NCAA officiating test will rock you hard

God bless those NCAA officials.

Thanks to CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd, we found out about a test for football referees that was equal parts humiliating and impossible. The 100-question beast of an exam is designed to test officials on the minutiae of the NCAA rulebook, but all it really does is emasculate and discourage. Try it for yourself at USAFootball.com or better yet, don't and save yourself two hours and a migraine. Here is a taste of the carnage:

40. 4th & 10 on A's 20. The score is tied. Team A's punt is illegally touched by a Team A player on B's 42, then picked up on B's 39 by a Team B player who runs five yards and fumbles. Team A recovers and picks up the fumble dragging a defender to Team B's goal line between the hash marks. The covering official signals a touchdown. During Team A's run, a Team B player has an incidental facemask in making the tackle. 4-seconds remain in the 4th quarter. Replay shows the Team A runner was downed on B's 1/2. Team B is coming out of the huddle to snap the ball on B's 42. Clock? Reviewable?


A. A 1/goal B-1/4. The clock starts on the snap. The play is reviewable.
B. A 1/goal B-1/2. The clock starts on the snap. The play is reviewable.
C. B 1/10 @ B42. The incidental facemask is not a foul.

We had to break out the graphing calculator for that one!

Of course, we should probably just be proud that we finished. Odds were good that we would have given up halfway between clock rules on illegal forward passes and penalty yardage on inadvertent whistle facemasks. But we made it through. And we didn't completely embarrass ourselves.

OBNUG's score: 57.

While it's true that getting 57 out of 100 is failing no matter which way you slice it, we were pretty proud of ourselves considering we did better than some of the big hitters in the college football media.

• Dennis Dodd: 48
• Sunday Morning QB: 55
• AOL's Adam Jacobi: 55

Nothing like some relativity to spruce up a score.

We're curious to see how you, our readers, would do on the test (and we want someone to commiserate with). You can take the test online by clicking here, or you can download the pdf here. Good luck. And don't say we didn't warn you.

NCAA Football test [USA Football]

Jadon Dailey your new Bronco color commentator

Former Boise State center Jadon Dailey will be joining Bob Behler in the KIDO booth this fall.

Idaho Radio News has the scoop:

“The addition of Jadon to our broadcast team will add an insight unique to the Broncos,” Peak Broadcasting’s SVP Kevin Godwin said in a prepared statement. “His recent experience with this team will provide listeners with a vivid description of all the action from start to finish.”

Dailey was excellent on the Out of the Blue documentary, and he should bring a lot of fun to the radio broadcasts. Congratulations, Jadon.

We wonder if the Statesman will ask him if he saw the Fiesta Bowl?

Dailey named new color guy for BSU games [Idaho Radio News]

Wednesday: Links with girth

Story of the day: 

A veritable Who's Who at WAC media days [Press-Tribune]

The WAC Football Preview (motto: Salt Lake City sure is nice, isn't it?) is two weeks away, and while we bloggers patiently wait for our tickets to arrive, Dave Southorn of the Idaho Press-Tribune has the scoop on which players will be in attendance.

Boise State-Ian Johnson, RB and Mike T. Williams, DE 
Fresno State-Tom Brandstater, QB and Bear Pascoe, TE
Hawai‘i-Adam Leonard, LB and Solomon Elimimian, LB
Idaho-Shiloh Keo, S, and Adam Korby, C
Louisiana Tech-Patrick Jackson, RB and Weldon Brown, DB
Nevada-Luke Lippincott, RB and Mundrae Clifton, DL
New Mexico State-Chase Holbrook, QB and Davon House, DB
San Jose State-Jarron Gilbert, DE
Utah State-Jake Hutton, LB and Derek Hoke, OT

Good choices by the Broncos. Everyone will love to see Ian Johnson doing Ian Johnson things, and Mike T. Williams should get a chance to explain to people who he is. We're curious if Bush Hamdan got an invite but had to turn it down based on the inherent evil of a "media convention."

As for the rest of the WAC, Fresno State couldn't have chosen two more typical players; way to think outside of the box, hosers. And San Jose State is only bringing one player? We thought if any school was short on interesting players it would have been Idaho. 

Other links:

Murphy: is BSU recruiting too young? [Statesman]
We're not even going to touch this one.

Early commitments are not Tom Scott's cup of tea [Scott Slant]
Derek Schoumann is, though.

Players aren't the only ones reneging on commitments [SI.com]
Tom Scott would probably hate this article.

SJSU linebacker punches friend, sent to jail [ESPN.com]
Details weren't available, but Guitar Hero probably figured prominently.

Someone give Utah State a hug! [Bleacher Report]
And a 20-point handicap in non-conference games!

Fresno State #23 in Rivals countdown [Rivals]
Let the disappointing begin.

Dan Hawkins stands up for student athletes [Rivals]
So long as they aren't playing intramurals.