Thursday, June 4, 2009.

This week marks the beginning of a key time in Boise State's 2009 football season. Summer conditioning starts, along with player-run practices (PRPs). Coach Chris Petersen says this is when the Broncos glue themselves together. "Even if the NCAA said it was okay for coaches to work with the team in the summer, I still think we wouldn't," says Petersen. It's a crucial time for chemistry and leadership. And it has become the norm during the new century to see 100 percent of the BSU squad stay in Boise during the summer for the workouts. Already named captains for the 2009 season, seniors Kyle Wilson and Richie Brockel are set up perfectly as ringleaders for the offense and defense, respectively.

As a matter of fact, Wilson and Brockel are already underway with the community service project started last summer by Bush Hamdan. The duo is working on the second annual Bronco Football Charity Softball Game for First Tee of Idaho, the organization that introduces golf to kids who may not otherwise ever have a chance to play. The offense-versus-defense contest is set for 6:30pm on Friday, July 10.

Phil Steele is most comfortable when he's out on a limb. Of course, Steele doesn't see it as being out on a limb. The publisher of "Phil Steele's College Football Preview" just thinks he's right. And he is more often than most of his peers. So it was interesting yesterday during his interview on Idaho SportsTalk when he said he gives Boise State's home field advantage a rating of 6, the highest on his scale (Virginia Tech is the only other team he has at that level). And it was interesting when he analyzed Oregon and tabbed the Ducks as a "rebuilding team." Bottom line on the game on the blue turf September 3: Steele favors the Broncos by 10 points.

The team in the WAC expected to make the biggest strides in the near-term is Louisiana Tech. And the Bulldogs are said to have a backfield reinforcement in the wings for 2010. A Texas radio station reports that former Tennessee running back Lennon Creer is choosing the Bulldogs after departing the Volunteers following the hiring of coach Lane Kiffin. Creer, a sophomore who was a four-star recruit out of high school, was the Vols' second-leading rusher last season with 388 yards and four touchdowns.

Matt Climie is right where he wants to be, as he has signed a contract with the Dallas Stars for next season. The former Idaho Steelheads goalie went 2-1 with the Stars in an April call-up. It's not impossible that we could see him again in Boise, but that's not what Dallas envisions for him at this point. As a rookie for the Steelies this season, Climie was 27-12-1 with a 2.30 goals-against average and four shutouts.

The most elongated Kelly Cup Finals in history will come to an end either tonight or tomorrow night in the now-thawed north. Alaska and South Carolina play Game 6 of the championship series this evening on the Olympic ice of Sullivan Arena, with the Stingrays leading, three games-to-two. The 4,517 miles between Anchorage, AK, and North Charleston, SC, is the greatest distance ever between two teams in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. And it's been a great series. Down three games-to-one Saturday night, the Aces were able to take it back home when Colin Hemingway poked in his own rebound 17½ minutes into overtime for a 3-2 victory. Game 7, if necessary, will be played tomorrow night. Former Idaho Steelhead Lance Galbraith had a goal and an assist in that game, his first points of the Kelly Cup Finals.

A couple tremendous pitching performances from former Boise Hawks this week. First, Baltimore's Rich Hill handcuffed the Mariners Monday night in one of the best performances of his career. The 29-year-old lefty threw seven scoreless innings on just two hits in the Orioles' 1-0 win, upping his record to 2-0. Then Tuesday night the Cubs' Randy Wells took a no-hitter into the seventh inning versus Atlanta. This one didn't have a happy ending, though, as Wells served up a homer to Chipper Jones--then gave way to a Chicago bullpen that couldn't keep it together, denying Wells his first big league victory. The Cubs lost in 12 innings, 6-5. Wells is 0-2 in five appearances this season, but his ERA is 1.69.

Football camp update: the big enchilada, Boise State's high school camp, begins a week from Saturday. Camps have become huge in recruiting and identifying talent, and the camper list will be as key as ever this year for future Bronco teams. One of the top youth camps conducted by high school staffs is the Bishop Kelly's 17th Annual Youth Football Camp next Tuesday through Thursday. New BK coach Lee Leslie, the former Boise Burn coach, will add his touch to the traditional affair. BSU's youth camp is June 18-20.

This Day In Sports...June 4, 2004, five years ago today:

Idaho's exile in the Sun Belt Conference finally has an end, as the Vandals are invited to join the WAC beginning in 2005. They enthusiastically accepted, filling a spot vacated suddenly by UTEP's departure to Conference USA a month earlier. Still, Idaho's future had remained in doubt until North Texas rejected overtures from the WAC, electing to stay in the Sun Belt. The Vandals had been cast off to no-man's land in 2001 when the Big West dropped football.

(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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