Grizzlies, fans take to the sky

MISSOULA – The Montana Grizzlies left here Tuesday afternoon amid much fanfare, an 81-player roster with 5 1/2 tons of gear.

Hordes of fans plan to follow them south to Chattanooga, Tenn., for Friday’s national Division I-AA championship game against James Madison.

At lease five charter planes are booked in Missoula and travel agents say there may be more by Thursday’s departure, and numerous charters also are scheduled to leave from other Montana cities.

“Oh, it’s just been pandemonium,” said Dian Schmidt of Missoula’s Global Travel.

“The Chattanooga people treat us Montanans wonderfully. They bend over backward to make sure we feel welcomed, and they really put forth that Southern hospitality,” said Jackie Kerr, manager of AAA Travel.

The team boarded buses on campus Tuesday and headed downtown in a convoy of buses, police cars and a fire truck, the school’s cannon firing along the way.

A welcome-home party isn’t planned, since the players and coaches aren’t expected back until about 5:30 a.m. Saturday and will disperse quickly, but a celebratory rally will be scheduled in January after UM’s winter break.

Steve Hackney, the Grizzlies’ equipment manager, said the team is taking about 11,000 pounds of gear, including 40 pounds of personal luggage for each of the 81 players.

“We’ve had a lot of practice putting this show on the road,” he said.

This will be UM’s fifth appearance in a Division I-AA championship game. The Grizzlies have two national championship trophies.

Hackney said the only thing he and his crew couldn’t pack would be the home-crowd noise that erupts on game days at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. “It carries this team – it absolutely does,” he said.

Hackney said that people who can’t be at the game should “yell at the TV for us.”