Summer Sunset and Six-Man All-Stars Shine On

Sturm Interception, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

The smell of freshly scattered manure filled the air in Custer, Montana for the 15th Annual Six-Man All Star game. And for whatever reason, that fragrance was as right as rain given the perfect summertime weather and a slow-setting sun of early June.

I’m unsure of the attendance numbers, but given it was held in Custer—some 50 miles from Billings—it was a pretty impressive gathering of true six-man football fans. If I had to guess, I’d start by laying credit toward game director Jim Goltz (also head coach of the Fromberg-Roberts six-man team) for this strong turnout.

For three extra dollars, spectators left the game with an extremely valuable program. I would have gladly thrown down five knowing it had the upcoming schedules for all 28 six-man teams inside. Finally, I can start planning for next year now instead of late August. And for whoever sells ads in next year’s program, I’ll purchase some ad space, so call me.

If I had to complain (and as many of you know, there’s always at least one from me), I’m a bit miffed on why both eight-man and six-man games are on the same night. I don’t mind picking one championship game to attend when they are all on the same day with winter bearing down, but given the flexibility of this time of year, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to at least have these two games a day apart from each other. I wouldn’t mind driving to Butte one day for the eight-man all-star shootout and turn around and drive to Custer the next day for the six-man all-star blast—or vice versa.

Better yet, give each game their own weekend and now we’re talking about some kind of awesome Montana summer vacation.