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Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

There was this from the Boise State recruiting Twitter feed yesterday: “ICYMI: 8 coaches, 3 days, 174 schools, 817 miles covered, One Goal: FIND BALLERS! #BroncoBlitzSoCal.” That means “in case you missed it, there are eight coaches on the road in Southern California right now, in the process of visiting 174 high school football programs in three days, covering 817 miles. The goal is to find many a football player.” It’s the second edition of the Boise State coaching staff’s “Bronco Blitz” goodwill tour, which began last year by visiting every high school in the state of Idaho. This certainly doesn’t cover every high school in Southern California (that would be impossible), but it’s a pretty impressive effort.

During the Bronco Blitz last year, fans were able to follow coaches on the trail. Highlights included a photo of Mt. Borah from Andy Avalos and a photo of Napoleon Dynamite’s fictional house in Preston from Scott Huff. The logistics in Southern California are daunting. That was the case in Idaho last year, although the only mishap came when wide receivers coach Junior Adams got lost for a couple hours while driving around out of cell range near Orofino.

When the Idaho Vandals scrimmage, they really scrimmage. The third such session of the spring was held yesterday, with the team racking up a whopping 153 snaps. The Vandal defense scored their first two touchdowns of the spring on interception returns by Dorian Clark and Isaiah Taylor. There were accuracy concerns at quarterback, as Matt Linehan and Jake Luton combined to go just 41-of-80, a smidge over 50 percent. Dezmon Epps continues to shine as he returns to the fold at wide receiver. Epps made 14 catches for 273 yards and two TDs yesterday. Idaho wraps up spring football with the annual Silver & Gold Game Friday night. Considering coach Paul Petrino’s affinity for lots of reps, fans should get their money’s worth.

One-goal games have become the rule of thumb in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs between the Idaho Steelheads and Utah Grizzlies. All three contests have been decided by one goal, two of them in overtime. The Steelheads have now won nine of 11 playoff games to go to OT under coach Brad Ralph. That’s the most in the ECHL the past three seasons (since Ralph’s arrival). The Steelies now look forward to three of the final five games of the series in the friendly confines of CenturyLink Arena, beginning with Game 3 on Friday night.

Troy Merritt jumped from No. 133 to No. 67 in the PGA Tour’s FedExCup standings with his third-place finish Sunday at the RBC Heritage. “That pretty much guarantees me a job on the tour next year,” said the former Boise State star yesterday on Idaho SportsTalk. “I’ve never had that kind of job security in April before.” That mitigates any disappointment Merritt had in being passed by Jim Furyk and Kevin Kisner. He figures the birdie he dropped in on 18 Sunday was probably worth over $100,000 on his tournament paycheck.

This is not the best “former Boise Hawk” news we’ve ever had. Boise alum and current Atlanta Braves reliever Andrew McKirahan has been slapped with an 80-game suspension by Major League Baseball after testing positive for Ipamorelin, a performance-enhancing substance. “We are disappointed in the decision Andrew made,” said John Hart, Braves president of baseball operations. McKirahan had made three appearances for Atlanta since making his big league debut just nine days ago and had thrown 4 1/3 innings with a 4.15 ERA.

The top Idaho finisher Boston Marathon yesterday was Moscow’s Alan Talhelm, who placed 345th overall with a time of 2:41.43. The top Treasure Valley runner was Boise’s David Faught at 2:56.39—he made it into the top 2,000. The leading Idahoan among women’s competitors was Meridian’s Rachelle Christensen with a time of 3:10.04. Christensen was the No. 406 female finisher.

There’s a landmark night coming up for the Idaho Youth Sports Commission. The IYSC has been a behind-the-scenes organization—until now. The IYSC Kickoff will he held Saturday night at the Steuckle Sky Center above the blue turf, with Jake Plummer the guest speaker. One of IYSC’s goals is putting the fun back into team sports, and the former Capital High, Arizona State and NFL quarterback certainly knows all about that, having retired from the Denver Broncos at the age of 32.

One of the organizational values of the IYSC is: “There is a place for all abilities, and provides every athlete the opportunity to play.” Kids need to experience a variety of sports. “I’m still playing everything,” Plummer said yesterday on Idaho SportsTalk. “My little son and I were just throwing the Frisbee—now we’re hitting golf balls. Plummer said too much early specialization “is a recipe for decline in participation in team sports.”

Also Saturday night, the Southern Idaho Chapter of the National Football Foundation will hold its 19th Annual NFF Scholar Awards Banquet, honoring eight high school seniors and two collegiate seniors. The 2015 Idaho high school honorees include Chase Bowen (New Plymouth), Tanner Crawford (Jerome), Thomas Crawford (Weiser), Kody Graves (Skyview), Daniel Heck (Emmett), Cole Lickley (Valley), Conner Poulson (Capital), and Robert Rebholtz (Bishop Kelly). This year’s collegiate honorees include Boise State’s Corey Bell and Idaho State’s Jim Bagley. And a cool footnote: former Boise State athletic director and BJC football coach Lyle Smith will be honored with the “Distinguished Idaho Award.”

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April 21, 1980: Unknown Rosie Ruiz is the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Other runners wonder, “Who the heck is Rosie Ruiz?” and say they never saw her on the course. Neither did race officials as it turned out, and Jacqueline Gareau was declared the winner after Ruiz was disqualified.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)

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