Thursday, August 7, 2008.

As the last of the WAC football fall camps commence, let's see what various teams have to shoot for in the early season. Not so long ago, WAC non-conference schedules were dominated by what were not-so-affectionately called "bodybag games." Now, balance is standard operating procedure in the WAC. That's due in part to Boise State's formula of one prominent BCS opponent, two foes from fellow non-BCS conferences, and one Division I-AA team. Other schools have seen the Broncos' success with that and have emulated it. Idaho, for example, has its most manageable schedule of the new century, facing Arizona, San Diego State, Western Michigan and Idaho State--none of which had a winning record last year.

The toughest schedule belongs to Fresno State (just the way Pat Hill likes it). The Bulldogs play Rutgers, Toledo and UCLA on the road and get Wisconsin at home. A game at Nebraska notwithstanding, San Jose State seems to have the easiest slate. Other than the Huskers, the Spartans have home games against Division I-AA opponents UC Davis and San Diego and an away game up the road at Stanford. Utah State has the most fan-friendly non-conference schedule. The Aggies get Utah and BYU in Logan in the same season and travel to UNLV and Oregon. It's Hawaii's lineup that's night-and-day compared to last year, when the Warriors were criticized for their soft ride to the Sugar Bowl. This time the only break they catch is Weber State at home. The other UH opponents: Florida, Oregon State, Washington State and Cincinnati.

As we wait for Sports Illustrated's College Football Preview issue to arrive in our mailboxes, the magazine has released its preseason rankings at SI.com. Fresno State is tops out of the WAC at No. 28, and Boise State is at 37. From there, you have to scroll all the way to No. 73 to find Nevada, and Hawaii is down at 81. Also of note, BYU is the pick as a possible BCS buster, ranked 17th. Oregon is seen as the fourth-best Pac-10 team, ranked 20th (behind Arizona State at 16 and, gulp, Oregon State at 18). Colorado is 36th, one spot ahead of the Broncos. Georgia is SI's preseason No. 1.

Idaho State is expecting Russel Hill's fall camp experience to be night-and-day compared to last year. The sophomore quarterback from Timberline High spent last August splitting reps with Luke Butler, who's now playing for Division II Augustana in South Dakota (Hill ultimately won the job). This year, Hill is the Bengals' man. His task is to improve on his touchdown-to-interception ratio, which was 14-14 last season. The anticipation of Opening Night has Hill's juices flowing, as he returns to the blue turf he played on in high school to face the team he grew up watching.

Fall camp continues at Hawaii without Tyler Graunke, the Warriors' presumed new starting quarterback. Graunke, Colt Brennan's backup last year, is taking care of some "academic issues". That thrusts Inoki Funaki into the spotlight until Graunke joins in. Whomever starts for Hawaii this season will be in an alien formation for the Warriors--taking snaps under center. That's a sight not seen from the home team on Oahu in 10 years. June Jones was a shotgun guy, while veteran UH assistant and new offensive coordinator Cal Lee is bringing his QBs up to the line. But one thing won't change when the Warriors come to Bronco Stadium in October. They will unload their trademark shovel passes out of the shotgun. Hawaii averaged an amazing 14½ yards-after-the-catch on the shovel play last year.

The parade of Boise Hawks pitchers last night had trouble putting out the Volcanoes, and the Hawks' eight-game homestand started with a 16-6 rout at the hands of Salem-Keizer. Manager Tom Beyers ran out of bullpen bodies and used outfielder Ryan Sontag to finish up the ninth. It was the Hawks' second straight loss--and, combined with Spokane's win over Vancouver, dropped Boise six games back of the Indians in the Northwest League East Division. The Hawks and Spokane will meet for the first time this season on Monday night at Memorial Stadium.

It's been a long, long wait for Luis Montanez, but the former Boise Hawk is finally in the Show. Montanez was called up by Baltimore Tuesday and made his Major League debut that night as a late-inning defensive replacement without coming to the plate. But last night in his first big league at-bat, the 26-year-old leftfielder cranked a solo home run in the Orioles' 9-4 loss to the Angels. Montanez was taken by the Cubs as the third overall pick in the 2000 draft but couldn't make it to Wrigley Field in seven years with the organization. He appeared to break out when he batted .297 for the Hawks' Northwest League championship team in 2004, but two years later he was struggling in Triple-A. Montanez left the Cubs camp as a free agent after the 2006 season to give the Orioles a try.

As far as we know, Kristin Armstrong was not among the U.S. cyclists who stirred controversy by wearing masks when they arrived in Beijing. You can bet she and her teammates won't be donning them for the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics tomorrow night. Armstrong knows what's ahead as she jumps into competition with the road race on Sunday. She scouted the Beijing course last December, and she's not worried. "As an athlete you can really get worked up over what is in the media on a daily basis about Beijing and the health hazards involved," Armstrong wrote in a blog for NBC Olympics.com. "Building on what I can control rather than what I can't is going to be important leading into the Olympics. My mantra: Control only my controllables."

This Day In Sports...August 7, 2007:

The Giants' Barry Bonds gets it done at home in San Francisco, the one place where most fans cheer him. Bonds launched his 756th career homer to become baseball's Home Run King, passing Hank Aaron. It was a 435-foot shot over the right-centerfield wall at AT&T Park off Washington's Mike Bacsik. Commissioner Bud Selig was not in attendance, nor was Aaron himself, speaking volumes about how history may judge Bonds' accomplishment.

(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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