Wild Week-end

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:46 am

Well the only way to describe this week-end was wild. Helped my sister in-law move to
a new apartment all week. Additionally my wife volunteered us to coordinate and
deliver (for over 80 people), for a Chinese New Year Party on Saturday. As a reward (or
maybe it was my grumpyness) my wife provided me with two tickets and a hotel room
for the Cat/Griz game this week-end, what a great woman (although I would certainly
appreciating it if she asked me next time I am volunteered). After cleaning up after the
party, Saturday, I got a call that my mother had a allergic reaction and was on her way to
the hospital. So I have to rush home dump the Kids and family, and a ton of Chinese
food off at home and then to the first hospital, (which she was not at) then to the other
Hospital emergency room. Now all the time this is happening I am flipping the radio
channel between the Lady's Cats/Griz and the Hellgate basketball game. My wife all this
time is asking me how I can listen basketball games while your mother in the Hospital.

BTW Cats lost, and really don't have the Horses to hang with the Griz on a regular basis.
Hellgate rolled but waited until late to put Sentinel away, McGillis had 31 points.

End result was that I did not get home until late Sunday morning and was too tired to
attempt the drive. Watched the whole thing from my couch. Since everything
was prepaid there was a empty motel room and seats with my name on them.
Great game, but, damn is there anyway we can get a color guy who knows
something about Bobcat basketball.

Nugget of wisdom from KPAX.
-Carson Durr is from Nevada
-Bobcat basketball is and has been bigger than football in Bozeman.
-Ryan Holmes is pretty much a three point shooter specialist.

Those were three of many comments that just had me scratching my head.

Casey had a great Game, but it was a team effort, Moss, Dissly, Jefferson, Miller, and
even Pratt contributed in a major way that all added up to a win.

8 wins in conference and a sweep over the Griz and Weber , right now, not bad for the
worse team in the conference. We are right now, where, I thought we should finish this
season, and 4 game still to play!

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:12 pm

KPAX probably got those "nuggets" from Holien.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:21 pm

Stuck in Mazzzola: Sorry about your Mom; hope everything is okay. My wife does the same thing with me. But I did get her started on the "Poor Grizzlies" chant, which is pretty good considering her upbringing! Now if I can get her out of the part of the state with all the stinking Brown license plates with an endangered animal logo...had a friend once drive nearly a hundred miles so he wouldn't have to listen to the Fizzlie announcers.

profisme · Post by **profisme** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:52 pm

Yeah the Durr comment was rather humorous to me. He was in a class with me last semester and mentioned that he was from Roberts, MT and that his dad was a teacher there. I would like to see a non-Griz telecast sometime when we play Missoula. Just an idea.

CATTRACKER · Post by **CATTRACKER** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:22 pm

This is Dan Toth's email address dtoth@kxlf.com which I found on their web site. I have emailed him with some obvious mistakes from his broadcast, but missed the Durr issue. He needs to know what we expect an accurate broadcast.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 11:59 pm

I kind of miss Dan Toth on cable. KXLF gave a lot of time to the Bobcats and the helena schools (HHS Chs and Carroll). On our Helena cable we now get Great Falls for a CBS affiliate and get all of the Great Falls high schools, billings and none of the Bobcats inside stuff. What a shame!

MSUcantouchus · Post by **MSUcantouchus** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:35 am

Dan,

While I appreciate the broadcast of cat griz games the announcing is
2nd rate. I think a little more research should go into it. Carson Durr
is from Roberts, Montana.

The broadcasts all have a heavy slant toward the griz and your partner
is culpret #1. If I had his e-mail I would be writing this to him as
he is a complete hack. Missoula fans even find him tough to take. I
would rather listen to the missoula radio broadcast, actually next time I
will turn off the sound and turn on the radio. All I ask is for a
little more perfessionalism on the part of the announcers. Thank you

I realized my mistake on Carson Durr while watching a replay of the broadcast. Did I make a mistake, yes...was it because of a lack of research.. no. I take great pride in my coverage of Montana State athletics here in Bozeman and am very sorry you think my commentary was "slanted" towards the Griz. Nothing could be further from the truth, my knowledge base in this rivarly lies squarely with the Cats..if anything, I tried to avoid being a "homer", since MSU is the team I cover on a daily basis. I'm sure my partner Tom Katz from KPAX-TV (sister CBS station) in Missoula would agree with me on the point of objectivity. I am sorry you feel the way you do about our broadcast, but of course that's your opinion, I just hope this answer helps to explain my position.

Dan Toth
Sports Director KBZK/KXLF
Office: (406) 585-3444
Fax: (406) 586-4135
Toll Free Line: 1-800-823-4646

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:05 am

I guess for me it was not an issue of being or not being a "homer" but whether or not he
knew MSU sports. Granted I am not familiar with Mr. Toth given I am in Missoula, but I
know both programs pretty well and found the comments, observations about the Griz
team and players to be on point, and relevant, but the Cat comments and observations left
me wanting. It was not about one or two major mistakes made by the announcing team,
but just a series of small comments that really seemed off base, and undermined their
credibility in my mind. I mean if I am listening/watching a Cat / Griz game and start
yelling at the TV, I would prefer it to be because of the game being played and not
correcting the announcers!

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:05 am

If you think the Montana network affiliates are bad, think back to when we were lucky to get on the Fox Sportsnet. The year the Cats beat EWU for EWU's only regular season loss, I was still in the south and color was provided by--Don Read. I threw a full beer bottle at the television before my better half simply turned the sound off! Tom Katz reminds me of a junior high kid going out of his way to placate the Fizzlies. Anyone have any ideas how we can get a group of us to help sponsor one of the stations to carry Cat games, especially during football? You know, many of our graduates are right in the middle of harvest and they're not about to leave the fields to drive to Bozo...and to think we let them come over here and hunt with their Fizzlie plates. Bit of humor, but anyway, good job writing. I've found our newspaper folks are not quite as defensive as the television stations based on their numerous responses to my complaints.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:16 am

Cat Grad wrote:If you think the Montana network affiliates are bad, think back to when we were lucky to get on the Fox Sportsnet. The year the Cats beat EWU for EWU's only regular season loss, I was still in the south and color was provided by--Don Read. I threw a full beer bottle at the television before my better half simply turned the sound off! Tom Katz reminds me of a junior high kid going out of his way to placate the Fizzlies. Anyone have any ideas how we can get a group of us to help sponsor one of the stations to carry Cat games, especially during football? You know, many of our graduates are right in the middle of harvest and they're not about to leave the fields to drive to Bozo...and to think we let them come over here and hunt with their Fizzlie plates. Bit of humor, but anyway, good job writing. I've found our newspaper folks are not quite as defensive as the television stations based on their numerous responses to my complaints.

I know a guy who worked for KECI TV here in Missoula. They always get beat out in
the Bidding by KPAX TV for broadcasting the Cat/Griz game. He told me that KECI
and their affiliate will most likely never get the rights. They always put a bid every time
the rights come up, as well as other station, but KPAX's bid is always so much more no
other station/network can come close to competing. In his opinion KPAX has a few
advantages as far as equipment available to them, that others have to rent, but he felt they
have to lose decent money on every Cat/Griz game, but the other stations / networks are
not willing to do. KPAX have had the rights to the Cat/Griz for as long as I can
remember, and will most likely have it for the foreseeable future

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:58 am

mslacat wrote:
Cat Grad wrote:If you think the Montana network affiliates are bad, think back to when we were lucky to get on the Fox Sportsnet. The year the Cats beat EWU for EWU's only regular season loss, I was still in the south and color was provided by--Don Read. I threw a full beer bottle at the television before my better half simply turned the sound off! Tom Katz reminds me of a junior high kid going out of his way to placate the Fizzlies. Anyone have any ideas how we can get a group of us to help sponsor one of the stations to carry Cat games, especially during football? You know, many of our graduates are right in the middle of harvest and they're not about to leave the fields to drive to Bozo...and to think we let them come over here and hunt with their Fizzlie plates. Bit of humor, but anyway, good job writing. I've found our newspaper folks are not quite as defensive as the television stations based on their numerous responses to my complaints.
I know a guy who worked for KECI TV here in Missoula. They always get beat out in
the Bidding by KPAX TV for broadcasting the Cat/Griz game. He told me that KECI
and their affiliate will most likely never get the rights. They always put a bid every time
the rights come up, as well as other station, but KPAX's bid is always so much more no
other station/network can come close to competing. In his opinion KPAX has a few
advantages as far as equipment available to them, that others have to rent, but he felt they
have to lose decent money on every Cat/Griz game, but the other stations / networks are
not willing to do. KPAX have had the rights to the Cat/Griz for as long as I can
remember, and will most likely have it for the foreseeable future

that seems like a good idea - although it will take some time. I will be looking forward to the griz fans complaining about slanted coverage.
btw i cant wait for the bsc tournament - it will be entertaining to watch the coverage of the Bobcats if they win it all - talk about toung in cheek

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:00 pm

Although I've not been able to get to very many Cat games since graduation, it's somewhat discerning to return home and realize the Fizzlies have their own "network affiliate" and we're struggling to get on OMEGA. Although I love OMEGA and what they're attempting, if for whateve reason I'm not able to get to watcj the the game in person, I'd prefer watching and listening to our own loyal color and play by play announcers. What exactly is the problem? I used to be able to watch certain SEC games on either teams "station." Perhaps OMEGA has the potential to go regional, but again, I don't have a clue as to their aspirations. I know I get sick of ESPN and their neglect of our entire region. Anybody out there have any rich relatives who would at least approach Tom Brokaw?

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:59 pm

Part of the advantage of having the large following that the friz have is that the media sees that following as a potential advertising target group. I feel that as soon as we get the same type of following there will be a media outlet that will vye for our rights too. Until then...thank God for OMEGA!

KPAX is a frizzly station, and Tom Kautz is a frizzly announcer who does their highlight shows like Atterbury does ours. I wouldn't expect him to be neutral. Dan Toth is the Bobcat opposite of Kautz, only he doesn't do our highlight show (I don't even know if we have one...being in Helena), but he does "favor" MSU in his reporting on the nightly KXLF (Butte) news...(which we in Helena also do not get anymore because the cable company switched us to the Great Falls affiliate) He's the closest thing to a Bobcat homer we will get outside of Atterbury!