Griz scratch out Hofstra

MISSOULA – For the second year in a row, Montana chose to give up a scheduled road game in favor of a seventh home football game as the school continues to deal with budget problems in the athletic program.

This year, it’s Hofstra that gets the $50,000 buyout while Montana can add another home game to the schedule that could bring in more than $300,000.

Last year, Montana paid $50,000 to buy out a contract to play at Cal Poly, which has agreed to come to Montana during the 2005 season.

Hofstra coach Joe Gardi might not be so forgiving.

“We’re dying to know why Montana dropped us next year,” Gardi told the Missoulian newspaper. “Maybe it’s because we only lose four seniors. I don’t know. It’s beyond me.”

Gardi went on: “It’s the worst thing you can do, to cancel a contract like that. Very unethical, if you ask me. And if they did it to pick up a I-A game at make $250,000, that makes it even worse.”

UM athletic director Don Read said he told Hofstra administrators this summer that the Grizzlies couldn’t afford to make the $125,000 road trip. He said he also helped the school find another opponent.

“So they’ve got money, they’ve got an opponent to play and they were forewarned,” Read said. “We had no choice because we could not make the budget balance next year by playing that ballgame.”

Read said he tried to postpone the game for a year or two, until Montana’s $1 million athletic deficit is erased.

“I offered a long-range scheduling opportunity to them,” Read said. “At the time they weren’t ready to talk about that, so that just went by the wayside.”

Montana’s first two home games are against NCAA Division II schools, and the Grizzlies play their final three regular-season games on the road, including the Montana State game on Nov. 19 in Bozeman.

Read said there’s a small chance Montana could get a game at I-A Oregon. The Ducks haven’t announced an opponent for their Sept. 3 opening.