THIS is the town that got the 1-AA Championship????

[panther2317]

I was really disappointed when Cedar Falls didn't get the bid to host the 1-AA National Championship game in the Dome in the future, but now I'm very very disappointed. I would sure hope that if Waterloo/Cedar Falls had the chance to host such an event, that the store owners and workers would understand the impact to the local community and at least be ready to dish out some midwestern hospitality when the game came around!

This makes me sick that a town like Chattanooga gets to continue to host in the future.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/12/17/news/top/news01.txt?session=r4MZR1JlgIVLddRpJhkhVuoOrF

[Dynasty]

Amazing

That is absolutely amazing!! How do you not know there is a National Championship being played in your back yard? I know the Cedar Valley would go all out to host an event like this. Plus, did you see the field that night? It was in terrible shape. It made the UNI-Dome look like heaven!!!

[Matt Trump]

Yeah its too bad they have it there instead of Cedar Falls. The only problem is that Nooga is more centrally located relative to the majority of I-AA schools. Who knows what the NCAA is thinking most of the time. Hopefully, Hartzell will make another push to get it in CF in the next few years.

[PurpleCatFan]

Total disgrace

The article was hard to read. It made me sick to think that the D-1AA Championship means so little to people that they could care less who played the game let alone who they wanted to win.
I got together with some friends that night and watch the game. We could not beleive the shape of the field. This is a National Championship game? It looked like it was being played in a cow pasture on some ranch in Montana. No it didn't even look that good.

The NCAA has to do something to give this game more meaning.
Play it two weeks later after the semi final games to give fans more time to make travel arrangements. Play it in a place somewhere warm so the players and fans are being rewarded for a great season. Or at least in a Dome and city like Cedar Falls where they would roll out the red carpet and make it a big event.

Everyone I was watching the game with said that they would have been in the Dome to watch the game if the Championship would have been in Cedar Falls.

I like the way that TV broadcasted all the rounds of play at least that is a step in the right direction. BUT the NCAA has got to give this game some sizzle.

In D-1A 27 teams have 4 loses or more. You can't tell me those teams play better ball than the 1-AA Championship Game Yet the players get give travel somewhere warm for a week and are treated like royalty.

Something has to change and they can start by putting the game in a new location first.

[Matt Trump]

One thing to note is that the NCAA told UT-Nooga to resod that field the week before the game. It was not Chattanooga that did that on their own. Blame the superb decision-making of the NCAA on that one. Next year they will have field turf on that field, so don't plan on them moving the game due to field conditions.

Another thing is that if the game were to be held in Cedar Falls, you could go to Waterloo and find the same kind of people saying the same things. Heck, most UNI students don't even know there are football games played on Saturdays in that big dome on campus!!! That wonderful Montana paper just managed to find the most ignorant people they could to interview. They may have interviewed 20 people and just quoted those few that had no idea. We need to consider the source here as Montana fans think there is nothing else to life than Griz football and they think that everyone in the world knows who they are.

[Chitown Panther]

One thing to note is that the NCAA told UT-Nooga to resod that field the week before the game. It was not Chattanooga that did that on their own. Blame the superb decision-making of the NCAA on that one. Next year they will have field turf on that field, so don't plan on them moving the game due to field conditions.

Another thing is that if the game were to be held in Cedar Falls, you could go to Waterloo and find the same kind of people saying the same things. Heck, most UNI students don't even know there are football games played on Saturdays in that big dome on campus!!! That wonderful Montana paper just managed to find the most ignorant people they could to interview. They may have interviewed 20 people and just quoted those few that had no idea. We need to consider the source here as Montana fans think there is nothing else to life than Griz football and they think that everyone in the world knows who they are.

Well said....

[jegbomb52]

Here is someting that I would like everyone to take note to. THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM MISSOULA MONTANA. Anytime they get an opportunity to look down on anyone they jump on it. They probably think that they should get the N.C. Game. Why not? They could go 6-5, win the Big Sky and get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Hell, talk to a Griz fan they will probably tell you that they were not treated fairly down there and that is why they aren't National Champs. Remember a couple of years ago when "we" were a bunch of rednecks. Seriously, before you start criticizing the content of this article and poking fun, let us not forget the source.

Don't get me wrong, when it comes time to start poking fun at the "Dirty South" aka WKU. I will be the first to jump on the band wagon. Just not a band wagon that got its wheels a turnin from our friends in the back woods of Montana.

[RobFromCedarFalls]

It's funny how jaded everyone is about the state of Montana and their program/fans. How many of you have been out there?

One of our most respected posters, Cap'n Cat, loves it out there.

I've been out there the last two years and have never had any problems.

Montana fans are class acts minus the 3% of morons every team is allowed.

Everyone I talked to who went down to the game felt they were out played.

Almost every Montana fan was on the field after the game shaking hands with the James Madison players, fans and staff.

Missoula is very similar to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area minus the ghetto. I wouldn't exactly call it the backwoods.

[Matt Trump]

It's funny how jaded everyone is about the state of Montana and their program/fans. How many of you have been out there?

One of our most respected posters, Cap'n Cat, loves it out there.

I've been out there the last two years and have never had any problems.

Montana fans are class acts minus the 3% of morons every team is allowed.

Everyone I talked to who went down to the game felt they were out played.

Almost every Montana fan was on the field after the game shaking hands with the James Madison players, fans and staff.

Missoula is very similar to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area minus the ghetto. I wouldn't exactly call it the backwoods.

Lets also remember that they have a ton of fans (not just in that state, but all around the country), so their 3% of a$$hole fans probably are more numerous than normal, decent Panther fans.

Missoula might have been nice each time when you were out there, but many Panthers that were members of the 2001 team have a lot of bad memories of that place.

Lets take a trip down memory lane:

We were disprespected by their crappy paper the entire week before the game because Coach Farley didn't see much sense in giving their coach game film 2 weeks before we were to play them (that is if we won our game against Maine that week). Since the Missoulian is probably the only paper that anyone in Montana can read (i think its got a lot of pictures and simple words), naturally, this thing blew up and traveled very quickly across the state.

It was freezing cold during the game, especially if you were sitting on the sidelines all game like me. We were no were near prepared to play in that environment. Why we didn't practice with noise over the loadspeakers in the dome is beyond me. Anyway, I have never experienced 23,000 people yelling at the top of their lungs and I about went deaf during the game. Then, let's talk about all the fans that called us things like "c@cks*ckers," "a$$holes," "small-weinered," "ugly," etc. Heck, they even knew my name and made fun of me and I didn't do sh*t. I remember one of my buddies saying how he heard some lady yelling all sorts of vulgar things at him and when he had enough and looked up to see who it was, he spotted this lady swearing at him with her 2 kids sitting next to her!!!

Then, lets talk about all the things that were thrown at us during the game. A nonstop barrage of anything that could be thrown. I remember TE Ryan Hannam even got a VHS tape thrown at him!!!

Stuff like this was happening all game and their fans showed no class the entire time.

Now, I understand that it didn't help much when Jake Soliday punched a dude in the nuts and Kenny Harris flipped off the crowd, but our guys had had enough. Their stupid tv announcers even said Mr. Harris was in jail and that WAS NOT TRUE!!!

I don't even want to get started on how bad the UNI player parents were treated that were sitting in the stands. From getting taunted the whole game, to almost getting in fights, it was ugly.

You aren't going to find a lot of people on this board who were on that trip coming to the defense of their program and media coverage.

For many Panther fans and players, the trip to Missoula was a HORRIBLE way to end one of the greatest seasons in Panther football history. I mean, we are talking about a 5 year Gateway Championship and playoff drought snapped and one of the greatest Panther victories the UNI-dome has ever seen. Now, anytime me and my buddies look at our rings we got that year we are reminded of a terrible trip to Missoula, Montana.

[Cap'n Cat]

Lets also remember that they have a ton of fans (not just in that state, but all around the country), so their 3% of a$$hole fans probably are more numerous than normal, decent Panther fans.

Missoula might have been nice each time when you were out there, but many Panthers that were members of the 2001 team have a lot of bad memories of that place.

Lets take a trip down memory lane:

We were disprespected by their crappy paper the entire week before the game because Coach Farley didn't see much sense in giving their coach game film 2 weeks before we were to play them (that is if we won our game against Maine that week). Since the Missoulian is probably the only paper that anyone in Montana can read (i think its got a lot of pictures and simple words), naturally, this thing blew up and traveled very quickly across the state.

It was freezing cold during the game, especially if you were sitting on the sidelines all game like me. We were no were near prepared to play in that environment. Why we didn't practice with noise over the loadspeakers in the dome is beyond me. Anyway, I have never experienced 23,000 people yelling at the top of their lungs and I about went deaf during the game. Then, let's talk about all the fans that called us things like "c@cks*ckers," "a$$holes," "small-weinered," "ugly," etc. Heck, they even knew my name and made fun of me and I didn't do sh*t. I remember one of my buddies saying how he heard some lady yelling all sorts of vulgar things at him and when he had enough and looked up to see who it was, he spotted this lady swearing at him with her 2 kids sitting next to her!!!

Then, lets talk about all the things that were thrown at us during the game. A nonstop barrage of anything that could be thrown. I remember TE Ryan Hannam even got a VHS tape thrown at him!!!

Stuff like this was happening all game and their fans showed no class the entire time.

Now, I understand that it didn't help much when Jake Soliday punched a dude in the nuts and Kenny Harris flipped off the crowd, but our guys had had enough. Their stupid tv announcers even said Mr. Harris was in jail and that WAS NOT TRUE!!!

I don't even want to get started on how bad the UNI player parents were treated that were sitting in the stands. From getting taunted the whole game, to almost getting in fights, it was ugly.

You aren't going to find a lot of people on this board who were on that trip coming to the defense of their program and media coverage.

For many Panther fans and players, the trip to Missoula was a HORRIBLE way to end one of the greatest seasons in Panther football history. I mean, we are talking about a 5 year Gateway Championship and playoff drought snapped and one of the greatest Panther victories the UNI-dome has ever seen. Now, anytime me and my buddies look at our rings we got that year we are reminded of a terrible trip to Missoula, Montana.

That was a long time ago, men. Also, they had a week to feed on that video exchange controversy. Take it from me, there is a lot of respect for UNI in Missoula. Division1boyee and I were positive ambassadors there, as was ralph. We can only hope to have fans as good as theirs. We got a long way to go to accomplish that, but, also, they don't have the intrastate challenges we do in Iowa and Iowa State.

Concentrate on football and everything will be OK!!!

[jegbomb52]

a

dag gummit Cap'n
I want to hate Missoula and all of their residents and that is my god given right. You are a role model to me Cap'n and I don't need you trying to make everything ok. Screw that place. Heck, my 45 year old mother who loves everyone in this world spent $500 on a plane ticket out there and she will tell you it was the worst experience of her life. This was before the game even started.

[UNIAlum95]

Lets take a trip down memory lane:

We were disprespected by their crappy paper the entire week before the game because Coach Farley didn't see much sense in giving their coach game film 2 weeks before we were to play them (that is if we won our game against Maine that week). Since the Missoulian is probably the only paper that anyone in Montana can read (i think its got a lot of pictures and simple words), naturally, this thing blew up and traveled very quickly across the state.

It was freezing cold during the game, especially if you were sitting on the sidelines all game like me. We were no were near prepared to play in that environment. Why we didn't practice with noise over the loadspeakers in the dome is beyond me. Anyway, I have never experienced 23,000 people yelling at the top of their lungs and I about went deaf during the game. Then, let's talk about all the fans that called us things like "c@cks*ckers," "a$$holes," "small-weinered," "ugly," etc. Heck, they even knew my name and made fun of me and I didn't do sh*t. I remember one of my buddies saying how he heard some lady yelling all sorts of vulgar things at him and when he had enough and looked up to see who it was, he spotted this lady swearing at him with her 2 kids sitting next to her!!!

Then, lets talk about all the things that were thrown at us during the game. A nonstop barrage of anything that could be thrown. I remember TE Ryan Hannam even got a VHS tape thrown at him!!!

We can all admit that they have a rabid fan base. My cousin played for UNI during the early 90s and we played out there in the playoffs. The experince was much the same. Helmets were left on when on the side lines because you didn't know what was going to come flying out of the stands. He had alcohol poured on him, batteries thrown at him, and called things that would make a longshoreman proud. He said ladies as old as our Grandmother were calling him names, swearing, and flipping them off. I don't think we want to model our hopes for UNI on following Montana fans. Sure we would love to have the numbers but when it comes to class at a football game, I think our fans win hands down.

Now this is not to say that the folks in general aren't nice people. I'm sure that if I went out there on vacation, I would have a wonderful time. But when it comes time for football, that place is a little scary. Much like the anti-government groups found out there.

All I can say about Montana football is I would love to face them in the dome for a change as that is about the toughest facillity to play in the country!

[Cap'n Cat]

I don't think we want to model our hopes for UNI on following Montana fans. Sure we would love to have the numbers but when it comes to class at a football game, I think our fans win hands down.

Now this is not to say that the folks in general aren't nice people. I'm sure that if I went out there on vacation, I would have a wonderful time. But when it comes time for football, that place is a little scary. Much like the anti-government groups found out there.

All I can say about Montana football is I would love to face them in the dome for a change as that is about the toughest facillity to play in the country!

The place is not scary at football games. Never met more hospitable folks anywhere. Youngstown was the same way. We have a long ways to go. 6-7000 people/game is sad.

[jegbomb52]

Hey Cap'n

Hey Cap'n Cat, have you ever been clocked in the grill by a VHS Tape while simultaneously being called a Fat F$#K? I have, Screw Montana!

[Cap'n Cat]

Hey Cap'n Cat, have you ever been clocked in the grill by a VHS Tape while simultaneously being called a Fat F$#K? I have, Screw Montana!

Actually, I've had worse. Got hit with a folding chair, once.

My Montana data points are based on multiple instances, including walking down on the field for entire games taking photos and meeting dozens and dozens of their fans. Heard very mild taunting and teasing directed toward Maine and New Hampshire, stuff that I have heard everywhere else, including at UNI. The 2001 affair was more than three years ago.

No need for the hate. They're like everyone else, there's just more of them.