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Brrr in Bozeman, then and now

| October 13, 2018 11:38 PM

Seeing the pictures of snow in Bozeman on Saturday morning reminded me of my first — and only — trip to that central Montana city.

Of course, there was no controversial mixed extra point that time.

In 1985, when I was still working at the Daily Bee in Sandpoint, I flew to Bozeman in early November to cover Idaho’s football game at Montana State.

My laptop at the time looked like a small car — and sounded like one, too.

It was freezing at the stadium — and that was just in the press box.

Looked like it was freezing down on the field too.

THE VANDALS were warm enough, though, skating to a 34-0 victory over the Bobcats.

Afterward, the teams had to hike across the parking lot to the locker rooms in the basketball arena, which were probably 100 yards away but, on that freezing afternoon, seemed closer to a mile away.

As I hoofed it across the parking lot for the interviews, head down as the icy wind whipped across the parking lot, I glanced over and noticed another man, head down and striding hard toward the locker rooms.

It was Dennis Erickson. The Idaho coach.

Imagine covering an SEC game, and walking alongside Nick Saban through the parking lot after the game, heading to the postgame interviews.

“‘Sup, Nick?”

Besides, Saban would be surrounded by state troopers.

But this was the Big Sky.

Erickson was just one of the peeps, leaving the stadium in search of warmth.

Me? The reporter in me quickly thought, “Exclusive!” A chance to get quotes from the winning (and local) coach that no one else in the media horde covering the game

Then the wind kicked up, and it got colder.

And I remembered — there was no media horde. The scoop could wait.

JUST NOTICED Gonzaga has as athlete named Ben Hogan.

Alas, this Ben Hogan is a cross country runner, not a golfer.

Reminds me of the past few seasons, when Lewis-Clark State had a cross country runner named Nolan Ryan.

THE FRANCHISE formerly known as the Seattle Pilots are tied with the Dodgers at one game apiece in the National League Championship Series, heading out to L.A. for the next three games, starting Monday.

Meanwhile, the current baseball franchise in Seattle recently completed another season that didn’t include the playoffs. That makes it 17 straight seasons without a trip to the postseason for the M’s.

When your team is being compared to the Buffalo Bills, that’s not a good thing.

Doubtful the Mariners are leaving Seattle anytime soon.

However, with Portland sniffing around for a team ...

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.