The Bobcat Nation

News blurb from Bobcat Athletics.

http://www.msubobcats.com/news.php?sid=h&nid=1057

Here is the Tribune's take on the nominations. There are quite a few Kramer quotes in here. I have no idea why griz fans have such a distaste for the Big Human...He always has extremely nice things to say about the griz program and all of their players. I guess we're lucky to have the coach with class.


Mike Murphy, a Great Falls native who will be a junior defensive end this fall at the University of Montana, is one of several Big Sky Conference players named preseason All-Americans by The Sports Network.

The organization, devoted to covering NCAA I-AA football, selected Murphy, UM senior cornerback Kevin Edwards and and Montana State senior linebacker Mac Mollohan to its second-team All-America defense.

The first-team offense features three players from Eastern Washington — senior quarterback Erik Meyer, senior receiver Eric Kimble and sophomore tackle Rocky Hanni. Portland State center Antonio Narcisse was also named to TSN's first team, while Montana State senior offensive lineman Jeff Bolton made the second team.

Travis Lulay, Montana State's senior quarterback, was named an honorable mention pick. Lulay ranked second among I-AA players in total offense last fall and enters his senior season with 8,117 career passing yards.

"To me, the conference has an old-fashioned flavor this year," said Montana State head coach Mike Kramer. "It reminds me of when Doug Nussmeier, Travis Brown and Dave Dickenson were playing — it's like every week you're facing the nation's leader in total offense.

"I think the conference is stronger on offense than it's been for a long while."

Murphy, who had 11 quarterback sacks last year when the Montana Grizzlies of head coach Bobby Hauck advanced to the I-AA national championship game, is a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder who excelled in football and basketball at CMR.

Edwards, a solid tackler and key playmaker in the secondary, and linebacker Shane MacIntyre of Helena, named a TSN honorable mention All-American, lead what is expected to be a formidable Montana defense.

Other Big Sky players named to the preseason All-American team are Weber State defensive end Brady Fosmark, who earned first-team distinction. Mollohan, a swift linebacker for the Bobcats, and MacIntyre were the only other conference defensive players honored by the organization.

"The notoriety will be on offense," said Kramer, who mentioned NAU quarterback Jason Murrietta, UM offensive lineman Brad Rhoades and Griz receiver Jon Talmage when considering some of the offensive standouts who return. "From what a lot of the pro people have told me, this might be the best the conference has been in terms of professional prospects in quite awhile.

"And it's not only quarterbacks. There's a lot of great receivers returning, too. In the days when Dickenson was playing, if you held your opponent to 35 points it was like, that's a shutout. This year the league could have the same flavor."

wbtfg wrote:Here is the Tribune's take on the nominations. There are quite a few Kramer quotes in here. I have no idea why griz fans have such a distaste for the Big Human...He always has extremely nice things to say about the griz program and all of their players. I guess we're lucky to have the coach with class.


Mike Murphy, a Great Falls native who will be a junior defensive end this fall at the University of Montana, is one of several Big Sky Conference players named preseason All-Americans by The Sports Network.

The organization, devoted to covering NCAA I-AA football, selected Murphy, UM senior cornerback Kevin Edwards and and Montana State senior linebacker Mac Mollohan to its second-team All-America defense.

The first-team offense features three players from Eastern Washington — senior quarterback Erik Meyer, senior receiver Eric Kimble and sophomore tackle Rocky Hanni. Portland State center Antonio Narcisse was also named to TSN's first team, while Montana State senior offensive lineman Jeff Bolton made the second team.

Travis Lulay, Montana State's senior quarterback, was named an honorable mention pick. Lulay ranked second among I-AA players in total offense last fall and enters his senior season with 8,117 career passing yards.

"To me, the conference has an old-fashioned flavor this year," said Montana State head coach Mike Kramer. "It reminds me of when Doug Nussmeier, Travis Brown and Dave Dickenson were playing — it's like every week you're facing the nation's leader in total offense.

"I think the conference is stronger on offense than it's been for a long while."

Murphy, who had 11 quarterback sacks last year when the Montana Grizzlies of head coach Bobby Hauck advanced to the I-AA national championship game, is a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder who excelled in football and basketball at CMR.

Edwards, a solid tackler and key playmaker in the secondary, and linebacker Shane MacIntyre of Helena, named a TSN honorable mention All-American, lead what is expected to be a formidable Montana defense.

Other Big Sky players named to the preseason All-American team are Weber State defensive end Brady Fosmark, who earned first-team distinction. Mollohan, a swift linebacker for the Bobcats, and MacIntyre were the only other conference defensive players honored by the organization.

"The notoriety will be on offense," said Kramer, who mentioned NAU quarterback Jason Murrietta, UM offensive lineman Brad Rhoades and Griz receiver Jon Talmage when considering some of the offensive standouts who return. "From what a lot of the pro people have told me, this might be the best the conference has been in terms of professional prospects in quite awhile.

"And it's not only quarterbacks. There's a lot of great receivers returning, too. In the days when Dickenson was playing, if you held your opponent to 35 points it was like, that's a shutout. This year the league could have the same flavor."

wbtfg,
I agree with your thoughts regarding Coach Kramer. You can tell that he respects Dickenson and his abilities, and he has never been afraid to compare talented qb's to him.
He even went out of his way in this article to mention Talmage and Rhoades. He truly is a class act and gives credit where it is due even when it involves the griz.

I wonder if that article was written by Scott Mansch. Even if it wasn't, Mansch, who covers MSU, is also first class in his articles in that he doesn't 'homer.' He's very professional.

iaafan wrote:I wonder if that article was written by Scott Mansch. Even if it wasn't, Mansch, who covers MSU, is also first class in his articles in that he doesn't 'homer.' He's very professional.

iaafan,
That article was written by Scott Mansch. I have communicated with Scott many times via e-mail, and I agree. He is very professional and does a good job of writing articles that are truly fair and balanced. In my opinion he is the best sports writer in the state.

Uncle Rico wrote:

iaafan wrote:I wonder if that article was written by Scott Mansch. Even if it wasn't, Mansch, who covers MSU, is also first class in his articles in that he doesn't 'homer.' He's very professional.

iaafan,
That article was written by Scott Mansch. I have communicated with Scott many times via e-mail, and I agree. He is very professional and does a good job of writing articles that are truly fair and balanced. In my opinion he is the best sports writer in the state.

Yep, totally agree. His articles have a very balanced and fair. I think he is the best sports writer in the state as well.

wbtfg wrote: There are quite a few Kramer quotes in here. I have no idea why griz fans have such a distaste for the Big Human...He always has extremely nice things to say about the griz program and all of their players. I guess we're lucky to have the coach with class.
[/i]

That's easy - he interrupted the Griz streak of consecutive BSC championships (or at least a share of a championship). Plus he kinda looks funny

grizbeer wrote:

wbtfg wrote: There are quite a few Kramer quotes in here. I have no idea why griz fans have such a distaste for the Big Human...He always has extremely nice things to say about the griz program and all of their players. I guess we're lucky to have the coach with class.
[/i]

That's easy - he interrupted the Griz streak of consecutive BSC championships (or at least a share of a championship). Plus he kinda looks funny

Wow, you should be a politician Isn't it just easier to say he waxed the Griz twice in a row? No need to fluff it up

CARDIAC_CATS wrote:

grizbeer wrote:

wbtfg wrote: There are quite a few Kramer quotes in here. I have no idea why griz fans have such a distaste for the Big Human...He always has extremely nice things to say about the griz program and all of their players. I guess we're lucky to have the coach with class.
[/i]

That's easy - he interrupted the Griz streak of consecutive BSC championships (or at least a share of a championship). Plus he kinda looks funny

Wow, you should be a politician Isn't it just easier to say he waxed the Griz twice in a row? No need to fluff it up

I was thinking back to 1997 when he was with EWU - the 2002 and 2003 losses didn't keep the Griz from winning a share of the BSC. Those losses were just kinda warts on those seasons, but they didn't stop the team from it's goals of BSC championship trophy like the '97 Eagles did.

Actually it did the trophies from those years reside in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

grizbeer wrote:I was thinking back to 1997 when he was with EWU - the 2002 and 2003 losses didn't keep the Griz from winning a share of the BSC. Those losses were just kinda warts on those seasons, but they didn't stop the team from it's goals of BSC championship trophy like the '97 Eagles did.

Are you trying to say that the Griz are just as happy sharing the BSC trophy as they are winning it outright?

CARDIAC_CATS wrote:

Uncle Rico wrote:

iaafan wrote:I wonder if that article was written by Scott Mansch. Even if it wasn't, Mansch, who covers MSU, is also first class in his articles in that he doesn't 'homer.' He's very professional.

iaafan,
That article was written by Scott Mansch. I have communicated with Scott many times via e-mail, and I agree. He is very professional and does a good job of writing articles that are truly fair and balanced. In my opinion he is the best sports writer in the state.

Yep, totally agree. His articles have a very balanced and fair. I think he is the best sports writer in the state as well.

I agree, and knowing that he's a Bobcat fan, it must really take discipline to do that article and lead with the UM all-American's, and show a picture of Mike Murphy (Although he is from G.F.) instead of Mac. I wouldn't have. I would have plastered articles, profiles and pictures of our 3 guys all over the page and then in tiny letters at the bottom said, "And UM had 3 picks as well..."