The Eastern Washington vs. University of Montana game has become one of the biggest rivalry games in the Big Sky Conference and is one of the biggest football games of the year for both schools. This game is also one of the biggest tailgating scenes of the year in Cheney.
On the EWU campus, there are numerous places where students, alumni and locals can go experience the tailgating scene. It is not a law that one must abide by and not a rule either, but usually the Red Barn parking lot fills up with Montana fans, while the parking lot above Roos Field is generally full of Eastern fans, but there is a middle point in between the two parking lots.
There is the parking lot at the Computer Engineering building, where you find a mixture of Eagle and Grizzly fans mingled together, tailgating side by side.
A regular to the tailgating scene is EWU alumnus Ed Griffin, who graduated with a degree in business and communication. Griffin has been tailgating at Eastern games for over eight years now.
“I love the camaraderie and everything about tailgating,” said Griffin.
He made it very clear how there is not a hatred between the Eagle and Grizzly fans as some people might have expected or thought. “We’ve had this tradition going on for about eight years, and it just gets better with the folks from Montana,” said Griffin.
“We have a tradition where we have a lot of Montana customers come over here, about 20 customers come over and then we entertain them and then, when we go over to Montana, they [Montana fans] entertain us very well,” said Griffin. “And we try to one-up each other every year. It’s like a mutual partnership. We’ve done this for a number of years. There are a lot of [Grizzlies fans] here but we’re all having fun.”
When asked about the game and how important the EWU vs. UM game is, Griffin said, “This year’s game is very important for me. Usually the winner of this game is on the path of the Big Sky championship, so I hope it all works out for [the Eagles].”
Jerry Graves, who is a Spokane native, has been tailgating for about five years and, “loves every part of it,” said Graves. “I love the camaraderie. The beer and the steaks are my favorite part of tailgating.”
Mark Shirley, who lives in Kalispell, Mont., comes over to Cheney every other year for the EWU vs. Montana game.
“One of the things that I appreciate about Cheney is its definite growing interest in football and I’m excited about this rivalry continuing to grow,” said Shirley. “Particularly after the Eagles had their success and won the national championship, it makes it more exciting for the Grizzlies to come over here and beat the Eagles,” said Shirley.
Shirley has joined the bandwagon and roots for the Grizzlies, but that has not stopped him from being friends with EWU alumnus Ed Griffin.
Mark Patrick, an Eagles fan, has been described by some of his buddies as the king of tailgaters. He has been tailgating since EWU used to play its football games at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.
“We’ve been tailgating for about 25 years,” said Patrick. “We actually started this. Everything you see here should be credited to us. We used to tailgate out here when there was only us and one other group. We’re the original hard-cores.”
“I love the camaraderie with everybody. I mean look, we have Montana people here, they are all around us. It’s a battle on the field, but out here in the parking lot, it’s party time,” Patrick said.
The EWU vs. Montana game is one of the biggest games of the year, for both people tailgating and the people who come just for the actual football game itself.
For Patrick, “This is the Woodstock of football.”
