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Wednesday, April 16, 2014.
I was standing behind the Boise State defense’s sideline last Saturday at the Blue & Orange Game, and there was one particular situation that got the unit’s vocal cords going. Every time there was a third down, a chorus of “money down—money down!” would break out, with players sticking one hand in the air and flicking their fingers. The implication is clear in this new habit. The Broncos must improve their third down conversion percentage on defense this season if they’re going to get to the Mountain West championship game. How many times last season were they unable to get out of a drive at crucial times? There’s a lot of talk about getting back to “that old Boise State offense.” Same can be said for the other side of the ball.
Here’s the recent history on that “money down.” Boise State allowed opponents to move the chains on 42 percent of their third downs last season—the same number as the year before. That’s high. Compare that with the Broncos’ defenses of 2010 and 2011, two pretty good outfits. Opposing offenses managed just 30 percent on third down conversions in ’11. And the defense arguably considered to be Boise State’s best-ever in ’10 was converted upon only 29 percent of the time on third down. Watch for the “money down” chatter to become standard operating procedure this season.
I agree with the consensus on Boise State wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck. The true sophomore’s strong spring may parlay into a starter’s role this season, with a job left open by the departure of Geraldo Boldewijn. At least he’s knockin’ on the door. Sperbeck gained only 35 yards on his six catches at the Blue & Orange Game, but that’s not the point. Sperbeck grabbed mostly short passes—tough ones in traffic over the middle—and hung onto every one of them. Then he’d churn for extra yards after the catch. The Broncos need dependability in the receiving corps, and they didn’t always have that with Boldewijn and Burks, as athletic as they were. Sperbeck has been looking pretty dependable.
The Statesman’s (and KTIK’s) Brian Murphy tweeted last night that Boise State has a $28 million Bronco Stadium expansion/improvement item inserted into fiscal year 2018. It’s part of a six-year capital improvement plan submitted to the State Board of Education. Nothing has to come of it (the university later said it’s just a “placeholder” in the budget, but Boise State would sure like it to. It’ll be supply and demand—the stadium was expanded to almost 37,000 in 2012, but there’ll be no need to increase seating until it fills up again for every game.
The Idaho Steelheads have released their postseason roster—the one they generally have to stick to—and both of their goalies are on it. That isn’t always the case for the Steelheads in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, as they’ve been subject to the whims and playoff needs of the AHL’s Texas Stars. But the Steelies have two experienced goalies in the stable, Josh Robinson and Pat Nagle. Robinson hasn’t had the season he had a year ago, going 13-7-1 for Idaho. But he has had to yo-yo between the Steelheads and Texas.
Nagle has done a great job of holding down the fort, going 23-14-4. He has some quality playoff experience, too. Nagle won a Kelly Cup championship with the Florida Everblades two years ago and actually led the ECHL in the 2012 playoffs in goals-against average and save percentage. The Steelies’ postseason begins Friday night with Game 1 against Colorado in CenturyLink Arena.
New Mexico coach Craig Neal expresses confidence that the Lobos will reload next season despite the loss of 7-foot center Alex Kirk, who is forgoing his senior year to enter the NBA Draft. Add Kirk to the graduation of Cameron Bairstow and Kendall Williams, and UNM has to replace 67.8 percent of its scoring, 53.2 percent of its rebounding and 82.6 percent of its blocked shots. “We’re not worried about the future,” Neal told the Albuquerque Journal. Hugh Greenwood and Deshawn Delaney are now the only returning starters.
Former Treasure Valley Community College Chukar (and chucker) Jason Hammel has a feature spot on the big league calendar tonight. It was supposed to be last night until a rainout. Hammel gets the start for the Chicago Cubs at Yankee Stadium versus the Yanks’ Japanese phenom, Masahiro Tanaka. Hammel is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his first two appearances, including a win in his first career start at Wrigley Field. He learned quickly about the raw, unforgiving April wind at the friendly confines, as all three hits he allowed were home runs. Cold weather doesn’t bother Hammel—he once pitched in a quadruple-header in the snow during his TVCC years (2001-02). He’s now in his ninth major league season and is with his fourth different club.
Thirty-eight years after it was a hit, “Killer Queen” takes center stage Saturday at the 37th Annual Race To Robie Creek. The Queen song is being applied as this year’s theme for the “Toughest Race In The Northwest,” and the costumes should be something to behold. Got to throw in some history as high noon nears on Saturday. There was a forerunner of Robie called the “Idaho Summer Road Racing Championships” over Aldape Summit in 1975. That one took place in, gulp, August. The first actual Race To Robie Creek, with all of 171 entrants, was in April, 1979. Today, the field is limited to about 2,400, as it has been for years.
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April 16, 1999, 15 years ago today: After a landmark 20-year career in the NHL, Wayne Gretzky announces his retirement. Gretzky’s pro career started at the age of 17 and peaked during his years with the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings, as he won 10 NHL scoring titles. The Great One is hockey’s all-time scoring leader—by almost 1,000 points. Gretzky’s no. 99 is the only uniform number to be retired across the entire NHL.
(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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