Now this is my kind of week.
- Beginning last night (Wednesday) I had the Boise State vs. Fresno State football game live down on the blue.
- Thursday is opening night exhibition Boise State Basketball.
- Friday is the home opener of the Idaho Steelheads hockey team.
- Saturday is more Boise State Basketball.
- Sunday is yet another Steelheads hockey game.
For those of you keeping score at home that is 5 straight days of live sporting events. You have read about my somewhat unhealthy compulsion to watch sports, but this week is like nirvana. Or perhaps, nerd-vana if you will. I will post my accounts/opinions of each event after, so watch this space.
Boise State vs. Fresno State
I always love when Fresno comes to town. For a few reasons. a.) It’s always a big game, ESPN almost always shows up to broadcast the game. Big game atmosphere is always fun. And b.) We always win. And usually win big. Nothing is more fun than a big game, except winning a big game in blowout fashion. Last night was no exception. (one of my all time favorite games was a Fresno game)
Even with Fresno mired with a 1-6 start, they still have a ton of talent. I wasn’t near as nervous for this game as I have been for say Hawaii or Oregon State. I’ve seen them play on ESPN a couple times this year, and they always seem to shoot themselves in the foot… and they did it again last night.
Boise State pretty much dominated the game, and won 45-21. The game wasn’t even that close. Fresno scored on a kickoff return for touchdown and interception return for touchdown. Take away those 2 plays, they had just over 200 yards in total offense and one TD. Domination baby.
Almost more impressive that the game on the blue was the fans in the stands. The sports marketing for Boise State had an ambitious plan for the ESPN television cameras. People sitting in even numbered sections were to wear blue, odd sections, orange. I didn’t think they could pull it off. Especially with the cold weather. If you tried it in September when people could wear t-shirts, then I could see it working, but when its 30 degrees out, not everyone has the proper colored cold weather gear.
How wrong I was. I stopped by the mall to get a new turtleneck before the game, and I saw many many people buying Bronco gear and they were all talking about which section they were in and getting the right color. I thought to myself, maybe it will be better than I think. I got to the stadium early, like I always do, and as people started filling in, I could distinctly tell what color each section was wearing. Hmmm… maybe we’ll pull this off. Once the stadium was full, the effect was amazing! I could not believe how well it worked, and it really looked cool. I just want to say well done to all the Bronco fans out there. This town has come a long ways in the past 5 or 6 years. I love to see the people with the painted faces, or wacky hats, or signs or whatever. The energy in that building is immense. Coach Pete has even said that it feels more like 70,000 than 30,000.
All in all it was a very fun game, despite the frosty temperatures. A big thank you to whoever it was who developed those chemical hand warmers.
More later.