It is probably safe to say that I am not a great person to seek out for fashion advice. 

I am, after all, a guy who considers a Red Sox hat and a Butte hoodie from 5518 Designs as proper attire for a wedding.

When it comes to fans of the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies, though, I have some pretty sound fashion advice. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the FTC and FTG garbage.

That is what it is, too. It’s garbage.

The “T” stands for “the” and the “C” and “G” stand for “Cats” and “Griz.” You can guess what the “F” stands for.

It certainly doesn’t stand for class.

Think about it. Would you really want your young child or grandchild to ask you what that means? Would you feel good about the answer?

To me, the apparel with those three letters on it represents everything that is wrong with sports. It is disrespecting the players who represent what is right about the games, too.

Recently, a good friend of mine asked on Facebook when the new “FTG” apparel will be released. He is a huge Bobcats fan, and he wants to send a message to his Grizzly fan friends leading up to Saturday’s Cat-Griz game in Missoula.

I gave him three reasons not to wear that stuff: Jake Olson, Tanner Huff and Cameron Gurnsey. All three are former Butte High Bulldogs now on the Grizzly roster.

Not only were Jake, Tanner and Cameron great Butte High Bulldogs who we proudly cheered on when they played at Naranche Stadium, they are also great guys.

The same could be said for Bobcats Tommy Mellott, Casey Kautzman and Aaron Richards. Mellott is one of the all-time greatest Bulldogs, and Kautzman was our best kicker. Richards was a standout for the Butte Central Maroons. He also rocked a stellar Jackie Moon hairdo on the basketball court.

Believe me, it was impossible to not cheer for that hairdo.

How could any people from Butte wear a hat that says “FTC” when those three are on the team?

It is also worth pointing out that Tommy and Casey were recipients of the Mariah Day McCarthy Scholarship, which is also a clear sign of a great guy. MSU cheerleader Kenzie Mason, another Butte High graduate, took home the Mariah’s Challenge Scholarship, too.

Now, I get that fans want to hate the biggest rival of their team. I spent too much of my time hating people like Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Derek Jeter simply because they wore uniforms I don’t like.

They also terrorized my favorite teams for most of their careers. That might have had something to do with it.

I loved Johnny Damon until he switched uniforms, and then I hated him.

That is really silly. Luckily, I snapped out of that thinking and started to appreciate the greatness of the player Damon was when I watched him make an incredibly smart and gutsy play running the bases during the 2009 World Series for the Yankees.

Even though he switched sides in the rivalry, he was still the same “Idiot” who helped the Red Sox break the Curse of the Bambino. Red Sox fans should always love him for that.

After a few years forgetting it, I finally remembered.

As silly as it is that we hate players because of the color of their jersey in professional sports, it is about 10 million times worse to hate college players. Especially when we are talking about college players from a school in state.

When I was a student at the University of Montana, we were awful to the Bobcats. We chanted horrible things at them at basketball and football games. We had a blast.

We also wore obscene anti-Bobcat shirts that we bought at the bars at closing time.

So, I get the student sections yelling things at the players on the opposing team. It is part of the fun of going to college. As much as they pay for tuition and room and board, they should be allowed to have all the fun they want.

Once you have children of your own, however, hating an in-state college football team is not a good look. 

Another good friend of mine nearly had to fight his way out of a Missoula restaurant when he spoke up because the crowd went wild when the Bobcats lost a game at Idaho a couple of weeks ago.

It should be noted that MSU’s roster includes a handful of former standout players from Missoula. The ones I know are incredible young men off the field, as well.

We should all cheer for the Bobcats and Grizzlies when they are playing teams from outside the state. Well, maybe “cheer” is a strong word, but we certainly should not be rooting against another school made up largely of Montana players.

We certainly shouldn’t be hooting and hollering in a restaurant when one team loses, and we shouldn’t wear hats and shirts that belittle the other side.

I am genuinely one of the rare people who has become completely neutral on the Cat-Griz Game. I grew up cheering for the Bobcats and celebrated the 1984 national title. Then I went to the University of Montana and celebrated the 1995 national crown.

So, I have long said that I will cheer for the team with the most Butte players on it. Until recently, that was always the Grizzlies.

This year, it is a tie at three. With Tommy playing quarterback, which is by far the most noticeable position, I will probably lean a little toward the Bobcats.

When Big Jake makes a great catch or Tanner makes a tackle, though, I might lean a little back the other way. If it comes down to a Casey boot, though, there is no question which way I’m rolling.

“Kicker” is my guy.

For the most part, though, I will just sit back and enjoy watching what promises to be a great game.

(Of course, now that Montana Tech has a home playoff game on Saturday, I will have to record the Cat-Griz Game.)

Now, everyone is going to fan how they want to fan, and nobody can make a diehard Bobcat fan to be happy for the Grizzlies.

But like Tommy said in his postgame interview last year in Bozeman, we should respect the other side. Even if you don’t like them, you should respect the effort that the other players are putting in to play at their best.

Without an opponent trying like heck to beat your team, the games wouldn’t be worth watching anyway. 

Again, you can fan how you want to fan. But if you’re a Butte fan aggressively cheering against a team with Butte guys on it, you are doing it wrong. Way wrong.

If you are wearing some clothing with those three letters on it, well, maybe you should go to 5518 Designs and take my fashion advice.

The Red Sox hat is optional. 

— Bill Foley, who is trying to come to terms with his past horrible fandom, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.