SPOKANE, Wash. — The Loft is an event space at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino, which sits near the airport on the windswept edge of town. To get to The Loft, you walk past smokers playing slots, hang a right at the Fatburger counter and head upstairs. It’s a boxy room with a bare floor, far more functional than opulent, and on this July night The Loft is hosting a Big Sky Conference football dinner.
The menu is on-brand for the blue-collar Big Sky: burgers, dogs, popcorn—and an open bar. Administrators, coaches and players are free to grab a beer with their food, sit together at round tables and talk ball. There are players from Idaho wearing matching bowling shirts, and players from Sacramento State wearing “GoGo Sacramento” hats. There are cowboy boots and stetsons and jeans.
