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Thursday, May 29, 2014.
The Boise State football program’s “Bronco Invasion” tour of Southern Idaho wasn’t a new concept. Major schools have been doing that type of thing for years. Utah State does it, too. But, for all its success the past 15 years, the Broncos are still comparatively new in the grand historical scheme of college football. What the invasion demonstrated was the spreading of the brand, particularly in the Magic Valley and Eastern Idaho. Old-timers will remember when Twin Falls was Idaho State territory during Boise State’s formative Big Sky years. Well, Tuesday evening at the Magic Valley Mall, the line to meet coach Bryan Harsin was down the hallway and out the door two hours before he and the players arrived at the Bronco Shop. Safe to say the newest favorite Broncos in Twin are Armand Nance and Chaz Anderson.
The goodwill Harsin has manufactured for Boise State in 5½ months is substantial, and the invasion has magnified that. “There is a new excitement; it’s new, it’s clean, it’s fresh, you can feel it, it’s like we needed this,” Michael Heithecker of Buhl said in the Twin Falls Times-News. “I don’t know how (Harsin) does it for hours and hours and hours.” Added Becky Otman, also of Buhl: “To come down here to Twin Falls, to be a part of it and not have to travel to Boise and we can actually get up to talk to them, it’s pretty amazing.” Mission accomplished. Thing is, Boise State needs that buzz to translate into season ticket sales—which it hasn’t, yet.
KTVB ran some video of Shea McClellin the other night, and he was wearing No. 50 for the Chicago Bears during their OTA workouts. The switch from No. 99 would seem to cement the Boise State product’s move from defensive end to linebacker. The Bears are hoping that means better production from the 19th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. "My first two years weren't the greatest, but I think linebacker is a natural fit for me," McClellin told Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com. "I think it's what I should be doing.”
The former Marsing Husky has just 36 tackles and 6½ sacks combined over his first two NFL seasons. Jared Allen, the new Bear, legendary sackmaster and former Idaho State star, likes McClellin’s switch. "Trying to rush off the edge and then go back to linebacker, that's a transition guys have got to make," Allen said. "You see that so much throughout this league, and the cool part is that he's athletic enough to do it.
The New York Jets aren’t going to keep Kyle Wilson around just to be an ambassador for the team, but they do like that characteristic of the former Boise State star. Wilson accepted a team award on behalf of the Jets last weekend at the Pop Warner Scholarship Banquet at the Disney Yacht Club in Orlando, where he found himself alongside Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jerry Jones. The annual event honors the scholastic accomplishments of Pop Warner’s All-American student-athletes and recognizes notable athletes, teams and leaders who serve as role models to Pop Warner’s youth.
San Diego State has picked up what the San Diego Union-Tribune says "might be the biggest quarterback transfer in program history." Jake Rodrigues is leaving Oregon for the Aztecs. Rodrigues was ranked the No. 5 pro-style QB in the country coming out of high school in 2012. He was the Ducks' No. 3 quarterback last year, going just 3-of-6 for 67 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Then Rodrigues wasn't able to secure Oregon's No. 2 job in spring football. Before you handicap how Rodrigues' presence may figure into a Boise State-San Diego State game, remember that he has to sit out this season—and in 2015, the Broncos switch to the Hawaii-San Jose State-UNLV rotation versus the West Division of the Mountain West. No Aztecs.
Emma Bates leads a contingent of 14 Boise State athletes into the NCAA Division I Track and Field West Preliminary Championships today at the University of Arkansas. Bates will be seeking to advance to her third straight appearance at nationals. The junior from Elk River, MN, is ranked No. 1 in the West region in the 10,000-meters and No. 4 in the 5,000. Bates was a first-team All-American in both events last year.
One of the key catalysts in Idaho's run to the WAC Commissioner's Cup in the Vandals' final year in the conference is changing addresses in the Palouse. Wayne Phipps, the Idaho track and field and cross country coach who has helped lead the Vandals to 16 league men's and women's championships in those sports the past 14 years, is taking over for the retiring Rick Sloan at Washington State. Phipps is a 10-time conference coach of the year.
Former Boise Hawk Al Alburquerque has recovered nicely from two nights he'd like to forget last week. On May 19, Alburquerque allowed a walk-off home run in Detroit’s 5-4 loss at Cleveland. Then two nights later, he yielded an ignominious walk-off balk—that’s right, balk—in the 13th inning of an 11-10 defeat. Since then, Alburquerque has made four appearances and has thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three, and he picked up his second victory of the year Tuesday night in Oakland. For the season, Alburquerque is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He pitched for Boise in 2007, going 3-2 with an ERA of 3.73.
Elsewhere, former Hawk John Lackey improved to 6-3 last night, tossing 6 1/3 innings and fanning nine in Boston’s 4-0 blanking of Atlanta at Fenway Park. And I think I mentioned Oakland’s Josh Donaldson yesterday, didn’t I? Something like the most interesting hitter in the world. Well, last night the one-time Hawk blasted a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to account for all three A’s runs in a 3-1 victory over the Tigers.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
May 29, 1955: Arnold Palmer, the 1954 U.S. Amateur champion, wins his first money as a professional golfer, earning $145 for finishing in a tie for 25th place in the Fort Wayne Open. It would take Arnie 13 years, 2 months—and 52 victories—to pass $1 million dollars in earnings. Today, Tiger Woods gets that much money in his sleep.
(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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