The undefeated Montana State Bobcat football team will host rival University of Montana Grizzlies in the annual Brawl of the Wild this Saturday. Downtown bars are preparing for the big day.
Will Hope is the general manager of the Rocking R Bar in downtown Bozeman.
“It’s an extra beer cooler that we bring i , just so we don’t have to run up and down our stairs as much,” Hope said.
Most of the preparations are already in place for the busiest day of the year, including a walk in cooler stacked full of beer, double their usual stock.
“Our liquor, our beer, our fruit, plastic cups—literally everything, we double up on everything basically,” Hope said.
The bar is the home of the MSU Alumni Foundation watch party in Bozeman and has a strong connection with the team.
“It’s kind of one of our big identities is Bobcat football, and this is kind of the fruition for it all,” Hope said.
The bar walls are covered in old Bobcat players' jerseys and memorabilia year round. Hope says the bar had even more memorabilia that was lost during an explosion and fire in the building in 2009.
“The only original things in the bar is actually this goal post right up there, they actually salvaged that out of the wreckage,” Hope said.
It’s one of four metal field goal posts suspended from the ceiling above the pool tables.
“Whenever we beat the Griz in a home game, it’s a tradition for the students to tear down the goalposts and they’ll bring them down here.”
Hope says if a goal post does show up, the bar reimburses MSU, and bar patrons add their signatures to the post before it’s hung up.
“And hopefully were going to have number five this weekend,” Hope said.
