The Magazine of The University of Montana
Email Article Around the Oval
Making The Dance
Top: Senior guard Anthony Johnson catapulted into the national spotlight after his forty-two point performance against Weber State in the Big Sky Conference title game. Bottom: With the come-from-behind win in the Big Sky Conference the Grizzlies punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament.
Montana Grizzlies win Big Sky Conference, make eighth appearance in NCAA basketball tournament
The Montana Grizzlies basketball team did something that seemed impossible just twenty minutes before it happened. The team beat Weber State and claimed a spot in the NCAA tournament. Riding senior guard Anthony Johnson’s thirty-four second-half points, the Griz clawed their way back from a twenty-point halftime deficit to claim a 66-65 victory. The improbable win launched the Griz and Johnson into the national spotlight.
Johnson’s story is more than bringing a team back from the brink of defeat. His story is one of being saved by his wife, Shaunte Nance-Johnson, a Lady Griz basketball player. Out of high school for a year and washing dishes at a seafood restaurant, Johnson met Shaunte and proposed to her with a rubber band just two weeks into the relationship. She knew he was destined for more and helped him nab a basketball tryout at Yakima Valley Community College. Johnson led YVCC to a conference title, and several Division I schools recruited him. But Montana gave him the opportunity to pay his wife back. It was take both or neither.
Two years later on the bus ride home from Ogden, Utah, with the Big Sky Conference title and conference tournament MVP honors, Johnson received calls from ESPN, USA Today, and The New York Times. A YouTube video of the game produced by MontanaGrizzlies.com received more than 85,000 hits and was linked to by websites around the country. He had gone from a dishwasher to national superstar.
Head coach Wayne Tinkle knew there was something special about this team.
“From day one we talked about character,” Tinkle says. “We had some highs and lows, like losing to Northern Colorado and Montana State at home that could have affected us, but we stuck to the plan.”
On March 14, with a full house of fans at the Press Box, the Grizzlies watched as they were paired against New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA tournament in San Jose, Calif. The Grizzlies flew out the morning of March 16 to the NCAA tournament.
The Griz played in the last game of day one of the tournament. Experts around the country expected an easy victory for the No. 3 seed New Mexico. The Grizzlies didn’t follow the script. Junior center Brian Qvale played the best game of his career, scoring twenty-six points and grabbing thirteen rebounds. However, Johnson scored only six points in the game. His low scoring margin can be attributed to Dairese Gary, a member of the Mountain West Conference All-Defensive team. The junior guard haunted Johnson throughout the entire game, but Johnson’s open shots wouldn’t fall in either.
The Grizzlies trailed throughout most of the second half but pulled within one point with less than two minutes to play. They just couldn’t finish off the Lobos, and New Mexico won 62-57.
Although Tinkle was disappointed with the loss, he wasn’t with the team’s effort.
“We did it the Grizzly way, which is to never say die,” he says.
—Jerek Wolcott
Outdoor Access For All
Tyler Stosich, a UM student, uses equipment from Montana Access to Outdoor Recreation on a regular basis.
Tyler Stosich is a twenty-five-year-old UM student from Lima majoring in media arts. He also is a quadriplegic who acquired his disability nearly five years ago. Before his accident he enjoyed hunting and wanted to continue that pastime even though he found himself in a wheelchair. Stosich met Chris Clasby, program coordinator for UM’s Montana Access to Outdoor Recreation program, and began to learn about the options available to him and other Montanans with disabilities.
An integrated program, MATOR offers opportunities for Montanans to recreate “in settings they choose, with whom they choose, when they choose,” Clasby says.
MATOR, part of UM’s MonTECH resource center for assistive technology, helps people with disabilities and aging members of the community access the outdoors by providing them with increased opportunities for fishing and hunting, as well as other outdoor activities such as camping and wildlife viewing.
One of the biggest obstacles for disabled Montanans trying to participate in outdoor recreation is how expensive adaptive equipment can be. MATOR offers a free equipment loan program that can be accessed online and makes checking out adaptive gear easy.
Stosich says he had previously bought his own gun mount, so he appreciated the opportunity provided through the loan program when he wanted to go fishing. He also plans to take advantage of some of the camping equipment this summer.
“You never thought any of this stuff would be possible,” Stosich says of those with disabilities having the opportunity to go outdoors and participate in activities they formerly enjoyed or have never experienced and want to try.
MATOR also frequently offers educational workshops and demonstrations across the state to expose people to the program and let them know it’s available for the public to use.
The program “creates more opportunities for those with acquired disabilities and creates belief in themselves and encouragement to try new things,” Clasby says.
Montana has a wide variety of opportunities for outdoor recreation, and MATOR is helping even more Montanans access the activities the state has to offer. Clasby hopes to spread awareness about the program and would like to see many more Montanans benefit directly from MATOR in the future.
For more information about the program or to participate, call 406-243-5751 or visit http://recreation.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/Mator/index.asp.
—Colette Maddock
REPORT OUTLINES UM’S ECONOMIC IMPACT ON MONTANA
A new report finds UM in Missoula contributes 9,700 additional jobs to the Treasure State, $1 billion in additional after-tax income and more than $200 million in additional state tax revenues.
The report, “The University of Montana: Growing Montana’s Economy,” was produced during a three-month period by UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
“The bottom line is that the University has been, and continues to be, a vital catalyst for growth in the state economy,” says BBER Director Patrick Barkey, the report’s lead author. “This report reveals what the economy of the state of Montana would look like if UM did not exist.”
BBER researchers found UM contributes to a more prosperous state economy through the earning power of its graduates; the contributions of its research, patents, and inventions; and the millions of dollars of business it conducts with Montana vendors of products and services. The report also found that the average compensation per job throughout Montana is $1,346 higher because of UM.
The study focused primarily on five areas: University operations, University research, graduate earnings, visitors, and student off-campus spending.
“This report details how the University plays a key role in helping the state grow income, job opportunities, and prosperity for our future,” UM Executive Vice President Jim Foley says.
The report can be viewed at www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/universityreport.pdf.
UM Allies Program Promotes Diversity, Understanding
In response to hate speech and violent crimes toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community at UM, a campuswide committee was formed to create UM Allies, an organization that promotes a welcoming, safe, and inclusive atmosphere for LGBT students at UM.
Peters-McBride, while a student at UM, teamed up with Curry Health Center’s Student Assault Resource Center coordinator Kate Pruitt-Chapin, and music Professor Steven Hesla, to found the group in 2008. Peters-McBride now works as a program adviser for University Center Student Involvement and, with an intern, holds UM Allies training sessions for faculty, student volunteers, resident assistants and village assistants. These training sessions equip members of UM Allies with specific knowledge about the LGBT community. The sessions discuss everything from basic definitions of identity to facts such as the 1993 deletion of the term “homosexuality” from the World Health Organization’s list of diseases, to contact information for medical or counseling services, human rights organizations, and social events.
At the sessions, trainers ask people to list on an index card the three things that are most important to them and three things they do in their spare time. Trainees are then given two minutes to introduce themselves, but they are not allowed to say anything about what they listed on the card.
“This is always the ‘aha’ moment during training,” Peters-McBride says. “It really raises the empathy for the LGBT community, who often hide the primary components of their identity and interests. Trainees come away from UM Allies sessions with a better understanding of a community of people they’ll encounter all their lives and with more information about a minority that has a history of isolation, oppression, fear, and anxiety.”
“The fact that a program like this exists shows advocacy,” says chemistry Professor Laurie Franklin, who completed the training. “I’m proud this University shows universality.”
—Samantha Steven
Meet Grizwald,
The University of Montana’s cartoon bear. In the last issue of the Montanan, we asked readers to submit captions interpreting Grizwald’s actions in a funny way. This issue’s winning caption was sent in by Art Adamiec ’06. Congratulations, Art, you’ve won a Griz stadium blanket.
Stay tuned! In the fall issue of the Montanan,
a new cartoon featuring Grizwald will need a caption. You could be the next winner!
The Bottom Line:
8: MSN.com names Missoula one of the top eight towns with an authentic college vibe
10: UM’s ranking in the nation for producing Peace Corps volunteers
6: Number of UM students and recent graduates awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarships
$411,241: Funds raised during Montana Public Radio’s 2010 Pledge Week
Where’s Your GRIZ Been?
Mary Stewart Sale M.F.A. ’96 took this picture in front of the Sphinx in Egypt in 2005. “This photo was inadvertent,” she writes. “Fellow tourist Michael moved into the photo at the last minute.” That inadvertent photo pays off because she now won a $50 gift card for The Bookstore at UM.
Do you have a photo of yourself wearing your Griz gear in an amazing place or while on an incredible adventure? If so, send it along with a brief description to: themontanan@umontana.edu. Winners will see their photo published in the Montanan and will receive a $50 gift card to The Bookstore at UM. To be considered, photos must be in focus and with the UM or Griz logo clearly visible.
Notable Quotable
For the first time in the University’s 117-year history, the main Commencement ceremony will be held outdoors on the Oval. The ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. rain or shine Saturday, May 15, will be followed by ceremonies for individual schools and colleges at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. This year UM will present four honorary doctorate degrees. Robert S. Bennett, one of the nation’s most prominent attorneys and a generous and dedicated friend of UM, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Law; Stewart M. Brandborg, a towering figure in the American conservation movement, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science; John Hollenback, a lifelong Montanan who has worked tirelessly to steward state lands, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science; and Matt McCann, a former Montana representative and champion of higher education, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
Two UM commercials won three awards in February at the 2009 Montana Addy Awards Show and Dinner in Great Falls. The event was the first of a three-tired national competition conducted by the American Advertising Federation. UM’s “Heritage” commercial took home “Best of Show—Electronic” and a Gold Addy. The “2009 Tunnel Run” commercial won a Silver Addy. In addition, UM won a Silver Award for “Heritage” in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s District VIII Communication Awards competition for the ads produced by Montana-based Chisel Industries. The commercials can be viewed on UM’s official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/universityofmontana.
UM’s official YouTube channel recently received YouTube EDU status, making it one of only a handful of universities in the Pacific Northwest with a presence on the site’s directory. YouTube EDU is a listing of videos and channels from the website’s college and university partners. There currently are 38 videos on the official UM site, and more will be added regularly. Featured content on the UM YouTube channel includes lectures by some of UM’s top professors, lectures from the President’s Lecture Series and Provost’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series, Enrollment Services videos, UM outreach commercial spots, Montanan magazine Web-only videos, and a series created exclusively for YouTube with UM’s president, “YouChat with President Dennison.” The University’s official YouTube channel can be found at www.youtube.com/universityofmontana.
National Conference Brings Research Spotlight To UM
Jeanifer Poon, in purple, from Gustavas Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn., presents her research on the use of holistic treatments to reduce patient stress during an NCUR poster session in UM’s West Auxiliary Gym.
On April 15 and 16, more than 2,600 undergraduates from across the country presented original projects in their field at UM during the twenty-fourth annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Not a competition, NCUR—the premier venue for undergraduate research—featured several UM students, in addition to being hosted in Missoula. Many UM Davidson Honors College students presented senior honors thesis projects. In all, there were 197 presentations covering 45 topics by UM students. More than 1,300 oral presentations took place in more than fifty classrooms and lecture halls. In addition, there were more than 1,000 poster presentations held in the Adams Center, sixty dramatic presentations in the Music Building and Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center, and forty-two visual arts presentations in the University Center Student Lounge and Gallery of Visual Arts.
The conference also featured four plenary speakers: William David Burns, founder and principal investigator for Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities; R. Carlos Nakai, the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute and member of the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame; UM Regents Professor of Ecology Steve Running, a Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient for his work on climate change; and UM School of Journalism Associate Professor Henriette Löwisch, an international journalist focusing on global relations.
UM’s involvement in NCUR goes back to 1997, when Professor Garon Smith (known to UM students as “G. Wiz”) and John Madden, former dean, of the Davidson Honors College bid to host the conference at UM in 2000. Smith later became a chair of the NCUR Board of Directors and now serves as a director. He organized this year’s conference with Janie Spencer, program manager for professional development in UM Continuing Education, for the more than 2,000 attendees.
“NCUR has no paid employees. It’s designed to be self-sustaining,” Smith says. Smith also came up with the conference’s tagline this year, “Meet Me in Montana,” from the Grammy-winning country duet by Marie Osmond and Dan Seals.
—Samantha Steven
The Coach Pflu Interview
UM’s new head football coach is not shy about the fact that former Grizzlies coach Don Read was one of his biggest mentors. Could this philosophy mean the Grizzlies are primed for another championship?
To spend time with coach Robin Pflugrad is to understand what love and passion for football is all about. One needs to look no further than the hours he puts in, which he affectionately refers to as “Don Read Hours” or the lunch he spent at the Mo Club talking with others about how to run a statewide football camp—during his summer vacation.
It’s obvious football comes first in life for Pflugrad not just because it’s how he makes his living but because his eyes take on a new sparkle when discussing the new football uniforms or transitions in offense he’s spent countless nights, mornings, and weekends running a fine-tooth comb over to help the Grizzlies improve. But to understand Pflugrad is to understand that it’s not just the game, but the people in the game that make this job his No. 1 priority.
“Every coach I’ve worked under as a player for or with on a team has influenced my thought process in one way or another,” Pflugrad says. “That is both on and off the field. You have to have CEO and CFO skills to be a coach. You have to be tough and have tough love for your players and other coaching staff as men. Their lives are different from the average UM student. They give us all of their free time. It’s tough if you’re a student athlete to make ends meet, so watching those players grow is rewarding to me.”
While Pflugrad, UM’s thirty-fourth head football coach, has spent nearly thirty years in various coaching positions with various programs, including the Pac-10 Conference schools the University of Oregon, Washington State University, and Arizona State University, he’s never been a head coach.
“I am off-the-charts excited to become not only a head coach, but the head coach at UM—a University and football program close to my heart,” Pflugrad says. After spending a little more than nine years under coach Don Read in the nineties, Pflugrad moved on to the PAC-10. “I really loved working at UM, but it was tough. Salaries needed to be up to a level where talented people could stay. So, I began working at ASU. I looked at it this way. If you’re a stock broker and you have a chance to go to Wall Street, you’ll go. You can always come back.”
Pflugrad says his biggest challenge as the new head coach is replacing last year’s class on and off the football field. “When you lose a lot of players on offense, defense, and special teams, it puts you in a disadvantage. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in this profession to go out and get players that can keep this championship level going.”
And Pflugrad says he plans to keep the Grizzlies shining in the Football Championship Subdivsion by focusing on two primary areas—recruiting and a multidimensional offense that focuses on establishing a running game. “Last fall was as open of an offense as we’ve had here. There will be elements of spread offense and the offense we ran last fall. There’s no question Chase Reynolds will be highlighted. He is a tremendous running back and receiver. We’re going to give him the ball through the land, sea, and air. But you can’t ride your favorite horse every day and expect him to win at the state fair. We need to recruit the right kind of players.”
He says recruiting is UM’s No. 1 priority, and he believes in attracting in-state interest first. “This year we were in a unique situation because of the timing of the playoffs and the [FCS] championship game. Many other coaches already had been in the recruits’ houses three, even four times before we had the chance to meet with them once. When I went around I said, ‘Don’t punish the Grizzlies because we’re an outstanding football program.’ That’s why I feel recruiting happens 365 days a year. I
want to step up the recruiting at UM and advocate that it needs to happen every day.”
—Brianne Burrowes
Facetime Face-Off:
Lex Hilliard ’08
After Lex Hilliard’s explosive five-year career with the Montana Grizzlies, he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent the entire 2008 season on the practice squad, but then saw real time in the 2009 season, racking up three NFL touchdowns. One of Hilliard’s teammates, Dan Carpenter, a kicker for the Dolphins, also is a former Griz. This pairing marks the first time two UM teammates have ever appeared on a professional team together.
I’m kind of a tweener, because I’m big enough to play full back and quick enough to play running back. They didn’t know where to put me, so in 2009 they had me playing both positions. The other thing you have to do coming into the NFL is play special teams, and I’ve never done that in my life. I saw something I had to do, and knew I had to do it well to make the team. So I learned from Patrick Cobbs [Miami Dolphins running back], and being in the same room all the time really helped out. He worked with me to make me decent at special teams, and I made the squad.
In the preseason you don’t see a lot of the featured players, but when you step in the first game that’s when the big boys come out to play. The game is a lot faster. The guys are in tip-top shape. It’s crazy. It just moves a lot faster. You kind of think about being in your first pro game and start thinking “wow,” but if you think about it too long, you’re gone. You have to think about the task at hand.
The minute that Sunday game gets over, I start preparing for the next week. Every game is different. You’ll get nicked up here and there, and when you go into the next game you have to have your body in the best shape it can possibly be in. Of course there’s also lots of film study and practice that’s all part of the mental process in preparing for the game.
It was definitely a rush. It was crazy. I think Ricky [Williams, Miami Dolphins running back] got hurt on the goal line, and I had to go in for him. It was one of our wildcat formation plays, and when I went in the game I was ecstatic. It’s sweet every time I get a touchdown. I had one against the Steelers and two against the Texans last year. Touchdowns are definitely one of the better plays of mine in the NFL or in football. There’s a lot of work that goes into each one, so in my mind when I get a touchdown it’s proof that it pays off.
When we both were picked up here it was great having someone I knew and someone I was familiar with. It’s great having him here. It’s the same. He’s obviously practicing his kicks, and we’re not around each other a whole lot on the practice field. It’s kind of the same, but it’s kind of different because we have different roles on the team.
We didn’t play the Cowboys this year but we did play the Falcons in our opening game. There was a player hurt on the field, so we were out there at the same time. It was a good chance for us to catch up. It was kind of weird in game preparation to play against Kroy and preparing against a guy you were a teammate with in college. But that’s the name of the game. You can’t be on the same team forever.
It’s definitely a lot of things. It’s the work ethic and practice carrying over to the games. Bobby Hauck [former Montana Grizzlies head coach] did a great job of showing us how to practice and how if you prepare properly in practice, it will pay off in the game. Our coaches at Miami have the same mentality that hard work pays off. Because I learned that in college, it has helped make it a lot easier.
We want to win the division and work hard as a team to accomplish the same goal that we have every game—to win. My personal goal is to become faster and more explosive and get a lot better at special teams. I’ll work with my strength and conditioning coaches on explosive techniques and stuff like that.
I am still so proud to be a Griz. I watched the Griz in all the playoff games. I was on the road when they had their big comeback, but I watched the championship game at home. I remember the disappointment of not winning. It’s definitely bitter. My heart went out to those seniors big time. That’s their one shot at it, and it’s hard. It’s hard to make it all the way there and lose after all the work you put in to get there.
Work hard. When nobody is watching that is the time to work the hardest.
Kroy Biermann ’07
As a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons, former Montana Grizzlies Big Sky Defensive MVP and Buck Buchanan Award recipient Kroy Biermann is now making it big on professional turf. Last season he saw his first NFL touchdown, but really he just loves the game and connecting with his fans.
I did some of my pre-Falcon training in Indianapolis. I had a 120-minute workout a day with my personal trainer. I also spent some time in my agent’s office, and we’re working on marketing stuff like my Facebook fan page right now and trying to get that up and running.
Offseason training is a lot more intense in terms of weight lifting, running, and sprints. You’re not breaking your body down in practices. When you start practicing you’ll cut back on the actual weight room work, and you don’t make huge gains in lifting during the season. So, if you can make gains, great, but it’s more about maintaining and keeping your body moving right and functioning.
It’s kind of a football thing. Usually you’ll refer to a player by their number or last name. So, if someone wants to yell at you across the field they’ll just yell “Biermann.” It grew from that. I have four fans in the front row in Atlanta who have my jersey and wear beer hats. It’s pretty fun. It’s a play on words, and it’s interesting. Not everyone has the last name Biermann.
I think it’s important people are able to approach professional athletes. When it comes down to it, we’re just like everybody else. We have bills. We have families and friends. The only difference is my job is to play football and someone else’s job might be to go into surgery. But football is my job, and I put everything into my job. I want to show fans what my daily life is like and open their eyes to the hard work that goes in behind the scenes. A lot of people see a game and think we just show up and play. But that’s not true. We put in hours upon hours of training into each game. It’s a 365-day-a-year job. I don’t have a lot of time off. I’m always improving my skills. The fan page is for people to see who I am behind the face mask.
In the NFL it’s not like college. We can only have two active kickers on the roster. Both of those kickers got injured during the game, and we still had half a game to play. They knew I could kick because I was always messing around with it during practice. We were standing around in a huddle and I said, “I’ll do it. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I’ll give it my best.” They said, “OK.” I hadn’t kicked since high school. I think it’s something that I’ll always be able to do to a decent extent if somebody needs it, but I don’t see myself transferring positions anytime soon.
Touchdowns are rare for a defensive player, especially a d-lineman. It’s kind of like getting a sack. It’s something you work hard on, and that’s your job. You sack the quarterback. When that happens all eyes are on you. The touchdown came through, and I hope I can continue to make impacting plays for my team. It’s something I can build off of and grow from.
It might cross my mind during the week as I prepare for it. But during the game it doesn’t affect me. I know what I’m supposed to do, so I go out there and I do it to the best of my abilities. After the game sometimes when it’s [Chad] Pennington [Miami Dolphins quarterback], [Philip] Rivers [San Diego Chargers quarterback], or someone like that, I reminisce on it. It’s just great to be out there.
I would say it has a lot to do with who I’ve been raised to be. At a very young age my family said don’t quit. You start something and you finish it. That also was really stressed at the University. Finish your schoolwork, your drill, your quarter. That’s part of being a successful person and athlete. If you’re not finishing what you’re starting, then you’re leaving things out there you could have been great at. I noticed playing for the Griz I was surrounded by guys with a good work ethic who would put everything into a game.
The contacts added a fear factor. They were kind of a scary look, but there was an actual purpose for them. I have astigmatism. When you wear contacts to correct that those contacts are bigger than normal. When you’re playing outside you sometimes get a glare. Having a red tint helped that glare disappear. The red tint also changed what I saw on the field. It made the color of the ball really stand out. Now, about 80 percent of my games are played inside, so I don’t have a need for them. I haven’t worn them since college.
Put everything into achieving your goals. Surround yourself with good people, because if you don’t, it’s going to be a lot harder to stay on that path of motivation. You want to stay around coaches, family, and friends who are positive and want you to succeed and achieve those goals. While my friends were going to parties and playing video games, I was working on my agility and getting stronger. You sacrifice something, but if you love the game, it’s not really that much of a sacrifice.
—Interviews by Brianne Burrowes
