For the 300th episode of the ButteCast, we have one of the greatest sports success stories in Mining City history.
Erin Popovich was born with Achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that causes abnormal bone growth, resulting in short stature and disproportionately short limbs. Most of us know that as dwarfism.
While that might have kept Erin off the basketball team, it did not stop her from reaching athletic greatness. The 2003 Butte Central graduate became a worldclass swimmer and a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame.
Erin is a three-time Paralympian and 19-time Paralympic medalist. That includes 14 gold medals. She competed in the Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
In between, she walked on the swimming team at Colorado State, where she trained for her Paralympic greatness.
Erin is a two-time winner of the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability. She was also named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year in 2005.
In 2024, Erin was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame.
After a long career working with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Erin began a new career in January. That is when she moved to Indiana to work for the Purdue For Life Foundation at Purdue University.
Listen in to this episode as Erin talks about growing up with dwarfism. Listen as she talks about how she got into swimming and what it was like when her career took off. Listen as she talks about traveling the world and not really getting many chances to take that in.
Listen to hear that Butte is very much still in Erin’s heart, even if she is living very far away from the mountains.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the friendly non-commission sales staff that always has your back. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
It isn’t just the Friday nights and the wins and losses that bind high school football teammates together. It’s the practices, the film room and the early mornings lifting weights that build a team.
It’s the unity, the togetherness. It is the daring to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself. That goes for all team sports, but it goes at least double for football.
I quit football after my freshman year, and I regret it every day. I am happy my son will not have to do the same.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Dr. Jim Barry was — and I suppose will always be — a “Muni Kid.”
That means, like a lot of us, Jim grew up golfing at the Highland View Golf Course in the Jack Crowley days. He would get dropped off early in the morning and play golf at the Muni all day long.
The 1989 Butte High graduate was a very good golfer, too, playing for legendary coach Ed Yoe on a Butte High golf team that specialized in having fun. Jim raced on skis, and he was a receiver for the Butte High football team. As a junior in 1987, Jim caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Todd Paffhausen in Butte High’s 29-6 win over Butte Central.
Today, Jim is a doctor in Denver. Of course, that statement does not even begin to describe what he does. He is the medical director of the University of Colorado Hospital, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He is a professor with the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology at the University of Colorado Medicine.
He has been on the cutting edge of treating very sick infants for a quarter of a century.
Every day, Jim learns more about his profession, too. He is currently working to incorporate AI into the practice of medicine, and he is excited about the possibilities.
Before all that, though, Jim grew up on the Big Hole River in Divide, where he attended a two-room school house. The went to West Junior High School before attending Butte High, Montana State University and Creighton University Medical School. His education has never really stopped.
Listen in to this episode as Jim he talks about growing up on the river and at the Muni. Listen as he talks about how he cheered for his former Butte High teammates at the University of Montana, even though he was a student at MSU.
Listen in to hear Jim talk about his family, career and how he is still as excited about medicine as he has ever been. Listen why Jim is not ready to retire, and we are all glad that he did not listen to a high school test result and become a garbage man. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is presented by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life.
Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
This episode is available on YouTube.
As a sportswriter, Senior Night was always annoying. I figured it was just a waste of time for everyone but the moms.
Then I went through Senior Night with my son, and I realized I was wrong.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Dan Lacey was an all-conference receiver for Butte High as a senior in 2002.
He played for Butte High head football coaches Steve Schulte and Greg Salo before coaching under Arie Grey as a student teacher. He also played basketball for coach John Thatcher with the Bulldogs.
Today, Lacey is on his way to writing his own legend as a high school coach in the Smelter City. Lacey is in his third year coaching the Anaconda High School football team, and the Copperheads are headed to the Class B playoffs for the first time since 2015.
First, the Copperheads have a rivalry game to close out the regular season Friday night in Deer Lodge.
Lacey took over the Copperhead program in 2023. That came after a successful nine-year run as head football coach in Whitehall, where he also coached basketball and track while serving as the activities director of the high school.
He moved to Anaconda for a change in scenery and a new challenge. Boy was it a challenge. In the five seasons before Lacey arrived in Anaconda, the Copperheads won a total of three games. The coach worked to change the culture, and now the wins are finally starting to come.
Listen in to this episode as he talks about playing for the Bulldogs and getting into coaching. Listen to how he worked on the attitude and culture before he worked on the wins and losses.
Listen to some of the coaches who influenced him along the way, and get a look at how the Copperheads are going to do when the postseason arrives in the Smelter City next week.
Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the local’s eat.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Casagranda's Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
The NFL needs to decriminalize the playing of football. We could do that be rolling back most of the new rules put in place since the 1980s and ban the type of officials who do party pumps to look good in the size smedium shirts.
Too many of these NFL officials think I paid $400 plus for the NFL Sunday Ticket just so I could watch them make 47 calls into the camera every Sunday.
Luckily, I have a plan that could fix that.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Tom Mullen is a 1994 Helena Capital graduate and former sports editor and editor of The Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana student newspaper.
Today, Tom lives in the Hollywood Hills, where he can look out his window and see part of the iconic Hollywood sign. Among other things, Tom is a screenwriter. He is known for the 2021 movie “Vacation Friends” and the 2023 sequel “Vacation Friends 2.”
Both movies are on Hulu, and I promise that I will someday watch them. I know they will be funny because Tom is the funniest writer I have ever known.
His process of his writing is also funny. I got to see that first hand when we worked together at the Kaimin nearly 30 years ago. He would do his famous 20-minute columns.
I’m proud of the career Tom has put together, and I want to show him off a bit. I also wanted to catch up with him because we really had not talked, other than a few Facebook notes, since 1997.
I first knew of Tom when he was the Kaimin sports editor who was lucky enough to cover the 1995 Montana Grizzlies on their way to the NCAA-IAA national championship. I only knew him by his byline.
A few semesters later, I got to work next him, and we had so much fun that it should have been illegal.
After college, Tom worked for The Associated Press. Then, he attended a Hollywood party while visiting his brother, and he came to the realization that he had to move to Los Angeles. It turned out to be the right move.
Listen in to this episode as Tom talks about Helena Capital and his days at college. Listen as he talks about working at the AP and some of the stories and teams he got to cover.
Listen as he talks about covering the 1995 Grizzlies and how Head Coach Don Read used to take the phone off the hook to give Tom his full attention during interviews. Listen to the photo project the late coach authorized Tom to take part in.
Listen as he talks about getting into the Hollywood scene and how he is hoping to be in Dodger Stadium for another World Series.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today. Click here for more on Warriors & Quiet Waters.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Thriftway Super Stops. Join the Thriftway Loyalty Club today and save big. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Michael Glatzmaier got his first name from Michael Jordan. While his parents named him after the greatest basketball player of all time, this Michael he says he does not have an athletic bone in his body.
Instead, he is a musician and comedian who specializes in improv. He plays the guitar, and some of his act includes singing songs about topics suggested by the audience.
He will bring that show to Bourbon Alley in the Butte Depot on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Tickets for the show are just $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. (Click here to buy tickets.)
Michael is a comedian based in Spokane, where he grew up the youngest of five boys. He describes himself as not being the brightest tool in the shed.
He will be filming his show in Butte as part of a documentary following a year and half of his tour around the United States. The movie is expected to be released in 2027.
Listen in to this episode in to hear how Michael got into comedy and what he does when he is not traveling and performing on stage.
Listen in to hear how his show works and how he relies on audience participation. That, though, does not mean heckling. Listen in to hear that you just might want to check out his show next week.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
We could drain the water from the Berkeley Pit, fill in the hole, build a new version of Disney Land, and let everyone in for free, and a large percentage of people around the state still would not like us.
The true beauty of the people of Butte is that we never gave a rip about our reputation. We know who we are. We are hard-working, kind people who look out for each other.
So why are we worried about a potential women’s prison ruining our reputation? That is something we have never given a rip about.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Kevin Barry is a well-known and highly-regarded name in Ireland, and beyond.
The most famous Kevin Barry was a young Irish Republican Army soldier who was executed by the British government during the Irish War of Independence. His life and death inspired the Irish rebel song titled Kevin Barry.
Another martyr for old Ireland, another murder for the Crown.
That, though, has nothing to do with today’s guest. This Kevin Barry was named after an uncle, and he is one of a great many men named Kevin Barry in Ireland.
This Kevin Barry, though, is the only one, to my knowledge, who has written a novel that was set in Butte in the 1890s. He has written a handful of novels, a few collections of short stories and some plays.
His latest novel is called “The Heart in Winter,” and it is a love story about a couple trying to escape Butte in 1891. Barry started research for this book in 1999. That is when he rolled off a Greyhound Bus from Seattle and made his first stop in the M&M.
After spending time in Butte doing research, he started writing his book. It did not click with him, so he put it aside for a couple of decades. Then, he came back and wrote a book he can be proud of.
Barry has been in Butte for almost a week now promoting his book. Earlier today, I caught up with him at the Knights of Columbus Hall for a fun conversation.
Listen in to hear about Barry’s travels, including his initial visit to the Mining City. Listen as he talks about growing up in Ireland and his career as a journalist and writer. Listen as he talks about why he chose Butte for the setting of his novel.
Listen as he talks about what it is like to come to Butte with an Irish accent, and listen as he tells us that he is not the martyr who fought to free Ireland.
Today’s podcast is presented by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is presented by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life.
Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Over the weekend, my mom’s oldest sister, Carol Kocher, passed away at the age of 85.
Carol will be remembered for her love, caring and sense of humor. She made us laugh, even when she did not mean to make us laugh. She also worked for decades as a nurse, offering a comforting hand to so many when they needed it most.
Carol will be missed by so many.
Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by Park Street Liquors. Make your story legendary. It is also presented by Crazee Carol's Casino and Mill Bar, where they are still segrevious after all these years.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
You will look long and hard before you find a better ambassador for the Mining City than today’s guest. In these parts, Keith Sayers is the most-known motorcycle rider who doesn’t have the last name Knievel.
Keith bought his first motorcycle from a friend for just $10 when he was 9 years old. He turned quite the profit on that investment. Keith is now in his 20th year making a living riding his dirt bike.
You probably know Keith from the show he and his fellow riders put on in Butte every June during the Colt Anderson Dream Big Event. Or maybe you remember him from his shows during Evel Knievel Days. Or maybe you live in any corner of this country and you know him because Keith performed in your town.
Sayers started racing motocross when he was 12 years old. That led him to give up on his dreams of playing professional baseball. He realized the dirt bike was his calling.
During the first Evel Knievel Days in 2002, Keith stood at the fence as he watched the freestyle riders wow the crowd with their tricks. He wondered how he could be part of that team. Fast forward a few years, and Keith owned the that team, and the shows for Evel Days got bigger and better each year. He introduced us to X Games legends like Heath Frisby.
At 43, the 2001 Butte High graduate is still touring the country and riding. He travels with his wife Danielle, the couple’s daughter Lylee (15) and son Gavin (12).
Listen as he talks about Evel Days, jumping Sparky’s Garage and his trick that gets the biggest roar from the crowd. Listen to hear his passion when he talks about being a role model.
Listen as he talks about how Gavin is already a better rider than his dad.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Casagranda's Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Losing an election last year was a liberating feeling. It has felt good to tell rude people on social media to get bent.
Yes, they keep saying that we need to turn the temperature down on our political talk. Our nation is getting more divided every day, and made-up wedge issues are the main culprit.
More than that, though, we need people to speak the truth. When somebody says something that is dead wrong, good people should not remain silent. The truth might not always be nice, but it is essential.
Nice is becoming a substitute for truth and some things don’t need to be sugar coated.
Being nice is not going to protect the reproductive rights of our daughters. Being nice is not going bring down the price of eggs. Being nice is not going to stop us from being drug down a hole toward a totalitarian rule.
Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by Park Street Liquors. Make your story legendary. It is also presented by Crazee Carol's Casino and Mill Bar, where they are still segrevious after all these years.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Brian Gilman is a 1988 graduate of Butte High School.
A black belt in Taekwondo, Brian played football at Butte High before walking on the football team at Montana Tech. He was part of the Bulldog squad that fell 14-12 to Helena Capital in the Class AA State championship game, and that loss still hurts today.
After graduating with a degree in environmental engineering from Montana Tech, Brian joined the Marines. After many jobs and deployments, he earned the rank of colonel before retiring after nearly 27 years of service.
Today, Brian lives in Bozeman, where he is the chief executive officer for Warriors & Quiet Waters. There, Brian works to empower post-9/11 veterans to thrive.
Warriors & Quiet Waters is a purpose-driven veteran service organization that offers nature-based experiences, a sense of community and belonging, and guided personal growth designed to restore minds, bodies and spirits of post-9/11 combat veterans and their loved ones.
The organization has had a huge success rate.
Listen in to this episode of the ButteCast as Brian talks about growing up in Butte and playing football for Butte High and Montana Tech. Listen in as he talks about the influence former Oredigger coach Bob Green had on his life.
Listen in to hear why he joined the Marines after college and how he feels about the work he is doing today.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today. Click here for more on Warriors & Quiet Waters.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Thriftway Super Stops. Join the Thriftway Loyalty Club today and save big. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Most guests of the ButteCast are from the Mining City or have some deep ties to Butte, America.
However, today’s guest, Anthony Dyer, has never stepped foot in the state. He was born in the rugged Appalachian town of Sylva, North Carolina, and he spent more than a decade as a United States Air Force Combat Special Missions Aviator.
When I heard about Anthony’s story, and his recently-released book, I jumped at the chance to have a conversation with him.
His book is called “Moon Child: The Roots and Wings of a USAF Combat Special Missions Aviator.”
In the easy-to-read book, Anthony offers a raw, unfiltered account of his life in combat. Anthony shares the harrowing details of his most dangerous operations where split-second decisions meant the difference between life and death. Anthony also goes beyond the battlefield to talk about a far deadlier enemy: the silent battles of addiction, trauma and the search for purpose beyond war.
While I will not be able to finish the book until later tonight, I highly recommend it. Click here to order your copy.
Listen in to this episode as Anthony talks about growing up in a small town and dreaming of one day getting out. Listen as he talks about why he joined the Air Force and what it was like to leave, walking out a door with no handle to turn back.
Listen as he talks about the trying times of life after the military and how he was able to battle his demons. Listen to hear how writing the book helped him and how it might be able to help you or someone you love.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
If you celebrated when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night television show after receiving pressure from the FCC, then you are missing the point. An attack by the government on anyone’s free speech rights is an attack on of all our rights.
Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by Park Street Liquors. Make your story legendary. It is also presented by Crazee Carol's Casino and Mill Bar, where they are still segrevious after all these years.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Rob Cashell is a 1984 graduate of Butte High School. That year, he was a member of the boys’ basketball team that captured the Class AA State title in Missoula on St. Patrick’s Day.
Rob was a Longfellow Bomber and a “Muni kid.” That means he was one of the thousands of kids who grew up playing golf at the Highland View Golf Course in the Jack Crowley days.
After graduating from Western Montana College (now Montana Western) and kind of accidentally getting into the administrative side of higher education, Rob became the first full-time director of athletics at his alma mater. He then took over as the first full-time director of athletics at Eastern Oregon, in La Grande.
In April of 2012, Rob was named the commissioner of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, and he still holds that position today. He lives in Corvallis, where he and his wife, Heather, are only a couple of hours away from their youngest daughter Elizabeth and their granddaughter, Suki. They lost their daughter Hanna in an automobile accident in April of 2016. She was only 18.
Listen in to this episode as Rob talks about his family and how they dealt with the death of Hanna. Listen in as he talks about growing up in Butte, moving from East Butte to the Longfellow neighborhood and walking to the Muni with a sack lunch every day of the summer.
Listen in as Rob talks about how he wasn’t as good of a golfer as his brother Dave, who held the course record at the Muni until just a few years ago.
Listen in as Rob talks about playing on that 1984 championship team and how he said he lived for practice, where he had to battle with the likes of Scott Paffhausen and Mickey Tuttle every day.
Listen in to hear that Rob is still a Butte guy and a Muni kid at heart.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is presented by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life.
Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Aaron Foster will be playing the Orphan Girl Theater in Butte on Friday, Oct. 3.
He bills himself as the former host of an HGTV show you don’t remember. He says he has made and starred in movies you’ve never seen. He says he is a comedian you’ve never heard of.
That, however, might be about to change.
Aaron is currently on a self-created theatre tour with his show “Mostly Jokes” that received rave reviews a at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June of 2024. He was awarded “Best Solo Show” at the Tucson Fringe Festival this past January.
Aaron has a darkly-honest approach to his standup. He tackles highly-personal topics like his own mental health (or lack thereof), his success as an actor in Hollywood (or lack thereof) and his ongoing mid-life crisis (no lack thereof). He says honest comedy is how he copes with the madness of our world.
Aaron will be playing in Helena on Saturday, Oct. 4. Click here to get tickets to his shows in Butte, Helena or any of his other tour date.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Casagranda's Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Tom Pomroy Sr. passed away last week at the age of 1991. He was a Butte Sports Hall of Famer and my Spanish teacher at Butte Central.
I will remember Señor Pomroy as a very nice man who always seemed to see the best in everybody. He was always trying to lift people up.
Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by Park Street Liquors. Make your story legendary. It is also presented by Crazee Carol's Casino and Mill Bar, where they are still segrevious after all these years.
Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.
Read this column at ButteCast.com.
Today, we start Season 4 of the ButteCast with one of my childhood heroes, “Flyin’” Brian Vaughns.
Vaughns was a superstar for the Montana Tech men’s basketball team in the mid 1980s. The 6-foot-7 center from Camden, New Jersey played on two Frontier Conference championship teams. He averaged nearly a double-double with points and rebounds in his time with the Orediggers.
He also led the world in electrifying dunks. That is what led Montana Standard Sportswriter Jim Edgar to coin the name, “Flyin’ Brian.”
Oredigger head coach Kelvin Sampson left Montana Tech for a job as an assistant at Washington State following the 1985 season. That is when Vaughns left the great moniker behind and transferred to NCAA Division I University of California Santa Barbara.
He played one season at Santa Barbara, and he led the team with 13.9 points per game. Because of a strange NCAA rule at the time, the redshirt season he had to sit out as a transfer robbed him of his senior season.
Vaughns, though, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the fifth round of the 1987 NBA draft. Vaughns never played in the NBA, but he fell in love with the game during a professional career that took him around the world.
That career took him to Australia, and he now lives in Melbourne. In the Land Down Under, Vaughns is a legendary basketball coach, and his son, Marcus, is committed to play hoops at Louisiana State University. The younger Vaughns will join LSU in January, after he finishes high school in November.
Now that he is no longer flying, the soon-to-be 61-year-old Brian Vaughs might just end up with a new nickname, Peyton Manning style. Today, he is “Writin’ Brian,” and his second book is about to be released.
The title of the book is great. It’s called, “Basketball Used to Be My Girlfriend. Now She’s Just a Lady I Know.”
Today's podcast is brought to you by Thriftway Super Stops. Join the Thriftway Loyalty Club today and save big. Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to timmontana.com. For more from Bill Foley, go to ButteCast.com.