Fan forgoes title game to coach junior-high hoopsters

Consider the plight of Bob Applegate.

He likes the Montana Grizzlies well enough, but he's more of a Carroll College Fighting Saints fan. Applegate played football at Carroll and later coached there in the mid-1970s.

The thought of being able to take in two Montana college championship football games in the same weekend was dizzying. He made plans to travel to Tennessee, where both the Grizzlies and Fighting Saints are playing. There was no way he'd miss it.

"I have a ton of friends going to the Griz game," he said. "They've rented a van to leave Chattanooga Saturday morning to get to the Carroll game. It'll be a great football party weekend."

Then reality set in.

Applegate, a physical education teacher and former football coach at Flathead High School, coaches one of Kalispell's five eighth-grade basketball teams.

As it turns out, the season finale basketball tournament is this weekend.

"I thought the tournament was next weekend, but I can't leave now," Applegate said. "These boys have put in their time and I have to be there for them."

His dedication to coaching will take precedence over his dedication as a football fan.

"I'll watch it [the Griz game] on TV, but I'll have to tape it, because our first [basketball] game is at 7," Applegate said.

Jim and Virginia Sloan of Kalispell are flying on one of the team charter planes for a chance to see their son, Pete, a kickoff specialist for the Griz, play in the championship game.

Their other son, Nate, is taking a commercial flight from Spokane to Atlanta in the shuffle to get fans to Chattanooga.

"We called last week to make sure they'd have room for us," Virginia Sloan said, noting that the charter plane they'll fly on will carry some of the younger Griz players and other parents.

"It's been a thrill and a pleasure to watch the whole team," she said. "It's a thrill Montana supports this team as much as they do."

Pete walked on to the Grizzly team this year.

"He had to prove himself," his mother said.

Andy and Tami Nail of Kalispell are among the many who booked their flights last week on the hunch the Griz would win their semifinal game.

"I like football. I love the Griz," Andy Nail said. "We bought season tickets this year and we went to every home game and the Eastern Washington game."

The Nails had another opportunity to proclaim their undying devotion to the Griz when they both rode the local ABC television affiliate's float in the University of Montana homecoming parade this fall.

The Grizzlies are in the I-AA title game for the fifth time in the last decade; they won in 1995 and 2001. Carroll College is aiming for an unprecedented third straight NAIA crown.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com