Congratulations to the Butte High Bulldogs on an amazing season and a 2nd place finish at the State Class AA State Tourney this weekend. We’re proud of yaz!

High School hockey slides into high gear this weekend in Butte as 10 teams from Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho compete in the Copper City Cup. The tournament kicks off at noon on Friday as the Granite Mountain Bank Butte Blues take on the Bozeman Ice Dogs. It’s the first meeting of these two Southwest Montana teams this season. The Butte Pool play continues all day Saturday with the Blues against the Moscow Idaho Bears at 4 p.m. The last game Saturday is at 9:15 p.m. when the Idaho Falls Eagles take on Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Beavers. All games are at the Butte Community Ice Center. For more info, call 782-2911.

The Butte Daredevils started their home season earlier this evening as they took on the Indiana Allycats at their new home, the Butte Civic Center. They won the game by one point with 10 seconds remaining.

Frasier McDonald did an excellent job covering the game on AM 1370 KXTL, the official broadcaster for the Daredevils.

It’s looking like it’s going to be a very exciting season and an excellent venue for Butte.

The next home Daredevil game will be December 13 at 7:15pm at the Butte Civic Center. See a full schedule.

Come out and support your Butte Daredevils!

I am a die-hard Grizzly fan, but anyone who has an interest in Big Sky football knows the Montana Grizzlies’ defensive performance was the only reason they were able to hang on to the Big Sky title.

The Grizzlies defeated the Cats 13 to 7 today at Washington Grizzly Stadium. Montana’s two field goals should’ve been touchdowns with no questions asked. Not to mention, making it to the 2 yd. line with 20 seconds to go in the half and coming up short.

Josh Swogger, quarterback for the Griz, completed only 17 passes out of 41 total attempts and had two interceptions.

The Grizzly coaching staff really needs to revise the Montana offense if they want to have a chance in the playoffs. The Griz will host the first round of the playoffs next Saturday in Missoula. Parings will be announced tomorrow.

Read the full story from the Billings Gazette.

The Butte High Bulldogs’ football season came to an abrupt close last night as they fell to Kalispell 28-14. After a very good season, the Bulldogs’ just couldn’t muster up enough strength to put away the Braves.

Read the full story from The Montana Standard.

The Butte Central Maroons also finished off their season today as the Beavers stomped the off-reds 42-8 in the second round of Class A playoffs.

Read the full story from The Montana Standard.

Congratulations to both teams on great seasons! We are very proud of yaz!

The brand new publisher of the Montana Standard has spoken and Bill Foley has apparently been told that his column Tap ‘er Light is finished because it’s “dividing the community” so it’s gone. This is supposedly after meeting with the Leipheimer family.

Personally, I can’t believe there is this much controversy from either side. I’m a very diplomatic, anti-confrontation person, and I have a very live-and-let-live philosophy so the whole thing baffles me. Plus, I can probably count the number of times I’ve read something in the sports section on one hand, so I’m probably the wrong person for this post.

I did dig up the offending column (from July 4) on the Montana Standard’s website and I found the response from the Leipheimer family in Our Readers Speak (from July 9) and both seem fairly innocuous to me. Maybe I’m just naive.

I certainly don’t see any reason to kill a column entirely over it. I believe strongly in the freedom of the press, but I also think that a column in a daily newspaper is something that needs to be handled with reverence. After reading that column, I think it was.

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret–most of the time I love Butte. But sometimes I don’t. We are certainly capable of taking something small and blowing it way out of proportion here in the Mining City, aren’t we?

Anyway, what’s your stance?

Is the community really divided? Do you, like so many, think that Levi has done Butte wrong by not shouting the word Butte from the rooftops and ESPN every chance he gets? Do you think the Standard has done the right thing by ending Tap ‘er Light? Do you think that the whole thing is being blown WAY out of proportion? Do you think it is a sign of the times that a big name can have a big influence over the press?

Related Links

• The Butte Rats thread

Did you know that the Butte Central Maroon Softball Team now has a weblog of their own? The site is managed by the coaches and is a place where players and fans can stay informed throughout the season and off-season. Check it out! MaroonSoftball.com

As it turns out, the ad in the Standard was just a formality in Jim Street’s contract.

Read Bruce Sayler’s article from the Montana Standard for the full story.

I noticed today as I was sifting though the Montana Standard while doing my daily routine that Butte School Dist. #1 is advertising for a head wrestling coach position for Butte High School.

This is the first I’ve heard of it. I found it odd that the classifieds in the Standard had the job opening but there was no story in the news section or even the sports section regarding the issue.

The Montana Standard Classifieds ad text:

Butte School District No. 1 is accepting applications for the following positions at Butte High School: HEAD WRESTLING COACH (Stipend $3147-$3592 DOE), HEAD GOLF COACH (Stipend $2109 -$2405 DOE). Applications available at the Human Resource Office, 111 N. Montana Street, Butte or by calling 533-2506. Deadline 4:30 p.m., 4/10/06/ Late applications will not be considered. EOE.

If anyone has any information, feel free to comment. I’ll do some diggin’ myself and see what I can turn up.

The Butte High Bulldogs tonight defeated the Flathead Braves 55-46 in the State AA Consolation Game, giving them a 3rd place finish to their 2006 basketball season.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Bozeman 52-34 in the State AA Championship Game, ending their season at 2nd place for the 2006 basketball season. The Lady ‘Dogs have never made it to the Championship game before this year.

CONGRATS TO ALL THE BULLDOG PLAYERS AND FANS!