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A look back at the great ‘Butte Bullet’
Milt Popovich’s name jumped right off the program when I opened it up.
In a post-Christmas visit with my father-in-law, Pat Mulcahy, he handed me a photocopy of the game program from when the Montana State College Bobcats played the Montana State University Grizzlies at Clark Park in Butte on Oct. 30, 1937. (Go to the bottom of this column for photos of that program.)
Yes, that is what those teams were called back then.
I only got a photocopy because Pat wisely keeps the original program preserved and wrapped up in plastic.
As coincidence would have it, Pat gave me that program copy on Dec. 28. That would have been Milt’s 109th birthday.
Popovich’s name is at the very bottom of the Grizzlies roster because he wore the highest number, No. 77. He was a superstar halfback wearing an offensive lineman number.
The “Butte Bullet” went on to become an All-American with the Grizzlies, and he played five seasons in the National Football League with the Chicago Cardinals (1938 through 1942). He was a charter member of the Butte Sports Hall of Fame (1987) and the Montana Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame (1993).
Known as a humble man with a giant heart, Popovich was also a fireman for 27 years in the Mining City.
In 1937, he was one of eight players from Butte on the Bobcat and Grizzly rosters. Bobcats from Butte were Frank Strong, Bill Halloway, Nicholas Yovetich, Jack Binder and Ted Wirak. Grizzlies in the game were Harry Shaffer, Leonard Noyes and Popovich.
The “Butte Bullet,” though, stole the show, scoring the game’s only touchdown in a 19-0 Grizzly victory.
Of course, that was just one time that “Popo” terrorized his rival. According to the late Pat Kearney’s book, “The Divide War,” Popovich produced the most dominant numbers of any player in the history of the great rivalry.
Popovich accumulated 720 yards and four touchdowns in three games against the Cats. That includes 288 yards on 65 rushes. He returned two punts for touchdowns against the Bobcats in 1936 in Butte.
Milt was even a more dominant force against the rival Butte Central Maroons in his days playing for the Butte High Bulldogs.
Butte High scored a total of six touchdowns in back-to-back shutout victories over the Maroons in 1932 and 1933, and Popovich had a hand in all of them. He scored on runs of 66 and 4 yards in a 13-0 win in 1932.
On Veterans Day of 1933, BC fans were geared up to stop the “Butte Bullet.”
“I knew the Central folks thought they could stop me,” Popovich told Kearney when he was writing his book, “Butte’s Big Game,” about the Butte Central vs. Butte High football rivalry. “The Central rooters were all over me as I got off the team bus. They shouted, ‘Hey Popovich, you should just get back on the bus because the Maroons are going to beat you today. I tried not to listen to the hecklers, but they kept yelling at me. So finally, I said, ‘You watch. I’ll score a touchdown against your fabled defense today.’”
It did not take long for Popovich to back up those words. He took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, marking the first time in the rivalry that the opening kick was returned for a score.
The only other opening kick returned for a touchdown in the rivalry came when BC’s Steve Schulte scored on an 89-yard return to start the 1978 game. Popovich’s 93-yard scamper was a rivalry record until Central quarterback Steve Markovich busted a 95-yard touchdown run in 1988.
In 1933, though, Popovich was just getting started. He followed the kickoff return by throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dave O’Neill, returning an interception 48 yards for a score and punching in a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs won 26-0.
The Montana Standard called it the “greatest one-man show in the history of the city championship series,” and you would not get an argument from any of the crowd of 5,500 at Clark Park that day.
That statement probably still rings true for the rivalry that ran through 1991. Nobody dominated like the “Butte Bullet.”
Popovich was more than just a football player. He was on Butte High’s back-to-back State championship basketball teams in 1932 and 1933, and he scored a meet-high 12 points as Butte High won the 1933 State track meet.
Football, though, was his sport. Popovich’s 102-yard kickoff return against Oregon State in 1936 set a Grizzly record. He also booted a record 67-yard punt. He led UM to a 7-1 record in 1937, when he was team captain, and he represented the Grizzlies on the at the East-West Shrine Game in 1938.
Popovich was a hero of the Greatest Generation. They talked about Popovich the way we talk about Tommy Mellott.
Sports Illustrated listed Popovich No. 23 on the list of the top 50 Montana athletes of the 20th Century, and many people in these parts thought that ranking was way too low.
I was working on The Montana Standard sports desk in June of 2005 when word broke that Popovich passed away at the age of 89.
Kearney directed me to talk to Alex Ducich and Jim Wedin, two guys who were well-known in the Butte sports scene before their passing, for a story on Popovich.
Ducich, who played in the same backfield as Popovich at Butte High, talked about how the Grizzlies should have beaten the University of Southern California in the Los Angeles Coliseum to start the 1935 season.
It would have been a monumental upset considering the Grizzlies suited up just 14 players, and USC had three full squads in uniform. The Trojans escaped with a 9-0 win.
“It should really have been 13-9 because Milt Popovich ran for two touchdowns,” Ducich, then 88, said. “Both of them were called back.”
Ducich was a student at USC at the time of the game, and he still believed Popovich’s touchdowns should have counted.
“They said he stepped out,” Ducich said, with a “no-way” tone to his voice.
Wedin was a little younger, and he remembered watching Popovich play for the Bulldogs and Grizzlies.
“I wish you could have seen him run,” Wedin told me. “He could really run. He popped those knees and boy he could cut.”
Kearney spent three years researching for The Divide War and, in 2005, he said only four Grizzly players really stand out as a “legend.”
Those are “Wild” Bill Kelly (1924-26), Popovich (1935-37), Dave Dickenson (1992-95) and Yohance Humphrey (1998-2001).
“The stories of Kelly and Popovich are still told today, while the feats of the latter two will only grow with passing years,” Kearney said.
My father-in-law knew Popovich, and he reiterated the humble-and-kind description of the Butte and Montana legend. Wedin did, too.
“He was a nice guy,” Wedin said in the days following Popovich’s death. “Everybody liked Milt.”
But it was Popovich’s prowess on the gridiron that always made the “Butte Bullet” jump right off every program his name ever appeared on. That is why Popovich’s legend still lives on today.
“All I can say is he’s the best running back in Montana that I saw,” Wedin said. “It was fun to watch him run.”
— Bill Foley, who is not fun to watch run, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
“Wild” Bill Kelly’Dave Dickenson, Alex Ducich, Bill Halloway, Butte Bullet, Butte Central, Butte High School, Chicago Cardinals, Dave O’Neill, Frank Strong, Harry Shaffer, Jack Binder, Jim Wedin, Leonard Noyes, Los Angeles Coliseum, Milt Popovich, Montana Grizzlies, Montana Standard, Montana State Bobcats, NFL, Nichoals Yovetich, Pat Kearney, Pat Mulcahy, Popovich, Steve Schulte, Steven Markovich, Ted Wirak, USC, Yohance Humphrey -
Butte High girls’ subvarsity report
Following are the Butte High girls’ basketball subvarsity reports for the December portion of the Bulldogs season, as provided by coaches.
The report includes road games against Belgrade, Dillon and Boulder and home a game against Billings Skyview.
Butte High sophomores 60, Belgrade sophomores 11
BELGRADE — The Bulldogs never trailed as they rolled to a season-opening rout of the Panthers Dec. 12.Kate DeShaw and Brittyn Klima combined for 31 points in the victory. DeShaw tossed in 16 points, while Klima tallied 15. The Bulldogs also got eight points apiece from Avery Barsness and Kendallyn Schad, seven from Reese Johnson, four from Stalla Callaghan and two from Ellie Yates.
The Bulldogs combined for 18 steals, with Barsness leading the way with seven. Schad led the battle of the boards with eight rebounds. DeShaw was named Junkyard Dog of the game.
Dillon JV 54, Butte High JV 31
DILLON — Tess Tash scored 14 points, and the Dillon pressure proved too much for the Bulldogs Dec. 17.Shannon Marlin and Kaitlyn Konen each scored nine points for Dillon, while Kena Sampson tossed in eight.
Allie Becker’s eight points led the Bulldogs. Autumn Clary scored seven, while Ellison Graham added six. Butte High also got three from Saege Grey and Gracie Jonart and two from Avery Barsness and Kendallyn Schad.
Becker took home Junkyard Dog honors after the first JV game of the season for the Bulldogs.
Butte High freshmen 41, Dillon freshmen 39
DILLON — Using super-aggressive defense after the break, the Bulldogs outscored Dillon 31-15 in the second half to pick up the come-from-behind win over the Beavers Dec. 17.Evie Smith poured in 17 points to lead Butte High. Wakely Burleson and Ava Bryson each scored eight points in the win. Sage Leber, the Junkyard Dog of the game, tossed in six, and Berki Salusso scored two.
Kenndyl Meine scored 12 to lead Dillon. Reine McCoy added 11.
Butte High freshman 49, Boulder C squad 28
BOULDER — Butte High made it 2-0 with a big win over Jefferson High Dec. 19.Berki Salusso and Evie Smith led the Bulldog offensive explosion, scoring 15 and 14 points. Wakely Burleson added eight points for Butte High, which got seven from Sage Leber and five from Ava Bryson.
Burleson took home Junkyard Dog honors for her fantastic defense. She caused many disruptions for the Panthers.
Allie Muffick scored 10 to lead Boulder.
Butte High JV 47, Billings Skyview JV 15
Pressure defense was a gamechanger for the Bulldogs as they played their first home game Dec. 20. Butte High turned steals into transition points, and the Bulldogs dominated on the boards.Allie Becker scored 14 points to lead the way as eight different Butte High players scored points. Ellison Graham, the Junkyard Dog of the game, added 10 points.
Butte also got six points from Gracie Jonart, five from Autumn Clary, four from Reese Johnson, three from Saege Grey and two apiece from Ally Godbout and Avery Barsness.
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Podcast No. 235: Dave and Will Silk
A little more than a decade ago, a Montana Standard sportswriter set out to pick the greatest athlete in the history of the Mining City.
That was a monumental task since Butte has such a rich sports history. It seemed like a crazy project for a writer who just moved into the state.
To make a long story short, I disagree with just about everyone selected in his countdown to No. 1, which was based on a very unscientific poll. I didn’t necessarily agree with the people he had in the top spots. It was just their order that I took issue with.
The writer’s choice for the top spot almost made legendary Butte historian Pat Kearney blow a gasket because he picked a speedskater, and that speedskater was not named Dave Silk. Pat went full-on Kermit The Frog when telling people about it.
Immediately, anyone who knows speedskating in Butte knew the list was not right. There is no question, in my mind anyway, which speedskater was the best in Butte history, and we’ve had a lot of accomplished speedskaters over the years.
Dave Silk was the best. He was an alternate in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. He competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Dave, who first rose to speedskating fame while racing around the oval that is now hole No. 8 on the par 3 course at the Highland View Golf Course in Stodden Park, won the World Cup overall championship in the 5,000-meter race in 1986.
My money is still on Bob O’Billovich as being the best athlete to ever come out of Butte. But Dave is still the best speedskater.
Dave is a member of the Butte Sports Hall of Fame and U.S. Speedskating Hall of Fame.
He was also instrumental in keeping the once-thriving sport alive in Butte. He is the president of the U.S. High Altitude Speedskating Center, which very well could have gone away if it was not for the work of the Silk family.
In a few years, however, Dave might no longer be the greatest speedskater to ever come out of Butte. He might no longer be the best speedskater in his family. That title could very well belong to his son, Will.
The younger Silk placed second in the all-around at the U.S. Junior Speedskating Championship recently in Roseville, Minnesota. He won that junior all-around title last season, and missed winning this year by .22 of second.
At the recent event, Will won the 5,000 meters, took second in the 1,000 and 1,500, and placed fourth in the 500.
That performance earned Will a spot on the U.S. team for the Junior World Speedskating Championships in Collalbo, Italy, Feb. 7-9. Silk placed 16th in the Junior Worlds last February in Japan.
The 2024 Butte High graduate very well could be representing the United States in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. The 2030 games are in play for Will, too.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Sam Sampson named to Shrine Game; Shea, Polich picked as alternates
Butte High senior Sam Sampson still has one more high school football game to play.
The recent Montana Tech signee was named to the 78th Montana East-West Shrine Game. He will play receiver for the West Side when the game is played June 21 in Great Falls.
Rosters for the East and West were released on Christmas morning.
Sampson is the lone player from the Mining City selected for the state’s premier all-star football game. Butte High teammates Colton Shea and Brett Polich, though, could join him. Shea and Polich were named alternates for the West Side.
Sampson’s selection comes after he had a huge season for the Bulldogs in 2024. He caught 55 passes for 860 yards and eight touchdowns as Butte High made a playoff run. His 860 yards led the team, while his receptions and touchdowns both ranked second.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Sampson earned first-team All-State honors at receiver. He also took home a second-team All-State nod as long snapper.
Shea’s alternate selection comes after his impressive senior season, which was his first as Butte High’s starting quarterback. The 5-8, 180-pound Shea completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2024, including a 99-yard strike to Sampson. Shea took home second-team All-State honors.
The 5-10, 250-pound Polich is an alternate at defensive tackle for the West Side. That comes after Polich was a force on both sides of the line for Butte High in 2024. He received a second-team All-Conference mention at center.
Helena Capital coach Kyle Mihelish will serve as head coach of the West for the third time since 2018. The honor comes after his Bruins won another Class AA State title in November.
Five players from Mihelish’s Bruins were named to his roster, including his son Merek, a quarterback who was recently named the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year. Merek Mihelish will play football at Montana Tech. Capital had six more players who were named as alternates.
Kyle Mehelish has 26 years of coaching experience in Montana football, with eight years at Great Falls High, one year at Carroll College, and the last 17 years at Helena Capital. He has coached in six Shrine Games, serving as an assistant coach twice for the East and twice for the West, and as the West head coach in 2018 and 2022. Kyle is a 1990 graduate of Capital High School, and he played football at the University of Montana Western.
Nick Oxarart will coach the East Side. Oxarart has been coaching Malta Mustang Football for 18 seasons (nine as an assistant and nine as head coach). Oxarart is a 1999 graduate of Malta High School and was a member of Malta’s first state championship football team in 1996.
Oxarart graduated from Minot State University in 2004 and was a member of the football team. He was an assistant coach for the East in the 2021 Shrine Game.
The players for the 78th Montana East-West Shrine Game were nominated by their schools and coaches around the state. They were finally selected as the “best of the best” and join an elite fraternity of players, many of whom have gone on to distinguished collegiate and professional careers.
The West Side will once again hold their training camp in the Mining City. Click the link below to see all the selections from the West and East.
The above photos of, from left, Sampson, Shea and Polich are courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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Only a fool would bet against Tommy
As I made my way through the Election Day crowd at the Butte Civic Center, trying to find the right table to get my ballot, I saw Ed Kelly making a beeline toward me.
“I owe you an apology,” Ed said.
“You owe me an apology?” I asked. “For what?”
As it turns out, he did not really owe me an apology at all. Instead, he owed that apology to himself because he broke what has become the cardinal rule in the Mining City.
He doubted Tommy Mellott.
No, Ed did not doubt “Touchdown Tommy” and his ability to lead the Montana State Bobcats to wins. Ed, a Butte Sports Hall of Famer who briefly played football for the Cats, is as big of a Tommy Mellott fan you will find.
When he witnessed me wearing a Montana Grizzly hat and hoodie as I interviewed Tommy for a podcast two years ago, Ed read me the riot act — even though he understood that I was only doing it to be funny.
No, Ed didn’t doubt Tommy’s ability. Instead, Ed doubted my assertion that Tommy will be drafted — and drafted fairly high — in the 2025 NFL Draft.
As we stood on the concourse at Alumni Coliseum during the Montana Tech-Rocky Mountain College football game on Oct. 26, Ed and I started talking about Tommy. Most conversations in Montana during football season usually turn to Tommy these days.
He has, after all, reached one-name status in Montana. You can mention his first name in Kalispell, Helena or Ekalaka, and everyone knows which Tommy you mean.
I told Ed that Tommy can play in the National Football League. I think he can play quarterback, too, I said. If not, though, he has a ton of options at the next level. He can play receiver. He can play safety. He can play running back.
“He can be as good as Christian McCaffrey,” I said. “Tommy runs the ball like Gale Sayers. He doesn’t just run like Justin Fields. He can run up the middle for tough yards, and he has incredible breakaway speed.”
“He isn’t that fast,” Ed said, meaning top-end NFL speed.
“I bet he runs at least a 4.4 40,” I said, referring to running a 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds.
(Actually, I saw a report that says Tommy’s 40 time is actually 4.3, a speed that is not topped by very many people in the world. A 4.2 time in the 40 is very rare.)
“Nooo,” Ed said, looking at me like I lost my remaining marbles. “There’s no way he is that fast.”
I didn’t offer a bet, but I’m pretty sure by that look on his face that Ed would have taken me up on it.
As it turns out, it only took one play on the very next Saturday for Ed to see how wrong he was.
The Bobcats played on that awful red turf at Eastern Washington the Saturday before Election Day. With the score tied at 28 late in the third quarter, Tommy broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run.
It was one of those runs that you could see that nobody was going to catch Tommy once he was 10 years past the line of scrimmage. It was like he was shot out of a cannon.
It was like a man playing against boys. Or Superman playing against regular men. Eastern Washington defenders had to be looking for Tommy’s cape the next time the Bobcat offense took the field.
The run, which led to a 42-28 Bobcat win over the Eagles, is one that will be watched over and over by every scout in the NFL. Even teams set at quarterback will think that they have to add that kind of talent to their roster.
Sure, Tommy has a lot of those oh-my-God-did-you-see-that runs. He did that in Saturday’s 31-17 semifinal win over South Dakota in Bozeman.
The play started when Tommy dropped a bad shotgun snap. But just as Bobcat fans were collectively saying “Oh no,” Tommy quickly picked the ball up and raced up the middle. In the blink of an eye, he scored on a 41-yard touchdown run.
His speed looked more like 3.3 than 4.3 on that score. The Coyote had a better chance to catch the Roadrunner than the Coyotes had of catching that Bobcat.
Seconds later, former Wayne State football coach Dan McLaughlin, a Sheridan, Montana native, texted me to say, “How about that??? Incredible.”
“Incredible” is a word we could use to describe just about all of his 42 rushing touchdowns for the Bobcats. Just when you think Tommy cannot possibly outdo himself, he outdoes himself.
You might use some awe-inspired adjectives to describe his 53 passing touchdowns, too, and 29 of those have come this season. If he is not the best football player in the history of the Montana State Bobcats, he is certainly the most exciting.
While Tommy was one of the best athletes on the field from Day 1, he has really turned into a great quarterback, too. He goes through his progressions, and he drops more dimes than a payphone.
He can play quarterback on Sundays.
That is because he is at least a tie for the smartest player to ever put on a football uniform. He graduated from the difficult academic institution earlier this month with a 4.0 GPA in financial engineering.
Of course, in Butte we have known that Tommy was an amazing person for years. We saw the essay he wrote about veterans when he was a student at East Middle School.
We saw how he treated Bulldog fans, young and old, when he was starring in three sports at Butte High School. He was just the second boy to earn 12 varsity letters at Butte High, and he was a valedictorian of the Class of 2020.
If you were to write a movie and include a character like Tommy Mellott, nobody would believe it because he appears way too good to be true.
If Tommy told me he was going to be an astronaut, I would believe him. If he said he was going to be president of the United States, I would believe him.
If he told me he could fly, I would believe him.
Those of us who paid attention to his high school and middle school career have long known about his greatness. Seeing others around the state discover it over the last four years that he has played for the Bobcats has been incredibly fun.
My brother and dad are both Grizzly fans who never cheer for the Bobcats. Until Tommy, that is.
Now they are bleeding blue and gold as Tommy and the Bobcats head to Frisco, Texas for the second time in four years to play in the FCS National Championship Game.
The Bobcats head down to Texas on an unprecedented roll, too. MSU is 15-0, and the Bobcats have scored at least 30 points in every game.
MSU has a great offensive line, an incredible running game and a ton of weapons in the passing game. But Tommy is driving the bus.
He’s an All-American. He is the Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP. He is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. Bruce Sayler voted him No. 1 for the Heisman Trophy because he can see that Tommy is the real deal.
No matter how the championship game goes on Jan. 6 against North Dakota State, Tommy has proven over and over that he is the real deal.
Everyone in Butte knows it. People around the Treasure State see it. Fans around the FCS know it. Soon, I bet, fans around the NFL are going to see it, too.
Don’t take my word for it, however. Just ask Ed Kelly.
He will tell you that you would have to be a fool to ever bet against Tommy Mellott.
— Bill Foley, who is not the smartest person to ever put on a football uniform, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Cadence Graham and Dylan Bache
Butte High basketball players Cadence Graham and Dylan “Bobby” Bache are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Both players were nominated by their head coaches for the honor.
Graham receives the girls’ honor after leading the Bulldogs to a 49-46 win over Billings Skyview in Butte High’s home opener at the Richardson Gyn. The sophomore hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first half of the victory.
On the game, Graham shot a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Graham has been a key contributor to the Bulldog varsity team since she was an eighth grader.
Bache takes home the boys’ honor after scoring 21 points in 22 minutes of Butte High’s 80-47 win on the road against defending Class A State champion Dillon. The senior made 9 of 11 shots from the field. That includes a 3-for-3 performance from behind the 3-point line.
Bache, whose nickname comes from the movie “The Waterboy,” has been a varsity force for Butte High since his freshman season.
Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, is teaming up with the ButteCast to honor the finest student-athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Graham and Bache courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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Podcast No. 234: Grandma Mary
Mary Catherine (McCoy) D’Arcy was my grandma, and that pretty much makes me one of the luckiest people to ever live.
All of my many cousins feel the same way.
Grandma Mary was simply the best. She was smart, funny and active right up until her death less than two months before her 98th birthday. Every day we got to see Grandma Mary was a day when we would smile and laugh.
I still get asked about Grandma Mary at least once a week. I think I am known more for being one of her grandchildren than I am for being a writer, podcaster or political candidate.
She was born in Butte Oct. 12, 1920, and lived in the Mining City until she passed on Aug. 20, 2018.
Grandma Mary really wanted to make it to her 100th birthday. She wanted to be the oldest person in the McCoy family. She also wanted to celebrate her centennial with a huge party at the Butte Civic Center.
She said she was going to charge everyone $100 to enter. Only her favorite nurses and priest were going to get in for free. Her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren all had to pay, she said.
She also wanted to make it to 100 so she could get 100 percent off of her birthday dinner at the Montana Club. She went there every year on her birthday for those insane discounts.
Of course, her 100th birthday, Oct. 12, 2020, would have fallen in the middle of the COVID pandemic. There were no parties in those days. So, maybe Grandma Mary was one of the lucky ones to check out before that global nightmare hit us all.
Grandma Mary was a classmate of the great Eso Naranche in the Butte High School Class of 1938. She said Naranche was a nice boy.
“He wasn’t an ass like some of those other boys,” she once told me.
You had to be really something to reach not-an-ass status with Grandma Mary. Whenever I’d talk to her on the phone, she would usually end the conversation by saying, “Oh, you’re an ass. Goodbye.”
My grandma met my grandpa Jerry D’Arcy at the Shanty Bar in Butte. They were married on April 10, 1939. Grandpa Jerry passed away in 2011 after 72 years of marriage.
Grandma Mary said that is a long time to wait on somebody, and Grandpa Jerry countered that it was a long time to take care of someone else’s daughter.
On April 11, 2018, Ron Davis let me host Partyline on KBOW. So, I had Grandma Mary on as my guest for the full hour. I got the idea when I heard Ron interview his mother, Mama Davis, a few months earlier.
This interview is the first time I started thinking about hosting my own podcast. So, I think I owe Grandma Mary a huge thank you.
Thank you also to Ron for giving me permission to use the audio from his radio station. He was a great boss for 10 years, and he is an even better friend.
Listen in to hear Grandma Mary talk about the best fireworks show in the history of Butte. Listen as she talks about Charles Lindberg and Franklin Roosevelt coming to town. Listen as she talks about meeting Grandpa Jerry.
Listen in as she denies that my cousins Marci and Jody were not her favorite grandchildren. Listen to hear that she was clearly lying about that.
Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.
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Podcast No. 233: Tom Pomroy Jr.
Tom Pomroy Jr. will go down as one of the all-time great athletes that the Mining City ever produced.
He earned All-State honors in football, basketball and track as a senior at Butte High School. He earned seven varsity letters and shared the 1976 Harry “Swede” Dahlberg Award for outstanding boy athlete with Dan Bersanti.
Pomroy, who will turn 67 later this month, went on to play football and run track at Montana State University. He was a freshman when coach Sonny Holland’s Bobcats won the NCAA Division II national championship in 1976.
After college, Pomroy got into handball. He is on the short list of the greatest handball players from Butte. He racked up multiple State titles — winning Open and Masters crowns in singles and doubles.
In his mid to late 40s, Pomroy defied his doctor’s orders and returned to the sport despite having two really bad shoulders. He won the State Masters title three out of four years form 2002 through 2005.
He was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. Twelve years later, he was joined by his father, Tom Pomroy Sr.
Tom Pomroy Jr. was also a longtime teacher and coach. He coached in Browning before coaching boys’ and girls’ basketball at Butte Central and Butte High. Perhaps his biggest win as a coach came on Sept. 10, 1987. That is when Butte Central upset Butte High 55-52 at the Butte Civic Center.
Of course, that win had a whole lot to do with the play of the great Julie Leary and a clutch basket by Gina Ossello. Perhaps the biggest hero was whoever twisted the knee of Butte High star Anna Wherry before the game.
Listen in to this podcast, which was recorded inside the Coaches Corner at Metals Sports Bar & Grill, as Pomroy discusses his playing and coaching career. Listen as we talk about that big win over Butte High and a scuffle he once had with the Missoula Hellgate band at the Class AA State tournament.
Listen as he talks about the many great athletes he competed with or against as a player and a coach. Listen as he talks about the joy of watching his grandchildren compete in sports.
Listen to his take on the great Tommy Mellott and the current Bobcats making a deep playoff run.
Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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KC Kids hoops on this Saturday
The Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s Little Kids Basketball program will be held this Saturday at the Felix Madrazo Gym.
The league will take off the weeks of Dec. 28 and Jan. 4 and will return on Jan. 11.
Games for boys and girls from pre-kindergarten through second grade go from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Games for players in the third through sixth grade go from 10:30 until noon. Hoops will be lowered for the younger players.
The league is free to all boys and girls, and players can show up to play week to week. There is no registration.
Players will be put on teams each week by Dan and Tom Boyle, who will referee the games and make sure each player is part of the action. There are no coaches.
The KC Little Kids Hoops program has been running for more than 30 years, and many of the boys and girls in the league turned out to be high school and college players.
All players will receive a T-shirt on the last day.
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Rediscovering an autograph from a Super Bowl champion
Note: With Butte native Pat Ogrin slated to be inducted into the Montana Football Hall of Fame next June, I thought it was fitting to look back on a column that I wrote in July of 2015.
Jim Peltomaa called out to me as I was getting into my car outside the Town Pump on Excelsior Street.
“Foles, Foles,” he said as he approached. “I’m going to get you another autograph from Pat Ogrin.”
That was about a year ago when I stopped for a Mountain Dew on a hot summer day.
I was immediately brought back to a cold Sunday afternoon in January of 1983 when I watched television as the Washington Redskins beat the Miami Dolphins 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII in the Rose Bowl.
Most people remember that game for the performance of “The Diesel.” John Riggins ran the ball 38 times for 166 yards and a touchdown on his way to winning the Most Valuable Player Award.
In Butte, we remember the game because a backup defensive lineman named Pat Ogrin played for the Redskins that Super Sunday. At least that’s why the game is so memorable to me.
I watched the game with my dad and my great-uncle Bill Leeming. I was planning on cheering for the Dolphins until my dad told me that a Butte guy was playing for the Redskins.
Never before did I pay so much attention to the defensive line, watching attentively for a glimpse of No. 75 for the Redskins.
I couldn’t tell you for sure if he actually played a down on defense or if he even got into the game, but I could have sworn Ogrin made seven or eight tackles that day. I was spotting No. 75 left and right.
I was 8 at the time, and I had never heard of Ogrin before that game. For one afternoon, though, you would think he was in my immediate family.
That’s why my head almost exploded a few months later while watching my older brother’s Little League game at what is now called Scown Field in Butte. A boy came running by and told me there’s a guy from the Super Bowl champion Redskins watching the game.
“Pat Ogrin?!” I said as my head snapped around.
“Yeah,” he said, pointing up to Caledonia Street where cars parked and looked down on the field. “I think that’s it. He’s right up there.”
I couldn’t believe it. Pat Ogrin was watching my brother’s game, too. Pat Ogrin, the Super Bowl champion.
After scrambling to find a piece of paper from one of the moms, I followed the parade of boys up the hill to where Ogrin was sitting in a lawn chair outside a car. I asked for his autograph and he asked me my name.
He handed back the paper, and my eyes filled with tears of joy as I read what he wrote:
“Billy, Best wishes from Pat Ogrin, Redskins #75.”
My memory tells me I saw his Super Bowl ring, but I’m not sure if he had it yet. I nervously told Ogrin that I watched him in the Super Bowl and I thanked him a few times for the autograph. I remember him laughing, probably at how nervous and excited I was to see a real-life NFL player.
Then I sprinted down toward the field, holding the autograph up high to show it off to anyone and everyone.
That piece of paper sat on top of my dresser for years, and it has always been the basis for how I practice signing autographs in preparation for the day I am finally asked. Over the years I’ve written thousands of practice autographs, each including the words “best wishes.”
Ogrin never played in another regular-season game in the NFL. He played in five in 1981 and three in 1982.
I watched him on TV as he played a couple of games for the Denver Gold in the USFL in 1983 and with the Pittsburgh Gladiators of the Arena League in 1988.
Ogrin, who played at Wyoming after graduating from Butte High in 1976, was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
I never forgot the time I met Pat Ogrin, and I never will. But somewhere along the line I lost the piece of paper he signed to me.
I was bummed out by that because, even though I got William “The Refrigerator” Perry’s autograph years later, that Pat Ogrin autograph was easily the most meaningful “celebrity” signature I ever received.
Last summer I mentioned how I lost that autograph in a column, and Peltomaa, who was a good buddy with Ogrin, read it.
“I’m going to see Pat today,” Pelts said, “and I will get you another autograph.”
Ogrin was getting married that day at the Our Lady of the Rockies statue. I briefly thought about crashing the wedding to get another signature, but Pelts assured me he would do it for me.
Pelts and I stood there at the gas station talking for a while that day. We talked about that autograph and he told me a couple of stories about Ogrin.
“I can’t wait to tell Pat I saw you,” he said with a laugh as he walked away. “He will get a kick out of your story.”
Unfortunately, that was the last time I talked with Pelts before his untimely death in November. He never gave me the autograph, and I never got to hear about him getting it.
The conversation about that memory with Pelts, though, made the memory of the autograph even more special. It gave the story another dimension.
A few weeks ago, I was cleaning out my basement and aggressively throwing things out like I was on an episode of Hoarders.
As I was lifting a box headed for the dump, a small, folded piece of paper fell to the dirty floor. I picked it up and nearly crumbled it on the way to the garbage pile.
For some reason, though, I decided to put the box down and open the yellowing piece of paper to see what it was.
Tears of joy filled my eyes as I read the faded words: “Billy, Best wishes from Pat Ogrin, Redskins #75.”
I’ll never lose that autograph again.
— Bill Foley, who really, really, really wants to have Pat Ogrin as a guest on the ButteCast, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 