken Bone (now a Griz assistant). Bone’s Vikings team won 2 Big Sky titles and the only two trips the Vikings have made to the Division I NCAA tournament. For several of the Griz players, Portland State is a reminder of how last season ended for the Griz as they fell to PSU in the Big Sky quarterfinals.
The Seattle Seahawks are looking to become the first NFC team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since Jimmy Johnson and Troy Aikman led the Dallas Cowboys to consecutive titles in 1992 and 1993.
For the first time in Super Bowl history both starting quarterbacks are products of the Big Ten, Tom Brady Michigan and Russell Wilson Wisconsin. From Bob Greise (Purdue) in 1973 until Brady in 2001 no Big Ten quarterback led a team to the Super Bowl.
While Former Eastern Illinois star Tony Romo has never been to a Super Bowl another Panther QB could get into Sunday’s game. Jimmy Grafollo is the rookie back-up to Tom Brady with the Patriots.
********************
Chris Walterskirchen has been an observer of Montana sports for nearly half a century. A Kalispell native, Chris has worked in various capacities for professional and college sports organization of at various times: ranging from announcing and statistical work to the concessions and even a stint as a costumed mascot.
Chris has academic degrees in communications and elementary education. His style of sports trivia involves more than just who won and who lost, but also focuses on the obscure or human side of sports. In this blog you will learn things like the Grizzly football team has won 210 games over the 19 seasons since they have had Monte as their mascot or that UNLV is the only school that both the Griz and Lady Griz have both faced in the NCAA basketball tournament
When not following sports Chris enjoys taking care of animals of all kinds (a peacock rescue?) and reading to pre-schoolers.