Downtime with Daniel

Go to the game Saturday.

Long after you and I walk the Oval here, memories will bend and classes will fade, but the colors of Griz football games on Saturdays, if anything, will grow sharper.

Inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, you'll see a well-liked and well-respected head coach pace the sidelines for Montana, you'll witness a young quarterback bud on the gridiron and you'll note the swiftness of a cornerback wearing No. 2, who is well on his way to a career on Sundays in the National Football League.

You'll see a plethora of gung-ho coaches and players eager to take the field at home for the first time this year. And you'll see Missoulians offer a warm embrace while they feed their insatiable appetite for football.

Washington-Grizzly Stadium on gamedays, like all sports venues, offers a place where creeds and skin can come together, where we can put everything else aside for a few hours in the name of color allegiance, as we take part as onlookers of a beautiful juncture.

Football is America, the great American game, a reflection of who we are and what we are, as it remains the most rooted of sports.

Go to the game with respect.

On Griz Saturdays, skydivers swoop down on the 50-yard line, Montana mascot Monte storms onto the field via sports car, motorcycle or whatever that silly bear can find, and the Grizzlies race out of the tunnel. Under the inflatable helmet, the Griz captains will be toting the American flag.

The sense of excitement will be palpable.

Griz football has offered me one of my favorite memories: late November 2009, when the Grizzlies squared off with the Mountaineers of Appalachian State in the playoffs, the winner getting a berth in the national championship game.

With a minute to go, the Grizzlies, lead by quarterback Andrew Selle, scrambled to score, to take the lead late, to punch their ticket to the finals.

As the snow swirled across the storied turf, ESPN cameras hovered over the frozen fans. Selle scampered in the pocket to find an open man, before spotting wide receiver Jabin Sambrano, who edged his defender, streaking up the left sideline.

Selle fired the ball perfectly, rising majestically toward the corner of the end zone.

A moment of calm and hush fell across the stadium. As the ball dropped softly into wide receiver Sambrano's hands, the roars rolled in.

Touchdown. Griz win.

The memory, among others from Griz football, carries me today, as we near the first kickoff of the season inside Washington-Grizzly.

This Saturday's home opener marks, particularly in a region with harsh winters, not merely the opening of an athletic season, but a benchmark on the calendar for so many Montanans. What precedes is summer. What follows is winter. But at the home opener, even after a previous lackluster season, there is no past — only hope.

Go to the game to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

daniel.mediate@umontana.edu