Presented by CLEARVIEW CLEANING.
Friday, July 11, 2014.
The annual Boise State football players’ softball game has been temporarily discontinued for various reasons (compliance concerns among them), but the popular women’s clinic is back from hiatus this summer. The 2014 Helmets and Heels Clinic is set for Tuesday, July 29, three days before fall camp begins. The Broncos are glad they’re hosting this in Boise and not Boulder. At Colorado they call it “Football 101 For Women,” and it’s caused a small uproar in that rather progressive community. "It's singling out women as if they don't understand how to do things," said Lindsay Howard, a 2002 CU graduate, in the Boulder Daily Camera. "It's not 1950; it's 2014," she said. "That was the most basic slap in the face in the naming of that class." Methinks they need some chill pills in Boulder.
The new College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta will open its doors just in time for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff between Boise State and Ole Miss next month. Now officially called the “College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience,” the new facility will be christened Saturday, August 23, five days before the Broncos and Rebels play in the Georgia Dome. From the official release: “the attraction offers a total Fan Experience, providing a powerful opportunity to experience the game’s pageantry and passion in a revolutionary setting. The attraction matches traditional, museum-quality memorabilia with modern, interactive, multimedia exhibits that will invite visitors to engage with their favorite college football team or Hall of Famer.” Sounds good. The College Football Hall of Fame is moving from its previous home in South Bend, IN.
Hawaii has always fancied itself as more of a Pac-12 level market than, say, WAC level. But proposals for a new multi-purpose facility on the property currently occupied by Aloha Stadium say reality may have set in. The Pac-12 has long shunned the Rainbow Warriors, and the Mountain West initially left them behind in 1999. Now, amidst plummeting football attendance and no hope of conference advancement, the University of Hawaii athletic department has unveiled its preferred new stadium, seating just over 30,000 (compared to 50,000 at creaky Aloha Stadium). The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the field would be suitable for football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse and concerts, and the structure would include 25 club suites. The capacity of the new facility would put a kabosh on any possibility of power conference membership.
The Hillsboro Hops finally figured out the Boise Hawks last night, salvaging the finale of a three-game series with a 9-3 win at Memorial Stadium. The Hops rallied from a 3-2 deficit with a four-run sixth inning and a three-run eighth to pull away and extinguish Boise’s four-game winning streak. They peppered four Hawks pitchers with 19 hits, equaling a Northwest League season-high. Hillsboro thus leaves town with a two-game South Division lead over Boise, which would have moved into a first-place tie with a win last night. The Hawks now hit the road for a three-game series in Eugene before returning home Monday night to begin an eight-game homestand.
Arismendy Alcantara has become the 105th former Boise Hawk to make the majors. Alcantara was called up by the Cubs Wednesday and made his debut that night, going 0-for-4 in a 4-1 loss at Cincinnati. But man did things change yesterday. Alcantara collected not just his first big league hit, but his first four, going 4-for-5 with a double, triple, stolen base and four RBI in the Cubs’ 6-4 extra-innings win over the Reds. He scored the tying run in the eighth and the winning run in the 12th. Fellow former Hawk Blake Parker finished on the mound, picking up his second major league victory. Alcantara was an 18-year-old infielder with Boise in 2010, batting .283 with three home runs and 24 RBI.
Another solid start for Troy Merritt on the PGA Tour. The Boise State product carded a three-under 68 in the first round of the John Deere Classic yesterday in Silvis, IL, and it could have been a lot better. Merritt, who started on No. 9, suffered a double-bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18. Nevertheless, he sits in a tie for 24th, five shots behind first-round leaders Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini and Brian Harman.
The Idaho Women’s Amateur tees off today at BanBury, and you have to like Gabby Barker’s chances. The defending champion from Caldwell won the tournament by eight strokes last year over her older sister, Tyler. In May, Barker shot a 68 and 70 at the Idaho 5A Girls Tournament—and won by 23 strokes. She’ll play today in the same group with Kareen Markle, who has won just about every IGA title except the Women’s State Am, and Haley Nist, who won the John Dropping Memorial last month and the prestigious Big I tournament yesterday at Shadow Valley.
It’ll be typically toasty at the 28th annual Twilight Criterium tomorrow night (rinse and repeat next week for the Albertsons Boise Open). Australia’s Hilton Clarke is back to gun for his third straight men’s title and fourth overall. One of Clarke’s primary challengers should be Ken Hanson, currently fourth in USA Cycling’s National Criterium Calender standings. On the women’s side the top three in the NCC standings are all in the field for the Boise event: Erica Allar, Tina Pic and Laura Van Gilder.
At the beginning of February, the Idaho Steelheads picked up their first refugee from the suddenly-defunct San Francisco Bulls franchise, forward Luke Judson. Now, Judson appears poised to be one of next season’s Steelheads mainstays, as he has agreed to terms with the organization for 2014-15. Judson made an immediate impact with the Steelies last winter, netting four goals over his first three games, including a pair of game-winners. Judson scored 18 points (eight goals, ten assists) in 25 regular-season games.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
July 11, 1996: L.A. Lakers general manager Jerry West pulls the first of two coups that set the table for three straight NBA championships at the turn of the century. West traded Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the draft rights to a Philadelphia high school phenom named Kobe Bryant. The next week, West would sign Shaquille O’Neal as a free agent from the Orlando Magic, completing the genesis for the Lakers title teams in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
(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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