Friday, November 3, 2006.

The Boise State football schedule has worked out well for the Idaho Steelheads, because they have this weekend to themselves on the local sports scene. It’s the home opener tonight for the Steelheads, as Utah is the guest in Qwest Arena to celebrate the christening of season no. 10. And fans are going to see a pretty good team on the ice. Steelies veterans Marty Flichel and Scott Burt are off to great starts this season, but Derek Laxdal’s rookies have made a definite impact in the team’s 4-1 start. Greg Rallo has busted out with five points, while Kyle Bruce and Charlie Johnson have contributed four points each.

The things that didn’t bust out on the opening season five-game road trip were power play and penalty kill. “We started out on the trip with set goals, and we feel as a team we achieved our goals, but there’s room for improvement on our special teams,” says Laxdal. Idaho's power play was second in the league last season at just under 22 percent—now they’re 23rd in the 25-team ECHL, converting only 4 of 42 chances.

Steelheads goalie Steve Silverthorn has been named ECHL Saver of the Month for October. Under contract to the Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League, the 25-year-old was a perfect 4-0-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.32 and a save percentage of .938. He helped Idaho open the season 4-1-0 to move into first place in the West Division. Silverthorn attended the Dallas Stars Prospects Camp as well as training camp with Iowa before rejoining the Steelheads

There are 22 Boise State seniors who are just two weeks away from their final regular season appearance on the blue turf. Yeah, they’ll be missed. But Wednesday’s 45-21 win over Fresno State gave fans a somewhat comprehensive future glimpse. BSU’s top four tacklers in the game were non-seniors, topped by the fast-emerging Kyle Wilson, the redshirt freshman cornerback. Behind him were junior star safety Marty Tadman and sophomores David Shields and Orlando Scandrick. Let’s go to the Bronco offense, where Vinny Perretta had a big game with two touchdowns. If he and fellow wideout Jeremy Childs weren’t playing behind three experienced senior receivers, they’d be go-to guys. There’s also a stellar offensive line with just one senior. Oh, and there’s that Ian Johnson guy.

BSU’s stock appears to be rising in its quest for a BCS bowl, with the obvious stipulation that it finish the running of the table. Not to be Mr. Downer here, but if the Broncos were to stumble in their final three games, WAC commissioner Karl Benson foresees them staying at home for the MPC Computers Bowl. If for no other reason than it would provide an opponent from a BCS conference (Maryland or Florida State, for example). The WAC has two other bowl tie-ins—Hawaii has the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl locked up, and the New Mexico Bowl, beside the fact that it doesn’t make sense, features a team from the Mountain West. Benson says at this time there are no 2004 Liberty Bowl-type opportunities out there that the Broncos would be able to move to.

Tomorrow’s question: which Idaho team will show up tomorrow to play Nevada? The one that gave Boise State a game two weeks ago, or the one that got run off the Islands last week against Hawaii? The Vandals are back in the Kibbie Dome and will be taking on an increasingly stingy Wolf Pack defense. Nevada needs one win to become bowl-eligible—and it has the comfort of knowing it plays Utah State in Reno next week if all else fails. Idaho needs two wins in its final three games for bowl hopes, although coach Dennis Erickson says that’s the furthest thing from his mind. Healing is at the top of the list right now.

The next Bronco opponent, San Jose State, leads the WAC in pass defense. But the Spartans haven’t faced New Mexico State or Hawaii yet. They get the Aggies tomorrow in Las Cruces, and—despite a back injury suffered in last week’s loss at Nevada—NMSU looks like it’s getting Chase Holbrook back at quarterback. The sophomore standout took all the Aggies’ snaps in practice Tuesday and Wednesday. San Jose State has the nation’s interceptions leader in Dwight Lowery with eight, while Holbrook leads the country in passing yards.

The way things are going, Green Bay may not even end up with double-digit losses this season. The Packers go into Sunday’s game at Buffalo at 3-4 with a two-game winning streak, and the consensus is that the offensive line is at the heart of the turnaround. Former Boise State star Daryn Colledge is improving weekly as the O-line open holes for a healthy Ahman Green and is surprisingly protective of quarterback Brett Favre (only nine sacks allowed all season). Packers offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski says Colledge “is light years” from where he was when he was benched at the beginning of the season. Colledge has been starting again at left guard since Game 2.

It’s hard to gauge an exhibition game against a Division II opponent that’s coming off an 18-loss season, but it was entertaining basketball nevertheless—even if only a smattering were there to watch it. Boise State got its first taste of game action last night with a 103-62 win over Western Oregon at Taco Bell Arena. The Broncos got a good look at Reggie Larry inside—the College of Southern Idaho transfer pulled down 10 rebounds. And Tyler Tiedeman, who started 16 games last season, made his case by going inside out. Tiedeman was 4-for-6 from three-point land after shooting 31 percent from long range in 2005-06. BSU’s final preseason tuneup is tomorrow night against NAIA Cascade College, then the games start counting a week from tomorrow at Wyoming.

The raucous house was the Idaho Center, where Albertson College and Northwest Nazarene played their annual Battle of Canyon County exhibition last night. The Coyotes rallied from a 16-point second half deficit to win 88-80 before 4,832 fans. The Crusaders were up 62-46 with just under 16 minutes left in the game, then five Josh Owen three-pointers fueled a 42-18 Yote barrage the rest of the way. Defense kicked in during the amazing Albertson run, as NNU shot just 31 percent in the second half. Both teams finish their exhibition slates tomorrow at Big Sky schools—the Coyotes at Idaho State and the Crusaders at Eastern Washington.

I don’t think I’m going out a limb here when I say Peter John Ramos is going to be the tallest basketball ever to wear a home uniform in the state of Idaho. The 7-foot-3 Puerto Rican was the Idaho Stampede’s top pick in the NBA D-League Draft yesterday, coming off a season that saw him average 14.9 points and 7.7 rebounds for the NBDL’s Roanoke Dazzle. Ramos was a member of the Puerto Rican National Team at the 2006 World Championships in Japan. Stampede coach Bryan Gates snapped up NBA veteran forward Eddie Robinson with his second of 10 selections.

This Day In Sports…November 3, 1997:

Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox is the unanimous choice as the American League’s Rookie of the Year. The shortstop batted .306 with a major league record 30 homers for a rookie leadoff man—and a big league record 98 RBIs for a leadoff man of any kind.

(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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