Friday: Links with kitties

Story of the day:

More recruits! How 'bout that! [Press-Tribune]

The Broncos have reeled in recruit number nine. QB/LB Gabe Linehan from Banks High School (Oregon) has given his verbal commitment to the Broncos. Does his name sound familiar? It should. His uncle is Rams head coach and former Idaho quarterback Scott Linehan, and his father was an All-Big Sky linebacker at Idaho.

Despite the fact that the Broncos' roster is already replete with quarterbacks and linebackers, Linehan was still happy to commit early. Of course, he won't be a QB/LB for long.

He said Bronco coaches want him to play tight end once he arrives in Boise, though he is the quarterback at Banks.

Currently, Linehan is 6'4" and 205 pounds, so he will need to put on some weight to be effective at the tight end position. Fortunately, Linehan has two 300-pound brothers who have played line for Pac-10 schools, so his mom should know how to feed him.

Here is some extra reading on Linehan:

Idaho Statesman

Scout.com

Fight Fight BSU

Other links:

Taylor Tharp cut by Panthers [Statesman]
Our immediate reaction: Tharp was still on the Panthers?

New turf is nearly complete [Statesman]
Next up? New Boise State inflatable helmet for team intro!

Coaches association discussing changes for recruiting [Birmingham News]
An early signing period would be nice right about now

BSU football is best sporting event in Treasure Valley [Statesman]
The Idaho Steeleheads will forever be bridesmaids.

Rather comprehensive WAC preview [Southern college sports]
We stopped reading after it said Boise State was rebuilding.

Highlighting the skinny BSU offensive linemen [Scott Slant]
Thirty pounds lighter than last year, but the heavier expectations should balance that out.

Yep, Oregon is still good [Rivals.com]
And we're still scared of going to Eugene.

College football countdown...catch the IPT fever!

The Idaho Press-Tribune's Phil Dailey and Dave Southorn have embarked upon the daunting task of ranking all 120 Division 1-A teams before the season starts and, in so doing, have discovered the most awesome form of busy-work ever. How serious are they about the task? Serious enough to give the countdown its own personal website.



The countdown, which began with Western Kentucky and will hopefully end with Boise State, is already into the 90's, which typically means that half of the WAC would be mentioned by now. And sure enough, Utah State, Idaho, San Jose State, and NMSU have already been highlighted...or low-lighted, as it were. Here are some kind words the IPT guys had to say about the University of Idaho:

The season is a success if ... The team wins more than three games.

We thought #112 was a little high for the Vandals.

With nearly 100 more teams to go, there is still a lot of intrigue left in the countdown. For instance, will Phil Dailey's love for Louisiana Tech propel the Bulldogs ahead of Nevada where they probably do not belong? Is there any way that Dave Southorn does not vote Colorado #1? How does William Love fit into all of this? Are the IPT rankings part of the BCS formula? Will a conflict of interest prevent them from voting for Boise State? Is this whole thing an excuse to write off Southorn's preview magazine purchases at Barnes & Noble?

And most importantly, what will happen to the College Football Countdown once there is no college football left to count down? We're just praying that the Women's College Basketball Countdown is not in the works.

College Football Countdown [Press-Tribune]

OBNUG Hall of Fame: Ian Johnson inducted

 

Congratulations to Ian Johnson and his Oregon State TD extravaganza for gaining induction into the OBNUG Hall of Fame. His performance earned 91 percent of the vote, which was well over the 70 percent needed to get in. Thanks again to Drew from Fight Fight BSU for stating his case so eloquently.

Johnson's induction signals the end of the first year of the OBNUG Hall of Fame. Thank you to all who contributed nominees, wrote stories, and voted in the polls. We're looking forward to doing this again next year, so keep in mind any candidates you feel deserve to be in the HOF and feel free to let us know.

Here is the inaugural class of the OBNUG Hall of Fame:

• Marty Tadman's Fiesta Bowl
• Ryan Dinwiddie's three quarters versus Fresno State
• The 1980 Division I-AA championship game
• The day Boise State moved up to Division 1-A
• The three plays to win the Fiesta Bowl: hook-and-ladder, Perretta TD toss, and Statue of Liberty
• Ian Johnson's Oregon State romp

The shrine in our master bedroom's armoire does not do these moments justice.

Thursday: Links with religion

Story of the day:

Peak redeems itself with Jadon Dailey [Statesman]

With the hiring of former BSU center Jadon Dailey as the new color commentator for Bronco football games, Peak Broadcasting has done something that has thus far eluded them: appear competent. If the reaction to Dailey's hiring is any indication, then Bronco fans are feeling pretty good about life after Paul J.--at least as good as they could feel.

Bob Behler's already a fan.

Behler, who said he has worked with many first-timers in the booth, was impressed with Dailey's intelligence and enthusiasm. "He's going to add a lot in stories and knowledge," Behler said. "He's going to help me a heck of a lot, knowing personnel, history and coaches. He's going to bring a lot to the table."

Will Dailey's lack of experience be an issue? Not with Behler, the father of modern radio, in the booth! Besides, if things get bad, Peak can always just play snippets of Dailey's Out of the Blue commentary in between Behler's live-action play-by-play calls. Don't think anyone would mind that. 

Other links:

New recruit Mooney not taking other campus visits after all [Press-Tribune]
Guess he was okay missing out on all the fun times at Army.

Bush Hamdan is a better man than you are [Scott Slant]
Thanks to Tom Scott we suddenly feel much less charitable for giving that homeless guy a dollar.

Boise State season preview [Don Best]
Always trust a man with a mustache...except for Robb Akey.

Cocaine hoax fuels Big XII rivalry [SI.com]
We anxiously await the Idaho "pirated Norbit DVD" hoax.

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.