Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

Boise State has nine verbal commits for its 2009 recruiting class. Or should we say eight? Ebenezer Makinde, recruited out of Phoenix as an "athlete" (meaning he'd be plugged in where he fits the best), might be waffling. Keep in mind that this appeared on the University of Arizona's Rivals.com fan site, but it's interesting. Tim Schultz writes, "Makinde gave a verbal commitment to Boise State at the end of May and while he says he's still committed, he would like to see what options other schools might have to offer to get a feel for whether or not he made the right decision. 'You know I talked to the coach (at Boise State) and right now I'm fully committed to them but I'm going to wait until I take my visit during the season to see how I feel about the environment,' Makinde said. 'I'm going to wait a bit to be sure, but Boise State is tops right now.'"

This is why coaches clamor for an early signing date for football recruits--something in November or December in advance of National Letter of Intent Day in February. Schultz is writing about Makinde because Arizona is still recruiting him. Here's more: "A visit to Arizona is a 'definite possibility'. Another thing that Makinde said is that if he did choose to decommit from Boise State, Arizona would be one of his top choices. The lead recruiter for Makinde is linebackers coach Tim Kish who he says he tries to talk to at least every couple of weeks."

Uh, not exactly rock solid. Only the Boise State staff and Makinde know if there's really a commitment. BSU coaches aren't allowed to talk about him. Makinde may have already talked too much, if everything on the Arizona Rivals.com site is to be believed. Let's just say BSU has eight verbals for now.

We already know the Boise State-Oregon game won't be shown on regional or national TV. The Northwest's loss is KTVB's gain. But here's what I don't get. The only other game in the Northwest that day is Portland State at Washington State, as Washington and Oregon State have bye weeks. Well, the Vikings and Cougars have been picked up by Fox Sports Northwest. There's gotta be a good reason. Is it the aura of Jerry Glanville? Wazzu was 5-7 last year; Portland State was 3-8.

After his 450-yard performance last Thursday, Ryan Dinwiddie is settled in as Winnipeg's starting quarterback. The Blue Bombers try to make it two in a row Friday night at Toronto, and Dinwiddie's teammates are behind him. "Ryan is the perfect example of why we're not the same team as last year," said veteran defensive tackle Doug Brown. "He's not the same player as last year. He just looks so much more poised and mature in the pocket and he's making all the right decisions. The one trait he does carry over is he likes to throw the ball downtown and he really let our receivers showcase their skills."

This time the Boise Hawks' rally was repelled, as Salem-Keizer pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth last night for a 4-3 victory. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Ryan Keedy and Kyler Burke had tied it at 3-3 in the Hawks' half of the eighth inning before the Volcanoes answered. Burke, the one-time Padres first round draft pick, got off to a horrible start this season. But he has gone 11-for-19 in the last five games to raise his average from .175 to .238. It was an even .100 as recently as July 5. Last night marked the Hawks debut of Cubs first-rounder Andrew Cashner--he went 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits. The Hawks return home now for a three-game series against the Tr-City Dust Devils.

Former Boise Hawks manager Tom Kotchman must have mixed emotions this morning. His son Casey, who hung out with him during summers at Memorial Stadium, is going to be closer to his home in Florida. But Casey's leaving the organization to which the Kotchman family's been attached for two decades. He was traded by the Angels to the Braves yesterday for Mark Texeira. Kotchman, always a great defensive player, is having his best season at the plate, batting .287 with 12 homers and 54 runs batted in. He was pulled from pregame warmups yesterday at Fenway Park as the Halos prepared to meet the Red Sox. That was the media's first clue, as Casey had not been prominent in trade speculation.

Scott Burt, one of the most popular Idaho Steelheads in club history, is still hangin' out in the ECHL West Division. Burt, now 31 years old, will join Alaska next season after agreeing to terms as a player-coach with the Aces. Burt left the Steelheads after the 2007 Kelly Cup championship and signed on with the Utah Grizzlies, leading them to the National Conference Finals with a career-high 60 points. He was the longest-tenured Steelie ever, playing in Boise for seven years and collecting two Kelly Cup rings.

One other NBA Summer League note: former Idaho Stampede stalwart Lance Allred didn't get much of a look in Las Vegas. Allred was playing for Cleveland, the team that signed him away from the Stampede for the rest of the season in mid-March. He played in four of the Cavaliers' five games in Vegas, logging only 40 minutes total and scoring nine points with 12 rebounds. Allred got into only three games down the stretch this spring for Cleveland.

Payette's Scott Masingill is tuning up for the U.S. Senior Open, beginning tomorrow at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Masingill qualified by outdistancing 38 other golfers at an Open qualifier in Henderson, NV, four weeks ago, winning a three-hole playoff. This is the first Champions Tour event Masingill has qualified for this season, and it's a big one. Another local golf note: I don't know how the McCall Amateur slipped through the cracks last week, but congrats to winner Brad Tensen, the former Capital Eagle who now plays for Idaho. Tensen beat Alex Moore Sunday in the championship flight of the huge annual match play event.

This Day In Sports...July 30, 1959:

Future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey makes a dramatic debut in the major leagues when he goes 4-for-4 with two triples against another future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts, to spark the Giants to a 7-2 win over the Phillies at old Seals Stadium. McCovey would play in only 52 games that season due to his late call-up, but he'd hit his first 13 home runs and be voted the National League Rookie of the Year. After 508 more homers, McCovey retired midway through the 1980 season.

(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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