Tuesday: Links with patience

Story of the day:

Fiesta Bowl needs our help [ESPN.com]

Once again, the greatest D-1 moment in Boise State history is having its value determined by ESPN.com visitors. The Worldwide Leader has a poll up right now to decide the best BCS bowl game, as part of their week-long look at the non-playoff system.

During its first decade of existence, the BCS provided many memorable games that had no championship implications. What college football fan can forget Boise State's trickery against Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl or Michigan edging Alabama in overtime in the 2000 Orange Bowl?

We're a little upset that they even put a game like Michigan-Alabama in the same sentence as the Fiesta Bowl. In fact, other than the peak of Vince Young's career in the Rose Bowl versus USC, there are no other serious contenders in this group of games. There really shouldn't even be a discussion.

Regardless, we voted at least seventeen times last night.

Other links:

ESPN.com writer is an idiot [ESPN.com]
The Fiesta Bowl as the third-best BCS game? Get real.

Ian Johnson poster boy for manly crocheting [Iowa State Fans]
Also, poster boy for national television engagements.

Merritt close to qualifying for U.S. Open [Idaho Press-Tribune]
Must...fake...interest...in...golf.

Montana State expanding stadium [Dailey's Bottom Line]
Is it wrong to be jealous of a 1-AA school?

Boise State in the H-Bowl again?! [College Football News]
Being the fourth alternate for the New Mexico Bowl doesn't make things any better.

Welcome to the OBNUG Hall of Fame

There are many ways to memorialize our favorite Boise State Bronco football players. Bedroom shrines, lower back tattoos, and naming children come immediately to mind. Yet we at OBNUG feel that the special performances in Boise State history deserve a special place, and until the city of Boise turns the capitol building into Bronco Mecca, that place is going to be here on the Internets of OBNUG.

We are proud to announce the official beginning of the OBNUG Hall of Fame. Each summer we will look forward to enshrining deserving candidates who have had a hand in the success of Boise State football. In true OBNUG fashion, we will do so with humor, perspective, and horrible bias, and our Hall of Fame will be unlike any other you have seen.

Most hall of fames reward careers and longevity. Not us. We want to enshrine nominees under the following criteria:

1. A singular moment, performance, or action
2. A significant impact on the history of Boise State football

Those two rules are the main laws of OBNUG's Hall of Fame. So for instance, instead of nominating Brock Forsey for his stellar career, we would instead nominate a particular performance against Fresno State. We are seeking fantastic individual performances or plays that made an impact on the team we love. Also, we are always up for nominees that rhyme with "Binfiddie."

Best of all, we want you, our loyal reader, to take part. For each nominee, we will allow a voting process to determine whether or not the candidate gets inducted. Seventy-percent or higher and they're in. Also, we value feedback and opinions on each of the candidates and on nominees you would like to see entered.

Hopefully, this will help make the summer go faster. And hopefully, Marty Tadman gets inducted multiple times.

Monday: Links with seniority

Story of the day:

BCS projections from the past [Fox Sports]

Pete Futiak at FOXSports.com has projected the matchups for every BCS game this fall, and his pick for the national title game has major deja vu vibes.

FedEx BCS National Championship: Ohio State vs. Florida

Not again!

Even worse, Futiak failed to mention any non-BCS conference team in his predictions. No BYU, no Fresno State, and no Broncos. See if we ever read FOXSports.com again (for the first time).

Other links:

Boise State's bloated 2009 QB class [Fight Fight BSU]
We hope these hot QB recruits rank high in benchwarming.

Fiesta Bowl finish loses another highlight contest [Webzini]
Somewhere, Bob Stoops sneers and rubs his hands together.

Jerard Rabb finishes up his degree [Idaho Statesman]
Drisan James lateraled Rabb's diploma to him.

BSU men's track wins title [Idaho Press-Tribune]
Golfer Merritt loses in playoff [Idaho Press-Tribune]

High School Musical or WAC media convention?

Zac Efron, meet Chadd Cripe.

When the WAC media convene in Salt Lake City for their annual meeting of the minds in July, there will be much more to discuss than Colin Kaepernick's skinny girl legs. Disney's High School Musical will be showing at a nearby theater, leaving WAC media members with a difficult decision: Vandal preseason predictions or Wildcat pride.

This heartwarming story features rousing music, fantastic dance choreography and is sure to delight the entire family.

Dance choreography sure sounds like more fun than Dick Tomey press conferences.

We know what decision will be making. Buffet at noon; getting our head in the game at 3:00 and 7:30.

Disney's High School Musical [Showbuzz.com]

Friday: Links with ageism

Story of the day:

ESPN recaps Broncos' busy spring[ESPN.com]

The Worldwide Leader is nothing if not persistent. In its efforts to create spring wrap-ups for every team in college football, ESPN.com often ends up doing a disservice to the small-conference schools, choosing sweeping generalizations over actually attending the spring practices. For instance:

There are questions at quarterback and along the offensive front, but there are plenty of playmakers if merely adequate answers appear.

This sentence could have been written five months ago.

The rest of the ESPN story is rather non-informative, considering that Boise State fans already know everything there is to know about the team. The added publicity is nice, but is it too much to ask for ESPN to make a starting QB prediction or something?

Other links:

Jake Plummer in downtown Boise on Saturday [Idaho Statesman]
We've got our #16 Arizona Cardinals jersey ready!

UW quarterback Jake Locker's legend grows [Rivals.com]
We're not sure which is more legendary: suffering a spine injury and missing just one game or beating Boise State.

Maisel and Schlabach offer WAC questions [ESPN.com]
We've got a question for them: How dare you.

ACC says good-bye to H-Bowl

The ACC has finally had enough of the Humanitarian Bowl, and the conference will end its bowl ties following the 2008 postseason.

For seven years, ACC teams have traveled to Boise, complained about Boise, and lost to small-conference schools. Conference officials decided they had had enough.

"The people in Boise have always done a fantastic job for us but there was a strong feeling that we needed to get our No. 8 team back into this part of the country," ACC commissioner John Swofford said.

Swofford continued: "Plus, the ACC hates humanitarians."

With an opening for 2009, the Humanitarian Bowl will be looking to fill a vacant spot in its bowl lineup. And although late-December, afternoon bowl games are not exactly hot tickets, we think that the H-Bowl should be able to get an entertaining opponent. Here are our suggestions:

• Another WAC team. Although, for this to be possible, the NCAA might need to lower its bowl-eligible requirements.
• Idaho's 5A high school football champion. David Augusto's head might explode.
• Notre Dame. Every year. They won't have anything else to do.
• Fast food and mobile phone mascots. The Idaho Powerball can officiate.
• The Hosei (Japan) University football team. Konnichiwa, college bowl season.
• A team of WAC bloggers. OBNUG calls dibs on wide receiver!
  

No more trips to Boise for ACC [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Thursday: Links with disappointment

Story of the day:

Nevada prep to walk-on at Boise State [Nevada Appeal]

Jake Hess, a 6-foot, 230-pound fullback from Galena High School in Reno, will walk-on at Boise State in the fall. Wait, isn't there a WAC football team already in Reno?

"A lot of people were asking, 'Why don't you go to Nevada?'" Hess said. "I really like Boise State - I like the tradition. The town is awesome. I can see myself at Boise."

Nevada's Pistol offense loses games and recruits, apparently.

Other links:

Troy Merritt feature [Idaho Press-Tribune]
Bronco Nation will be there in spirit because golf is pretty boring to watch in person.

A Top 25 list with perspective [EDSBS]
We think Mario Kart should have been ranked higher.

ACC pulls out of H-Bowl [Idaho Statesman]
Also pulling out? National respect.

Expect another wild season [Rivals.com]
And expect a small-conference school to get screwed.