Bob Behler reaction...with perspective!

Welcome to Bronco Nation, Bob Behler.

The long local nightmare that was the Peak Broadcasting radio search is finally over, and now that the dust is settling, we are starting to get a feel for the new guy, Bob Behler. We know that he is from the University of Massachusetts. We know he has done March Madness and a few big-time sporting events. But there is still so much we don't know about the guy. For instance, who is his favorite character on LOST? We'll have to check Brian Murphy's blog in two months to find out.

Our immediate observation is that he seems like a great candidate. The immediate observation of most Bronco fans is that he is not Paul J. That he can be both a great candidate and not Paul J. Schneider is a blessing and a curse, but we feel that a few years down the road, the former will be much more apparent than the latter.

What gives us our blind hope? Mostly Behler's photo. Merely looking at Behler, it appears he oozes professionalism. We feel like we should not go up and talk to him unless we are wearing a cardigan and drinking something named after a golfer. And good thing, too, because Boise State deserves someone of Behler's caliber who will handle the radio position with class, talent, and expertise. Will there be duck au gratin in the broadcast booth? Maybe. Will we hear the word "conflagration" during a BSU blowout? Don't be surprised. One thing's for sure is that Chris Fowler will no longer be the most nattily dressed man in the media room when ESPN comes to town.

Taking a step back from the situation, there are a lot of interesting subplots to notice.

1. Replacing Paul J in the minds of Bronco fans will not be easy.

Hours after the Statesman posted a Behler story, there were 50 comments discussing, to a varying grammatical degree, the merits of Behler versus Paul J. For every fan that is happy to see Paul J sail off into the sunset (and take his broadcast mistakes with him), there are two who cannot even fathom having any other voice on the radio.

2. The effusive praise of Behler from UMass fans.

If the heartfelt reaction from Behler's former listeners is any consolation, Bronco fans are in good hands. We have yet to come across anyone who thought poorly of him.

It won't be the same without him, the ultimate pro and was in my opinion
the best we ever had in my 40 years following UMass. Best of luck Bob
you will be sorely missed!

Bob - If you see this thanks for all of your hard work. You behind the mike enhanced UMass sports for me...whether I was there or not. You'll be missed. Enjoy the potatoes.

3. Behler was third on Peak's list.

We're not sure which is a worse offense--that Peak was forced to settle for its third choice or that an announcer of Behler's caliber was third on the list to begin with. We mentioned earlier today that Peak will be interviewing two candidates for the color commentator position; shouldn't they get three just to be safe?

4. When will Behler's first broadcast be?

Everyone has written about Behler's first broadcast at the season-opener on August 30, but we are not naive enough to think that we won't hear Behler's voice before then. Peak would be doing a disservice to fans if they did not broadcast at least the final fall scrimmage. Although, on second thought, doing a disservice to BSU fans is what Peak seems to do best.

Another recruit?! California tight end commits

Updated info at bottom

The recruits just keep on coming.

Trevor Peterson, a tight end from El Dorado High School in California, has given a verbal commitment to the Broncos, according to Scout.com. The 6'4", 220-pound senior-to-be recorded 964 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and he chose the Broncos over Oregon State, Utah, UC Davis, and Harvard. We wonder if the Bob Behler announcement sealed the deal.

Trevor Peterson [Scout.com]

Peterson was named offensive MVP on last year's team, according to the school's website. Also according to the website, Peterson wants to go to Cal-Berkeley. Let's hope his commitment sticks.

Tuesday: Links with welcoming

Story of the day:

Behler's here; who's next? [Statesman]

Peak Broadcasting and BSU announced yesterday that Bob Behler will be the new Broncos play-by-play man. Who will be doing the color commentary? The Statesman has some info.

Peak Broadcasting will interview two potential color analysts for Boise State radio broadcasts Tuesday, Peak general manager Kevin Godwin said Monday afternoon. Godwin said the list is not limited to former Boise State players.

Oh, good, if Peak is interviewing candidates on Tuesday, then we should have an answer by Labor Day. At least we weren't given empty promises and loose deadlines.

Let the speculation begin for a color commentator to join Behler in the booth. Our money is on a return of Jeff Caves, but we wouldn't fight it if J Bates got the call instead.

Here are some more links to Behler stories:
Audio of Behler: football, basketball
Statesman profile
Bronco Country thread
Idaho Press-Tribune
KTVB.com
Most Valuable Network

Other links:

Mr. Irrelevant lives it up [the Big Lead]
Watching musicals at the Playboy Mansion is David Vobora's idea of a good time.

Dave Southorn tours the Stueckle Sky Club [Dave's Blog]
And writes his name on the inside of a bathroom wall.

WAC tidbits for a long offseason [Pugs, ponies, and preps]
Not so much "tidbits" as "Google facts."

Encouraging Boise State preview [Red Zone Report]
Anything that has the Broncos on top of the WAC is okay by us.

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.