Montanans call it the "Brawl of the Wild." Dating back to 1897, the University of Montana versus Montana State University annual showdown remains the hottest football ticket in the state. The 31st oldest rivalry in NCAA Division I and the 11th oldest west of the Mississippi, UM leads the all-time series 73-41-5 but since MSU joined the NCAA in 1957, the Griz lead by a slim 32-31 margin. From 1986 to 2009, the Grizzlies dominated the series winning 21 of 24 games against the Bobcats. However since 2010, MSU won 6 of 10 including the last four in a row. However you look at it, Cat-Griz is a spirited and yes, bitter rivalry. It divides the state and it divides families. Ours is no different. Since we moved to western Montana in 2003, we attended occasional games and cheered for the hometown Grizzlies. My son-in-law, Kenny, is a native Montanan and a lifelong, diehard Griz fan. His family had season tickets growing up and he, my oldest daughter and their kids have season tickets now and attend games to this day. My son, Jace, grew up cheering for Montana but switched allegiances by transferring from BYU-Idaho to Montana State after returning home from serving a church mission in Australia. He and wife, Kelly, both graduated from MSU and attended every home game while they were in school and still hold season tickets even though now they live 400 miles west of Bobcat Stadium. Like Kenny, Jace too is diehard but instead of bleeding Grizzly crimson and silver, he bleeds Bobcat blue and gold.
So when you have members of your family on polar opposite ends of the Brawl of the Wild spectrum, what do you get them for their birthdays? Simple, you get them what further defines who they are.
I came up with the idea while surfing Facebook. There it was. It was perfect! Perfect for Kenny and perfect for Jace. The product I saw didn't have anything to do with football. I just needed to put a Bobcat-Grizzly "spin" on it - literally.
Two years earlier, Lori and I ordered a trailer full of tongue-and-groove, rough cut, circle-sawn fir that we installed as flooring in our rebuilt home. I stacked the leftover planks high among the rafters in the top of the garage. That fir flooring would be perfect for this project.I used the chop saw to cut up a couple of boards and then glued and clamped them together. From there, it was a matter of art. I printed a logo from each school, cut them out and used them as stencils to transfer the pattern onto the wood. There would be no permanent marker or paint used on this project. I needed a hand-held wood burner so I purchased one from a craft store in town. Talk about writer's cramp. It took hours on end over a couple of days to burn each logo into the wood. Still, that gave it a classic look, a rustic look, a Big Sky State kind of look. Across the top of each of the dueling signs I burned the question, "Who to cheer for?" I then cut out small wooden arrows, drilled a hole in the end of each of them, stained all of the wood and loosely attached the arrows to the wooden signs with a nail.
The final part of the plan was intentionally giving Kenny's present to Jace and Jace's to Kenny. As they opened their presents, they each kind of chuckled before switching with each other. Jace's Bobcat sign now hangs in his office where he spends his weekdays. Kenny's hangs in the shop where he works on cars.
Gravity dictates their individual teams will win with each and every spin. But which side of the family wins when the Cats and Griz face off for the 120th time on the football field this fall? I don't think gravity will have much to do with it.
Go ahead, give 'er a spin
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