Friday, May 15, 2009.

Before we let ESPN.com's WAC spring football wrap fade into the archives, let's make sure Boise State fans have make-or-break dates coordinated on their calendars. There's September 3, of course, September 18, and November 27. Oregon, Fresno State, and Nevada. But mark down this one, too. There's increasing sentiment that Boise State's 2009 season could take a turn north or south on November 6. That's the Friday night when the Broncos go to Louisiana Tech, which will be all geeked up for an ESPN2 appearance. Derek Dooley has taught the Bulldogs how to win--in fact, they were the only victorious WAC team in the bowl season last year. Again, November 6. Make a note of it.

BSU coach Chris Petersen says, despite the limited scholarships the Broncos have to offer in the 2010 recruiting season, he wants a quarterback to maintain balance in the team's classes. One prospect just got away, as highly-touted Brandon Connette of Corona, CA, has committed to Duke (interestingly enough) over BSU, Stanford, South Carolina, Washington and UCLA. Right now the Broncos have four quarterbacks on the roster, but there's a gap between Mike Coughlin (junior) and Kellen Moore (sophomore)--and Joe Southwick and Mike Tamburo (incoming true freshman).

ESPN.com has had a rather off-the-wall SportsNation poll question on its college football homepage this week. "Where would you rather go to a bowl game--Boise, Idaho, or Mobile, Alabama?" I guess it's there because the ACC has replaced the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl with the GMAC Bowl in the conference's postseason lineup. Mobile's ahead, 68 percent to 32 percent. I think it's part perception (much of the country doesn't know what it's really like here), and part reality (yes, it is cold between Christmas and New Year's Day). The theoretical good news is that the state of Utah votes for Boise--and that's one possible source of this year's H-Bowl opponent for the WAC, as the Mountain West will be represented December 30.

You would think the Boise Burn are going to be tough to beat at home tomorrow night. The Burn want to rid themselves of the bitter taste left by a 64-62 loss last week to the best team in the league, the Spokane Shock. And the Burn are playing a team they dominated in the season opener, the Tri-Cities Fever. Levi Madarietta is not only the face of the Burn, he's the defensive hands of the team as well. The veteran linebacker out of Weiser and BYU has five interceptions in six games, and he's taken three of them back for touchdowns. Madarietta is in his third season with the Burn. On the other side tomorrow night in Qwest Arena will be former Idaho linebacker JoArtis Ratti, who's hopeful of parlaying his af2 experience into an opportunity in the CFL at some point.

There's a reason Ohio State is 34-1 this season in men's tennis--the Buckeyes are pretty good. OSU hardly allowed Boise State to come up for air yesterday in their Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament match in College Station, TX, winning 4-0. The Broncos finish their season 24-9, including their second-deepest run ever at nationals. Bronco stars Clancy Shields and Kean Feeder will continue play next Wednesday on the Texas A&M campus in the tournament's individual championships.

With the decathlon and heptathlon in the books, the WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships get underway in earnest today in Logan. Boise State is looking for its third straight conference title after winning the outdoor championship last year and the indoor crown in February. The Broncos will be leaning on Ryan Grinnell for points. The junior from Skyline in Idaho Falls is ranked in the top 25 nationally in the triple jump, high jump and long jump. Elsewhere, the College of Idaho softball team got a walk-off RBI single from Haley Butcher yesterday to upset No. 9 Martin Methodist, 3-2, on the opening day of the NAIA Women's World Series in Decatur, AL. The Lady Yotes continue pool play this morning against Bethel of Indiana and tomorrow versus Virginia-Wise.

The player who scored the first points in Idaho Stampede history in 1997, Rusty LaRue, has been hired as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Wake Forest. He is still beloved in Demon Deacon land, having been inducted into Wake's Sports Hall of Fame last year. LaRue had an interesting history with the Stampede. After the franchise's inaugural game, he became the Stamps' first NBA call-up, going to the Chicago Bulls. But he did return two years later to play 38 games for Idaho. LaRue played parts of five NBA seasons with the Bulls.

This Day In Sports...May 15, 2007:

The Idaho Steelheads complete a dominating dismissal of the regular season's two best teams in the ECHL by beating the Alaska Aces, 3-2, to win the National Conference Finals. The game-winner came on a shorthanded goal by the guy who had played more games than any other player in Steelheads history, Scott Burt. The Aces had the second-best record in the ECHL that season--the Steelies had already polished off the league leaders, the Las Vegas Wranglers, in the second round of the playoffs.

(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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