Friday, May 8, 2009.

The ol' Scott Slant is a local sports column. It's a rarity that it strays from local, but when I saw the Manny Ramirez news yesterday, I thought "You have got to be kidding me." We watched all winter as Ramirez and agent Scott Boras jockey for position with the Dodgers, seeking a six-year, $165 million contract. Was there a reason no other team got in and seriously competed for Ramirez's services. Now he's been banned for 50 games after testing positive for a female fertility drug. The damage done to baseball will last a lot longer than 50 games. A lot of people thought the "Man-Ram" thing, the "Manny being Manny" act, was cute. So cute when he nodded off in the field, so cute when he didn't run out ground balls. It's not funny anymore, and fans need to remember that.

So let's take inventory. Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, check. Barry Bonds, check. Roger Clemens, check. Alex Rodriguez, check. Manny Ramirez, check. Please oh please, Junior--please be clean.

There was a story the other day in the Philadelphia Daily News that didn't mention Ian Johnson once. But if you read it, you see Ian written all over it. The article is a feature on former Boise State star Quintin Mikell, who went undrafted after being named 2002 WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Forty-seven defensive backs were taken in the 2003 NFL Draft, and Mikell was left out. He signed with the Eagles, served what amounted to a four-year apprenticeship on special teams, and slowly worked his way into the defensive lineup. Mikell is now a starting safety coming off a season that saw him earn second-team All-Pro honors and just miss the Pro Bowl. That looks like a roadmap for Johnson.

Johnson sounded like he was taking a page out of Mikell's book when he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press what it's going to take to make the Minnesota Vikings roster. "I've got to show my heart," said Ian. "They know what type of athletic ability I have. We've all been seen on tape before. You've got to be able to show that, no matter what, you can pick up the offense, pick up the protections and show that you have heart and you're not going to make the same mistakes over and over again." By all accounts, Johnson showed those qualities during his first minicamp in Minnesota.

It was just three weeks ago that the Spokane Shock kept the Boise Burn in their theoretical place, beating the home team 63-45 in Qwest Arena. It was Spokane's sixth win in six tries against Boise. The Burn will have to get it done in the best environment in af2 in a rematch tomorrow night--the Shock are averaging over 10,000 fans a game again this season in Spokane Arena. But hey, that's less than 15 percent of the throng that saw Jerard Rabb score his last collegiate touchdown for Boise State. It's been fun to follow Rabb's adventures in his first season of arena football. The 6-2 wide receiver has just five catches in five games for the Burn, but four have gone for touchdowns, including both of his grabs in the 68-18 rout of Stockton last week.

"This basically is a new season for us--and this season can be a blissful journey, or the rug can be pulled out from under you in a heartbeat." The words of Boise State men's tennis coach Greg Patton as the 25th-ranked Broncos begin play in the NCAA Tournament today against Middle Tennessee State in Tuscaloosa, AL. They desperately want to make it to the second round, probably against Alabama. This is the 14th NCAA Tournament appearance by BSU and the 12th under Patton, but the Broncos haven't advanced past the first round since 2006. The BSU women get the Crimson Tide in the first round--that match will be played tomorrow morning in Athens, GA. Meanwhile, the BSU softball team was eliminated yesterday from its inaugural WAC Tournament with a 4-0 loss to Fresno State and a 10-2 loss to Hawaii.

It's been a bizarre baseball schedule this spring for Northwest Nazarene. The Crusaders host their final games of the season with doubleheaders today and tomorrow against Central Washington--NNU's first home games since way back on March 28. The Crusaders would like to play well versus CWU and salvage some consolation for a rugged 2009 season. They're 14-28 overall and 7-20 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

It was a replay of an old tune for former Boise Hawk Jarrod Washburn yesterday: no run support. Washburn went seven innings and allowed two runs and six hits for the Mariners in Kansas City. But the M's were able to scratch out only one run, and Washburn lost his second straight decision, 3-1. The 34-year-old leftie had won his first three decisions for the first time since he started his career 4-0 with the Angels in 1998. Seattle's offense has often left Washburn high and dry since he joined the club in 2006. He's now 3-2, but his ERA is still just 2.68. A bigger concern is whether this surprising early-season party is over for the Mariners. They're just a game over .500 now (15-14) after losing four straight and eight of their last 11.

This Day In Sports...May 8, 1968:

One month after the A's debut in the Oakland Coliseum following their move from Kansas City, they give their new fans an historic thrill. Jim "Catfish" Hunter throws a perfect game--the first in the American League in 46 years--as the A's beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0. Hunter would remain the heart of the Oakland pitching staffed as the A's would win three straight world championships in the early 70's.

(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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