Friday, August 15, 2008.

Who did Boise State miss as much as anybody else in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl? Jeremy Childs' suspension hurt, and the ankle sprain that saw Ian Johnson miss virtually the whole game was a bummer. But what the Broncos could have done with Vinny Perretta, who had been out since September with a shoulder injury. Now healthy again, the 5-10, 195-pound senior was the lone highlight Monday in BSU's first scrimmage of fall camp, and he hopes to rub off on his offensive teammates tomorrow night in the second scrimmage--the final public display before the season starts against Idaho State on August 30. His 51-yard catch-and run touchdown on a Kellen Moore pass Monday was classic Vinny.

All Perretta has done since being named Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year as a redshirt in 2004 is make plays. His 32-yard fourth-down catch from Jared Zabransky with a minute left in the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl was one thing, but his overtime touchdown pass to Derek Schouman at the Fiesta Bowl a year later was entirely another. Perretta's a wide receiver, running back and quarterback. A slash/slash. He's a gamer, and because of that, coach Chris Petersen says Vinny may even get a look from the NFL despite his size. Pete doesn't see why Perretta can't be seen as "the next Wes Welker".

Pro Football Weekly.com is already running with the 2009 NFL Draft and is featuring Ian Johnson this week. Josh Wolff examines Johnson's now-legendary role in Boise State's Fiesta Bowl win--then talks about Ian's slight dip in 2007. Johnson says the reality of a job in the NFL sunk in this summer, and he wants to use his senior year "to hit it running and give my best effort for everything laid in front of me, including the NFL." In the article, he gets an NFL endorsement from Ryan Clady, and a ringing one from offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin. "The one thing about Ian is that he's a playmaker," Harsin said. "Everybody has a different opinion of that ... but he makes big things happen in big-time games. That's the bottom line, when you play football in big-time games, big-time players make plays and he does it."

We talked to Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong yesterday on Idaho SportsTalk, just before she hopped a plane in Beijing. Armstrong says she originally planned to make a decision on the future of her cycling career immediately after Wednesday's time trial. But with the victory and the whirlwind that has followed, she has not yet made that determination. Armstrong says she'll have to decide whether to continue by the end of next week, because the World Championships are coming up in September, and she'd have to get back into training.

As for her welcome home, Kristin should be arriving at the Boise Airport at 1:19 today. Tomorrow Mayor Dave Bieter and Armstrong will convene a battalion of bicyclists at 10AM at the Downtown YMCA and lead a caravan to City Hall Plaza at 10:30. Then there'll be a ceremony saluting Armstrong as Boise's first-ever Summer Olympics gold medal winner.

The Boise Hawks embark on their annual Western Idaho Fair road trip today. The Hawks won't return until Tuesday, August 26. They'll be away for 11 games, including a crucial three-game set at Spokane next week. Of course, it won't be crucial unless Boise does some damage in the five-game series at Vancouver starting this evening. One Hawks player doing some damage right now is Kyler Burke, who raised his average to .250 with a 2-for-4 night against Spokane Wednesday night. That's news for Burke, who was hitting just .175 three weeks ago. He's batted .356 since, looking a lot more like the former San Diego Padres first round draft pick that he is.

Former Boise Hawk Troy Percival may be on the shelf again with the Tampa Bay Rays. The veteran closer, in the midst of a tremendous comeback year, had to leave the Rays' game in Oakland in the ninth inning yesterday after an apparent sprain of the right knee. Tampa Bay eventually won 7-5 in 12 innings. Despite two stints on the disabled list already this year, Percival has contributed 27 saves to what is already the Rays' best season ever. He turned 39 years old last Saturday.

After a cup of coffee with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Summer League, Reggie Larry has decided to go for a Mediterranean cappuccino. The former Boise State star will continue his basketball career overseas with AEL Limassol on the island of Cyprus. Larry says he has a $76,000 contract for the first year with an out in the second season if he makes the NBA. Should he return to Cyprus for a second year, he'd make $140,000. Larry, who led BSU to its first NCAA Tournament in 14 years in March, played in just two of the Warriors' Summer League games in Las Vegas and scored two points.

Back to football--Idaho's second scrimmage of fall camp is also tomorrow, and it will again be missing standout running back Deonte Jackson. The sophomore standout has been nursing an ailing back, but coach Robb Akey says Jackson has been examined by a specialist and won't need surgery. Akey expects Jackson back at practice soon. This does provide extra reps for the Vandals' up-and-coming backs. Two in particular performed well in the first scrimmage Tuesday, as Corey White out of Las Vegas rolled up 52 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts, and fellow redshirt freshman Princeton McCarty gained 46 yards on just five carries, two of them for TDs.

Former Idaho running back Rolly Lumbala appears to have a role now with the B.C. Lions in the CFL. The Lions tried the Calgary native as a short-yardage battering ram for the first time last week in a 40-34 win over Edmonton, and he responded with one carry for one yard and one touchdown. Lumbala came to Idaho four years ago as a tailback but morphed into a tight end and H-back by the time he was a senior. At B.C. he's looking to carry the ball again after losing nearly 25 pounds since training camp started--he's still 6-2, 245.

This Day In Sports...August 15, 1993, 15 years ago today:

Greg Norman completes a "Grand Slam" of playoff losses by lipping out his putt on the PGA Championship's second playoff hole, giving Paul Azinger the title. Norman also lost playoffs in golf's other three majors--the 1984 US Open, the 1987 Masters, and the 1989 British Open. Some consolation for the Shark: he had won his second British Open a month before the PGA Championship collapse.

(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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