At quarterback, the strong bid Bush Hamdan made in the spring to get more snaps (when available) reignited—the sophomore going 8-for-13 for 112 yards and throwing the night’s only touchdown pass in the middle of a wind-and-smoke gale. Hamdan also tossed the only interception of the scrimmage, though, and was sacked twice. The guy most everybody is curious about, Jared Zabransky, had an inauspicious performance, completing less than 40 percent of his attempts. But in the coaches’ eyes, this was hardly an exam for Z.

Things were most consistent on the defensive side of the ball, with that unit recording eight sacks on the night, two each by Andrew Browning and Mike T. Williams. It was a solid performance all the way around on the D-line. We’ve heard a lot of names mentioned for the one contested spot at defensive end, but one of them has not been Sean Bingham. The sophomore out of Reno made sure his hat is still in the ring by combining with JC transfer defensive tackle Steven Reveles on one sack. And two of the forgotten guys among all those talked about at linebacker also got in the act—Mike Altieri with a sack and Josh Bean with that one pick off Hamdan.

Idaho scrimmaged for the first time yesterday, too, and the results were about as expected. As much as Dennis Erickson likes to throw the ball, the Vandals’ best shot at success this season is going to depend on the ground, and Erickson saw the rushing game jelling. Jayson Bird didn’t have a breakout day, but the junior from Shelley managed 29 yards on eight carries. Tracy Ford may end up in the backfield again—he looked good with 27 yards on four attempts, as did Rolly Lumbala with three totes for 22 yards. Among the newcomers, JC transfer Brian Flowers stood out with 21 on four carries.

John Friesz is hanging out with Jerry Rice this weekend, as both await enshrinement in the “divisional class” tomorrow in the College Football Hall of Fame. Friesz and Rice were both stars in Division I-AA in the 1980’s—Friesz at Idaho and Rice at Mississippi Valley State. Friesz still holds a laundry list of Vandal records, including single season passing yards: 4,041 in his senior year, 1989. He averaged over 367 yards a game that season and at one point went 173 passes without an interception. Friesz was the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year in each of his final three seasons in Moscow.

Weren’t we just talking about Russ Canzler 24 hours ago? The Boise Hawks first baseman homered in his third straight game last night, and this time it was a game-winner in a 6-5 victory over Spokane. Canzler’s eighth-inning blast gives him 11 homers on the season, four short of Todd Greene’s club record set 13 years ago—and there are 25 games left. The Hawks almost let Mike Billek’s best pitching performance get away until Canzler came to the rescue. Billek pitched five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit but got a no-decision when the Hawks bullpen blew a 5-0 lead. But it ended up a “W” and completed Boise’s second three-game sweep of the Indians this season. The Hawks now open a five-game home series against Everett.

Before we put the latest issue of the Sporting News to rest, we have to check out the magazine’s annual list of “Best Sports Cities”. This year Boise is ranked (drum roll) no. 96. That’s down from 75 last year and the lofty 55 the year before. The criteria puts emphasis on regular season records of a city’s major sports teams and general sports environment. So does that mean a measly four losses by Boise State’s football team cost Boise 21 positions? Was it the fact we don’t have the NCAA Tournament this year? Hey—we’ve added Arena Football 2 and moved the Idaho Stampede into the NBA Development League. Who knows? Who cares? By the way, they restricted the list to 99 cities this year, compared to the 388 in 2005. So Moscow and Pocatello, among others, didn’t make it. Boise used to be the highest-rated WAC city; now we’re behind Reno (82) and Fresno (92). The best sports city for 2006? Chicago.

Former Idaho quarterback and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan made his exhibition debut last night as coach of the St. Louis Rams. No conclusions can be drawn in a preseason tussle, but Linehan’s game management looked solid in the Rams’ 19-17 win over Indianapolis. In fact, he went the entire game without using a timeout. Meanwhile, Eagles safety Quintin Mikell, the former Boise State star, missed his second straight exhibition game with an eye injury. Among tonight’s games is Denver at Detroit, with all eyes on Jake Plummer while his eyes watch first round draft pick Jay Cutler at quarterback for the Broncos. Plummer will get an obligatory series or two.

This Day In Sports…August 11, 1986:

In a 13-4 loss to San Francisco, the Cincinnati Reds’ 45-year-old player-manager Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, gets a double and four singles to break the National League record with his 10th five-hit game. Rose had been tied with Hall of Famers Max Carey and Fred Clarke, who each had nine five-hit games.

(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 ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK.)

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