Game photos from Ronan Orange and Black game

Here are some photos I took from the Ronan football team Orange and Black game tonight in Ronan, MT.

A Camel Farm

Brandon and I were thinking about starting the Just South of North alpaca farm. But I found these on Craigslist. Perhaps we should start a different farm. The question is, what do we trade for them? Any ideas?

Just Southeast: 4 Differences in Hiking Down South

Here's a great post from our outdoor site Just Northwest:

We normally cover the Northwest areas on Just Northwest since, well, that's where we are! However, we have a special treat for you today as we're featuring a guest post from David DuPont:

How many of you spend your days outdoors in the Pacific Northwest? That part of the country is arguably the best place to live if you love hiking, climbing, kayaking and other outdoor sports. I, on the other hand, live in a part of the country many people call 'Heavens Waiting Room' ... Florida.

Yes we have miles and miles of pristine beaches, but I would trade sand and waves for rocks and snow any day of the week. I do enjoy living in Florida most of the time, but when you get that "call of the wild" there is only so much you can do. We can still go hiking, kayaking and skiing ... it's just our versions have no stunning views, no whitewater, and skiing is done behind a boat.

I thought it would be fun to write a guest post on Just Northwest about what some of the major differences are between hiking in the Northwest and hiking in the Southeast. For the sake of this post I will mostly be referring to hiking in Florida - the exact opposite corner of Washington, where I believe most of the Just Northwest readers live.

1. Weather



The weather differences are the first thing that come to mind when thinking about hiking in Florida vs. hiking in the Northwest. It may get to 90 degrees on a hot summer day in Seattle ... but your 90 degrees is like our 70. It's hot here. Really hot. And we have 100% humidity every day during the summer. It makes hiking outdoors brutal. With staggering heat comes afternoon storms - the type of storms that bring lightning and heavy rains. You can set your watch the these storms -- 3:00 pm every day. You do not want to be caught in the outdoors when an afternoon storm rolls in. They don't usually last long, but they are fierce.

2. Elevation



Or lack there of... hiking in Florida means you're walking on a level path the entire way. It's easier on your legs, but makes for a boring trip when all you can see to the front, back, right and left of you are trees. Hikers in the Pacific Northwest have easy access to mountains at 14,000+ ft - Florida's hhighest elevation above sea level is 345 ft.

3. Wildlife



For the most part, the wildlife from the Pacific Northwest is somewhat similar to the wildlife in Florida. Florida has black bears, deer, panthers (our version of the mountain lion), lots of birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc. One of the major differences in wildlife is the Pacific Northwest is home to Bigfoot! Just kidding ... I'm talking about alligators! And they are everywhere down here. No joke - we have alligators here that walk across the street. They live in the swampy outdoor areas, which happened to be the same areas Florida hikers venture in to.

4. Ecosystem



Not all of Florida is in the "tropics" but our ecosystem and vegetation down here varies greatly from what hikers in the Northwest are used to. In Florida, we have a lot of sawgrass marshes and palm trees - I'll admit that hikes along the beaches and marsh areas are actually pretty nice. Florida also has a lot of pine trees, cypress trees and mangroves. We have vegetation that thrives in wetlands. We have swamps and creeks, but our creeks are not the same as yours. We don't have snow melt in Florida so our creeks aren't the swift running, crystal clear type - they are the slow moving, muddy, snake infested type.

I may have painted Florida as an awful place to go hiking and spend time in the outdoors, but that's not really the case. I guess when you're pointing out the differences it sometimes can seem like a negative thing. We do have a lot of amazing hikes here, like The Florida Trail... which starts near the Everglades National Park and works its way up through the panhandle.

If you don't live in the Northwest, where do you live? What are some of the major differences in hiking from your area? Post a comment and let us know.

About the Author: David DuPont is a hiker, climber and outdoor enthusiast who writes for Adayak, a designer and seller of hiking shirts. Get more from Jacob and Adayak on twitter.

Why Casey is wrong about the Huskies

Being in Montana now, I can tell that most of the Inland Northwest doesn't exactly jive with Husky fans like Casey. After he wrote that purple and gold-tastic article that basically did nothing but brag about the Huskies, I felt the need to retaliate. First off here's how you spot a husky fan...

1. Girl Pants - Husky fans always wear girl or mom pants.
2. They're never at Husky games - They're too busy doing things like writing music, crying about their ex, cutting themselves, generally not caring about football and generally doing douchey things.
3. They dont have a job - Because they're a bunch of freeloading hippies!
4. They don't like WSU fans - Because Coug fans have jobs, like to put in a hard days work, and could drink them under the table.
5. They don't know they aren't good - Remember when they beat USC and everyone was like "oh, CHAMPIONSHIP" and that didn't happen. In fact they didn't finish the season with a winning record. Just saying.

Second, you're the Notre Dame of the West Coast, except much worse. You think your program is awesome and it's not. It hasn't been good for quite some time. And your stadium stinks like mold.

And finally...

(I'd show a photo of a UW Cheerleader too, but I don't think the width of this blog could take the size.)

GO COUGS!

Biking over Snoqualmie Pass

Figured I'd give you guys an update on how my training for the People's Coast Classic has been going.

This week I rode up Snoqualmie Pass. It was 71 miles round trip and hot, hot, hot.

Now I'd never ridden on Interstate 90 before. And now that I can say I've rode over the pass, I don't think I'll ever do it again. Or if I do I'll bust out the mountain bike and head up the John Wayne Trail.

I didn't like the Interstate. Too loud. There was just a constant noise and cars flying by. Most were pretty good though and gave extra room on the side. Others weren't so good. Also there was construction going on the side on the way up, so I had to watch for cars and cross over the left.

But now I can say I did it. Sure hope I'm ready for the ride in September!

Crews to finish up red turf at night

The red turf at Eastern Washington University is almost ready to go. The installation crews will be working under the lights tonight in order to get the project done early.

Obviously there's the webcam which you can watch here.

You can read the full story on the under the lights installation tonight here.

Bear Grylls video game survival tips

With the new season of Man vs. Wild underway (two awesome episodes by the way) Bear has been busy with his Northwest Passage adventure and he's also been promoting the Man vs. Wild video game.

The game comes out this fall, but what would Bear do if he were in other video game situations?

Well, here's the "Bear Grylls guide to video game survival".

NCAA FCS Football

Football season is almost here! Can you tell that we're pretty excited about the season here at Just South of North?

Check out this commercial for the Football Championship Subdivision.

Epic Photo: What is this cat doing?

Good god, what is this cat doing?

Q&A with John Robertson

Check out this Q&A article I did with John Robertson from Polson. He's a PRCA team roper and is currently third on the money list in the Montana Circuit.

Click here to read the full article.

We'll stay updated with how he does for the rest of the season. You can check the PRCA standings here.

Morning coffee... August 19, 2010

Roger Clemens has been indicted for making false statements to Congress in 2008. Is anyone else excited about this? Not only is this the perfect ending for one of the biggest jerks in baseball history (read: how he gave up on the Red Sox), but it's also going to cause a lot of other baseball players that testified to Congress to look over their shoulder.

Baseball has to feel great that their seven-time Cy Young Award winner has a chance to go to the klink. Wonderful. Now what the heck is Barry Bonds going to do?



College News

UM soccer starts this weekend
Two games this weekend. SCAVES UP!

Former Griz, Bobcats players shine in NFL
Preseason roundup of players from the Treasure State

Eastern Washington holds first football scrimmage
Better known as "EWU has first dress rehearsal of their dismantling of the Griz."

National News

Big Ben to play on Saturday
Lets hope its not "Ladies Night" at the stadium.

Lance Berkman to 15-day DL
Yankees fans rejoice.

Smell like Lamar Odom
No really smell like him.

Reasons why you're still single... this license plate

Not exactly getting the ladies with this one...

It's the Jersey Shore, Charlie Brown

Brandon has a strange fascination with GTL. Every time I talk to him he's quoting the Jersey Shore. He's even taking to calling himself, "The Perspective." I think it has something to do with the fact that in college his life involved a lot of fist pumping, lighting gas barbecues with charcoal and having a hot-tub in his dorm room.

Well, now he can enjoy a new ABC show, It's the Jersey Shore, Charlie Brown!

College football in Washington

College football season kicks off in just a few weeks. And that means that the state of Washington will once again become divided. Huskies vs. Cougars. Cougars vs. Huskies. Either way, you have to pick just one.

In case you're not partial to either team, I figured it was a good time to get some facts about each school out there that have been bouncing around in the media as of late.

Washington has been singing the praises of Steve Sarkisian since, in his first year at UW, he lead the Dawgs from a dismal (to say the least) 0-12 season to a 5-7 record with a landmark win over powerhouse USC.

The future isn't looking as bright for Sarkisian's WSU counterpart Paul Wulff. In Wulff's two seasons at WSU he has a gruesome 3-22 record. The fact is that Wulff is on the hot seat. By hot seat I mean that the seat has been lite on fire and if he can't do things fast this year I don't see him coming back for a fourth year. (And could someone find him a larger hat!!!) The problem for Wulff is that the Cougars are predicted to be terrible. Their defense is awful. Just awful. Last season they gave up 6,144 yards in 12 games, which converts to 3½ miles. And along with all those yards, the Cougars also gave up a ton of points. They allowed 30 points or more in nine games. Perhaps these are a few of the reasons that Maxim dubbed the WSU Cougars THE WORST team in college football for the 2010 season. Sorry Coug fans.

On a brighter note for the state of Washington, UW has a Heisman candidate on their roster. And it's no surprise that candidate is none other than THE Jake Locker. ESPN has him slated at number two starting the season:

2. Jake Locker, Washington: The NFL loves the quarterback's skills. The Dawg fans just love him. The Heisman voters won't love this senior unless the Huskies return to the winning ways of yore.

Speaking of the Huskies winning this season they have a HUGE game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 18. Lincoln, Nebraska is already talking about the National Championship parade and even Brian Griese says that the nation will be all about the "Big Red". And won't have any problems in Seattle. Eventually going 11-1. A win over these "touted Huskers" would do wonders for Sarkisian and the Dawgs season. Not to mention cause the midwest to implode.

Let's not forget how the 1991 Washington Huskies went into Lincoln and blew-up the Huskers hopes for a National Championship. UW beat NU 36-21Husker Nation still hates UW because of that. Oh, and the fact that instead UW raised the National Champion banner.



With one team on the rebuild and one sinking further into the cellar, it's sure to be an interesting season. I'm just glad football is back!

FCS rankings are out

Even with a new coach, the Grizzlies were ranked No. 2 in the preseason FCS rankings. Montana State was also in the rankings at No. 24.

They're not alone in the Big Sky Conference though, my wonderful Eastern Washington Eagles are ranked no. 13 even though they have a new quarterback at the helm.

The Weber State Wildcats were ranked 19.

And Idaho State? Well they just suck. But four teams ranked in the Big Sky Conference means that everyone is thinking that it's going to be competitive this year. Wow.

Epic Photo: Midnight football practice

In Lake County where I work, the Charlo football team laced up their cleats last Thursday/Friday at midnight to usher in the new season. Charlo is a small town of 439 people and they play 8-man football. Here are some photos I took from that night...

Spokane Shock headed to championship game

In case you didn't hear... the Spokane Shock are going to the AFL Championship game. Just how big of a deal is it? Let me spell this out for all of you people.

Spokane has long had little-man syndrome. We've been the little guy to Seattle. Our Cougars have been the little guys to the Huskies. Our Eags have been the little guys to the Montana Grizzlies. Our sports teams have been minor league compared to the bigger cities, but they've always been well-supported and well-attended.

Ask the Spokane Indians, who have led the Northwest League in attendance for how many years? Ask the Spokane Chiefs, who on a sell-out night have the best atmosphere in junior hockey. Period.

And Ask Spokane Shock fans.

Dare I say, Spokane has had the best game-day atmosphere out of any Arena Football team. The Shock from the start have been the top standard in the af2. But it was the af2. Minor-league. Not in line with all the bigger cities.

Now that they're part of the AFL, this team from Spokane is beating up on cities like Jacksonville, Chicago, Milwaukee ... you know, big markets. I know the AFL isn't the NFL, but pound for pound the Shock are showing that this city can support a big boy sports team.

And they belong in the big boy sports discussion.

The Arena Bowl will be insane on Friday night. Insane! I've been to one arena cup and I've never heard a crowd more behind it's team. It just doesn't get loud, it gets eardrum busting. It gets to the point where the hair on the back of your neck starts to stand up, your mouth starts to drop wide open and you ask yourself "I'm really part of this, wow!"

You know when you watch a sports moment and you get a "chill" during the real dramatic scenes. You'll get more than a few chills this Friday at the Arena Cup. You'll see a team in love with a team, and a team that appreciated the support they get from the crowd.

Either way, Orlando and Tampa Bay are in some serious trouble right now.

Morning coffee... August 13, 2010

It's football time, ladies and gentlemen. The high school football teams in the state of Montana can now officially practice. As NFL teams are kicking off their preseason games and college teams are now deep into their late summer camps, it's now time for the boys to get high school gridiron action started.

I went to Charlo's midnight practice last night (or this morning, however you look at it. Probably the latter since that's the legal one of the two) and boy was that something special. I don't know how Charlo football head coach Mike Krahn was able to pull it off, but the town allowed him to leave the lights on at the football stadium for the midnight practice. That meant you could see the lights from miles around in the medium downpour of rain. Pretty cool sight, but the sounds of football players and whistles probably kept up all the neighbors.

Went to Ronan practice this morning, and again, early morning clouds peaking over the Mission Mountains served as a backdrop. Pretty freakin' cool.

Can't wait for games to start.

College News

University of Montana-Western hitting the field for preseason football
Is it cliche to say, who let the dogs out?

Montana Tech welcomes 135 football players to camp
Does anyone else think that is an insane number of players?

Montana Tech forming ice hockey team
And it looks like I'll be traveling down to Butte to get my hockey fill

National News

Big Ben expects cheers in opener
And roughly 45,000 dads of college age daughters at Henz Field will then promptly kick his butt.

Jonathan Papelbon sucks
Believe me, I know.

Bear Grylls Northwest Passage

Man vs. Wild season 5 premiered earlier this week and come Sunday Bear Grylls will be leaving on his next expedition.

He is going to be traveling the Northwest Passage to raise awareness and funds for the charity Global Angels.

Mount Rainier still 14,411 feet tall

Recently there has been speculation that Mount Rainier has been measured incorrectly in the past. The most recent measurement had came in 1988.

This year the Land Surveyor's Association of Washington set out to measure the height of Washington's tallest peak using newer GPS technology.

A team of nine surveyors carried GPS units to the summit of Mount Rainier. The GPS units, which weighed about two pounds, connected to 45 satellites. This is very different compared to the 1988 measurement that had 140 surveyors and over 40 pounds of GPS units.

And their results?

"The new elevation came in at only a few inches different than the previous observations," said Larry Signani, team geodesist for all three expeditions. "The published value will remain at 14,411 feet."

At least we know that the mountain has shrunk. No matter the height, it still is a stunning mountain.

National Park free weekend

This weekend, August 14 and 15, the National Park Service will waive entrance fees to help encourage all Americans to visit the national parks.

"This fee-free weekend provides an opportunity for individuals and families alike to take an affordable vacation or to explore a nearby park they have never visited before," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. "I encourage everyone to take advantage of the free admission to visit not only our greatest natural wonders but also our nation's historic and cultural icons."

There are 391 national parks in our national and many offer views that can only be seen there. So if you haven't visited a national park lately, why not head out there for free this weekend?

Also, please note that the fee waiver is only for the entrance fees. Any camping fees, reservation fees and special bus tour fees are still in place.

Matt Nichols update

In the Dallas Cowboys first preseason game on Sunday Matt Nichols out of Eastern Washington University got to play at the end of the game as the 4th string quarterback and pretty much just handed the ball off.

Tonight in the Cowboys second preseason game he got more of chance to show what he has, only it could have certainly went better.

I didn't watch the game but only read the message boards and the game log. It doesn't appear things went good for Nichols. He came into the game in the middle of the 4th quarter and finished 8 for 14 for 72 yards. He threw 0 TDs and had 2 interceptions. That gave him a very very low passer rating of just 31.5.

Not a good way to win the coaches eye and gain a roster spot. His 2nd interception came in the endzone as time expired for a touchback. The Cowboys would lose to the Raiders 9-17.

But hey, it was his first real action in an NFL game. So there's only up to go from here. Hopefully the next time he's given an opportunity he can take full advantage of it.

Angry kid on a Segway

Don't eff with him, he's on a Segway.

Untamed New England Adventure Race Journal

Lake County Leader Co-worker Ali Bronsdon is currently doing the Untamed New England Adventure Race and sending updates via email. It's a three-day race through New Hampshire and Maine and from the sound of it... it's pretty freaking crazy. Without further delay, here's the first update from Ali...

After three fun, including one red-eye, flights last night, I've already been up for 24 hours. A little sleep tonight and race start tomorrow around noon. You can follow online at untamedne.com. Our team is #14 GOALS ARA 2. We're packed with enough food and spare clothes for 40 miles of paddling/portaging, an orienteering relay (unknown length), 3 small conservation projects, a 30 mile bike, 35 mile trek, including a ropes course. 

So, we're carrying A TON OF CRAP! It's the most, by far that I've ever had to carry, so we'll see how the heavy load will affect energy. Also, the orienteering relay could be at night, which means COLD and wet, coming off the water. We won't see our gear/food bins until after that 35 mile trek, so we're thinking Friday night or Saturday morning. Then it's a 12 mile trek/swim, and 65 mile bike with a waterfall rappel and more conservation projects mixed in. The end of the bike marks the end of the official course, but there is an optional bonus rogaine section at the end, where we will try to nab as many points as we can before the race time ends. This will be where strategy and race planning will come into play. 

Teams that are in better mental shape should be able to plan the better attack and get more points on the rogaine. We are planning to sleep in one of the transition areas, maybe Friday night for an hour or two, depending on where we are. We haven't seen any maps yet, so things may change, but this is as much as I can tell you and the last time I can update before Sunday. I'm sure I'll have some good stories by then... hopefully we'll make it to the finish!
Thanks for all the support!

Oh and meanwhile, I'll be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos tracking the race. I'm that cool.

Big Sky Womens' Soccer preseason poll has NAU on top

With fall sports just around the corner, the Big Sky Conference coaches poll has been released and the winner is... Northern Arizona. Now all they have to do is play the games.

Of the eight head coaches in the league, six gave their first-place vote to the Lumberjacks, for a total of 48 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Northern Arizona won its second straight conference title last season, beating tournament host Portland State on penalty kicks and then Idaho State in the championship match.

2010 Big Sky Soccer
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Team (First-Place Votes)Points
1. Northern Arizona (6) 48
2. Sacramento State (1) 38
3. Portland State (1) 36
4. Weber State 30
5. Idaho State 27
6. Eastern Washington 16
7. Montana 15
8. Northern Colorado 14

Morning coffee... August 12, 2010

Former MSU Bobcats Mike Kramer settled his lawsuit with the university after a pretty messy ordeal that lasted three years. I'll be one to back Kramer, his firing was ridiculous. It stemmed from players involved in a drug ring, but Kramer dismissed all those players. What else did the university want him to do?

It essentially ruined Kramer's career, as he couldn't get a head coaching job after the fact. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

College News

University of Montana and Portland State top Big Sky Conference preseason poll.

National News

K-Rod charged with assaulting Father-in-Law
That's what playing for the Mets will do to you.

Randy Johnson now a rock n' roll photographer
Umm...

Local News

Charlo Football will open its season tonight with a special midnight practice. Check it out!