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Tuesday, May 20, 2014.
Okay, let the hype begin (or is that resume?). It’s 100 days until kickoff of the 2014 Boise State football season, when the Broncos face Ole Miss August 28 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in the Georgia Dome. The Rebels are trending up, coming off an 8-5 season and a win over Georgia Tech in the Music City Bowl. They have 16 starters returning, 10 of them on a defense that Mississippi observers say could be the best at Ole Miss in six years. Each of the team’s five leading tacklers is back. On offense the Rebs have their starters back at quarterback (Bo Wallace), running back (Jeff Scott), and left tackle (Laremy Tunsil), among others. Ole Miss had no significant injuries during spring football, either. The biggest loss this year has been starting right tackle Austin Golson, who transferred to Auburn to be closer to his family. 100 days.
With Boise State’s cupboard re-stocked at quarterback, last year’s late walk-on, Richard Hoppe, is no longer on the roster. Hoppe, a high school teammate of Bronco running back Charles Bertoli, came aboard after Jimmy Laughrea left and while Ryan Finley was on the shelf in fall camp, leaving BSU with just Joe Southwick, Grant Hedrick and Nick Patti to work with. Hoppe volunteered to be a “camp arm” for the Broncos. He participated in spring football and got a couple snaps in the Blue & Orange Game last month. Jackson Reed, a walk-on redshirt freshman tight end from Timberline High, is also gone from the roster.
Forget about speculation that Doug Martin’s future in Tampa Bay is cloudy. The Buccaneers selected running back Charles Sims out of West Virginia in the third round of the NFL Draft. Did Lovie Smith’s new staff have doubts about Martin? Uh, no. "Doug’s our starting tailback," Smith declared last Friday during the Bucs’ rookie camp. "He’s on most of the billboards around here. He’s an All-Pro running back. There’s nothing to dislike about Doug Martin.” Tampa Bay just wants to make sure it paces the former Boise State star. “We want Doug around for many years,” said Smith. “By that, you need to have some other guys. He can’t carry it every second of the way. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. We couldn’t be more pleased with him."
San Antonio’s Patty Mills is the only former Idaho Stampede player left in the NBA Playoffs. The Australian guard scored five points in 13½ minutes off the bench last night as the Spurs cruised past Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, 122-105. Mills spent just two games with the Stampede, but they were memorable. In his professional debut, Mills poured in 38 points and dished out 12 assists in a win at Reno on New Year’s Day 2010. Two days later, Mills’ putback with 6.2 seconds left won a game for the Stampede in CenturyLink Arena. He was recalled by the Portland Trail Blazers later that night. Mills scored a symbolic 18 points last Wednesday when the Spurs closed out the Blazers.
Wayne Tinkle succeeded Larry Krystkowiak twice at Montana. Now he succeeds President Obama’s brother-in-law at Oregon State. Tinkle, the Grizzlies’ head coach the past eight years, replaces the fired Craig Robinson at OSU. Tinkle first followed Krystkowiak as starting center at Montana in the late 1980s; then he took over as coach of the Griz when Krystko, the former Idaho Stampede coach, left for the NBA. Tinkle went 158-91 in Missoula with three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Zenon Konopka was one of the catalysts during the Idaho Steelheads’ run to their first Kelly Cup championship 10 years ago. Konopka has had a serviceable NHL career since, known for his penalty minutes (and fights) over the past nine seasons with seven different teams. There may not be a 10th campaign. In case you didn’t hear, Konopka has been suspended 20 games for using performance enhancing drugs, becoming only the second NHL player ever to be suspended for PEDs. Thing is, will Konopka be able to serve the penalty? He played this season with the Buffalo Sabres, but he’s now a free agent. Obviously he’ll undertake the suspension only if he catches on with another team next season. And enthusiasm may dim. Konopka claims he inadvertently took an over-the-counter product that, unbeknownst to him, contained a banned substance.
A Scott Slant reader, Walt, has long been a fan of former Boise Hawk and current Pittsburgh Pirate Josh Harrison and keeps me updated on him. I took notice of Harrison’s big game Sunday, and Walt did, too. Essentially a utility player, Harrison took advantage of a rare start in the Pirates’ game at Yankee Stadium. And the 26-year-old outfielder-infielder made a diving catch in left field and hit a two-run homer, providing the deciding runs in a 5-3 win over the Yankees, Pittsburgh’s first victory in the Bronx since the 1960 World Series. Harrison is a contact hitter and base-stealer, and he has moxie. His batting average is now up to .304. He batted .351 with 25 RBI for the Hawks in 2008.
Occasionally someone will wonder, “With the track gone, why don’t they drop the level of the field at Bronco Stadium to get the stands closer to the blue turf?” The answer always has something to do with engineering and dealing with the water table. Hey, it could be like Austin Peay. During some construction at the Tennessee university’s stadium yesterday, a giant sinkhole opened up. It swallowed about a quarter of the end zone and a slice of the field out to about the 15-yard-line. Moral of the story for Boise State: build up, not down.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by FRANZ WITTE NURSERY…we really dig what we do!
May 20, 1984, 30 years ago today: Boston’s Roger Clemens records the first of his 354 career victories as the Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4. Clemens would spend the first half of his 24-year big league career with the Red Sox and would finish in 2007 with the New York Yankees, under a cloud of suspicion regarding alleged steroid use. Despite seven Cy Young Awards, Clemens may never make the Baseball Hall of Fame.
(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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