Posted on

To Oregon – Departure

Here we are. Mobile blogging from the airport as we wait for our flight to Portland.

I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m hoping for a win but preparing for a loss. What I don’t want is a repeat of the UW debacle last year.

We are staying with a sorority sister of Jess’ who married a HUGE Oregon fan and alumnus. We are planning on tailgating all day tomorrow which is about my favorite thing to do in the world. I am jacked to see what Autzen Stadium is all about.

Win or lose this will be yet another life experience to soak in.

But it will be better with a win.

Go Broncos!

Posted on

Game 1 Reaction – Idaho State

Game one is in the books.  49-7 win for the Broncos.  I predicted a 42-10 final so I wasn’t too far off.  Here are my observations from the game.

First impressions on the Stuekle Sky Suites… Wow.  Very impressive looking.  In fact, the whole west side just looks real real nice.  That thing is definitely big time.  I would LOVE to see a game from there, but that may have to wait a year or 20.  Maybe someday I’ll have the bankroll to do something nutty like that.  But, I will say, sitting on the east side and looking at that thing, it really is a sight to behold.  Also, I gotta give the people in those suites and club seats props… even though they were in the high-dollar area, most of them were still rocking the blue and orange gear.  I didn’t see many suits or anything through my binos.

As an aside, I’m sure I’ve made this point before but I’m going to make it again.  The number of people wearing Bronco gear to games is just astounding.  I vividly remember years ago when maybe 20% of the people actually had something on that read “Boise State” or “BSU”.  Now?  I’d guess we’re at about 90-95% saturation.  I absolutely love it.  Once again, big props to the athletic department and that new logo they rolled out.

Continue reading “Game 1 Reaction – Idaho State”

Posted on

The Season Has Arrived

So far this year, I have been so incredibly lax in my writing of Boise State related blog posts.  It is personally upsetting to view my paltry record since the first of the year.

Since January 1, I have posted a grand total of 5 pieces that even mention Boise State.  That is absolutely pathetic.

Of course, I have been a little busier than normal this past 9 months… what with the new job, buying and moving into a new house, and that pesky little wedding and honeymoon thing.  Makes me tired just thinking about it all.

It makes it all the worse when you realize the sorts of things I had to blog about in that time.  I mean, we saw us lose horribly to East Carolina in the Hawaii bowl.  The first time in 5 years we aren’t the defending WAC champs.  Long time radio voice Paul J getting unceremoniously dumped on his ass after 36 years of service.  Not one, but two underclassmen declaring for the NFL and both getting drafted.  Construction and completion of the new SkyBox addition on Bronco Stadium.  The blue turf was replaced with a better alternative and the “crown” was removed from the field.  The coaches selecting a red-shirt freshman to start at QB for the first time in program history.  Whew.  How the hell did I miss most, if not all of this?  Oh right… the “busy” thing.

Now, it’s game time.  We are 28 and a half hours away from kickoff vs the vaunted Bengals of Idaho State.  I feel strangely detached so far.  I could probably name a total of 12 of the 22 starters on both sides of the ball, but no matter.  We’ve got real games going on.  Time to buck up and enjoy the hell out of things.

I will say, if you want to see football season hurry up and get here, all you have to do is get insanely busy all summer and BANG… it’ll be here before you know it.

I can’t guarantee I will pick up the pace of Boise State pieces.  All I can do is say, I WANT to write more.  If that happens, then great.

Game on!

Posted on

The WAC Hates Fresno State?

Really?  I don’t buy it…

ESPN.com is detailing out the “hate” in college football and broke it down conference by conference.  Apparently, the WAC hates Fresno State.

Come again?

I don’t buy that for a second.  Specifically for this reason.  Don’t you have to actually win at least one conference title to be hated?  Seriously.  I mean, nobody hates Utah State (except maybe Utah State fans).  Yeah, Fresno goes out and plays and sometimes beats the big boys.  That’s all well and good, but then they get back into conference play and fold like a lawn chair.   They have not won a WAC title since 1999 (2 years prior to Boise State coming into the WAC).  How can anyone hate Fresno, other than their being generally obnoxious and unlikeable people (which has nothing to do with football)?

I don’t even hate Fresno’s coach Pat Hill.  He seems like a nice enough guy.  Good coach.  If I had to pick a coach I hate, that mantle is easily locked up by Hal Mumme.  I really hate that guy.  But again, New Mexico State isn’t near good enough to generate enough hate overall to even rank on the scale.

Not that I want to be hated, but I think the only choice for the “most hated in the WAC” title can only be Boise State.  You’re telling me that a team with a 46-2 conference record since 2002 and 5 straight titles in that span isn’t the most hated?  Really?  Do you other teams enjoy the ass kickings or what?  We could spend 20 minutes listing out the records and accomplishments of the Broncos without pause here.  Not to mention the whole Fiesta Bowl thing, which most schools in the WAC could only DREAM about.

Tell me that nearly every team in the WAC hates Fresno more than Boise State and I’ll call you a liar.

Posted on

Weddings and Other Stuff

Woo hoo… a regular blog post.  Hey, I’ve been busy, cut me some slack.

First off, a wedding update.  We were able to clear the final major hurdle in this whole process this week.  We finally have someone to actually marry us.  Which is a big load off the shoulders.  Who knew that judges would be so hard to get a hold of, especially if you don’t have an “in” with one of them.  Luckily, we were able to find retired Judge Richard Grant who had nothing better to do that afternoon and graciously agreed to officiate.  Whew!

From here on in, everything else is minor detail stuff.  The big stuff is all locked in.  We got registered, but I don’t think we beeped enough stuff.  Got a lot of people coming to this thing…  (Macy’s and Bed Bath and Beyond, in case you’re interested).  T-minus 44 days and counting.  (46 days until Maui).

News this past week here in the Valley is that all 7 Round Table Pizza‘s just up and closed one day.  No notice given to even the employees. Normally, this wouldn’t register on my radar, but since three of my top 5 favorite pizzas came from Round Table, I was and still am quite upset about this.  When I was single, I ate Round Table once a week.  Seriously.  Now, I know we have Idaho Pizza Company, which split off from Round Table years ago, and is similar pizza, but its not the same.  I still can’t quite believe I won’t ever have their pepperoni, or King Author Supreme or Montague’s All-Meat Marvel whenever I want.  I am legitimately pissed about this.  I can’t even describe.  Well, next time I’m vacationing anywhere near one, you can bet what I’m going to pick up. *sigh* I do know this… if they keep playing TV commercials for it, I’m gonna be PISSED.

In other personal news, I have somehow slipped in to a vortex of horrible minor personal choices.  Lemme explain.

In recent months, I have had the absolute worst luck in picking minor shit.  For example, at any store where you have more than 1 checkout lane, EVERY SINGLE TIME I end up behind the person who is trying to use 19 coupons, can’t find their checkbook, need 27 different price checks, or some other reason to waste as much of my time as possible.  It is uncanny.  And it seriously is every time.  It’s gotten so bad that I make Jess pick when we are together.  It’s the only way we can get out of the store within this century.

As a corollary to this, is my channel surfing has gone down the toilet.  I’ll be on one channel, and flipping through the DirecTV guide seeing what else is on.  When I pick something and navigate to it, without fail that channel will be on a commercial.  I don’t know how I do it.   It is exceptionally frustrating.  Jess can back me up on this, it has gotten ridiculous.

Boise State and Peak Broadcasting finally announced who would be taking over for the longtime voice of the Broncos Paul J. Schneider.  Bob Behler comes to BSU from UMass, and seems like a well seasoned play by play guy.  I’m sure he’ll do a great job, but I’m still a little off kilter.  I mean, Paul J has been an absolute fixture here for 35 years.  It will take me a long time to get used to hearing someone else calling BSU games.

I’m sorry.  I love Paul J.  I know he wasn’t always the most accurate announcer in the world (to be kind) but dammit he had the voice.  My entire life has been spent listening to him.  I really hope Behler does a great job.  He has some huge shoes to fill.

House has been coming along.  We’re getting fairly settled.  We’ve got fewer work men coming by the house fixing things.  Fewer boxes full of stuff we might need soon.  I’ve been wrestling with our sprinkler system since one of the stations is a pain in my ass.  Half of the station is a marsh complete with standing water, while the other half is drying out and the grass is dying.  So, I’ve been fighting with it trying to get the right amount of water and everything.  I think I’m getting close, but I’ll probably need to get that big station broken into 2 different ones.  Ugh.

One downside to living in a new, fancy subdivision?  Door to door salesmen.  Gaaa…  I haven’t lived in a place where they are so thick like they are at our new place.  Damn.  If it ain’t the security system guy it’s the pest control guy.  The problem is that we’re so used to having various workmen come by the house, I have to answer the door just to be sure.  BANG, I’m caught in their web and I gotta spend the next 10 minutes trying to extricate myself from their elaborate sales-pitch web.  Plus, since we have a regular old window in our front door, I can’t even peep out and neglect to answer the door when I notice its a sales guy.  Well, I guess I could, but even I can’t be that big of a schmuck… of course, it would be pretty funny to walk up to the window, wave at the guy, then walk away from the door.  Maybe next time.

One week.  I can’t wait.

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Happy 4th of July everyone.

Posted on

Bronco Hall of Fame Contribution

There is a blog that I visit with some regularity called One Bronco Nation Under God, or obnug.com for short. They, as you might guess, are all things Boise State football. To which, I have a slight affinity.

Anyway, I was asked by the guys over there to contribute to their little ongoing feature called the OBNUG Hall of Fame. I could nominate any player/performance I wished. After some deliberation, I finally settled on my candidate and selected the best performance I ever witnessed live (aside from the Fiesta Bowl).

You can read (and vote) here.

Thanks again for the opportunity guys!

For anyone who might be visiting me for the first time from that site, feel free to peruse my Boise State posts.

Some of my favorites:

Posted on

Congrats Clady

Ryan CladyYesterday , Ryan Clady became Boise State’s all time highest NFL draft pick. He was taken at twelve by the Denver Broncos. He doesn’t change colors or mascots when going to the pros. I think he will do really well in Denver, because their scheme fits his strength. <football geek speak>They run a zone-blocking scheme which requires some more athleticism than just a straight line up and play smashmouth </football geek speak>.  I wasn’t able to watch a large chunk of the first day of the draft for a reason that I will have to tell you more about later.

Clady will always have a place in Boise State lore. You may remember a little play called “statue left”, aka. the game winning 2 point conversion in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl vs Oklahoma. His block helped seal the left end of the line (along with current Buffalo Bill Derek Schouman) to allow Ian Johnson to scamper across the goal line.

I’m going to be perfectly honest. As good as Clady was for us, I still don’t think he was the best offensive linemen that Boise State has ever had. I can recall numerous times where he was whistled for a drive killing penalty or him missing his guy and giving up a sack. I can’t back this up with numbers, but I trust my own eyes.

Still the best OL I have seen here is Daryn Colledge. Now a starter with the Green Bay Packers he graduated 3 years ago. I think he flew a bit under the radar because Boise State was not as well known then as they are now in this post-Fiesta Bowl universe.

Daryn was a 4 year starter for us. He owns both the consecutive games played and consecutive games started records at BSU, with 52 straight. We went 45-7 in his years here. One of his biggest wins was in that Hawaii game where he blocked 2 fourth quarter kicks, both returned by Orlando Scandrick and directly gave us the win.

Whenever he was matched up against a defensive end who had a lot of hype, he destroyed them. Specifically Bill Swancutt of Oregon State and Mathias Kiwanuka of Boston College. Neither of them did ANYTHING against Colledge.

When one is comparing offensive linemen, there is really very little hard data to go on. They don’t acrue many stats. I don’t think you can even use draft place as a guage either. So much goes into where a player is taken in the NFL. They don’t draft for how good a player is, they draft to how they project their game will translate to the pros. Which are not the same thing.

Then again, I’m just a fan, not an NFL scout. As a fan watching the games, I never had the confidence in Clady that I had in Colledge. So, in my book, Colledge will always be the best left tackle to ever come through the school.

All that being said, this is still a great thing for both Clady and Boise State. Having a player drafted in the top 12 is huge. It shows every single recruit that if you’re good, you can play at Boise State and still be drafted high. You don’t have to go to a Pac-10 school. You will play on national TV 5 or 6 times a year here. You will get seen.

Speaking of Orlando Scandrick, I just saw him get picked at place 143 going to the Dallas Cowboys.

In other ex-Bronco news, Chris Carr made news recently that might have been missed by some of you. He is the defensive back/kick returner who has been with the Oakland Raiders for the past 3 years as an undrafted free agent. He recently signed a contract with the Tennessee Titans for $2 million for 2 years. That is awesome. Despite being with the Raiders only 3 years he is their all-time kick return yardage leader. That is pretty impressive. Congrats, Chris.

It’s a good time to be a Bronco.

Posted on

Snow Casualty

We had our first snow casualty this past weekend.

IMG_2037.JPG The 3 year old canopy that is on our back patio. The snow had built up and built up over the past few weeks. All you locals know how much it has been snowing. Well, the design of the canopy was that it was a 4 cornered structure with a canvas top. But, with a lot of snow, the canvas has sagged. There are eyelets to let the water out, but unfortunately, they’ve been frozen over for months. So, even when the sun did periodically poke out, it would melt the top of the snow/ice caught in the canvas, but it wouldn’t ever go anywhere since the holes were frozen over. Thus, it just refroze and built up more.

Continue reading “Snow Casualty”

Posted on

31 – 14 at half

Which is the halftime score of the Hawaii Bowl. Boise State is on the losing end.  Ouch.

I’ve seen the Broncos play like this before.  It makes me sick to my stomach.  They played like this against Washington.  They played like this against Nevada.  Uninspired.  Confused. Pathetic.

Tharp is more confused than the first time he started.  Running around and panicy.  I think having Childs sitting at home suspended hurts him a LOT.  I mean, he is either not finding open guys, or is throwing it up for grabs. Horrible. The receivers are dropping balls and worse, fumbling.  Ian obviously isn’t the same since he tweaked his ankle in practice this week. Avery limped off the field just before half.

The defense is missing tackles left and right. Which isn’t good when you are also missing assignments.

Unless they pull their heads out of their collective asses, we are in big trouble.

Honestly, it looks to me like the team went to Hawaii for a vacation… not to win a football game.  They are not focused.  They are not sharp.  Unless things turn around, we’re gonna lose bad.

Bah Humbug.