Monday, May 12, 2008.

The 2008 football season is setting up much like the 2007 campaign for Boise State, at least in terms of hype. Conventional wisdom says the Broncos had their moment in the sun, and it's again time for a new resident of the pedestal. That, of course would be Fresno State. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach has unveiled his post-spring football Top 25, and--presto--the Bulldogs have jumped four spots to No. 21 without doing a heck of a lot. Schlabach is enamored with the same thing most prognosticators are: the fact that "the Bulldogs bring back 10 starters on offense, including quarterback Tom Brandstater and tailback Ryan Mathews."

Last year it was all about Hawaii, and the preseason ballyhoo turned out to be prophetic. ESPN placed the BSU-Hawaii game on Thanksgiving weekend, and it did indeed decide the WAC championship. Now the same scenario is forecast involving Fresno State and Boise State, and it's up to the Broncos to change the ending on the blue turf the day after Turkey Day.

BSU is nowhere to be found on the ESPN list, but the Broncos' nowhere is much better than Hawaii's. The Warriors' world has been turned upside down with the loss of its five offensive stars and its renowned head coach. Don't forget what UH is looking at to open this season. Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertiser points out that, "Between the final three games of 2007--when UH played Boise State, Washington and Georgia in succession--and the first three of 2008--when it opens with Florida and Oregon State on the road wrapped around Division I-AA Weber State--the Warriors' gauntlet will feature four teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences and at least three nationally ranked foes. Thank goodness for Weber State."

It was closer than the score indicated, but it was still loss number two for the Boise Burn Saturday night in a 62-42 defeat at the hands of Spokane. Burn star George Williams did what he could to keep Boise's four-game winning streak alive, adding to his af2 career record with five more touchdowns. A Williams TD catch from Royal Gill actually rallied the Burn into a 35-34 lead at the end of three quarters. They were down only five late in the fourth quarter before the Shock salted the game away to remain unbeaten at 6-0 and open up a two-game lead on the Burn in the af2 West.

Rain is an expected thing this time of year in Indianapolis, and it again kept Davey Hamilton from cementing a spot yesterday in this year's Indy 500. The downpour wiped out the qualifying day that was to decide the middle third of the field on May 25. Hamilton missed joining the first 11 qualifiers Saturday by a tenth of a second, running his best Brickyard time yet with a 223.2 miles-per-hour average. "We've posted the kind of lap times we need to get into the show," Hamilton wrote on his blog from Indy. Now things get crazy--yesterday's cancellation means positions 12-33 will all be filled during the next round of qualifying this Saturday.

The Boise State men's tennis team saw its streak of first round NCAA Tournament victories snapped at three with a 4-2 loss to Cal Saturday on the USC courts in Los Angeles. It was one of those tooth-and-nail affairs that has become all too familiar to the Broncos this season. The big story was BSU's No. 6 player, Paul Koenke. With the Broncos' backs against the wall trailing 3-2, Cal's Bozhidar Katsarov appeared on his way to a straight-set win over Koenke to close out the match for the Bears. It was 7-6, 3-0 when Koenke peeled off six consecutive games (winning 17 points in a row in one stretch) to even the match at a set apiece. But Katsarov managed to turn the tables to blank Koenke in the deciding set and end BSU's season at 21-12. The Bronco women, meanwhile lost 4-1 to Kentucky in their first round NCAA Tournament match.

When Lewis-Clark State is involved, a championship for the Warriors seems inevitable anymore. L-C State certainly has the College of Idaho's number, as the Coyotes' season came to an end in the NAIA Region I championship game with a 15-4 loss to the Warriors. C of I finishes 30-26, while LCSC grabbed its 50th win of the season against only five losses and moves into the NAIA World Series in Lewiston.

Our former Boise Hawk of the Day had a weekend wrapped in irony. At the end of the 2004 season, the Angels couldn't afford to keep their all-time leader in saves, Troy Percival. He went to Detroit as a free agent but ended up retiring after a torn muscle ended his season midway through the 2005 season. Percival made a successful comeback last year as a setup man with the Cardinals, and signed with Tampa Bay as a closer in the offseason. He's rollin' with the Rays, and over the weekend, he finished two victories over his old Angels cohorts for his eighth and ninth saves of the season, tossing perfect ninth innings each time. "What Percy is doing over there is remarkable," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Percival didn't allow an earned run this season until a temporary bump in the road last Thursday at Toronto.

This Day In Sports...May 12, 1974:

After winning 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons from 1957 to 1969, the Boston Celtics take their first crown in five years by finishing off Milwaukee, 102-87. Celtics center Dave Cowens scored 28 points with 14 rebounds as he outdueled Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, the Bucks' young superstar. Abdul-Jabbar would spend one more season in Milwaukee before being traded to the L.A. Lakers.

(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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