By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN
British Open champion Zach Johnson joins some pretty elite company with his win at St. Andrews Monday. Of current active PGA golfers, only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson have won both of golf’s most tradition-rich titles. Since 1988 only Nick Faldo and Mark O’Meara have claimed a Masters title and a British Open Championship, but neither of those men is still active on the tour. By the way in 2007 when Johnson won the Masters it was a big year for drake University athletics as Johnson, a former Drake Bulldog, won the Masters and then in June of that year long-time football coach Rob Ash left des Moines to take over the Montana State Bobcats.
While Bob Stitt’s new team the Montana Grizzlies open the season against a reigning national Champion in North Dakota State his former team gets their shot at a defending national champ. On October 24, the Orediggers of the Colorado School of Mines take on 2014 Division II Champ Colorado State at Pueblo. Colorado Mines opens the Season on September 5th in a meeting of the Mines and they host South Dakota Technology and Mining (more commonly known as South Dakota Tech.)
One of the assistants that came from Colorado with Stitt already has a background in Grizzly football. Cornbacks coach Joe Hall JR played collegiately for the Adams State University Grizzlies of Colorado.
Here is a tidbit that should bring a smile to the faces of MSU Bobcat football fans. Four of the last 5 times the Griz and cats have met in years ending in “5” the Bobcats have won. In 1995 the Griz won 42-33 in Bozeman on their way to their first FCS National title. Ten years ago the Bobcats downed the Griz 16-6 to grab a share of the Big Sky title.
Next Monday July 27th is Alex Rodriquez’s 40 birthday and it seems only fitting that he and his Yankees teammates will be at one of A-Rod’s former employers the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez spent 3 seasons with the Rangers and while he earned an MVP Award, while at the Rangers the team didn’t come close to making the post-season.
The Tampa Bay Rays have a very special seat designated at their stadium for all the team’s home games. The Rays are the first team to designate a “chair of remembrance.” The seat is left empty in remembrance of service personnel who are either missing in action or who were lost in the service of their country.
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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.