In The World…

I’m just blowing up all over the place!

I was contacted via Twitter by the editor-in-chief of the Arbiter (Boise State’s Student Newspaper) the other day as they were seeking true die-hard Boise State fans to profile leading up to kick-off of the Fiesta Bowl yesterday.  Needless to say, if you’re looking for die-hard, you need look no further.

Here is the profile they posted.  Basically a handful of questions that I answered.

Pretty cool stuff!

By the way, I will be getting to my Fiesta Bowl reaction soon.  I’m still digesting that one.  What a game!

Go Broncos!

It’s that day.  Fiesta Bowl.

Am I nervous?  Um… most certainly.  I think the worst part of bowl games is the huge long break you have from the end of the season until the game.  It just gives you more and more time to think about all the permutations on what could happen.  During the regular season, all you usually have is a week to think about a big upcoming opponent.  Bowl games, however, give you over a month to stew in your own juices.

My only saving grace is that I’ve managed to distract myself more this year.  That was intentional, and probably good for me in the long run.  Worrying about this game wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make the pilgrimage this time around.  Of course, as the game got closer and closer the regret grew, but what can ya do?  Last time, I was single and really had no bills at all.  Now, I’m married with different priorities.  Yeah, I could have probably scrounged up the thousand dollars or more it would have cost me to go down (by myself) but in all actuality that money could be better spent elsewhere.  That doesn’t make game day any easier, however.  I guess it would be different if the only way to see the game was to be there.  But it’s not.  I get to watch it on my giant flat screen in glorious HD.  That isn’t too bad of consolation prize, if you ask me.

I did have a thought about this whole thing.  Now, stick with me because this could be a little blasphemous… Winning or losing a bowl game, specifically this bowl game, really doesn’t matter a lot in the grand scheme of things.  Now, I know what you’re thinking… but hear me out.  This line of reasoning only works for a non-AQ (automatic qualifier for the BCS).  Obviously, the ultimate goal for any non-AQ school, hell for any school, is to make it to a BCS game.  That is what everyone is shooting for.  That is the cherry on top.  For a non-AQ school to get there, more than likely they have to go undefeated.  There is no other option.  So, that makes EVERY game of the regular season incredibly important.  Week after week.  Even those snoozers against 1-AA opponents.  You can’t relax.  You can’t have an off day.  You lose, you’re done.  Back to the Preparation-H bowl that nobody watches.  It’s 3 full months of on the edge of your seat football.

So, after surviving the season long meat grinder to get to the big game, ultimately the outcome of that game means far less than the games leading up to it.  Will a win or loss in the Fiesta Bowl affect next season?  Perhaps emotionally, but unless we get absolutely blown out, our pre-season ranking will have more to do with our overall record and number of returning starters, not the outcome of one game.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I dearly want to win this game.  But to lose to TCU (whom I’ve repeatedly said is the best team in the country this year) in this game wouldn’t be as bad as, say, losing to Nevada at home and knocking ourselves completely out of the BCS picture.  We made the big dance.  We get the big stage.  We get the big payout.  Lose in the regular season and all that is gone.  Does that make any sense?

Today, I’m wearing my lucky football gear.  Orange ‘06 Nike coaches polo with a white mock turtleneck with the Boise State logo on the collar and orange Nike hat.  This is the most powerful gameday getup I have.  It’s undefeated.  I only break it out for the really big games.  I’m afraid it will lose it’s power over time and I don’t want to waste it on games that don’t matter as much.  It worked at the first Fiesta Bowl in ‘07, and against Oregon State that same year.  It worked at Oregon last year.  It worked against Oregon again this year.  When I went to Washington in ‘07, I forgot the hat, and we lost.  That one was on me, I take full responsibility.  Yes, I have considered the fact that I may well be completely insane.

So, that’s all I got.  Game day is here.  Let’s get on with this already.

Go Broncos!

Yes, that is what I’m going to call myself from now on.  I’ve been published.  How cool is that?

Ok, some back story.

A couple months ago I saw a tweet from @TheBlueMag that they were soliciting fan photos for their winter edition.  I also got a Facebook message from one of their editors who had seen my Boise State photos on Flickr.com asking if they could possibly use some of my photos.  Of course, I replied right away and said I would be pleased as punch if they did.

Then came the waiting for the issue to come out.

It finally did last week.   By the way, all Bronco Athletic Association members get this with their membership, but you can also order subscriptions.  If you are a Boise State fan at all, you gotta get this thing.  End of pitch.

Anyway, in their fan photos section on page 92, they selected 4 of my pics!  All of which were taken from my seats, in row Z of the upper deck.  5 rows from the back of the stadium.  Needless to say, I find this whole thing completely awesome.  I’ve never had a photograph in a magazine before.  And even though I was not compensated monetarily, I figure I will still be able to refer to myself as a published photographer.  That’s got a nice ring to it, don’t it?

Below you will see the page, with my photos circled in red.  Click on the image to go bigger.  You can also go here to view the entire page.  On that site, if you flip to the next page, you will see my name in the photo credits.  Yes, I get geeked about this stuff.

Here are the 4 photos they chose, on Flickr.

Merry Christmas everyone!

This past Halloween afternoon, we were treated to another Bronco victory against the Spartans of San Jose State University.  Included in this game were Kellen Moore’s first touchdown pass to his little brother Kirby.  Kyle Wilson’s pick six.  Some tough defense.  And ultimately, another blow out win.

As always, you can view these photos and more by going to Flickr.com to view the entire set (not all were posted here).  Also, click on each image to go to flickr and see more info about each pic.  I would also like to remind you fine folks, that all of these pictures are being taken from my seats in the stands.  Row Z in the upper deck.  Six rows from the top of the stadium.

Enjoy!

Kyle Wilson fights for the ball

Jeremy Avery running through traffic. This was indicative of the run game most of the day.  San Jose State did a great job of bottling up our run game.

The next two pictures capture a seminal moment in this Bronco program, and perhaps a glimpse of things to come in the next 3 years.  Kellen Moore throws left and finds his younger brother Kirby Moore.

Kirby catches the ball, is able to shake the defense and turns it into his first collegiate touchdown and the first score of the game.

This next pic is also representative of Saturday’s game.  Kellen Moore spent a LOT of time getting hit.  Luckily for us, the vast majority of the time it was right after he got rid of the ball.  The offensive line needs to do a much better job of protecting him.  I bet he spent the bulk of Sunday in an ice bath.

Austin Pettis catches a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

Kyle Wilson picks off a pass, and scampers 27 yards for his first pick 6 of his career.  Very exciting play.

Billy Winn just misses another sack.  But he did force the incomplete pass.  My favorite shot of the day.

Doug Martin totes the rock in the 4th quarter.

This last image is of the sunrise we saw as we were getting ready to hit the tailgate party.  It was quite majestic and Jess and I both stopped for a few minutes to take it in.  If you look close, it almost appears that the tree branches on the right are on fire.  I didn’t notice that until  I saw the picture!

Game 2 of the Boise State season is in the books and it appears we have a “for real” defense this year.  Very exciting!  If the offense can clean up some mistakes (if you can call only scoring 48 points a mistake) then we’ll really be in business.

Any way here are a selection of photos I took at that game.  As always, click each one to go to the Flickr page to view them larger if you so desire.

Enjoy!

Remember that defense I was talking about? Well notice if you will in this picture that there are 4 Miami offensive linemen blocking NOBODY. I’m fairly certain that wasn’t how Miami drew that particular play up…

I’m including this one… I know it violates some photography rules, but dammit, that is an outstanding, unmolested gradient fade. Orange to blue. Personally, I like this photo.

We’ve made it. The day 9 full months in the making is finally here.

Boise State vs Oregon.  On the Blue. Kickoff in exactly 10 hours.

I have broken out my good luck gear.  See, this is the gear that won the Fiesta Bowl in 2007.  It is the good luck orange coaches polo and orange Bronco hat.  It worked at the Fiesta Bowl.  It worked at Oregon last year.  2 years ago, I forgot the hat when we went to Washington.  So that loss is on me.

More than just Boise State v Oregon (if it is possible to be bigger than that) it is the official kickoff of the football season.  I cannot describe how happy that makes me.  I get to wak e up on Saturday to the dulcet tones of Corso and Herbstreit on College Gameday.  I get to park my ass on the couch and watch 4 games at once for about 16 hours.  That may well be my definition of heaven.

I’m bringing my camera tonight so watch this space for any good pics I may capture.  However, if Boise State loses, you may not hear from me for a while.

C’mon Broncos.  Let’s do this.

Well, they still do.

The latest abomination was foisted upon the unsuspecting public this previous weekend.  They shipped out with Sunday’s paper an insert… Their college football preview piece.  Needless to say, this city is pretty jacked up about the rapidly approaching Boise State game vs the vaunted Ducks of Oregon down on the Blue.  Obviously, there has been a lot of hype for this game during this past 8 months.  Appropriately, they titled their guide “Hype”.

Now, I’m not critiqueing their content.  It was good enough apart from some exceptionally lame “overrated” pieces on each page, (really?  Bashing Twitter is not fresh) but I digress.  No, I have a problem… wait, check that… I have NUMEROUS problems with the image they created for their cover.

For the record, I am NOT a designer.  I think I have a marginal eye for design, but the designers I work with make me realize I have exactly ZERO skill compared to them.  Wirestone has some of the best designers I have ever seen in their employ.  Obviously, the Statesman does not.

Warning, the following image is so horrible, it could scar you for life.

(more…)

So, the game is over.  We lost.  I’m not happy about it.

I’m struggling to come up with positives from this game… Since it is Christmas and I’m depressed.  If I don’t get in the spirit a bit more Jess will kick my ass.

The Positives:

1. The cliche’ “it’s something to build on”. This seems to be a team of hyper competitive guys and a loss will only help propel them through the winter conditioning and spring practices.
2. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. 12-1 is a heckuva rebuild.
3. We are very young.  That only bodes well for the future, right?
4. Moore is not Zabransky despite doing his best Z impression at the end of the game.  However, I am pretty sick of ending bowl games with an interception.  We know he will watch that tape about 567 times before next season.
5. Despite the loss, we will most likely start next season ranked.
6. I didn’t purchase any of that dumbass “Perfect Season” merch the BSU bookstore was hawking for the past month.
7. My DVR is not going to be clogged with 4 hours of HD football programming that I can’t delete.  I deleted the recording about .002 seconds after the game ended.

As a postscript, I have to say something about watching the game last night.  That #$&*$% “Interactive Tuesday” crawl at the top of the screen filled me with a searing white-hot hate that has yet to be extinguished.   Hey ESPN, there is a reason I choose not to visit friggin message boards.  The rage I feel reading what “fans” have to say (even the pro-Boise State ones) make me homicidal.  For the safety of myself, and everyone around me, I do not frequent message boards.  Nor do I frequent any place where the unwashed masses discuss college football (IdahoStatesman.com comment sections, I’m looking at you…).   Now you’re going to force that same infuriating crap down my throat DURING the game?   There is a special ring of hell reserved for the programing nerd who thought that one up.

In case you’re not aware of what I’m talking about, there was a bar across the screen, above the score that ESPN invited fans to submit comments online which would then scroll across the screen.  Basically what we ended up with was 3 and a half hours of pithy comments like, “Boise sux.  TCU is gonna roll!” or “Boize wont never get a BCS game until they toughen there schedule!!”.  URGE TO KILL RISING……

Ok, that’s enough.

Merry Christmas everyone!

PS. When I’m off next week, keep your eyes on the blog as I’m thinking I’m going to make some sweeping upgrades to the blog.  I’m unsure what exactly I will do, but it will be something new.  That’s exciting, huh?

Yes, I know I haven’t blogged in a while.  And yes, I do realize it is Boise State v Idaho week and I have yet to say a word.  If you were in my shoes, you’d be well advised to keep it shut too.  I’ll let my team do my talking for me tomorrow.

Anyway, in bigger news, George and I are heading to legendary Lambeau field tomorrow morning.  Not only that, but we are going to see one of the tried and true NFL rivalries, Bears v Packers.  In November.  In Green Bay.  How cool is that?

George, a big GB fan, is hyped beyond belief, even going to say he’s going to have to “roofie” himself Friday night so he can fall asleep.  I am a little less excited than that, but I have never been to a “classic” stadium in any sport.   Well, I guess you could say Dodger Stadium is a classic, and I’ve been there, but since most of the bigtime stadiums are back east, and I’ve never been east of North Dakota, I’ve never seen them.

We fly out to Milwaukee early Saturday and return late Monday.  In between will be copious amounts of Shlitz, brats, and football.   I bet even some cheese might be consumed, but I can’t be sure.  We’ll both have our fancy cameras with us, so expect a lot of pictures.

At least the BSU game is on the ESPN gameplan service, meaning there is a chance that George and I can find a sports bar in GB and catch some, if not most, of the game.  Of course, I’ll be recording it for a more intensive viewing upon my return.

So, until my return, may I leave you with a hearty “Go Broncos” and “Go Pack” and we’ll catch up next week.

There really isn’t much to say about this game.  We killed them.  It wasn’t close.  Although, when we knocked another quarterback out of the game, the defense had a bit of a problem adjusting.  Especially since it was a running QB to passing QB transition.  But no matter.  We still won by 35.

I did, however, get some more great shots with the new camera.  Enjoy!  View all of the images here, or view a few select ones below.  Click on each one to go to the flickr page.