Public Enemy #1: Mike Prater'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.

Mike Prater

When it comes to the sports editor of Idaho's largest newspaper, some might expect an objective, temperate journalist. Not us. We want the biggest homer around.

Mike Prater, the Statesman's sports editor since 2001, is not that homer. Sure, he does a fine job running the sports section, but he does so with a decidedly non-partisan flair. Where are the op-ed columns from Buster Bronco? Where is the photo collage of Brock Jaramillo? Where is the blue? Where is the orange?

We want someone running the sports section who loves Boise State football as much as we do. Instead, we have a Vandal apologist. And that reason alone is enough for this website to despise him.

We could forgive him for the complete lack of Bronco flair on the sports page. We can even forgive his part in the yukfest that is Caves & Prater. But we simply cannot overlook his unforgivable sin of not hating the Idaho Vandals.

And really, he leaves us no choice. He knows full well that defending the Vandals is a crime against Bronco Nation, and his doing so in the city of Boise only magnifies his betrayal. How far off is the day when Robb Akey and Nathan Enderle take the Broncos off the front page? Not as far as one might think.

Prater's Vandal vivality has dug himself a pretty big hole. He might never be able to repair the damage he has done to his reputation with Bronco fans, but there's no harm in trying.

Want to get off of our bad side, Prater? Vote Boise State #1 in your pre-season AP poll. Want to spend the next year as our Public Enemy #1? Keep right on doing what you're doing.