The "Bad News" Bears are winless (0-6) in conference play and are likely to stay that way, since they close the season against No. 2-ranked Montana on Saturday and high-octane Northern Arizona on Nov. 18. The last time a team failed to win a Big Sky game was Montana State in 2000.
It's been even worse off the field: a nationally publicized player knifing, assault charges filed against two other players and the suspension of three coaches for holding an illegal spring practice. Then came news last week that Adam Matthews, one of the top running backs in school history, had died of an apparent seizure at the age of 25.
As a press release describes it: "Dave Gilmartin takes us on a fun-filled tour through our most miserable cities. Gilmartin surveyed thousands of Americans to find the fifty dirtiest, smelliest and most depressing cesspools that make up this great land of ours."
Naturally, Greeley, Colo. - the home of the Bears - made the list.
According to the author, Greeley's cultural highlights include E. coli, duck hunting, Quarter Night at The Saloon, road trips to Denver, the outlet mall in Loveland ... and Broncos games. UNC games didn't make the cut.
"Greeley is where cows go to die and people go to kill them," begins the chapter on Greeley, describing the city of 76,930 as being home to one of the nation's largest beef packing plants, as well as an expansive feed lot. "... Not content to merely stink to high heaven, Greeley is also a hotbed of gang violence and boasts a crumbling downtown whose most recognizable landmark was an abandoned Kmart."
(Just for the record, the Kmart building was demolished last March.)
The stink can be so bad that the city has an Odor Hotline, so that residents can report offensive outdoor smells. ConAgra, called "Greeley's hometown corporate villain," was found to have produced the tainted meat responsible for Colorado's 2002 E. coli scare.
So, there's a capsule look at Greeley, the newest star in the Big Sky firmament.
Speaking of stench, I went 3-2 last week while Fritz Neighbor was a perfect 5-0. With just two weeks left in the regular season, the whiff of desperation on my side of the padded room is thick.
The picks
• Montana at Northern Colorado: The Griz insist they won't be caught looking ahead to next week's Brawl of the Wild, while the last-place Bears have a chance to fire the shot heard 'round the Sky. The guess here is that, no matter where the Griz are looking, they'll win handily and clinch a tie for their ninth straight Big Sky title.Rial: Griz 31, UNC 6. Fritz: Griz 28, UNC 10.
• Portland State at Sacramento State: PSU needs a win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive, while Sac State can wrap up its best Big Sky showing in six years.
Rial: Sac State 21, PSU 20. Fritz: PSU 34, Sac State 17.
• Idaho State at Eastern Washington: It's been a disappointing season for both teams. Why I keep thinking ISU is going to get its act together is beyond me.
Rial: ISU 33, EWU 24. Fritz: EWU 24, ISU 20.
• Weber State at Northern Arizona: It's a classic matchup, pitting the Wildcats' defense against the Lumberjacks' offense.
Rial: Weber 24, NAU 17. Fritz: NAU 33, Weber 21.
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