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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.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Bulldogs Liva, McEwen, Hunt
Butte High wrestlers Peyton Liva, Ryder McEwen and Keegan Hunt are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the Bulldogs had strong individual performances over the weekend — Liva at the Flathead Girls’ Invitational in Kalipsell and McEwen and Hunt at the 37th Mining City Duals Jim Street Classic in Butte.
Liva, a junior, takes home the girls’ honor after placing fourth at 105 pounds in Kalipsell. Liva pinned Avari Stone of Polson in 58 seconds to advance to the semifinals. After falling to eventual champion RonElle LaForge of Billings Senior, Liva stuck Allyson Kaul of Havre in 39 seconds to reach the third-place match. There, Liva fell in a battle with Katelyn Sphuler of Glacier.
McEwen and Hunt, both juniors, share the boys’ award after each earning the “Outstanding Wrestler” awards at their respective weight classes to help lead Butte High to fifth place in team standings. Each wrestler went 7-0 in the two-day tournament at the Butte Civic Center.
Hunt wrestles at 110 pounds, while McEwen competes at 138. McEwen beat each of his opponents by way of the pin. He needed a total of 8 minutes, 11 seconds for the seven pins, according to ButteSports writer Bruce Sayler.
Hunt chalked up four pins in his perfect weekend. Sayler said he needed just 3:02 for his four pins.
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.
The Bulldogs pictured above are, from left, Liva, McEwen and Hunt.
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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. 16.
The league will take the next two weeks off for the holidays. Play will resume the week of Jan. 6, and teams can still sign up for the winter session. Sign up at the bar or contact Dan Boyle at (406) 491-2529. Cost is $125 per team.
Monday
7 p.m. — City Bois vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Parish vs. Poi TimeTuesday
7 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. JellyfamWednesday
7 p.m. — Cook vs. Poi Time
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Someday StartersThursday
7 p.m. — City Bois vs. Someday Starters
8 p.m. — Parish vs. Washington Generals -
Podcast No. 232: Paul Dennehy
These are very good times to be a fan of the Montana State Bobcats. They are especially good for us fans in the Mining City because Butte boy Tommy Mellott is the quarterback of the top-seeded Bobcats.
We knew Tommy way before he was “Touchdown Tommy,” the finalist for the Walter Payton Award. We knew him as a Margaret Leary Mustang, East Bullpup and Butte High Bulldog.
So, even Griz fans are enjoying the success of Mellott and the Bobcats these days.
The fall of 1976 was also a great time to be a Bobcat fan from Butte. Those Bobcats went 12-1, losing only to Division I Fresno State, on their way to the NCAA Division II national championship.
That team included two Butte coaches named Sonny. Sonny Holland was the head coach, while Sonny Lubick was an assistant. It also featured nine players from Butte: Bert Markovich, Len Kelly, Don Ueland, Dan Ueland, Jim Janhunen, Mark DeVore, Calvin Oliver, Tom Pomroy and Paul Dennehy.
Dennehy, a lefty from Butte Central, was the sophomore quarterback of the team. The Bobcats beat Akron in the Pioneer Bowl to capture the championship 48 years ago today, Dec. 11.
Before Coach Holland visited his home and convinced his mother that MSU was the place for Paul, Dennehy was a two-way standout for the Maroons. He played defensive back on the 1973 State championship BC squad. That was Central’s third straight title and fourth in five years. Dennehy backed up fellow lefty Mark Schulte at quarterback.
In 1974, Bob Beers took over as head coach of the Maroons. At the time, Beers called Dennehy the greatest athlete he ever coached.
Today, Dennehy says he is just another face in the crowd at Bobcat Stadium, where he is a season ticket holder. Bobcat fans, though, know better than that. He is a Bobcat legend.
Listen in to this podcast as Dennehy talks about playing for legends like Ron “Swede” Kenison and Beers at BC and Sonny Holland and Sonny Lubick at MSU.
Listen as he talks about the nine Butte guys on the Bobcat championship team. Listen to him talk about Tommy Mellott.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
Bert Markovich, Bob Beers, Brent Vigen, Butte Central, Butte Montana, Calvin Oliver, college-football, Dan Ueland, featured, football, Jeff Choate, Jim Janhunen, Len Kelly, Mark DeVore, Mark Schulte, Montana State, news, Paul Dennehy, Ron “Swede” Kenison, Sonny Holland, Sonny Lubick, sports, Thriftway Super Stops, Tom Pomroy, Tommy Mellott -
Washington, you can have him
Last week, I used this space to try to extend an olive branch from Montana to Great Falls native Ryan Leaf.
Since he graduated from Great Falls Russell in 1994, Leaf proclaimed that he is no longer from the Treasure State. Instead, he says he is from Pullman, Washington, an assertion that residents of Pullman have not always agreed with, by the way.
In the column, I proclaimed that not only do I like Leaf, but I also admire the former CMR quarterback who rose from the ashes of rock bottom to become a bit of an inspirational character.
The proclaimed biggest draft bust in NFL history responded to the column by blocking me on Twitter.
Luckily, I have a strong cast of family and friends to help me get by, but I could still use lots of thoughts and prayers to help me through this difficult, difficult time.
One of my friends asked me if I was going to write a retraction to last week’s column now that Leaf will no longer engage in any discourse with me on Twitter.
The answer to that is obvious. I will not. Most of what I wrote about Leaf last week still rings just as true this week.
The point of the column was not to try to get Leaf to like me. I had long known that he was not an agreeable character. When a broadcaster friend of mine invited him to be a halftime guest on the radio during a game that involved Butte High and Leaf’s brother, Brady, he did not politely decline.
Instead, he said something that was closer to “Get the hell out of here.”
I also already knew that Leaf rejected an induction into the Montana Football Hall of Fame, which honors players from our state who played professional football. Nobody associated with that Hall ever did anything to hurt Leaf, but he rudely pushed them away.
So, no. I did not think I would become friends or even friendly with Leaf by writing a column about him. He is not the kind of person whose company I would enjoy.
I still have tremendous admiration for how Leaf transformed his life after he found himself in a cell at the Montana State Prison. He has done an incredibly admiral job of transforming into a person who contributes positively to our society.
How many people have you ever heard coming out of prison a better person?
A large percentage of prisoners learn how to be better con men when they serve their time behind bars. They head back to the streets with a few more tricks up their sleeves, and many quickly find themselves right back in the system.
Some prisoners, though, leave and do great things. Leaf definitely falls into that category.
While he was still in prison, Leaf started to turn things around when he helped illiterate inmates learn how to read. He said the feeling he got from helping prisoners was freeing.
Later, Leaf spoke out about the addiction problems that lead him to prison. He wrote about his poor attitude that led to him flaming out in the NFL in legendary fashion.
He proved to be a really good football announcer. His perspective on the game and on life make him a very interesting listen.
Leaf even filled in as guest host on the Dan Patrick Show last week, and he did a really good job.
More than a quarter of a century since Leaf was drafted No. 2 in the 1994 NFL Draft, however, he still shows that he can be quite childish.
No, I’m not talking about him blocking anyone on Twitter.
For some reason, he started trolling fans and players of the University of Montana football program. His rationale was that he has always hated the Grizzlies.
The only thing the Griz ever did to Leaf was beat the pants off Montana State year after year of Leaf’s childhood. Maybe that made him feel that he had to use his big platform to attack Griz fans. For a 48-year-old man to do that, though, is puzzling at best.
When he received backlash for his trolling, Leaf repeated his assertion that everyone in Montana is a jerk. Well, he says a few people in Bozeman are fine, but that is because they are “tourists.”
Incidentally, most people who have visited the state would most likely classify Montana as being the exact opposite of Leaf’s description.
Sure, Montana possesses is share of jerks. We have a lot of people who laughed at and mocked Leaf when he came tumbling down following his magical run to the 1998 Rose Bowl with Washington State.
Many mocked him when he went to prison for breaking into homes and stealing pain pills.
But it is not fair to judge an entire state with such a broad brush. It is also crazy to say that everyone in an entire state is the bad guy, and he is the good guy.
If every person in the state hated me, I would probably take a good, hard look in the mirror before I started sling insults.
If every one of his teachers and coaches said my son was a problem, I might start to suspect that maybe my wife and I raised a dud. I would not just make a blanket statement that all teachers and coaches are bad people.
This is not to say that Leaf does not have reason to resent Montana. He said the Great Falls Tribune ran a cartoon mocking him when he was released from prison.
He said the state shamed him, and there is probably some truth to that. Montanans laughed at Ryan Leaf’s failures and his troubles. Many still look down on him.
But that could be said for a lot of people from the other 49 states, too. Big Sky Country hardly corners the market on people who laugh at the misfortune of others.
When SportsCenter showed the rookie Leaf screaming at a reporter in the San Diego Chargers locker room, people all around the nation noticed there was something not right about that guy. When he continued to act like a jerk, it made people in every state — and beyond — laugh at him each time he was cut by an NFL team.
That laughing only magnified when he ran into trouble with the law because he was such an easy character to dislike. So, he did not garner much sympathy in San Diego, New York, Billings or anywhere in between.
Yes, the cartoonist who poked fun at his addiction is a jerk.
If you laughed at Leaf for his arrest, you were being a jerk, too. Addiction is a problem that can affect anybody, good or bad. It can make great people do bad things, and nothing is funny about that.
But Leaf still gives us reason to laugh at him when does things like troll the Grizzlies, trash 99 percent of the population of Montana and block a writer who suggested that the people of the state recognize him for the man he became instead of the adolescent brat that he was.
Yes, I still admire the man Leaf became after hitting rock bottom. I still respect his courage that helped others. I will still listen when he calls a game or fills in for Dan Patrick.
As far as that olive branch, though, we might as well throw that on the fire. Leaf clearly is not interested in accepting it.
Washington, he is all yours.
— Bill Foley, who will never be asked to fill in for Dan Patrick, 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: Chase Nasheim and Harleigh Butala
East Middle School students Chase Nasheim and Harleigh Butala are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The two were nominated for the award by the faculty at East.
Nasheim, an eighth-grade basketball player, receives the boys’ honor for his outstanding contributions both on and off the court. Chase exemplifies what it means to be a team player — always putting his teammates first and bringing a positive, encouraging attitude to every practice and game.
Chase works tirelessly on both sides of the floor, demonstrating determination, discipline and a strong work ethic. Whether it’s hustling on defense, setting up plays or taking a smart shot, he gives his all and leads by example.
What truly sets Chase apart is his character. He treats his coaches, opponents and officials with kindness and respect, embodying the values of sportsmanship and integrity. Chase reminds us all that basketball is not just about skill but also about heart and how you treat others.
His hard work and positive attitude inspire everyone at East Middle School.
Butala, a seventh-grade dancer, takes home the girls award for her exceptional dedication and positivity both in and out of the studio. She dances for the Dynamic Dance & Tumbling Academy.
Harleigh’s tremendous work ethic shines through in every practice, rehearsal and performance. She consistently pushes herself to improve, demonstrating focus, determination and a true passion for dance.
What truly sets Harleigh apart is her positive attitude and kind heart. She encourages her fellow dancers, fosters a supportive environment and always approaches challenges with grace and optimism. Harleigh’s ability to lift up those around her reflects her outstanding character and leadership qualities.
Her dedication, kindness and joyful spirit are an inspiration to her peers and teachers.
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.
