Monday: Links with success

Story of the day:

Stueckle Sky Club is pretty pricey [Statesman]

The price tag of Boise State's stadium expansion is quite staggering. The Mothership, in all its skybox and loge glory, could end up costing the university $35 million. We would have built it for $34 mil.

Boise State plans to pay the debt with lease revenues on the new premium seating. The facility is expected to be sold out for the Aug. 30 football season opener against Idaho State. In fact, Boise State has lease agreements ranging from three to 15 years for every seat so far in the new facility, according to the athletic department.

The Statesman calls the add-on the most expensive building project in BSU athletics history. Part of the bill will be footed by the payout from the Fiesta Bowl (about two million dollars) and donations of nearly seven million dollars from generous boosters (you're welcome).

The stadium addition should be paid off by 2038. Maybe then the university can think about closing in an end zone.

Other links:

The face of Idaho State [Kellis Robinett]
Glad to see Merril Hoge is in the running. Merril is glad, too.

College football coach twins [Saturday Soundoffs]

Our favorite was Brent Guy and Jesse Ventura.

The impact of Boise State's true freshmen [Fight Fight BSU]
George Iloka seems too old and wise to be a true freshman, doesn't he?

Golden State taking a long look at Reggie Larry [Statesman]
Graham ball to Nellie ball will be an interesting transition.

Friday: Links with thrift

Story of the day:

You win some, you lose some [Fight Fight BSU]

On the same day that the Broncos lost out on local prospect Darren Markle, BSU received a verbal commitment from Tesoro High (California) LB John Michael Davis. The bright lights of Boise apparently won him over.

From the Statesman:

He arrived in the city Wednesday and visited the school and met with coaches. That was enough for him.

"I just liked everything about it. The town was great. The campus was awesome. The coaches were great. It was a good fit," Davis said Thursday evening before heading to a Boise theater to watch "The Incredible Hulk" with his father.

We always try to celebrate our big life achievements with the cinema of Edward Norton, too.

Davis, in addition to having three names, is a 6'2", 225-pound stud, and he is expected to play middle linebacker at BSU. Welcome to Bronco Nation, John Michael.

Other links:

Did someone say superconference? [Orlando Sentinel]

Here's some food for thought.

Coach Pete's second-year coaching review [College Gridiron]
Another person who thinks he'll be in Boise for awhile.

Utah State website sees the light [USU Aggies]
Spending money on a football team? What a crazy idea!

Nevada stocks up on JC transfers [Reno Gazette Journal]
Highly sought-after freshmen are so overrated.

A positive story on the Mothership [KBCI]
Rhode quits Boise Burn [Statesman]
Taylor Bennett (LaTech QB) feature [Rivals.com]

Coach Pete not abandoning traditional snaps

Boise State coach Chris Petersen sat down to talk with the Statesman's Chadd Cripe, and in between long paragraphs of cryptic coachspeak, he dropped this nugget of relief:

Q: You also experimented with more shotgun snaps. Will that continue?

A: "We will do maybe more of it, but we will not be exclusive. That's not us. We don't like to be exclusive any one thing. We still feel it's important for this program to be under center."

Finally, our nightmares of shotgun snaps going over quarterbacks' heads will cease!

Coach Pete spent the rest of the interview discussing how he hoped that everyone would be in great shape this fall and come in ready to work (we think he was looking at J.P. Nisby when he said this). There was no mention of who he thought the starting quarterback would be, which comes as a surprise to no one except the Idaho Press-Tribune's Phil Dailey.

Catching up with Coach Pete [Idaho Statesman]

Tuesday: Links with Diet Coke

Story of the day:

Broncos hire Nevada alumnus [BroncoSports.com]

Boise State head athletic trainer Gary Craner will be retiring next month after 36 years on the job. Paul J. wishes he had the same opportunity.

Craner will be replaced by Marc Paul, a Nevada alumnus and the head trainer for the Wolfpack for the past eight years.

“We are very pleased to have attracted a person of Marc’s experience and background,” Bleymaier said. “We knew that replacing Gary Craner, who has been here for 36 years, would be a difficult task, but we think Marc is the right person at the right time. We feel he will be a great addition to the program.”

We're crossing our fingers that Bleymaier hired Marc Paul the athletic trainer and not Marc Paul the mentalist and mind-reader. Although, we would like to know what Coach Pete is thinking vis a vis the quarterback situation.

Other links:

Losing to BSU could cost Oregon's Bellotti [OregonLive]
His contract is tied to performance and gaudy uniform incentives

This is the first we've heard of a Jared Zabransky statue [Bleacher Report]
And the last we'll hear of it, hopefully.

Brian Murphy's long-awaited Indy Car column [Idaho Statesman]
Long-awaited if you actually wait for that kind of thing.

New coordinator brings fun to SoMiss offense

Change is in the air for the Southern Miss offense.

New offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, previously at Oklahoma State and Florida, has installed an up-tempo, spread attack that puts a premium on freewheeling and a kibosh on fullbacks.

It’s not that Fedora’s system is totally alien. It’s built on concepts that are becoming more familiar. Even the New England Patriots ran a version of the spread offense last season. But there are new assignments, new ways of thinking and everything has to be done at a fast pace and with no huddle.

Sounds like WAC football.

The departure from the Golden Eagle's staid approach to offense is expected to revitalize a program that has seen its support dwindle in recent years. While the new run 'n gun might be fun to watch, we don't expect any of the bells and whistles to throw the Broncos off when they visit Hattiesburg in the fall. It won't be anything they haven't seen before.

Fedora to unveil new So. Miss attack [SI.com]

Public Enemy #1: Robb Akey's case

OBNUG is in the process of deciding who should be this website's most hated villain. We'll be presenting the cases for all of the candidates over the next few weeks. Enjoy.

Robb Akey

Idaho head coach Robb Akey has his hands full turning around a moribund program that might be better off in I-AA. Nevertheless, Akey perseveres with his blind faith, his optimistic spirit, and most importantly, his mustache.

There are plenty of things to dislike about the man: his attitude, his smugness, the fact that his first name has more "b"'s than the Vandals have wins. But when it comes right down to it, Akey is reviled by OBNUG because of that larger-than-life caterpillar taking residence under his nose.

Like a rotund Samwise Gamgee accompanying Akey on his epic quest, the mustache is a willing partner to the coaching travails of Idaho's head man. Through wins and losses (but mostly losses), it rests on his cheeky grin, experiencing the highs and lows like a hairy best friend. And it drives us mad.

It bothers us. It taunts us. And it drives our curiosity. Just what is the deal with that nose beard? We would like some answers.

• What is hiding in that mustache?
  Akey's face rug could very well be used as a safe-deposit box of goodies, like a backpack for the nose. We imagine that Akey keeps the following things hidden in the follicle forest: gameplans, leftover bits of egg salad sandwiches, Nathan Enderle, and a wall calendar of the Palouse.
  
• Does the mustache have special powers?
  To keep such an obvious hygiene malfeasance around, Akey must be aware of some hidden powers to his mustache. Yet these powers obviously have no practical use in the real world, otherwise the Vandals would be a much better team and Akey would have a much better job. We think the mustache's special power is crosswords.
  
• What would happen if the mustache was gone?
  We think that Akey's lip hat is actually holding his face together.
  
• Does the mustache have a free will?
  This question delves into an area that we are not quite prepared to know about. We would prefer to stay with surface issues, like what is the mustache’s name and when is too much Just for Men too much.

Our obligation to detest Akey can be traced back to our obligation to detest all things Vandals.

Our obligation to nominate Akey for OBNUG Public Enemy #1 status? Purely the mustache.

Public Enemy #1: Dan Hawkins' case

OBNUG is in the process of deciding who should be this website's most hated villain. We'll be presenting the cases for all of the candidates over the next few weeks. Enjoy.

Dan Hawkins

Dan Hawkins' crimes against Bronco Nation are almost too numerous to count. Nevertheless, we compiled a short list:

1. Lying
2. Breaking promises
3. Deceit
4. Being a Judas
5. Cody Hawkins
6. Poor coaching
7. Sunglasses

But perhaps the greatest crime that Dan Hawkins committed was his assault on our trust. When he left to coach the Colorado Buffaloes, he did so in a way that forever scarred how a BSU fan will look at the team. He left after promising he would stay. Who's to say the next coach won't do the same?

Bronco fans had seen it all before. Houston Nutt left for a bigger program; Dirk Koetter left for a bigger program. We shouldn't have expected any less from Hawkins based on the past history of Bronco coaches leaving for greener pastures. The difference was that Hawkins made us believe.

He was adamant about staying with BSU and continuing to build on its winning tradition. He suckered an entire fanbase into thinking that he would not bolt with the first chance he got. We thought he would be around forever, and we wanted him around forever.

That is why his departure hurt so bad. When he left for a better opportunity, he left behind people who honestly trusted him, and we still feel the repercussions of his deceit. For instance, we want to believe Chris Peterson's intentions to stay here, but a small part of us will always wonder if we are about to be taken for a ride. In a sense, we will never be able to look at a Boise State coach the same way again, and we have Dan Hawkins to thank for that.