Monday, March 10, 2008.

One of the things the Boise State coaching staff will be looking for as spring football opens today is captains. For the first time in recent memory, the decision usually announced at the team banquet in December was delayed, a calculated move to see who would step forward and demonstrate leadership. It’s probably a good move by Chris Petersen and company, as they’ll get to see which players grab the reins as the Broncos try to extend the golden era that began in 1999. The most obvious captain candidate among seniors-to-be would be Ian Johnson. Ian was a captain last year but had a boatload of distractions. Maybe next season the timing will be right for a true leadership role. Do I hear Vinny Perretta? Kyle Gingg? Dallas Dobbs? Kyle Wilson?

If awards equate to momentum, then Boise State has something to parlay into the WAC Tournament Thursday in Las Cruces. Greg Graham yesterday became the first BSU coach to earn top conference honors in 15 years when he was tabbed WAC Coach of the Year, called the “Don Haskins” Coach of the Year in honor of the longtime UTEP mentor. The last to win a like award was Bobby Dye in the Big Sky days in 1993. The Broncos’ Reggie Larry was named first team All-WAC, with Matt Nelson making the second team and Matt Bauscher the All-Defensive squad.

The “glass half-full” scenario for BSU this week includes a 22-win season, a share of the WAC regular season championship, a win over No. 21 BYU—and the fact that the WAC Tournament is far, far away from home. The Broncos, of course, have gone 11-3 away from Boise this season while mounting an 11-5 mark at home. All five of BSU’s Taco Bell Arena losses have come on nights when the buzz about the team had reached a crescendo, and fans were itching to turn it loose: Washington State (understandable), Loyola-Marymount (still the big deflator), New Mexico State (Broncos not ready for prime time), Siena (Broncos still not ready), and Utah State (yet still not ready). BSU lost its final two home games of a season for the first time in 26 years. I guess that’s your “glass half-empty”.

Been there, done that, did it again. Utah State coach Stew Morrill revealed after the Aggies’ 78-58 win at Idaho that he had told his players in a team meeting last week they would sweep the road trip against the Broncos and Vandals. His pressure-tested team did just that and earned the No. 1 seed this week. As expected, New Mexico State and Nevada also won to create a four-way tie and force BSU down to the No. 4 seed. On the other hand, that puts the Broncos against Hawaii in the first round at noon Thursday. They swept the Warriors during the regular season and match up well against them. The team nobody wants to play is host New Mexico State, and that’s the reward Idaho gets for surprisingly securing the WAC’s No. 6 seed.

The BSU women didn’t get any help Saturday night either, as Fresno State beat Nevada in the season finale to tie the Broncos for the WAC regular season championship. BSU will have the No. 2 seed in Las Cruces and will open in the late game Wednesday against Utah State. The Broncos take some WAC hardware with them—Tasha Harris was named first team All-WAC yesterday, and Jessica Thompson was a second-teamer. Thompson had been the Preseason WAC Player of the Year.

Slow starts and fast finishes punctuated the Idaho Stampede’s sweep of Utah over the weekend. Each night the Stampede dug themselves a big hole in the first quarter, only to climb out and get a win. Friday night they had six players in double-figures and beat the Flash going away, 111-87. The Stamps had to work a lot harder Saturday, trailing by nine points after one quarter and by seven at the half. But they got it, 95-90, behind 22 points from Mike Taylor, 15 rebounds from Lance Allred, and a strong double-double (20 points, 11 boards) from Cory Violette. The Stampede’s lead in the NBA D-League West Division is now two games over the L.A. D-Fenders.

The Idaho Steelheads’ momentary goaltending crisis appears to have waned after Matt Zaba’s impressive performance Saturday night. Zaba logged his second shutout since joining the Steelheads in mid-January, blanking Bakersfield, 3-0. Friday night, Taggart Desmet’s two first period goals didn’t hold up as the Stockton Thunder rallied with three tallies against Kellen Briggs in a 3-2 victory over the Steelheads. Meanwhile, Victoria has moved back into a tie atop the ECHL’s West Division by virtue of the Salmon Kings’ 4-3 win yesterday at Alaska.

His personal best wasn’t the world’s best yesterday, as Bishop Kelly grad Nick Symmonds finished sixth in the 800 meters at the World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Valencia, Spain. Symmonds ran 1:46:48—the result and the time still bode well for a run at the Beijing Olympics this summer. Eagle’s Donovan Kilmartin was fifth in the heptathlon yesterday, his 5,951 points falling short of the 6,008-point total he turned in at the Idaho Sports Center during Boise State’s United Heritage Invitational five weeks ago. That performance had earned him the spot at worlds with the U.S. team.

The Boise State women’s gymnastics team picked up one of its biggest wins in years Friday night. The 22nd-ranked Broncos went to Tempe and comfortably brought down No. 20 Arizona State and No. 22 Penn State. BSU’s 196.00 score was the ninth-best in school history. And the BSU men’s tennis team split over the weekend, beating San Diego State Friday, 5-1, and falling yesterday to Pepperdine by one of those 4-3 scores that have become all to familiar. In basketball, the NNU men finished their season 17-10 after being swept at Central Washington and Western Washington, while the NNU women have made the NCAA Division II Tournament.

This Day In Sports…March 10, 1985:

Dallas coach Dick Motta, the favorite son of Fish Haven, Idaho, becomes the fourth coach in NBA history to win 700 regular season games when his Mavericks defeat the New Jersey Nets, 126-117. He joined NBA coaching greats Red Auerbach, Jack Ramsay and Gene Shue as members of that exclusive club. Motta cut his coaching teeth at Grace High School—and later at Weber State.

(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.)

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