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Thursday, January 29, 2015.
Anyone who met “Coach Kinsey” during his visit to Boise in November, 2010, was forever touched by the experience. Stephen Kinsey, the young cancer patient from Texas whose “Make-A-Wish” request was to be a coach for a day at Boise State, realized his dream when coach Chris Petersen, his wife Barbara, all the players and staff and the community welcomed Stephen for a weekend in Boise wrapped around a key WAC game against Hawaii. He led the team onto the field holding Shea McClellin’s hand and carrying a replica of the Hammer, and he got to stand on the sidelines alongside Coach Pete and listen in on the headset during the 42-7 Bronco victory.
Kinsey, now 16 (I believe), has been in a grueling bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma during his formative years. So here’s why that is relevant now. Stephen’s family posted a photo of him on Facebook Tuesday. He was holding a sign that said, “After 5 yrs on chemo, I just finished my last chemo.” The date on the sign is 1/26 (Monday). We can only hope that the announcement means Stephen is winning now. Coach Kinsey has been back to town once since that memorable weekend in 2010. Another celebratory return to Boise would be very cool.
Two of the most popular players during Utah State's climb up the football ladder in recent years were offensive linemen Kevin and Kyle Whimpey. Now their little brother, Riley, has committed to rival Boise State. Riley Whimpey is a 6-2, 205-pound linebacker who made an astounding 172 tackles this past season at San Clemente High in California. His name won't be on the roster until 2017, as he plans to serve a two-year LDS mission when he graduates this spring. Whimpey is the 16th commit of the Broncos' 2015 recruiting class. It's going to be a crazy six days until National Letter of Intent Day.
The Statesman’s Chadd Cripe reports that former Boise State star Jeron Johnson has told him he will be able to take the field for Seattle in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Johnson’s dislocated elbow wasn’t far enough along to permit him to play in the NFC Championship Game, but the two-week gap between the win over the Packers and the showdown with the Patriots has apparently done the trick. If it works out for Johnson, he’ll be only the seventh former Boise State player to appear in a Super Bowl. The first was Rolly Woolsey with Dallas in 1976, followed by Markus Koch for Washington in 1988, Quintin Mikell with Philadelphia in 2005, Kimo von Oelhoffen for Pittsburgh in 2006, and Daryn Colledge and Korey Hall with Green Bay in 2011.
Analyst Abe Jackson was certainly too wrapped up in the radio broadcast to notice Tuesday night, but Derrick Marks passed him on Boise State’s career scoring list, moving into the No. 4 spot on the second of two made free throws with 14 seconds remaining. Marks has now scored 1,664 points, four more than Jackson and 34 away from Coby Karl, who’s the Broncos’ No. 3 all-time scorer. The top two spots are safe for this year. Career leader Tanoka Beard totaled 1,944 points and the late Steve Connor 1,927.
Boise State is ranked No. 51 in the updated college basketball RPI released by the NCAA. That’s pretty good, but it’s below the bubble for the NCAA Tournament since automatic bids for smaller conferences fill so much of the field. The Broncos are third among Mountain West teams, behind No. 31 San Diego State and No. 35 Colorado State, the team they beat 82-78 in Taco Bell Arena Tuesday. Boise State has been boosted by four true road wins and three more neutral-site victories. On the women’s side, the Broncos saw a 12-point halftime lead slip away last night in Fort Collins, and they fell 83-82 to CSU. The loss drops Boise State to 5-3 in Mountain West play.
The Phoenix Open’s fan involvement has always made the event among the most unique in golf. And it’s unique this year for Boise State grads Graham DeLaet and Troy Merritt, as they’re on the course today in the same threesome for the first time on the PGA Tour. DeLaet and Merritt went off with the first group this morning. The Phoenix stop is the third of six straight in the West on the PGA Tour, and DeLaet and Merritt are planning on playing all of them. That allows for spot trips home to Boise (Meridian, more specifically) early in the week.
It wasn’t going to be easy for the Idaho Steelheads in Ontario anyway. But Steelheads play-by-play man Will Hoenike summarized it nicely in the second period: “It’s shaping up to be one of them nights.” At that point the Reign had just gone ahead 4-0 in what became a 7-2 laugher in favor of Ontario. Steelheads goalie Olivier Roy was pulled in favor of Henri Kiviaho just over 5 ½ minutes into the game after giving up three goals. Idaho wasn’t even facing Ontario’s best goalie. Joe Cannata, who leads the ECHL with a 1.98 goals-against average, had the night off. The Steelies and Reign face off two more times this weekend.
I updated Capital High grad Hailey Duke’s story last week. Now there’s new news on Duke, who has been working her way back on the international ski circuit after having a brain tumor removed two years ago. She no longer has to compete independently, as yesterday she was named to the U.S. Ski Team for the FIS Alpine World Championships beginning Monday at Beaver Creek, CO. The 29-year-old Duke had lost her spot on the team following her tumor. She joins a squad that includes luminaries like Lindsay Vonn and Julia Mancuso. That has been Duke’s stated goal, and she pulled it off.
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January 29, 1995, 20 years ago today: One more time for the Niners today—San Francisco becomes the first franchise to win five Super Bowls, beating San Diego 49-26 in Miami. 49ers quarterback Steve Young, getting out from under the long shadow of Joe Montana, tied a Super Bowl record with six touchdown passes, three of them to Jerry Rice. Running back Ricky Watters caught two more of Young’s TD throws and added a rushing touchdown in the SF romp.
(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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