Friday, April 20, 2007.

We knew there’d be no Luke Jackson in the Idaho Stampede lineup tonight for its first NBA D-League playoff game against the Colorado 14ers. Now there’ll be no Randy Livingston, either. The Stampede was going to be able to work around the NBA’s waiver wire to get the MVP back from the Sonics, but it can’t skirt a league rule that says players signed to contracts for the rest of the NBA season can’t return to the D-League. Livingston is expected back in Boise today, though, so he can provide inspiration from the Stampede bench.

The Stampede had been trusting its depth and preparing as if there’d be no Livingston anyway. So here are two key guys for the Stamps in the Western Division final if they’re to make the title game next week: Ricky Sanchez and Ronell Taylor. Sanchez will be trying to re-ignite tonight. After a string of five straight 20-point games to end the month of March, the 6-11 Puerto Rican forward has averaged just over seven points in his last five outings. Keep in mind that Sanchez is still only 19 years old. Taylor has always stepped up when needed this season—the former UAB standout has been in double figures in 18 straight games.

While the Stampede reaches a franchise milestone, the Boise Burn reaches a franchise first 24 hours later: a home game. And former Boise State star Bart Hendricks plays his first football game in Boise in almost 6½ years tomorrow night when the Burn makes its home debut in Qwest Arena against the Everett Hawks. It’s a different brand of football for Hendricks, of course. It sure would have been interesting to see Bart get a true shot in the NFL or CFL, although local fans are happy to have a chance to see him in af2.

It started with a free agent signing in San Diego in 2001, but he never took a preseason snap. After a good showing in NFL Europe in 2002, he was a backup for three seasons in Canada and never got a chance to start. Before the 2004 season, Hendricks was in line to start for Edmonton, with Eskimoes star Ricky Ray having gone to the New York Jets. But he collected more pine, throwing only 24 passes all season. Then, when Ray’s shot at the NFL didn’t work out and he was re-signed by Edmonton in 2005—Bart was released. Hendricks didn’t miss a beat, though, when he went back under center three weeks ago in the Burn’s 57-52 debut win at Louisville.

Boise State players are off working on their own now that spring football is a week past. It’s a little easier for kickers to do that. Bag of balls and a tee. There was competition everywhere on the BSU roster during spring football—except at kicker. Former Timberline star David Lowery never got into the mix, and the job has belonged to Meridian’s Kyle Brotzman all the way along. Brotzman now goes about the business of fine-tuning his foot. It’s an important and oft-overlooked issue to replace Anthony Montgomery.

It’s been a little smoother than two years ago when Montgomery and Jameson Davis were competing to replace Tyler Jones, and you could hear the fans’ groans all the way down Broadway during the Blue & Orange Game. Footballs were being sprayed on either side and short of the goal posts. Montgomery fixed that in 2006 with a magnificent season. Brotzman had a groanable second scrimmage with some wide-rights and wide-lefts, but snaps and holds contributed to that. Last Friday, Brotzman turned it on for 6800 fans and went 2-for-2 in the Blue & Orange Game, including a clean 49-yarder.

After wrapping up their series with Stockton in six games Wednesday, the Idaho Steelheads are resting up for next week’s second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. That’s all well and good, but the Steelheads’ opponent is going to be even fresher. Who is it? It was a matter of “pick your poison”—Alaska or Las Vegas—and the Steelies get top-seeded Vegas by virtue of Bakersfield’s series-ending victory over Fresno last night. The Wranglers have been kickin’ back since last Saturday when they completed a four-game sweep of Phoenix.

How far has Albertson College come with its latest nine-game winning streak? The Coyotes will find out when they collide with top-ranked Lewis-Clark State in a three-game series at Lewiston. To say this has been a streaky season for Albertson would be an understatement. The Yotes reeled off 11 straight wins before they last faced L-C State. That started an eight-game losing streak. Albertson broke that skid two weeks ago and is back up to no. 21 in the NAIA Poll. In the last five games the Coyotes have recorded a school record four straight shutouts and have outscored opponents 28-1. We’ll see what kind of reality sets in at L-C State.

Who’s the hottest former Boise Hawk in the new season? Not any of the usual culprits, like Dontrelle Willis or John Lackey or Garret Anderson. It’s Rich Hill, the Cubs’ southpaw who has the lowest ERA in the majors. Yesterday Hill shut out the Braves over eight innings in a 3-0 Chicago victory, upping his record to 3-0 and lowering his ERA to 0.41. That comes on the heels of seven shutout innings against the Reds last Saturday after being forced to wait nine days between starts because of wacky weather. Hill, who had two stints with the Hawks earlier this decade, has a string of 16 scoreless innings going and has now allowed only one run in 22 innings this season.

Tomorrow would be Senior Day for Boise State tennis—if the Broncos had any seniors. Instead, it’s simply the end of the regular season, as BSU goes into another Saturday doubleheader, hosting Eastern Washington at 10:30am and UC Irvine at 6pm at the Appleton Center. The match against the Anteaters will provide intrigue for coach Greg Patton, as he coached at Irvine for 13 years before coming to BSU almost 15 years ago. The Broncos, meanwhile, are 25-5 and have won nine straight matches.

This Day In Sports…April 20, 1912:

An historic day for baseball stadiums, as Fenway Park opens in Boston, with the Red Sox beating the Yankees, 7-6. Tiger Stadium opened in Detroit on the same day, with the Tigers beating the Cleveland Indians, 6-5. And on April 20, 1916, the first game in the history of Wrigley Field was played—the Chicago Cubs downing the Cincinnati Reds, 7-6.

(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 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football.)

---

---