Message received: Broncos find radio voice

Bob Behler has been named the new voice of Boise State football.

KTVB.com has the details, and we thank Fight Fight BSU for bringing the story to our attention. The announcement ended a week's worth of speculation over how Peak screwed the pooch, culminating in our ill-timed open letter to the radio magnate this afternoon. Did our admonishment of Peak get the decision made any faster? No. Did it feel good to get it off our chests? Yes.

We'll have more on Bob Behler tomorrow. Congratulations, Bob.

Bob Behler profile [Umass athletics]

An open letter to Peak Broadcasting

Dear Peak Broadcasting,

Where do we even begin? I guess first off, let us wish you a happy Monday, or as Bronco fans have come to know it, the 10-day anniversary of the day you were supposed to decide on a radio team. Hope you're having a great day doing whatever it is that you do at Peak headquarters, which we imagine includes sitting around with your thumbs up your noses, making Darth Vader voices into the audio equipment, and trying to figure out how you can convince Gene Bleymaier to dissolve Paul J's pension. Best leave by 3:30 so you can beat the traffic!

Oh, by the way, tomorrow is July 1, which usually only means turning a page on your giant Garfield wall calendar but actually has a fair amount of significance this year. Starting tomorrow, you are the official home of Boise State football and basketball.

Kind of sneaked up on you, didn't it? Well, it is not always easy to program reminders into your company-issued smartphone (yes, the one that plays Bejeweled 2). Tomorrow is the first day of your governance of BSU radio, and from the looks of things, you couldn't be more unprepared.

Quite frankly, we are disappointed. When you won the Boise State contract a few months back, we had tangible excitement over what you could bring to the broadcast. Boise State football is a growing entity, and we felt that your winning the contract could help usher in a new era of BSU media.

Certainly, that was what needed to happen. The way that local legend Paul J. Schneider was unceremoniously dumped opened wide the doors of criticism and anger, and it placed extra responsibility on you to make Bronco fans forget the past and move into the Peak Broadcasting future. Mission not accomplished.

That future, by the way, looks pretty awful. Based on the events of the past 14 days, you have shown yourselves rather incapable of doing anything right, and Boise State fans have no choice but to worry about having this radio contract in your hands. We know you've lost a candidate to another school. We know you are bad with deadlines. If all this holds true, your football broadcasts will begin in the second quarter of the game and will feature the riveting radio duo of Peak general manager Kevin Godwin and a BSU communication major doing work study. Godwin: "The kicker put the ball through the uprights. He gets some points for that!" Student: "You told me I wouldn't have to talk."

How you'll recover from this is anyone's guess. A good place to start would be naming a radio team. As Idaho Radio News pointed out, if you chose someone today, that person would have about one month to gain an expertise on Boise State athletics, develop chemistry with a play-by-play partner, and discover the wonders of the Fanci Freez. Expediency is an issue, but quality and name recognition are just as important. Boise State fans are expecting something big, which your track record suggests may be a Nigerian child expecting an African-American Santa to come down the chimney. A let-down is almost certainly inevitable.

Our advice: turn off Days of Our Lives, find whoever it was that put your contract pitch together (she obviously knows what she's doing), have her teach you Organizational Management 101, and then start acting like you deserve to be the home of Boise State football. It's not too late to find a qualified candidate who will do an excellent job. It is, however, too late to have Bronco fans ever trust you again.

Sincerely,
OBNUG

Monday: Links with distractions

Story of the day: 

Brilliant Boise State football feature [Missoulian]

Can the Missoulian be Boise's newspaper? Please? The paper from Missoula, Montana, just finished up a series of fine journalism on the chances of U of M moving into Division 1-A. Saturday, they wrote a fascinating piece on how Boise State has fared since the Broncos' move to big-time college football.

The Boise State Broncos represent a best-case scenario for all Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams pondering a move up. An example of what is possible for those that risk stability for a spot in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Not only was the article a wonderful read, but there was some good BSU knowledge in there, too. Reporter Bill Speltz did his homework and then some. Witness this encouraging quote:

“We purchased East Junior High School, just a quarter of a mile from here, that will give us 15fi acres we can access next summer,” BSU AD Gene Bleymaier said. “We'll move the (running) track out of Bronco Stadium and our next expansion will be to horseshoe the south end of the stadium and add another 6,000 seats."

Thanks for the Bronco Stadium update, Missoula paper. Best of all, one of the endearing themes of the story was its focus on the importance of a great fan base. The Missoulian gave Bronco Nation a great big slap on the back.

The people of Boise are also a big part of the Broncos' success. When Boise State made its leap of faith into FBS football in 1996, Bleymaier knew he could depend on the community for support. That confidence made the transition about as smooth as can be expected.

And to think, we were joking when we took credit for BSU's success. 

We highly recommend you reading this story for yourself.  

Other links:

So long, Gary Craner [Scott Slant]
Turned ankles will never be the same.

List of Broncos in the CFL [Statesman]
Bronco Nation north of the border, eh?

Boise State offers Kellen's little bro [Tri-City Herald]
Bronco fans immediately pencil him in as starting wide receiver.

Are Boise State's home games for sale? [BNN]
Our Ian Johnson/Marty Tadman two-sided jersey sure hopes not.

Fresno's baseball success gives credibility to WAC [Shreveport Times]
Calling Fresno the "California Bulldogs" loses credibility for this story.

Brian Murphy to the Aaron Burks rescue [Murph's Turf]
We don't even want to touch this one.

A Bronco's reaction to a Bulldog's joy

Fresno State won the College World Series. How are Bronco fans supposed to deal with that?

For the most part, there are two sides to the fence. On one side resides those who cheer the success of every WAC team because it brings respectability and notoriety to the conference, and by extention, to Boise State. Those on the other side of the fence are staunchly selfish, decrying success of conference rivals because of the mere fact that they are conference rivals and therefore deserve a full measure of hatred and contempt. Chances are good that most Bronco fans reside on one side or the other.

Fresno State's national championship would be simple to debate if it were as black-and-white as, say, the Bulldogs' football game against Wisconsin. However, the baseball title is an entirely different beast for a couple of reasons.

1. Boise State has no baseball team. This would seem to make the decision significantly easier. If Boise State has no baseball team, the reasoning might go, then Boise State fans have free reign to root for whomever they choose.
2. Fresno State's national championship is being considered a historical blow for the little guy so much so that it may overshadow the historical blow that the Broncos laid in the Fiesta Bowl. How can a Bronco fan justifiably be happy about that?

The grayness of the issue leaves a lot of room for fan interpretation, but choosing sides has also been an interesting matter in the local media. On the Press-Tribune website, they put up a "breaking news" link to the story of the Bulldogs' championship. The Idaho Statesman website had absolutely no mention of it. Oddly enough, the voice of reason in this whole ordeal has been none other than Tom Scott.

It's being called one of the more remarkable stories in the history of college sports. ESPN's Erin Andrews calls it "a movie". Fresno State became the lowest-seeded team ever to win the College World Series, beating Georgia, 6-1. It's being treated like Boise State's Fiesta Bowl upset, and the Bulldogs' national championship is indeed a monstrous accomplishment. 

But to be sure, 10 years from now a slew of Americans will be able to tell you who won in Glendale on New Year's Day 2007 (and how it happened), while precious few will be able to tell you who won the 2008 College World Series.

And therein lies the beautiful rub. Showing appreciation for the Fresno State baseball team is harmless when you consider the historical staying power of their championship. It's not that sports fans are unable or unwilling to remember a small school's victory. It is that they are unable or unwilling to remember a baseball victory. The Fiesta Bowl (and college football in general) is far more memorable than any measure of college baseball no matter how unprecedented, unique, or captivating.

Congratulations are certainly in order for Fresno State on their incredible achievement, and Bulldog fans should certainly enjoy the limelight while it lasts. But for those Bronco fans concerned with the long-lasting effects of a "win for the ages," keep in mind that all of the hubbub will be forgotten in a matter of time.

All it will take is a kickoff.

Broncos ranked by Rivals.com

Thanks to an alert reader, we found out that Boise State has been ranked #35 in the country by Rivals.com. Their countdown, which began appropriately enough at the bottom with Utah State and Idaho, has been going on for weeks now, and we had been anxious to see where Rivals would place the Broncos. And really, we can't complain. If BSU started the season at #35, there would have a good opportunity to move up into the top 25 in just a few weeks' time.

The Rivals preview was pretty standard, but it surprised us with its thoroughness. A George Iloka mention? Hailing the virtues of Vinny Perretta? Knowing who Brandyn Thompson is? We half expected an ESPN.com-style fluff piece featuring a follow-up of Ian Johnson's marriage and a take on the strong cornerback duo of Orlando Scandrick and Kyle Wilson.

But Rivals really stole our heart with this line:

If we've learned one thing the past 10 seasons, it's never to doubt Boise State – no matter what issues the program faces.

You can say that again. Although, if one were to learn two things from the past 10 seasons, the other might be that Fresno State never finishes ahead of the Broncos. Perhaps it will take Rivals 11 years to learn that one.

Boise State preview [Rivals.com]

Friday: Links with possiblities

Story of the day:

Phil Dailey on the Fresno bandwagon? [Dailey's Bottom Line]

The local media is starting to turn in their preseason WAC ballots, and the transparency of the Idaho Press-Tribune affords us the luxury of peering into Phil Dailey's thought process. Playing a prominent role in Dailey's thoughts: the Hawaii Bowl.

I think you have to give Fresno State the nod, after all, the Bulldogs won their bowl game over Georgia Tech, while Boise State blew it against a not-very-good East Carolina team in the Hawaii Bowl.

Dailey has Fresno State at the top of the WAC, with Boise State at number two. Right behind them? Louisiana Tech. A gutsy call, but we like our local media members to think outside the box.

I’m a big Derek Dooley fan and I think he’ll have his team ready for the WAC after non-conference tilts against Mississippi State, Kansas and SE Louisiana.

We'll give you two guess who the teams at the bottom are.

Other links:

Reggie Larry does not hear his name called [Yahoo!]
He may still have a chance to catch on with a team this summer

BYU snags two recruits that had BSU's interest [Daily Herald]
When you factor in Mormon missions, the Cougars can have 'em.

IPT recaps preview mags [Press-Tribune]
And in the process, saves us $14.95.

Tom Scott weighs in on stadium expansion [Scott Slant]
Scott: The south end zone will be a horseshoe by 2013.

J Bates snidely rips Brian Murphy's blog [J's Blog]Nice to know we're not the only ones who notice these things.

Weekend series on Montana's D-1 hopes [Missoulian]

Idaho gets the spotlight today. Enjoy it while it lasts, Vandals.

South American vacay for Dan Hawkins [Longmont Times]
"It's Rio De Janeiro! It's the Amazon River! It ain't intramurals!"

San Jose State preview [Saturday Soundoffs]
If anyone cares.

LaTech logo change changes nothing

The new LaTech logo is here and it is...exactly the same as the old one. See for yourself:

NEW OLD

In a sense, we are kind of relieved. The traditional LaTech logo is a classic, and we were a little worried that the modern, edgy version was going to be some sort of interpretation of a Bulldog cooking Creole cuisine or Derek Dooley wrestling with the state of Louisiana. Thankfully, taste won out.

Yet while the "T" logo may have remained the same, not all Tech paraphernalia avoided the Queer Eye treatment. Here's the new Bulldog logo, which at least looks better than this and this.

According to a Yahoo! story, the dog design is supposed to represent "the class, discipline and competitive strength that embodies all of (LaTech's) teams and student-athletes." Don't know about that, but we do think the logo looks an awful lot like Otto, the dog from the Beetle Bailey cartoon.

Last but not least, the Bulldogs created an entire "LaTech font" based on the "T" in their traditional logo. We're still trying to decide if this is nerdy, exciting, or a waste of resources. We're leaning toward the latter.

LaTech reveals new athletics logos [Yahoo!]