From the Fringe … Reversed roles: I know many of you aren't cheering for the Griz on Saturday and that's OK

Sunday will be the biggest day in Montana Grizzly football history. At least in the last 14 years anyway. After all, it’s been that long since the Grizzlies have played for an FCS national championship.

And while they’ll be decided underdogs against defending national champion South Dakota State this Sunday in Frisco, Texas, with the Griz having come this far, things couldn’t be more exciting for the team, the program, Griz Nation and a portion of the state of Montana.

Notice, I said portion. I said that because Montana is still a state divided, and many of you all across the Treasure State are fans of the Montana State Bobcats. Many of you I suspect, won’t be cheering for the Griz Sunday. 

And that’s totally OK.

In fact, on this very week, just a little over two years ago, I wrote a column that this one will sound very much like — except, it was the Bobcat portion of the 406 that was about to witness one of the single biggest games in MSU history.

And in that column just a few days before MSU played NDSU in the 2022 national championship, I said why I wouldn’t be “cheering” or “rooting” for the Bobcats in that game.

Now I’m not going to rehash that column word-for-word, but the long and the short if it was that I stated that everyone has a favorite team and if you’re really deep into college football rivalries, like the one that exists between the Cats and the Griz, then you have one team and that’s that. It’s no different than the Yankees vs. Red Sox, Duke and Carolina or Michigan vs. Ohio State. If that’s how we feel about Cat-Griz then we should own it, and that’s what I did. I owned that I only have one favorite team, one school, one alma mater, and that should be totally alright with everybody.

Turns out though, it wasn’t completely OK. In fact, I took a lot of heat for that column. I only said I wasn’t “cheering” for the Bobcats. I didn’t say I was actively rooting against them. Geez, at least I didn’t make an inappropriate song about Solo Cups about them or anything like that. Sheesh, all I did was reiterate that I was a Griz fan, I admitted that the Cats were better than the Griz that year and that Montana’s season was over, so mine was, too. I wished MSU good luck and was moving on to basketball season.

Again, I had my team, they weren’t playing anymore, and that was that.

It didn’t go over very well.

Fast forward two years and I still maintain that my position is perfectly OK, and perfectly normal in the context of sports and rivalries.

Now though, the shoe is on the other foot. My team is playing in the national championship Sunday, and for the last month, it’s felt like the whole world revolves around the Griz. Or at least the whole state, anyway.

However, I must acknowledge that isn’t true. I must admit that, there’s a huge portion of the state that isn’t “cheering” or “rooting” for the Griz this Sunday. Why? Because a huge portion of the state loves the Bobcats. And guess what? That’s totally fine. It’s as it should be.

Now, many will say “I cheer for Montana” or “come on George, you gotta cheer for Montana boys.” That’s just a little of what I got blasted with two years ago. 

I even have good friends who are cheering for the Griz this week, and they’re big Cat fans. And make no mistake, that’s all good, and I’m impressed that they can do that. I love that they’re pulling for the Griz this week.

However, and as I have told a few of them. I don’t expect it. I don’t expect diehard Bobcat fans to be cheering for the Griz this week. They certainly aren’t wearing Maroon and Silver, or flying Griz flags this week, no matter how many Montana boys are playing, and that’s just fine. Conversely, I don’t expect Bobcat fans to take out full page ads wishing the Jackrabbits good luck, either. Or wait, I think that actually did happen in 2009 when the Griz played Villanova, so maybe that’s OK, too.

The point is, as has been the case for more than 120 years, this state has two major college football teams, and, this state loves to brag about how big, how intense and how special our rivalry is. And part of any rivalry is not being on the fence. In Montana, you’re a Cat or a Griz, and while there are exceptions, I’m not one of them. I’m a Griz and that’s it. Period, the end. And those of you who feel that way about the Bobcats, I’m guessing you’re A-OK with that. I just wish all of you would have been cool with it two years ago when the shoe was on the other foot.

But that’s what’s so fun about this rivalry. It is intense, it is emotional and it is crazy. And above all else, it is completely OK to pick your side in it, to be proud of the team and the school you love, and it is completely fine to not cheer for the other team! 

And after reading Bobcat Nation and X the last couple of weeks, trust me, I’m not telling a lot of Bobcat fans anything they don’t already know. Trust me, if you’re anything like a lot of the MSU posters on social media the last couple weeks, then you’re doing exactly what I’m saying is just fine. You aren’t going to, and will never cheer for the Grizzlies.

So, while it is really cool that there are many, many Montana kids playing in Sunday’s game, like Havre’s own Kellen Detrick. And while it is so cool that a Montana team has played in two of the last three FCS title games, and it is awesome that the spotlight is once again on college football in this great state, it doesn’t mean you have to like the other school. 

In other words, nothing, not even a national championship should change how we all feel about our team, and our great rivalry. The rivalry is bigger than that, it’s bigger than all of us, and for those of us who embrace it, we picked our side long ago, and we’re sticking with ’em.

So I won’t be expecting many Go Griz this weekend from Bobcat Country. And that’s just fine!

But as a proud Griz, I’ll say it, Go Griz’, and good luck in Frisco!