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Boise State Basketball vs. Western Oregon – Thursday

Ok… this game wasn’t close. It wasn’t even close to close. Granted, it was only an exhibition, but this was ridiculous. Final score of 103-62 and it was worse than that. Western Oregon looked like a bad high school team. I mean, they turned the ball over on their first 5 possessions. Shot 34% for the game. Ugh. Just ugly basketball.

Broncos did some nice things. Hit some 3’s. Got some solid, back to the basket, legitimate post play. That was nice to see. Been a while since we’ve had anyone inside who could do the work. This Matt Nelson kid is the real deal.

Crowd was pathetic. Again, it was an exhibition on a week night and was the day after a big football game, but seriously… there had to be 1,500 people there. Quiet. No students except for a group of about 20 who were there making noise. Hopefully once the regular season rolls around, we’ll have a few more people showing up. See the pics. (sorry for the quality, cell phone camera)

Boise State v. Western Oregon Boise State v. Western Oregon

However, to paraphrase and misquote Hamlet, the play’s not the thing. This game marked the first time since d-day that I was in the same building with the ex and all of the ex-laws (that sorta sounds like some superheroes). Well, not counting 30,000 seat Bronco Stadium. I really didn’t know what to expect. I mean, its a basketball arena. My new seats are across the court from them all, so I can’t help but see them when the play is in the near end of the court. It was tough seeing her… it was tough seeing everyone. It is easy to feel singled out when you see them all together in the exact same ways you were a part of not long ago. Dredges up a lot of memories. The problem is I don’t have any animosity towards them. Her included. I guess I should, but I don’t. Frankly, I guess you could say that I do miss and still care about them and hope they are all doing well. God, that sounds like a total wuss-out position, but what can I tell you? I really am a sensitive guy. *shrug*

However, this doesn’t mean I really want to interact with any of them. One thing is painfully clear. Unless I take extreme measures, there is absolutely no way I’m going to make it through the season without coming in contact with one or more of them. Impossible. I guess I’ll just jump off that bridge when I get to it.
Oh well… such is life on the outside.

At least tonight is hockey. None of them will be there. Let’s drop the puck, it’s time to go!

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Touchdown Slam Dunk Slap Shot

Now this is my kind of week.

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.

BSU v. Fresno BSU v. Fresno

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.

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October 30th!?

I’m watching NFL football last Sunday.  Still 2 days away from Halloween, mind you.  I’m only half paying attention when the commercial break happens.

A commercial from Garmin, a company that makes GPS navigational tools, came on.  Now this, as I said, was October 30th.  This was the first Christmas commercial of the year.  I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit.  Now, it would be one thing if it was just a Christmas visual… that is bad enough… but this freakin’ commercial took it to the next level.

THEY HAD CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING

Not only that, but they did one of the most annoying things in modern advertising, they re-wrote the lyrics to a known song to sell their crap.  When you are watching football in October, before Halloween even happens, and you hear ‘Carol of the Bells’ with lyrics about navigation, it is very jarring.  I’m lucky I didn’t have anything handy to throw at the television, because I most certainly would have.  I just sat there dumbfounded.  And angry.

I can tell you this… from this point on, I FLAT OUT REFUSE TO PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY EVER.  Not that I was in the market for a GPS unit, but goddammit, if I ever am, you can bet I will NOT buy anything from them.  As a consumer, that is the only weapon I have.  And if you piss me off, you had better believe you will not get me back.

Garmin, I hope you burn in hell.  There, I said it.  And if any of you out there are fed up by companies doing the same thing, boycott their products.  It’s the only way they’ll learn.