Rock solid coach, rock solid team

Jackie Fuller's "rock solid" approach to team unity proved to be a winning philosophy for the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs volleyball team, which last weekend took home its third Class A state championship in four years.

Head coach Fuller picked up a rock during a recent match with Libby and had the managers carry it with the team paraphernalia as an icon of their all-for-one, one-for-all spirit. She pulled out the rock when the going got tough early in the tournament during the Fergus County match.

It was, of course, more than a good-luck stone that brought Whitefish to Class A victory. An extraordinary slate of young athletes, coupled with the unified coaching effort of Fuller and assistants Lucy McFadden and Colleen Sullivan, have once again set Whitefish a head above the rest.

Unity is also at work in Whitefish as a downtown master planning effort is under way to rejuvenate the city's core business district. With a solid blessing from the city of Whitefish and merchants, the Portland consulting firm of Crandall Arambula P.C. will spend the next few months shaping a plan designed to create better pedestrian areas, more parking and a healthier retail district for locals and tourists.

The Heart of Whitefish, the nonprofit group of civic and business leaders behind the project, deserves an attaboy for taking charge at this crucial time in Whitefish. The upcoming rebuild of U.S. 93 through Whitefish gave urgency to the planning project, and it looks as if the city has all its ducks in a row to create a very user-friendly resort town for both motorists and pedestrians.

It's 12 in a row and counting.

The Montana Grizzlies have reached the I-AA football playoffs for a record dozen years in a row.

This year's playoff quest for the Griz opens Saturday against Northwestern State of Louisiana in the friendly (for UM) confines of Washington Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.

Rather than a warm welcome for the visitors, we would rather it be a typical November chiller of a day for the team accustomed to the muggy Southern climate.

Northwestern State has made two previous trips to Missoula - and both times their playoff hopes ended at the hands of the Grizzlies.

Let's hope for a repeat on Saturday.

Go, Griz!