Monday, July 20, 2009.

The old sports adage "maybe this loss comes at a good time" could apply to the Boise Burn, who fell on the road Saturday night at South Georgia, 55-45. After an eight-game winning streak, the Burn can hit the reset button now and gear up for the regular season finale this week against dreaded Spokane (never mind the af2 Playoffs). The Burn defense held South Georgia quarterback Darnel Kennedy to only 20 completions on 40 attempts. But the Burn weren't able to intercept Kennedy, who countered with six touchdown passes. Jomo Wilson had the big night for Boise, with seven catches for 114 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson was also over 200 yards in all-purpose offense, as he added 90 yards in kickoff returns.

More than ever before, ESPN is making Thursday Night Football its college football centerpiece this year. That magnifies the Oregon-Boise State game's careful placement as the nightcap of a kickoff night doubleheader for the Worldwide Leader. The entire Thursday schedule has been rolled out, and BSU is one of only two non-BCS schools on the 15-game slate (the other is East Carolina, which hosts Virginia Tech November 5). The showdown with the Ducks, of course, is one of six Bronco games on ESPN or ESPN2 this season. The only other one from Bronco Stadium is the Nevada game the day after Thanksgiving. Oregon, by the way, starts and finishes the Thursday night extravaganza this season, appearing again in the finale December 3 in the Civil War against Oregon State.

The story at Oregon is the same as it is at Boise State--fans tightening their belts and reluctantly giving up their seats. But a hot ticket is a hot ticket. Ducks single-game reserved seats went on sale last Thursday night, and everything for the Autzen Stadium dates against Cal, USC and Oregon State sold out quickly. Oregon's allotment of tickets for the opener on the blue turf is sold out as well. No surprise there.

After the Boise Hawks' 1-7 start in June, pitching coach David Rosario told play-by-play man Mike Safford Jr. to check the record July 20, one month into the season. Things got worse before they got better, but--last night's 3-2 loss to Salem-Keizer notwithstanding--things are better now. The Volcanoes' win at Memorial Stadium snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hawks, who are now setting their sights on getting to .500. Boise is 12-17, as the offense has started to awaken and the pitching has stabilized. The midpoint of the Hawks' five-game series against Salem-Keizer is tonight.

Jarrod Washburn's just taking care of business while the rest of the world wonders whether the Mariners may deal their hottest pitcher before the trade deadline next week. The former Boise Hawk pushed his record over .500 (7-6) in a 3-1 win at Cleveland Saturday. Washburn yielded one run in 6 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits to the Indians, all singles. He has allowed just two runs over his last 23 2/3 innings in winning his last three starts. That's taken his ERA from 3.36 to 2.87, fifth-best in the American League. Washburn says he's pitched better this season than at any time in his 12-year big league career. The rest of baseball has noticed. Now, do the Mariners keep Washburn and make a run in the American League West, or trade him and stockpile prospects for what appears to be a bright future?

The Downtown Boise Twilight Criterium had its signature moment a year ago when Kristin Armstrong won the women's pro division, three weeks before capturing the Olympic gold medal in the time trial at Beijing. Saturday night was "signature junior," as Armstrong at the eleventh hour elected to make the Twilight Criterium her final American race--and she won it. It was her third Twilight victory in four years. Armstrong plans to retire from competitive racing after the World Championships in September.

After the first two rounds, it looked like it was going to be mission accomplished for Meridian's Jesse Hibler. The former BYU golfer and one-time pro had targeted the Idaho Men's Amateur as the tournament that would bring his return to the amateur ranks full circle. But Hibler struggled to a 76 yesterday at Falcon Crest, and steady Chris Reinke of Ashton, who had been lurking all weekend, used a 69 to secure the Men's Am title going away. David Nuhn of Moscow, Jason Williams of Meridian, and John Baranco of Boise tied for second, three strokes behind Reinke.

Friday on Idaho SportsTalk I joked about Stewart Cink making a weekend run at the British Open so we can play the Albertson's Boise Open card. Lo and behold, Cink ends up winning what will become one of the most storied Open Championships in history. Cink, the runnerup at Hillcrest in 1996, pulled even with 59-year-old Tom Watson on the 72nd and final hole yesterday at Turnberry--then broke the heart of Watson (and fans around the world) with a six-shot victory in the ensuing four-hole playoff. This is a promo waiting to happen for Boise Open promoter Jeff Sanders.

This Day In Sports...July 20, 1976:

Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Brewers hits his 755th and final home run off pitcher Dick Drago of the California Angels. Aaron had gone back to Milwaukee for the final year of his 23-year big league career. Barry Bonds, of course, eclipsed Aaron's career record in 2007 and ended up at 762 (a mark that begs for an asterisk). Speaking of asterisks, now we await Alex Rodriguez--11 years and three days younger than Bonds--now at 570.

(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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