BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 29 Days Before Gold Rush We Look at an Exceptional Bobcat of Yore
8/1/2018 12:54:00 PM | Football
Max Stark lived quite a life, and playing football and basketball at Montana State was part of it
August 1: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats whose jersey numbers correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2018 football season against Western Illinois in Bobcat Stadium's annual Gold Rush game on August 30.
#29
Kaleb Winterburn, S: Kaleb Winterburn did a little bit of everything for a good Helena High program. He scored 43 touchdowns as a quarterback, and earned all-state honors as a safety. Winterburn arrives at MSU this fall tabbed for a role on the defensive side of the ball.
Spotlight – Max Stark: As chronicled by historian and author John D. Lukacs, Max Stark's story was amazing. While working at Lockheed Martin in California one summer he helped assemble an airplane for Amelia Earhart, delivered newspapers to Hollywood stars, coached a state championship football team at St. Ignatius in 1948, started wrestling and tennis programs at Polson High... the patchwork of random occurrences and achievements form a beautiful quilt of a life. He taught and coached in western Montana for nearly four decades, and according to a story by Vince Devlin in the Missoulian (March 25, 2003) he book-ended his career by hitchhiking to Montana when he was 13 and spending five years in Alaska after his retirement. In between he impacted so many people in their formative years, most significantly his own 10 children. Numbered among them is legendary Bobcat track and field coach Rob Stark. Max was born in a cabin in the Bitterroot in 1916 and passed away in 2003, and in the middle of it all was a brilliant time at Montana State College in Bozeman. He starred in football and basketball, was Vice President of the Future Farmers organization (he majored in ag business), in an oddity was listed as a junior three consecutive editions of The Montanan annual (1940-41-42), played football and lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha house and walked the beautiful Bozeman campus with the Golden Ghosts, those 13 pre-war Bobcats who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's war effort, and became a lasting part of the legacy of Bobcat football and Montana State University.
Chronology: Fred Harrar (1930), Farrell Griffin (1931), Bill Benson (1934), Don Cosner (1937), Max Stark (1940), Jess Hodgson (1941), Don Dunn (1946), John Gardiner (1947), Owen Speaker (1948), George Grossman (1949), Darwin Rosin (1953), Cecil Kent (1954-55), Doug Kimball (1982-85), Tim Friez (1986-89), Craig Cavey (1990-91), Chris Novasio (1992), Saul Heikkila (1993), Ramsey Alexander (1995), Barry Baumann (1996), Matt Winstron (1999), Marquise Myers (2001), Michael Williams (2002-04), Brian Williams (2005-06), Jimmy Ekumah (2008-09), Cole Moore (2010-11), Fe'ao Vunipola (2012-13), Brandon Davis (2014), West Wilson (2015-17), Kaleb Winterburn (2018-)
Other #29 Notes: When Doug Kimball left the Bobcat football program, he possessed just about every kind of honor a college football player can earn. The Chester product, who was part of a wave of Kimball brothers to the MSU program, was a Big Sky Champion, a National Champion, an All-America, and a First Team All-Big Sky choice. Most impressively, the man called by the school's exceptional SID Bruce Parker "the brains of the secondary" in the 1984 media guide, he was an Academic All-America… Every good football program produces productive walk-ons, players that may not become stars but who contribute in ways not easily measured but which stand as uniquely important. West Wilson was one of those players, a willing and productive special teams standout from 2013-17 who was one of the most outgoing and east-to-get-along-with Bobcats of his era. He also carried with him sublime taste in pro sports teams, and presently works for Major League Baseball.
#29
Kaleb Winterburn, S: Kaleb Winterburn did a little bit of everything for a good Helena High program. He scored 43 touchdowns as a quarterback, and earned all-state honors as a safety. Winterburn arrives at MSU this fall tabbed for a role on the defensive side of the ball.
Spotlight – Max Stark: As chronicled by historian and author John D. Lukacs, Max Stark's story was amazing. While working at Lockheed Martin in California one summer he helped assemble an airplane for Amelia Earhart, delivered newspapers to Hollywood stars, coached a state championship football team at St. Ignatius in 1948, started wrestling and tennis programs at Polson High... the patchwork of random occurrences and achievements form a beautiful quilt of a life. He taught and coached in western Montana for nearly four decades, and according to a story by Vince Devlin in the Missoulian (March 25, 2003) he book-ended his career by hitchhiking to Montana when he was 13 and spending five years in Alaska after his retirement. In between he impacted so many people in their formative years, most significantly his own 10 children. Numbered among them is legendary Bobcat track and field coach Rob Stark. Max was born in a cabin in the Bitterroot in 1916 and passed away in 2003, and in the middle of it all was a brilliant time at Montana State College in Bozeman. He starred in football and basketball, was Vice President of the Future Farmers organization (he majored in ag business), in an oddity was listed as a junior three consecutive editions of The Montanan annual (1940-41-42), played football and lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha house and walked the beautiful Bozeman campus with the Golden Ghosts, those 13 pre-war Bobcats who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's war effort, and became a lasting part of the legacy of Bobcat football and Montana State University.
Chronology: Fred Harrar (1930), Farrell Griffin (1931), Bill Benson (1934), Don Cosner (1937), Max Stark (1940), Jess Hodgson (1941), Don Dunn (1946), John Gardiner (1947), Owen Speaker (1948), George Grossman (1949), Darwin Rosin (1953), Cecil Kent (1954-55), Doug Kimball (1982-85), Tim Friez (1986-89), Craig Cavey (1990-91), Chris Novasio (1992), Saul Heikkila (1993), Ramsey Alexander (1995), Barry Baumann (1996), Matt Winstron (1999), Marquise Myers (2001), Michael Williams (2002-04), Brian Williams (2005-06), Jimmy Ekumah (2008-09), Cole Moore (2010-11), Fe'ao Vunipola (2012-13), Brandon Davis (2014), West Wilson (2015-17), Kaleb Winterburn (2018-)
Other #29 Notes: When Doug Kimball left the Bobcat football program, he possessed just about every kind of honor a college football player can earn. The Chester product, who was part of a wave of Kimball brothers to the MSU program, was a Big Sky Champion, a National Champion, an All-America, and a First Team All-Big Sky choice. Most impressively, the man called by the school's exceptional SID Bruce Parker "the brains of the secondary" in the 1984 media guide, he was an Academic All-America… Every good football program produces productive walk-ons, players that may not become stars but who contribute in ways not easily measured but which stand as uniquely important. West Wilson was one of those players, a willing and productive special teams standout from 2013-17 who was one of the most outgoing and east-to-get-along-with Bobcats of his era. He also carried with him sublime taste in pro sports teams, and presently works for Major League Baseball.
Players Mentioned
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