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Butte High girls’ subvarsity report
BOZEMAN — Last Friday was a good day for the Butte High girls’ basketball team.
In addition to Butte High’s 57-39 win over the Bozeman Hawks in varsity action, Butte High also won all three subvarsity games to start the season in style.
Below are subvarsity reports for the Butte High girls’ teams. Reports were submitted by the Bulldog coaches.
Butte High JV 37, Bozeman JV 32
Nine points by Franki Salusso led the way as the Bulldog JV picked up the victory. She was one of nine Bulldogs to dent the scorebook in the victory.
Emma Johnson scored six points, while Autumn Clary, Addie Hiatt, Ashlinn Mullaney and Gracie Ferriter each scored four points.
River Spencer scored 12 points to lead the Hawks. Lexi Cotton scored nine.
BUTTE HIGH — Murphy Sullivan 2, Jaycee Cleveland 1, Autumn Clary 4, Addie Hiatt 4, Franki Salusso 9, Ashlinn Mullaney 4, Gracie Ferriter 4, Emma Johnson 6, Madisyn Swanson 3.
BOZEMAN — Poppy Atkinson 2, Abby Parks 2, Charli Scott 1, Lexi Cotton 9, Laren Keim 1, Chloe Burkhart 2, Maddy Johnson 3, River Spencer 12.Butte High sophomores 45, Bozeman sophomores 24
Ally Godbout and Gracie Jonart each poured in 11 points to lead the Bulldog Sophos to the big win.
Butte High also got six points apiece from Brittyn Klima and Reese Johnson.
BUTTE HIGH — Allie Becker 2, Ally Godbout 11, Gracie Jonart 11, ReeseJohnson 6, Kate DeShaw 3, Amelia Pearston 2, Kendallyn Schad 2, Brittyn Klima 6, Allie Ballensky 2.
BOZEMAN — Full names for the Hawks are not available.
Butte High freshmen 58, Bozeman freshmen 3
Eight different Butte High players scored as the Bulldog freshmen rolled to victory in the high school debut.Allie Becker scored 12 points, and Reese Johnson poured in 10 to lead the way for the Bulldogs. Kendallyn Schad netted seven points, while Ellie Yates, Kate DeShaw, Amelia Pearston and Brittyn Klima each tossed in six
BUTTE HIGH — Avery Barsness 5, Ellie Yates 6, Allie Becker 12, Reese Johnson 10, Kate DeShaw 6, Amelia Pearston 6, Kendallyn Schad 7, Brittyn Klima 6
BOZEMAN — Full names for the Hawks are not available. -
Podcast No. 153: Silver Bow Drive-In
The Silver Bow Drive-In is a true treasure for the people of Butte and Southwest Montana.
The drive-in has been open most summer nights since Mark and Holly Hansen started operating it in 1977. They have since gotten help from their family as they maintain the last drive-in in Montana.
In Butte, many of us take such a great thing for granted. We don’t even realize how wonderful of a thing it is to be able to go to a drive-in movie.
For most places, that is a thing of the past. It’s something they only see when watching Happy Days.
The drive-in survived when the Hansen family was forced to make a major investment to keep up with a switch from film to digital equipment to show movies. It survived when COVID threw everyone’s world upside down.
Today, the drive-in is facing another potential threat. Almost by accident, Mark and Holly Hansen found out that an unnamed development company has requested a conditional use permit for the 17 acres next to the drive-in at the Interstate-15 exit. The company wants to build a gas station and convenience store.
The Hansen family feels that will potentially end our drive-in days for good. The noise, lighting and omissions from a gas station, they say, would be devastating.
Now, the Hansen family says it doesn’t want to stop a gas station from building in Southwest Montana. They see the value in the construction jobs and the jobs that would be created by the construction.
It just seems too bad that such a construction could end something that is so very important to our community.
The good news is we found out about it, though. We have an opportunity to speak up in support of the Silver Bow Drive-In at a zoning board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Council Chambers on the third floor of the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse.
You can also email a letter of support to jthomas@bsb.mt.gov.
Yesterday, I met with Holly and Mark Hansen and their son Jens at Perkins for a great conversation. Listen in as we talk about the history of the drive-in and the history of movie theaters in the Hansen family.
Listen as we discus running the drive-in over the years and what the drive-in means to our community.
Listen to hear how a gas station next door would be potentially devastating and how the Hansen family plans to fight to save the drive-in.
Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.
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All I want for Christmas
It is the question that I get so often this time of year.
“What do you want for Christmas?”
Well, other than the money to make my old truck drive in four high again, there are no earthly possessions that I feel that I need. So, any presents for me won’t break your bank. My presents cost no money at all, and they will not fit under any tree.
With that, here is a list of all the gifts that I want this Christmas.
I want, just one time, to see a pass fall incomplete in a football game without a defensive back signaling that the pass is incomplete.
Whether it is the NFL, college, high school or Little Guy Football, you see it every unsuccessful pass play in a football game. When the ball hits the ground, everyone is a referee.
Even when it’s a Mitch Trubisky pass that is 30 yards off target, the DBs signal incomplete like they made a diving play to tip it away.
I want NFL announcers to quit screaming all the time.
If you watch the Red Zone channel, that is all you hear for seven hours each Sunday. Announcers who are supposed to be impartial yell like crazy on every run and every pass.
It is so annoying that I would almost rather listen to an announcing team of Joe Buck and Chris Collinsworth.
Actually, no I wouldn’t. That seems to me like the announcers you would hear in that very, very hot place down below.
I want the NFL to decriminalize football.
Maybe if we make the referees wear masks like hangmen, they wouldn’t be so eager to get on our television screens. Really, the referees in the white hats get more airtime than Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe do on TBS.
I am not exaggeration when I say that I was in my 30s before I saw a holding called on a run play in a football game. Now run holdings are called all the time in the NFL. You see more holding calls on one Sunday than you will see on Friday nights and Saturdays the rest of the year.
It is pretty sad that the first thing we do after an exciting play in an NFL game is look to the bottom of the screen to see if there’s a flag.
I want the college football telecasts to quit showing Colorado coach Deion Sanders so much.
During a Colorado game, the cameras show us Sanders more than they show us Jerry Jones, Pete Carroll and Taylor Swift. Combined.
The announcers talk about Sanders all game, too. It is almost like there aren’t any players on the field.
Sanders is really good making everything about himself. He doesn’t need help by announcers who call the Godfather of Poor Sportsmanship “Coach Prime” — somehow with a straight face.
There is no way I can say “Coach Prime” without rolling my eyes.
I want a bonfire to burn every hat that has “FTC” or “FTG” on it.
I want all the people of Montana to cheer for the Grizzlies or Bobcats when they are playing in the playoffs. Hey, it doubles your chances to celebrate a national championship run.
I want people who assault or yell at youth sports officials to be sentenced by Parma, Ohio Municipal Court Judge Timothy P. Gilligan.
Last week, Gilligan sentenced 39-year-old Rosemary Hayne to 60 days working at Chipotle after she was found guilty of throwing a burrito bowl in the face of a worker.
That should set legal precedence to sentence screaming moms and dads to work as referees.
If you are going to yell at refs all game, then you should be sentenced to study for and pass the referee exam. Then you should have to buy a uniform and whistle, go to the weekly study club meetings, suit up and walk a mile in an official’s all-black shoes.
Just one weekend refereeing a traveling basketball tournament would straighten out even the worst of fans.
The Three Forks fan who recently pushed a referee after his son’s high school team won a close game in Harrison should be sentenced to referee soccer, football, wrestling, softball and baseball, too.
It beats the felony that he’s facing now.
I want baseball to be baseball again.
We shouldn’t need to bring in big guns like Santa Clause to protect our national pastime from baseball illiterate commissioner Rob Manfred.
OK, so you might be able to convince me to stick to stick with a pitch clock. But get rid of all the other rules they put in place recently to supposedly speed the game up.
What kind of fool is in a hurry to end a baseball game, anyway?
I want the Dodgers to be forced to officially change their name to the “Yankees.”
After signing Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700-million contract, George Steinbrenner turned down Buck and Collinsworth for a moment to scream about the need for a hard salary cap in baseball.
How can you not cheer for the Dodgers without holding your pinky to your moth — Dr. Evil style — the entire game? Cheering for the Dodgers is now like cheering for Amazon tax breaks.
By trying to literally buy every free agent, the Dodgers are making the late Steinbrenner’s New York Yankees look like the Kansas City Royals.
I want the Red Sox to be more like the Dodgers.
As “Weird Al” Yankovic said, “If money can’t buy happiness, I guess I’ll have to rent it.”
I want the members of the Montana Public Service Commission to have their hearts grow three sizes and repeal that 28 percent rate hike that is hitting so hard this Christmas.
Maybe watching a Christmas movie will help them see that they are hurting the people who are already hurting the most.
I want the same for members of the Montana Legislature and governor Greg Gianforte.
It wasn’t bad enough that they raised our property taxes so much while giving giant breaks to wealthy corporations. They also took away health insurance for 25,000 kids.
How can they sleep after that? I’d be too afraid of getting a visited by that last ghost on Scrooged.
I want Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott to finally have some injury luck for his senior season. The former Butte High Bulldog will lead the Bobcats to the national title if he does.
I want Tommy to be drafted by the Chicago Bears after that 2024 run to the national title for the Bobcats. Whether it is quarterback, receiver, running back, safety or general manager, I want Tommy on my team no matter what.
I want Washington to win the college football national championship.
The Huskies are ranked No. 2 heading into the College Football Playoff. They play No. 3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, and former Montana Tech coach Chuck Morrell is a co-defensive coordinator for Washington.
Sure, Coach Morrell isn’t a quote machine like his predecessor, Coach Bob Green, but he is one heck of a great guy. He also plans to retire back to Butte someday.
It would be pretty cool if he came back with a Huskies championship ring.
I want everyone in Butte and Montana to join me in cheering for Coach Morrell and the Huskies.
I want peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, women, children, dogs, cats and goldfish.
I want everyone to have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season, no matter which holidays you celebrate.
Finally …
I want my old truck to shift into four high again.
— Bill Foley, who would settle for some hoodies from 5518 or gift cards to Casagranda’s Steakhouse or Metals Sports Bar & Grill, 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.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Stewart, Graham, Schleeman
Butte High Bulldogs Brityn Stewart, Cadence Graham and Kade Schleeman are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the three Bulldogs opened the winter sports season in style.
Stewart and Graham share the girls’ award because there was just no way to choose one of the outstanding Bulldogs. The dynamic Bulldog duo combined for 47 points Friday as the Butte High girls’ basketball team opened the season with a 57-39 win at Bozeman.
Graham, a freshman who stood out on the varsity team as an eighth grader last year, scored 18 of her 23 points in the first half. She buried a pair of 3-pointers and sank 9 of 11 free throws in the win.
Stewart, a junior who has been a varsity contributor since her freshman season, scored 18 of her team-leading 24 points in the second half. She scored 18 of her points on 2-point field goals.
“Cadence really carried us in the first half and Brityn carried us in the second half,” Butte High coach Bryan Arntson said after the impressive 2023-24 debut.
Schleeman had himself a week to earn the boys’ honor.
On Wednesday, the senior officially signed to play football with Montana Tech during an early-morning ceremony. Then Schleeman went 7-0 to lead Butte High’s boys’ wrestlers at the 35th Jim Street Classic Mining City Duals.
Schleeman, wrestling in the heavyweight division, posted six of his wins by way of the pin.
“Kade Schleeman continued his great start to the season, building off a 2-0 start in Billings last week with a very impressive 7-0 this weekend at the Mining City Duals. Schlee’s work ethic and leadership are crucial pieces to our team’s fourth-place finish at the Duals.”
Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, teams up with the ButteCast to honor the finest 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, from left, Stewart, Graham and Schleeman are courtesy Alycia Holland Photography.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of Dec. 11.
Monday
7 p.m. — Cook vs. Hoopin Heathens
8 p.m. — Cook vs Pulaski Electric
9 p.m. — Parish vs JellyfamTuesday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Poi Time
8 p.m. — Gremlins vs. Alley OopsiesWednesday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Alley Oopsies
8 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Pulaski Electric
9 p.m. — Gremlins vs. ParishThursday
7 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — City Bois vs. Hoopin Heathens
9 p.m. — City Bois vs. Washington Generals
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Podcast No. 152: Cassie Wick
No matter what Cassie Wick is doing, it seems like her intentions are to better the community.
She does that as a business owner. Her and her husband Jon own 5518 Designs and Dig City Supply in Uptown Butte.
They are almost always the first business owners to step up when there is a community need.
She does that as a citizen, and she does that at her job. For the past 14 years, Cassie has worked as an independent living specialist at Ability Montana.
At Ability Montana, which recently moved into a renovated building at 820 W. Platinum Street in Butte, Cassie works to advocate and assist individuals with disabilities living in Southwest Montana. She works to make sure people with disabilities can continue to live in the community as they choose.
Of course, that is just one facet of what she does. She is currently working to try to change building codes in Butte-Silver Bow so that businesses can more easily make their buildings assessable.
You name it, and Cassie pretty much does it. She also taught English for a year in South Korea.
Listen in to this podcast to hear how she is working to make Butte more assessable. Listen in to hear some of the barriers facing our neighbors with disabilities.nListen in to see that you can help by doing something as simple as shoveling your own sidewalk.
Listen in to hear that she was a pretty good basketball and volleyball player while growing up in Whitehall.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Persistent attack dog proving the point of the real watchdogs
Persistent attack dog proving the point of the real watchdogs
For the second time in less than a month, a Citizens Technical Environmental Committee (CTEC) board member took a shot at Butte’s Superfund “watchdogs” in a guest editorial in The Montana Standard.
CTEC is supposed to explain complicated Superfund answers to the public to help it understand, per its federal grant. It is supposed to keep a keen eye on the Environmental Protection Agency and make sure its actions are working for the betterment of the people and environment.
It is supposed to be a watchdog.
Instead, this board member continues to serve as an attack dog who uses the word “watchdog” as if it is a bad thing.
He is calling out real watchdogs for asking questions regarding the health and safety of the environment. He is accusing them of not following evidence and being distracted by preconceived notions.
The premise of the editorials is certainly puzzling. He tries to explain away the reasons as to why the public has been left in the dark regarding such important decisions by using the good-guy defense.
“Geez, these are good guys. They wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
The board member is likely correct in the fact that the players in the Superfund negotiations in Butte are good people. So far, I have liked everyone I have met in the process, even though I don’t agree with all of them and some would classify me as a real pain in the back side.
Whether or not they are nice people has never been the point. I would bet the members of the Public Service Commission who approved a 28 percent rate hike in our power bills are very cordial people. They’d probably be fun to have in your foursome at the Rock Creek Cattle Company.
The CTEC board member says that those good guys live in the same community, send their kids to the same school and they drink the same water as you and I.
Well, the Atlantic Richfield executives who shut off the pumps, allowing the Berkeley Pit to fill with water and causing us a headache in perpetuity, were also probably really nice guys. They lived in the community.
Their actions, though, were not done with the best interests of the people and environment of Butte in mind. No, they were acting on the best financial interest of the company.
That kind of thinking is still what is driving the bus today. We have so many of the players in the superfund negations acting on the financial interests of British Petroleum, the company that bought ARCO. Some of the players are paid directly or indirectly by the company.
Even the nicest guys will act against the wellbeing of the people when faced with such a heavy financial interest.
That is why we have people pushing to dump toxic waste from the Superfund cleanup near neighborhoods in Butte. Nobody thinking 100 percent objectively would ever consider such a thing. At least we hope they wouldn’t.
It isn’t that they are evil folks sitting up in their lair, steepling their fingers like Mr. Burns on the Simpsons. When your own financial interest is at stake, you could probably be convinced that 18 inches of soil over “dirty dirt” will do the trick. You could probably go along with the idea that dumping waste next to a neighborhood really isn’t that bad — as long as the plan includes another walking trail.
We can all agree that we are dealing with nice people who want the best for their children. The job, though, can make even the best people do the wrong thing.
It might even make them try the old kill-the-messenger tactic.
That is what the CTEC board member is doing with his editorials in the Standard. In doing so, he is actually proving the point that many of us have been screaming from the mountain tops for years.
When someone points out an inconvenient truth or asks a hard question when it comes to Superfund cleanup in Butte, the powers that be take aim in the wrong direction.
“She says the death rates are higher in Butte? Well, that’s just junk science. Let’s get her fired.”
“He says the lead levels are higher in Butte? Let’s go on Facebook and say that he should no longer be working in higher education.”
“He says ‘dirty dirt’ is bad.’ Well, he is just a wannabe watchdog who doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
“She wants to see a copy of Superfund documents that are supposed to be public? Which politician is she working for?”
Sadly, last week we learned that the EPA’s Office of Inspector General decided to take no action against EPA employees who have worked to discredit, suppress or intimidate researchers whose work appeared to link serious health concerns in Butte to mining pollution.
Sadly, that is exactly what has been going on in Butte, too.
You don’t have to be the sharpest of watchdogs to notice the pattern of attacks on the real watchdogs in town. We have seen it time after time.
CTEC is supposed to be one of those watchdogs. Instead, at least one board member has been doing the opposite. While he didn’t mention them by name, he has been attacking real watchdogs like Fritz Daily, Evan Barrett, Mick Ringsak, Ron Davis, Sister Mary Jo McDonald, Katie Hailer, Suzanne McDermott, Stacie Barry Peterson, Caitlyn Beley, Don Petritz and David Hutchins with his guest editorials.
Those brave men and women have risked their reputations and livelihoods to stand up and ask the tough questions that our local government should have been asking — but has not been.
Those questions should be addressed. If they are wrong, then they should be proven wrong. They should explain to us why they are wrong.
That would be a much better strategy than simply attacking the credibility and motive of those of us who are worried about the safety of our environment.
Everyone living in our community should want to know those answers.
Instead of attacking those true watchdogs, we should be thanking them. It is hard to imagine what kind of shape our town would be in without those brave people pointing out inconvenient truths and asking those tough questions.
Oh, and they’re also really nice people who drink the same water as you and I.
— Bill Foley, who is running to restore watchdog status to the Butte-Silver Bow chief executive office, 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.
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Butte Sports Hall of Fame nomination deadline is Dec. 31
The nomination deadline for the Butte Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 is Dec. 31.
Athletes must be nominated to be considered for the Butte Sports Hall of Fame, and only those nominated before the deadline will be considered. No exceptions will be made.
Those nominated in the last several selection processes do not need to be re-nominated. Re-nominations, though, can be made for the purpose of providing more information on a nominee.
Candidates who are 15 years or more removed from high school and have finished competing at their highest level of their sport are eligible for selection into the Hall. Categories are also available for head coaches, old timers (50 plus years) and contributors.
A public forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8 at the McQueen Club. The forum will allow people to make a presentation on behalf of nominees in front of the selection committee. All presentations will be strictly limited to 3 minutes. Letters of recommendation and/or short videos of support can be submitted to the Hall of Fame selection committee.
The 2024 inductees will be named in February, and the Green Jacket and Induction ceremonies will be held July 19 and 20 at the Butte Civic Center.
To submit a nomination, email as much information as possible to Bill Foley at foles74@gmail.com.
For more information, call or text Foley at (406) 491-3022.
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Even the Chicago media sees the legend of Coach Bob Green
Goodfellas is one of the greatest movies of all time.
If you don’t agree with that statement, then I will never trust your suggestion on any movie, television show or ice cream flavor.
One scene that stands out is when Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, hears on the radio that his pal Jimmy Conway, played by Robert De Niro, and his gang pulled of the Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport.
I the scene, Hill is shown in the shower — from the torso up. He starts screaming and slapping the shower wall. “Ahhh ha ha ha, Jimmy! Those son of a bitches. Oh, Jimmy!”
That was basically my reaction when I got about 13 minutes into the Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN Chicago radio last Monday. During their “crosstalk” session with the Carmen & Jurko Show, Mark Silverman and Tom Waddle talked with Carmen DeFalco and John Jurkovic about how boring it is to listen to Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus talk.
Waddle is a former Bear and my favorite NFL receiver of all time. Jurko played for the Jaguars, Browns and some team I never heard of from Wisconsin.
The guys were talking about how much more fun Jim Harbaugh would be as a head coach when former Montana Tech coach Bob Green was brought up.
They didn’t know Coach Green’s name, and they surely didn’t know he is a Bears fan. But they knew of the “Geriatric Coach” thanks to the videos of his clips that have gone viral once or twice a year since he retired following the 2010 season.
Green says he is like a comet in that his video clips come around every so often.
Carmen, Jurko, Waddle and Silvy were talking about a quote in which Harbaugh said something like, “I like my locker room like my mom’s bathing suit. In one piece.”
That’s when Carmen brought up Green, who coached 24 years at Montana Tech.
“Who’s the college coach who has all the lines?” Carmen asked. “You see it on social media. He says ‘That’s a little bit of a double-edge sword. It’s like watching your mother-in-law go off a cliff in a Cadillac.”
Carmen got the line wrong, though I am sure there are several versions of the quote by the coach. The first time he busted it out came after the NAIA Orediggers made a strong showing but lost at NCAA Division I-AA North Dakota State in 2004.
“I have mixed feelings,” Green said. “It’s like seeing your mother-in-law driving off a cliff in your brand-new Cadillac.”
Carmen’s version, though, shook the memory of the other guys.
“Is this the old guy?” Silvy said. “I forget who this guy is. He’s a legendary coach.”
Carmen: “He’s like a Division III coach.”
Silvy: “Division II or Division III. He’s got all these good ones.”
Carmen: “He said, ‘Today we played like the third chair on the French horns.’ He’s got these, weird, like witty-little metaphors for everything, and they’re hysterical. I lost it when I saw him say the one about the mother-in-law in the Cadillac. I thought ‘Oh my God.’”
Waddle: “That’s good. That’s good.”
Then, the conversation turned back to Harbaugh possibly leaving Michigan to coach the Bears next season.
After I stopped screaming, I texted Coach Green to tell him that he was mentioned, if not by name, on the radio in Chicago. I told him Silvy referred to him as the “old guy.”
Green, of course, replied like you would expect him to.
“Happy to be ‘that old guy,’” the coach said. “Better than being ‘that no good son of a bitch.’”
The guys were right about one thing. Green is a legend. He hasn’t called a play — other than from the stands — in more than 13 years, and he is still talked about more than 1,400 miles away and in the third-biggest market in the United States.
Unfortunately, Green retired back when social media was new. If he was in his coaching prime today, there is no way we would have been able to keep him for so long in Butte.
He would have been a household name across the sporting universe.
Much bigger universities and maybe even professional teams would have come calling for the coach who has owned every room he has ever walked into.
One of the tragedies of Green’s remarkable coaching career was that his audience was so small.
Sure, he was a hit with the viewers when his funny clips were played on television. But Butte is the 186th largest television market — and that is when it is combined with Bozeman.
For most of Green’s career, the news was broadcast mostly in Butte.
Also, Green rarely had a press conference. Most of his media interaction after games came either on a one-one one interview with one TV reporter on the field or in his office with one reporter from The Montana Standard.
Sure, there was always a bit of a crowd because Chaz Jeniker, Ed “Scuby” Skubitz and the “Big Boy,” Jack Ferriter, were always there. While they often grilled the coach, they were not reporters.
They didn’t have any notebooks or cameras.
Green’s line about the Cadillac was definitely one of his best. But coming to a consensus to which Greenism is the best is like coming to a consensus on the best flavor of ice cream.
There is simply no wrong answer.
Later in 2004, Green pointed out how excited his players were to learn that they received an at-large bid into the NAIA playoffs.
“Our guys are bouncing around like they’re on Viagra-powered pogo sticks,” he said.
Green didn’t come up with all of his lines. When he hears someone say a funny line, Green will usually say, ‘Consider that stolen.”
Then he’ll wait until the perfect time to bust it out. Green has is a great memory. His mind is like a giant database of funny lines, and he as an uncanny ability to find the right funny line at perfect time.
My favorite Green lines were the ones that came off the top of his head. I got a lot of those in my decade or so covering his teams. I would sit in a chair across from his desk when I interviewed him.
When a funny line came to him, he would point at me and tilt his head as he acknowledged that he just came up with a good one.
My favorite Greenism of all time was one he didn’t even mention to a media member.
One year late in his career, I watched practice from up high as the Orediggers struggled to line up for conditioning drills on the practice field south of the HPER Complex.
“It’s a good thing you weren’t with me in ’69,” a frustrated, yet still-joking Green said to his players, referring to his time in Vietnam with the Marines. “I wouldn’t be here.”
It was always amazing to see how much Coach Green cares about his players — even players he hasn’t coached in decades. Even better is seeing how much love and respect those players have for the coach.
I can honestly not think of one player having a bad word to say about him. I’m sure there are some out there who didn’t like him as a coach. I have just never heard a bad word.
You certainly never heard of a single media member who dislikes Coach Green.
For so many years, covering the Orediggers was an absolute dream job for this old writer. Writing about his team never felt like a job. Never.
That is why those four Chicago radio guys wish they had Coach Green in Chicago, coaching the Bears.
Coach Green is one of the top three or four charismatic coaches of all time. At any level. He should have coached in the NFL. Chicago and the Bears would be better if they had him today, when he’s in his mid 70s.
If you don’t agree with that statement, then I will never trust your suggestion on any movie, television show or ice cream flavor.
— Bill Foley, who always goes for chocolate ice cream, 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.
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Podcast No. 151: Monica Tranel
You might remember her for her commercials with the snake from the 2022 election.
She will be back again in 2024, this time sans the reptile.
Monica Tranel, a former Butte resident, is once again running for Montana’s first congressional seat. Once again, she will likely be taking on Ryan Zinke.
Just 13 months ago, Tranel lost to Ryan Zinke in a close race. While others would be deterred from politics after such a tough loss, Tranel is stepping back up to the plate to take another swing.
Tranel grew up in Eastern Montana and she was a two-time Olympian in rowing. She also lived in Butte for a while. As a resident of the Mining City, she worked as a lawyer and become a mother for the first time.
Tranel visited Butte on Monday and made handful of stops. That included a visit with local residents at the Centerville Firehall. There, Tranel listen to concerns from citizens about the plans to possibly dump toxic waste near homes on the Butte Hill.
She also stopped at the new M&M to try to recreate the iconic photo of Gov. Brian Schweitzer taking a shot at the M&M and for this fun conversation.
Listen in as Tranel talks about growing up with hard-working roots in Eastern Montana. Listen to how she is fighting the public service commission over the recent 28 percent rate hike in our power bills.
Listen in to hear how much she loved living in butte and how she says she is going to defeat Zinke in the rematch.
This interview was not done as a campaign event for Tranel. It was meant to help listeners and possible voters have a chance to get to know the candidate.
Rep. Zinke is also invited to appear on the podcast. So are all other politicians willing to sit down for a real conversation.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 