Friday, July 10, 2009.

Oregon fans will tell Boise State fans that they never got the chance to see the real Jeremiah Masoli last September in Autzen Stadium. The Duck quarterback, of course, was knocked out the game in the second quarter of the Broncos' 37-32 win by a late hit from Ellis Powers. According to Matt Hayes of the Sporting News, the real Masoli is a "sleeper in this year's race for the Heisman Trophy." Says Hayes, "By the end of last season, after all of those nagging injuries and bruises had healed, Masoli looked and played like one of the game's best players in a Holiday Bowl win over Oklahoma State. He threw for 258 yards and a touchdown and ran for 106 and three scores, and the Cowboys had absolutely no answer for him."

There's little doubt what September 3 means to Masoli. Hayes continues: "Oregon gets both USC and Cal in Eugene this fall, but Masoli's breakout game could be Week 1 at Boise State, the first game of the season on Thursday night national television. Winning at Boise--not an easy thing to do--and putting on a show against a top 10-15 team, would be huge for Oregon and Masoli's national awareness."

Breaking news. Are you ready? I have the participants in the home run derby at tonight's Boise State Football Charity Softball Game for First Tee of Idaho. The offense will offer up Austin Pettis, Mitch Burroughs, Kyle Efaw, Dan Paul and special guest Jerard Rabb. The defense will counter with Hunter White, Winston Venable, Byron Hout, Ryan Winterswyk, and special guest Alex Guerrero. I think I'd favor the offense--Pettis and Paul were hitting them a mile during the walk-through yesterday at Memorial Stadium. But White, decked out in his UPS work duds, was as well. The fences will be placed about 310 feet from home plate. The derby begins at 6PM, with the game following. The offense, as the proud defending champion of this event, will be the home team.

Morale can be an issue in af2 at this time of the season. The Tri-Cities Fever franchise is a case in point. On the brink of folding and sporting a 2-11 record, the Fever come into Qwest Arena tomorrow night to face their opposites, the Boise Burn at 11-2. This might be the last time you see the Fever, as the Tri-Cities Herald reported last month that team owner Doug McGregor is going to "pull the plug" on the team if he can't find local investors to buy into it this summer. Tri-Cities faces the Burn at their best, as their deep receiving corps is deeper than ever now with Casey Allen having returned to the lineup for the last game two weeks ago. Quarterback Taylor Tharp can choose from Allen, Nichiren Flowers, Jomo Wilson, Jerard Rabb and Tanyon Bissell.

Let's see what's happening with Cubs first round draft pick Brett Jackson since he joined the Boise Hawks on the 4th of July. Sometimes the pressure gets to first-rounders, and sometimes they press. Sometimes they just don't pan out (see: Ryan Harvey). But so far, so good for Jackson, the former Cal standout. He's hit safely in all five of his games in Boise and is batting .368. Jackson has only one extra-base hit, but that one was a two-run triple that won a game for the home team Monday night. With yesterday an off-day, the Hawks have made their leisurely way to Vancouver, BC, where they start a five-game series versus the Canadians tonight.

As word of various college basketball schedules filters out, one thing's for certain: Hawaii is not going to be road-tested when the WAC slate begins. The Warriors are playing 29 regular season games--and 20 of them are at home. The only non-conference road matchup is at UC Irvine, and that's only because it's an ESPN BracketBusters return game. Hawaii also played 20 home games last season but won only 11 of them during a 13-17 campaign.

While former Idaho Stampede players try to get some notice in NBA summer leagues, one has had his travel plans altered. Nate Jawai, the Toronto Raptor who was assigned to Idaho last season, is now a Dallas Maverick. Jawai was part of a four-team, eight-player deal yesterday, the key ingredients of which were Shawn Marion going to the Mavs and Hedo Turkoglu heading for Toronto. Jawai played 14 games for the Stampede last season, averaging 11 points and 6½ rebounds. He's the first indigenous Australian ever drafted by an NBA team. If he plays for the Dallas entry in the NBA's Las Vegas summer league, he'll be reunited with former Stampede teammate Luke Jackson.

This Day In Sports...July 10, 1984, 25 years ago today:

On the 50th anniversary of Carl Hubbell's legendary five consecutive strikeouts in the All-Star Game, the National League has déjà vu as it beats the American League 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela struck out the side in the fourth, and Mets rookie Dwight Gooden did the same in the fifth. The six straight strikeouts were an All-Star Game record.

(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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