Thursday, July 16, 2009.

The college football magazine landscape, at one time dominated by Street & Smith's, is more crowded than ever. Phil Steele is the fastest-rising and most comprehensive, but there's a late-comer that may be the easiest to decipher. Yahoo! Sports and Rivals.com have a lesser-known publication that simply outlines Heisman hopefuls, All-America picks, bowl predictions, conference previews, and profiles of all 120 FBS teams in order. But Yahoo!/Rivals' takes are a little different than other periodicals. For starters, it has Oregon at No. 17...and Boise State at No. 9.

Here are some other eye-openers from the Yahoo!/Rivals magazine. How about this bowl prediction--a Boise State-Oklahoma encore in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The publication has 35 players on its watch list for the Heisman Trophy. One of them is not Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who's been a trendy sleeper pick elsewhere this summer. But BSU's Kellen Moore is on the list. And Bronco captain Kyle Wilson is tabbed as a second-team All-American at cornerback.

The Yahoo!/Rivals edition also takes a different tack on the WAC. Nevada, which is supposed to be the team to give BSU a run for its money this year, is called the "team that'll disappoint." Writer David Fox points to defense, as the Wolf Pack was last in the nation last season against the pass. The magazine also places Idaho at No. 119 and calls Robb Akey "the coach on the hot seat." Over Pat Hill?

Okay, this won't take long. It's an update on former Boise State players in the CFL. After the first two games of the season, Jared Zabransky hasn't played for Edmonton yet, nor has Drisan James for Hamilton. Andrew Woodruff is a backup offensive guard for Montreal, and Jon Gott fills the same role in Calgary. Cam Hall, who had 147 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions with Winnipeg as a linebacker the past two seasons, is no longer with the Blue Bombers. Hall is listed by the CFL as a "free agent."

The Boise Hawks are in second place. I repeat: second place. We have to qualify that by noting that they are still 9-16--and eight games behind Tri-City in the West Division. But their 9-8 win over Yakima last night got the Hawks out of a tie for last and into a tie for second with Spokane. To get there, they had to rally from an 8-5 hole against the Bears. The Hawks started the process with a two-run single by Brett Jackson in the sixth inning. Jae-Hoon Ha then doubled in Jackson. The Hawks got the game-winner in the seventh on Logan Watkins' fourth hit of the game, an RBI single. Watkins' 4-for-5 night extended his hitting streak to seven games and boosted his batting average from .280 to .310.

Former Boise State star Coby Karl has been solid in NBA summer leagues, as he makes a bid to stay stateside next season as opposed to another overseas trek. Karl led the Denver entry in the Las Vegas league in scoring Tuesday night with 19 points against San Antonio and followed that with 10 last night versus Washington. His on-court experience wasn't as pleasant in Spain last winter after he left the Idaho Stampede. Meanwhile, former Stampede guard Luke Jackson has been playing well for Dallas, averaging 10 points in three games with a high of 16 last Saturday. By the way, Idaho Stampede coach Bryan Gates, who's assisting with Denver in the Vegas summer league, has interviewed for a spot on Paul Westphal's staff in Sacramento. But Gates told the Statesman a Sacramento Bee report that he's been offered the job is not true.

You may have seen Chadd Cripe's Statesman feature on Jesse Hibler about a month and a half ago. Well, this is the week Hibler's been waiting for, as the 2009 Idaho Men's Amateur opens tomorrow at Falcon Crest in Kuna. The Boise High grad and former BYU golfer turned pro in 2001 and spent five years trying to make the PGA Tour. Hibler regained his amateur status last year and has targeted the State Am as his ascension back to the top of local golf. He was at the amateur pinnacle in 1998 when he won the Treasure Valley Amateur and McCall Amateur, among others, and made it to the U.S. Amateur. At 31, Hibler has plenty of good golfin' years ahead of him.

This Day In Sports...July 16, 1941:

Joe DiMaggio has three hits against Cleveland to extend his hitting streak to 56 games. It was there it would end, as the next day Indians pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby put an end to one of the most remarkable accomplishments in sports. It's considered an untouchable record--the closest anyone has come since was the 44-game streak by Cincinnati's Pete Rose in 1978.

(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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