Photos of Lambeau

LambeauSorry for the delay folks. As many of you already know, I’ve been a bit under the weather since my return last Monday… Ok, that could be a tad understated. Actually, I’ve been sicker than hell. Sicker than I have been in a LONG time. I am 100% certain it has to do with the 5 different flights in 3 days that made me sick. Friggin airplanes… Flying Hot Zones if you ask me.

Anyway, I was totally healthy for the trip, which was the good thing. George and I had a great time. Although he was already sick, which put a slight damper on our late night carousing. The experience however was worth it. As always, click on the photos for bigger versions and you can view all my pictures here: Lambeau Pilgrimage

Saturday we flew out bright and early from Boise to Minneapolis. There, we caught the flight to Milwaukee. Picked up the rental car and were on our way.

This being my first time in Milwaukee, I was struck by one thing. Granted, I could only see what I could from the freeway, but all I saw were the following… Churches (there were spires EVERYWHERE), smokestacks, row houses and neighborhood bars. Very interesting. Especially to a guy who has spent his whole life in the west, where everything is new.

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Lambeau Pilgrimage

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.

Boise State vs Utah State 11-08-08

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.

George Iloka Interception

Kellen Moore Touchdown Pass

Reflections on Tailgating

Ian Johnson Touchdown

Utah State Fumble

Coin Flip

Moore to Pettis - Touchdown

Boise State vs Hawaii

It was another game night Friday.  The Hawaii Warriors were in town for a rematch of last season when they took the the WAC championship from us.  Well, payback is a bitch, as they say.

We pretty much dominated them on the defense side of the ball.  Our defense is scary good.  In every game except one (Oregon) we have held the opposing offense to a single score.  That’s it.  Amazing.  Last night, we pulled down 5 interceptions and got 7 sacks.  That is a thorough ass whippin.

However, our offense still isn’t as good as it should be.  Sure, we won and I won’t ever complain about a win, but we have one weak link on offense this year.  Our offensive line just isn’t very good.  I don’t know why, but they struggle every game.  The running game has never got off the ground.  Also, we have not had many deep passes this year.  What do both of those things need?  Good blocking.  We just don’t have it.  I am certainly not used to watching a Boise State team be more dominant on defense than offense.  It is an interesting change of pace.  Especially when you are used to seeing 45+ every game.  This year, we have to be satisfied with 24+, but this time around we’re holding the opponents to 11 points a game.  A “W” is a “W”, I suppose.

This also marked the first game I was able to bring our new camera to.  Jess and I got a Canon XSi Digital SLR a couple weeks ago and I’m still figuring out how to use it.  But, it came with a couple nice lenses and what follows are some of my favorite shots I got. Click on each one to go to the flickr page or view the whole gallery here.

Here Come the Broncos

Kellen Moore Pass

Jermey Avery Up the Middle

DJ Harper Left

Sunset Over Bronco Stadium

Raiders Fire Kiffin

Normally I don’t do “Breaking News” sorts of things but I just wanted to point this out.

The Oakland Raiders… well, technically the corpse of Al Davis has fired their head coach of a year and a half.  Why is this news?  Well, because of who the scuttlebutt is over who will replace him.  The rumor mill has thrown out a few names, and one of them stands out.

None other than U of I’s own Tom Cable!

Yes, the head coach that single-handedly started the Vandals slide into obscurity is now poised to take over the Raiders.  Somehow I just know he will be hired. You watch.

For the record, Mr. Cable went 11-35 in 4 years (2000-2003)as the head man.  He took over for the moderately successful Chris Tormey who left for Nevada (fresh off the bowl victory and the last time they beat Boise State).  Idaho has since gone spiraling down the drain with 11 wins since.  A drain that good old Tom “Dumpster Fire” Cable laid the groundwork for.

Do it Raiders.  He’d be perfect for you.

Tale of Two Weekends

This past sporting weekend was a bit like two sides of the same coin.

My Saturday was excellent.  First, you all know about the big Boise State upset of Oregon.  That was by far the best thing.  Speaking of which, I have finally gotten a bunch of photos from that weekend posted to flickr. But also, in my college football pick’em league, I ended up picking 14 of 18 correct against the spread.  That is unreal.  If I had been in Vegas, I would have been PAID.  I mean, no one goes 14 of 18.  What a great day!

Of course, then Sunday rolls around.

First, I thought I had picked Buffalo in my suicide league. (Suicide leagues are where you pick one team a week to win, the only rule is you can’t pick the same team twice).  Well, Buffalo just barely beats Oaklakd… until I realized that I changed my pick at the last second to New England who got blown out by Miami, of all teams.  Dammit.  I’m a moron.

Then, my two fantasy football teams both got creamed.  My league at work, I had exactly 0 points from my QB and RB.  Needless to say, it is tough to win when that happens. Not to mention my injuries this season.  Yes, I did have Tom Brady… yikes.

Oh well.

As an aside to fantasy football… last year I wrote a post about a particular bad ass kicking I took.  The title of this post was “Fantasy Ass Kicking” and was about how I got blown out of the playoffs.  Well, the funny thing is I check my tracking stats regularly and I often see hits to that post from web searches for simply “fantasy ass”, usually from overseas.  It always cracks me up to think that some horny guy from Greece or Brazil thought they were getting something completely different.  I love the web.

In other Boise State thoughts, I had this realization today.  A buddy at work was trying to discuss scenarios in which BSU could get into the BCS this year, and it dawned on me, I’m still living off the Fiesta Bowl.  I spent that entire 2006 season worrying about if it could happen, stressing about every game and what it might do to our chances.  This time around, I’m just a lot more laid back about it.  If it happens, terrific!  If it doesn’t, I’m not going to lose sleep over it.  I think I am in a 5 year grace period following what happened that night in the desert.

Or maybe it’s just old age.

To Oregon – Aftermath

Wow… what a weekend. (Pictures will be coming soon.) I’m not sure it has even fully sunk in yet exactly what happened. Boy, we looked good in that game. I never expected us to play as physically or as well as we did.

The defense played really well against that run game with two very solid backs and a good offensive line. I was impressed with how well they pursued the backs and had some solid tackling. Sure, Oregon had a lot of rushing yards, but with their players that had to be expected. But, we tightened up when we had to and made stops. More of that bend-but-not-break defense. Not to mention how physical our DB’s are. Yikes. (ejection of Jaron Johnson was a bit much, it was a shoulder hit, but whatever).

Kellen Moore. Where to start. That kid is awesome. Ice water in his veins. I love that Coach Pete had the confidence in him to let him air it out against Oregon’s vaunted pass defense. Almost as impressive was the pass blocking of the offensive line. Moore had all the time he needed to find the open receivers and he always seemed to make the right call. Unbelievable.

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To Oregon – Holy Shit! We Won!

Wow… what a game. I can’t adequately get down my thoughts at the moment (we just now arrived back at our friend’s house in McMinnville).

It is the gods honest truth that the whole second half felt VERY MUCH like the Fiesta Bowl for me. Build up a big lead, when half way through the thrid quarter the opponet comes roaring back. Luckily this time we did not have to have such fireworks to pull it out.

But we won. I loved every second of it. I am SO glad made the trip.

More to come.

Way to go Broncos!

To Oregon – Halftime

I would have never predicted 24 to 6 at half. I fully admitted I was nervous for this game

I am seriously having an amazing time so far today.I do wish I had a few fellow brocos near by to celebrate with but I’m more content to just grin to myself. However, I do have a dozen or so friends texting and emailing me constantly. My phone is buzzing every 20 seconds.

One half to go.

I would be lying if I didn’t have the next 3 years in mind while watching Kellen Moore. That guy is un-freaking-real. Not to mention we might have something special this very year!

Keep it up Broncos!

Editors note, my phone connection was up and down during the game and I was unable to get this posted. Better late than never.

To Oregon – In The Stadium

In the stadium. Can’t wait for kickoff.

This place is impressive even only 8% full. We are pretty early and will get to watch warmups. This is awesome. I’m all geeked up!

One hour to kickoff!

Go Broncos!