Monday, April 28, 2008.

The surroundings will seem familiar, only on a much grander scale. There will be plenty of blue and orange, and plenty of fanatical human beings wearing it in a sold-out stadium. There will be a city backed up to mountains on one side. Ryan Clady has turned into a Denver Bronco after making history Saturday as the Boise State Broncos' first-ever first round NFL Draft pick, No. 12 overall. The Denver Broncos have on a hold on their city the same way the Boise State football Broncos have a hold on theirs. But there will be a lot more human beings in this Bronco Nation, with a much bigger stadium in a much bigger city with much bigger mountains. And the players behind Clady and in front of him will be much bigger, too.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan has a place waiting for Clady. "He'll start at left offensive tackle the day he comes in," Shanahan said Saturday. "Pretty simple, wasn't it?" Clady's task is to replace retired O-tackle Matt Lepsis, but Shanahan is optimistic it can be done considering Clady's experience with BSU's zone-blocking schemes, which are similar to Denver's. Lee Rasizer, meanwhile, plays devil's advocate in the Rocky Mountain News. "Talk to Clady in six months and we'll see how he answers the question. Facing the likes of Derrick Burgess and Shawne Merriman is much different from some no-name defensive end from Hawaii or Fresno State." Me thinks Clady knows what it's all about.

The shade of blue in Dallas is somewhere between Denver's and Boise State's. Orlando Scandrick figures it'll look good on him after the Cowboys traded up to take him in the fifth round yesterday. The former BSU cornerback is almost an insurance policy for Dallas. The Cowboys are rolling the dice on Pacman Jones, but there's still some doubt he'll play this year. So Scandrick provides some depth and speed. Coach Wade Phillips, who covets speed, was impressed by Scandrick's 4.32 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February. If he can progress the next three months the way he did the past three, Scandrick will make his decision to skip his senior year at BSU look pretty good despite being projected by some draftniks as a second or third-round pick.

Other draft aftermath: Taylor Tharp and Dan Gore are the first two undrafted Broncos to get free agent shots in the NFL. Tharp will get a look from Carolina and Gore from Miami. And, would you rather be the 251st pick in the draft, second-to-last, or dead last at No. 252? Dead last, of course. That's where Idaho's David Vobora landed with the St. Louis Rams, earning him a week of adulation in June as "Mr. Irrelevant" in Newport Beach, CA. Rams coach Scott Linehan, the former Vandal quarterback and offensive coordinator, sees Vobora as anything but irrelevant, though, calling him a "special teams core" guy on the team's website.

People can always look at certain teams and say they deserved a certain win or a certain championship. Well, it doesn't get much more deserving than the NBA D-League championship the Idaho Stampede earned Friday night with their 108-101 win over the Austin Toros. And it's because the Stampede are the antithesis of a D-League team. The newly-retired Randy Livingston told Brian Martin of D-League.com that the Stamps were one of the closest teams he played for during his career, which has included over a dozen teams in the NBA and various minor leagues in the U.S. and Europe. "This was a lot of hard work; it took a lot of dedication," Livingston said. "A lot of times in the D-League a group of guys don't come together like we did--and we did it all year."

It was quite a night in Qwest Arena, which drew another season-high crowd of 4,124 for the deciding Game 3 of the D-League Finals. And it was the three-ball that lit the place on fire. The Stampede struggled from the field again, shooting only 44 percent overall. But this time they connected for a more-than-respectable 41 percent from three-point range--and a spectacular 41 it was. Hometown product Cory Violette hit just three treys during the regular season, but he sent a message that this was going to be Idaho's night when he banked in a desperation 29-footer at the buzzer to end the third quarter. And Mike Taylor's electrifying stretch in the fourth when he canned four straight three-pointers brought the champagne off ice.

"Defense" has been known to be a foreign word in arena football, especially af2. But the Boise Burn have embraced it during their three-game winning streak, stretched that far by a 41-14 rout of the Texas Copperheads Saturday night at Qwest Arena. The Burn held the Copperheads to 146 total yards and just 32 percent passing, picking off three throws and recovering three fumbles. Terrance Sanders struck again for Boise, with an interception (his third of the season) and 5½ tackles. The Burn has awakened after their wake-up call in the season opener at Tulsa. They're now 3-1 and a game behind the Spokane Shock in the af2 West.

The College of Idaho literally pounded its way back over .500 with a four-game sweep of Corban over the weekend at Simplot Stadium. C of I's doubleheader win Saturday featured 35 runs and 35 hits by the Coyotes, and Friday's victories clinched a fourth straight Cascade Conference title for the Yotes. C of I steps out of conference and region play with a twin bill tomorrow at Central Washington.

Winning is nothing new to Boise State's Troy Merritt, but a title at the WAC Golf Championships would be the biggest feather in his cap yet. The tournament runs today, tomorrow and Wednesday in San Jose. Not only has Merritt won four straight tournaments and six overall this season, he won eight events while playing at Winona State on his way to Division II All-America honors. He came out to Boise after his sophomore year to work with his uncle for the summer at Spurwing Country Club. Head pro Jay Frank played with Merritt one day and watched him shoot a 63. Frank tipped off BSU coach Kevin Burton, Merritt transferred in August, and the rest is history. Merritt--and Burton--hope there's some history in his bag the next three days.

A lot of people (myself included) had the BSU men's tennis team penciled into the WAC championship match yesterday. But coach Greg Patton warned on Idaho SportsTalk Friday that Hawaii was a dangerous team, and his worst fears were realized when the Warriors upended the top-seeded Broncos 4-3 in the WAC semifinals Saturday. BSU won the all-important doubles point and got a win at No. 1 singles from Luke Shields, but Clancy Shields and Brent Werbeck were toppled by the inspired Hawaiians to key the upset. The Broncos now have to wait until tomorrow to find out if they get an at-large berth into the NCAA Championships.

This Day In Sports...April 28, 1988, 20 years ago today:

The Baltimore Orioles set a new American League record for consecutive losses when they drop their 21st straight game, 4-2 to the Twins at the Metrodome. Off to the worst start in big league history, 0-21, the Orioles had already replaced manager Cal Ripken Sr. with Frank Robinson, who had lost the last 15. The Birds would finally snap the sorrowful streak the next day against the White Sox, ending up two games short of the modern major league record of 23 consecutive defeats set by the 1961 Phillies.

(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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