Top 10 things Griz fans should bring to Griz/Cat in Bozo

[catamaran]

this thread is full of the mildest cat/griz smack i have ever heard

Its still 8 days away

[nativecat]

this thread is full of the mildest cat/griz smack i have ever heard

Its still 8 days away

so ya all are just warming up huh?

[Grizlaw]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

[spider]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

Ohhhhhh, why don't you just shut your trap?!

[John K]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

I guess that we will have to "agree to disagree" on this, because I still say that the 2006 game was MUCH more competitive than 2005. I will agree with you that in 2004, the Griz won convincingly. But, if you want to go back even further, using your logic, our victory in 2003 was also more lopsided than the final score of 27-20, since our lead was 27-10 midway through the 4th quarter, with your two late scores making it seem closer than it was. However, you had the ball late in the game, potentially one play away from tying the game....just like we were potentially one play away from winning the game last year. The one key difference, however, is that you never got anywhere close to our 20 on your last couple of possessions in the 2003 game.

[John K]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

I guess that we will have to "agree to disagree" on this, because I still say that the 2006 game was MUCH more competitive than 2005. I will agree with you that in 2004, the Griz won convincingly. But, if you want to go back even further, using your logic, our victory in 2003 was also more lopsided than the final score of 27-20, since our lead was 27-10 midway through the 4th quarter, with your two late scores making it seem closer than it was. However, you had the ball late in the game, potentially one play away from tying the game....just like we were potentially one play away from winning the game last year. The one key difference, however, is that you never got anywhere close to our 20 on your last couple of possessions in the 2003 game.

One more point....the 2006 game went down to the wire. The outcome was still very much in doubt, with only a couple of minutes remaining. That was certainly not true of the 2005 game.

[jagur1]

True; but the Griz still have won 2 out of the last 3.

[John K]

True; but the Griz still have won 2 out of the last 3.

And the Cats have won 3 out of the last 5. And no....I don't care to go back any further in history than that. My memory was wiped clean, just like Matt Damon in the Bourne movies, prior to 2002.

[catamaran]

to get back on topic, there's one thing folks from Missoula shouldn't leave home without

[MashTun]

11. Practice how to console cat fans by saying things like, "Don't worry, you'll get 'em next year.... Or perhaps 17 years from now, but don't worry, you'll get 'em!".

12. Remind the fiz fans that one game doesn't constitute a 'streak'.

And if I remember the 2005 game it was a SPANKING, not nearly as close as the score showed.

True, the 2005 game was not as close as the score indicated...but if you want to make that argument, let's also not forget that (1) UM also dominated last year's game more than the score indicated, and (2) UM's win in 2004 was somewhat of a blowout both on the scoreboard (38-22, with MSU getting a garbage TD with about 5 mins left), and on the stat sheet.

I'd have to agree the griz played the better game in 2006. I don't know that I could say it was dominating performance, but they played the better game.

It boiled down to a 1 big play game in the end, after how many 6 or 8 turnovers total between both teams?

Too nerve wracking that many turnovers. Of course I can 'self-medicate' it is Cat/griz weekend

[catamaran]

is it a snack or their date

[BR GRIZ]

is it a snack or their date

She bears a striking resemblence to Champ.

[Grizlaw]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

I guess that we will have to "agree to disagree" on this, because I still say that the 2006 game was MUCH more competitive than 2005. I will agree with you that in 2004, the Griz won convincingly. But, if you want to go back even further, using your logic, our victory in 2003 was also more lopsided than the final score of 27-20, since our lead was 27-10 midway through the 4th quarter, with your two late scores making it seem closer than it was. However, you had the ball late in the game, potentially one play away from tying the game....just like we were potentially one play away from winning the game last year. The one key difference, however, is that you never got anywhere close to our 20 on your last couple of possessions in the 2003 game.

One more point....the 2006 game went down to the wire. The outcome was still very much in doubt, with only a couple of minutes remaining. That was certainly not true of the 2005 game.

I think we could probably go back and forth on this for the rest of our lives if we wanted to. To me, it just never seemed like the Cats were really in the game last year -- even when they were leading, I never had much doubt that the Griz would come back. The Cats' offense just couldn't put anything together.

Here's one stat from the game that I think is pretty telling (this is available on Montanagrizzlies.com, but there's no way to link to it ): If you look at both teams' possessions from last year's game, the Cats had 15 possessions, but only reached Griz territory on five (and that includes their last possession, which started in Griz territory). UM, on the other hand, had 16 possessions, and reached MSU territory on ten of them (which also includes one possession that started in MSU territory). The Cats only had the ball inside the Griz 30-yard line twice, vs. 6 times inside the MSU 30 for UM. Does that not sound like domination?

You keep going back to the fact that MSU had a scoring opportunity at the end of the game, but by that logic you also have to consider UM's lost scoring opportunities throughout the game (a lost fumble at MSU's 18-yard line, a lost fumble at the MSU 21-yard line, a missed FG, and the possession at the end of the first half that ended at the MSU 3-yard line. If the Griz had converted even just one of those opportunities, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

At the end of the day -- I don't know if UM dominated MSU more thoroughly last year than MSU dominated UM in 2005 or not -- the games were similar, and to make an argument either way would require more hair-splitting than I have the energy for right now. But I definitely think the point is debatable.

[John K]

I would have to disagree with you about the game last year. If you will recall, we still had an excellent opportunity to take the lead with maybe 2-3 minutes remaining. If I remember correctly, we got to about the 20, but unfortunately just couldn't get the go-ahead score on 4 tries from there.

That's true, but if you're saying the game was as competitive as the score indicated because the Cats had a chance to score at the end, then you also have to keep in mind that the Griz also had chances to put more points on the board that they didn't capitalize on. Remember, the Griz advanced to the Cats' 3-yard line at the end of the first half, and elected to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a fg. If they kick a fg there (or had they scored a TD), the game would have been out of reach in any event.

More importantly, though, the reason I think the game was more one-sided than the score indicated is because the Cats' offense just didn't really do anything all day. You had one scoring drive (most of which came on one long pass play), and other than that, the Griz defense completely dominated the game. Even the Cats' scoring opportunity at the end of the game was the result of a turnover -- yeah, your offense "advanced" to our 20-yard line, but the Cats started that possession on about the UM 40. The Griz offense wasn't great either, but we did outgain you by almost 200 yards, and we controlled pretty much every other statistic as well.

I guess that we will have to "agree to disagree" on this, because I still say that the 2006 game was MUCH more competitive than 2005. I will agree with you that in 2004, the Griz won convincingly. But, if you want to go back even further, using your logic, our victory in 2003 was also more lopsided than the final score of 27-20, since our lead was 27-10 midway through the 4th quarter, with your two late scores making it seem closer than it was. However, you had the ball late in the game, potentially one play away from tying the game....just like we were potentially one play away from winning the game last year. The one key difference, however, is that you never got anywhere close to our 20 on your last couple of possessions in the 2003 game.

One more point....the 2006 game went down to the wire. The outcome was still very much in doubt, with only a couple of minutes remaining. That was certainly not true of the 2005 game.

I think we could probably go back and forth on this for the rest of our lives if we wanted to. To me, it just never seemed like the Cats were really in the game last year -- even when they were leading, I never had much doubt that the Griz would come back. The Cats' offense just couldn't put anything together.

Here's one stat from the game that I think is pretty telling (this is available on Montanagrizzlies.com, but there's no way to link to it ): If you look at both teams' possessions from last year's game, the Cats had 15 possessions, but only reached Griz territory on five (and that includes their last possession, which started in Griz territory). UM, on the other hand, had 16 possessions, and reached MSU territory on ten of them (which also includes one possession that started in MSU territory). The Cats only had the ball inside the Griz 30-yard line twice, vs. 6 times inside the MSU 30 for UM. Does that not sound like domination?

You keep going back to the fact that MSU had a scoring opportunity at the end of the game, but by that logic you also have to consider UM's lost scoring opportunities throughout the game (a lost fumble at MSU's 18-yard line, a lost fumble at the MSU 21-yard line, a missed FG, and the possession at the end of the first half that ended at the MSU 3-yard line. If the Griz had converted even just one of those opportunities, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

At the end of the day -- I don't know if UM dominated MSU more thoroughly last year than MSU dominated UM in 2005 or not -- the games were similar, and to make an argument either way would require more hair-splitting than I have the energy for right now. But I definitely think the point is debatable.

The point may be debatable (although not in my completely unbiased and logical mind), but one thing we can probably both agree on, is that none of this is terribly relevant, since the bottom line is that a win is a win, whether by the Cats or the Drizzlies....and whether it is by one point or 50. So....see you on 11/17.

[GrizinWashington]

My dad can beat up your dad.

And Math 110 is tougher at my school than your school.

[ImagineSanta]

My dad can beat up your dad.

And Math 110 is tougher at my school than your school.

Thats not true, Math 110 is easy at every school.

[Billings_Griz]

My dad can beat up your dad.

And Math 110 is tougher at my school than your school.

Thats not true, Math 110 is easy at every school.

[Cledus]

Yet another thing Griz fans coming down to Bozeman should not leave without:

[GrizinWashington]

Yet another thing Griz fans coming down to Bozeman should not leave without:

Why, has there been an outbreak in Bozeman?

[bobcatmaniac]

Yet another thing Griz fans coming down to Bozeman should not leave without: