Bengal Blog ... Hockey Night in Pocatello, and NFL News from around the USA...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Posted by Frank Mercogliano, Asst. A.D. for Media Relations

As you can see...trying a different blogstyle here, as I quickly discovered that the other blog is going to get very cumbersome once the school year starts and Katie starts posting once in a while and Russ as well, so I've noticed many blogs with the blogspot address and thought hey, that would work for this, right? So, let me know your thoughts...you all know where to reach me.
Hopefully, you guys are getting as excited as I am about the upcoming season. I can't believe we open football camp on Monday, August 4 at 4:00 pm...nuts, right? Of course, soccer opens camp Aug. 6, and volleyball Aug. 12. Heck, soccer has a game on August 20...that's just three weeks away.

Wednesday nights mean hockey nights in my life, and low and behold, look who leads the league in wins and goal against average. If you went to page two, you'd also see that same guy is tied for 23rd in scoring...nice. Skillz....yeah, I got' em. To the links!

What channel is it in Pocatello
This will get onto the website in a real story later, but the Idaho State soccer game on September 13 at Brigham Young will be broadcast live on BYU-TV. This will be the first televised ISU soccer game (other than the two tournament games in 2006 on Big Sky TV.

One Matt Will Stick for Sure
Lots of talk in New England about who Tom Brady's backup quarterback will be, and some folks think it will be Idaho State's own Matt Gutierrez, who played more last year than #2 QB Matt Cassel. Most pundits feel that Mr. Belichick will be keeping third-round draft pick Kevin O'Connell from San Diego State (who played against ISU in 2004 in a 38-21 SDSU season opening win). This should be the battle of Patriots camp.

Pago Picks a Pass...
Pago Togafau, who didn't see a ton of time last year with Philadelphia, might be in line for more, after being called out by the Courier Post on South Jersey in Eagles camp for the pick of the day, intercepting QB Kevin Kolb

Underdog
If there ever was an underdog to make an NFL roster from Idaho State this season, it would be Clyde Logan, who signed a free agent deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. Somehow, much to the chagrin of writer Chris Maier, Clyde made it through the 80-man roster cut, while second round draft choice Kenny Irons did not. Maier might not understand Clyde's military background, or the fact that his caoch played at Idaho State, but good for Clyde....he can do it....he's an ex-Marine.

Finally the Perfect Gift for Florida Gator fans who migrated to the Treasure Valley
While we here at Idaho State sometimes hear folks complain because of the scarceness of ISU gear in town (although I see it everywhere), at least when hats are made for us, these types of screw-ups don't happen. Having lived in Idaho and Florida during my lifetime...that's pretty funny.

Getting the Lead Out
While I'm sure everyone here is grateful to learn that the lead in artificial turf playing fields is not a threat to the health of the players, check out the picture attached to the article on CNN.com ... talk about free advertising...

First Up for Kellis...Northern Colorado
Kellis Robinett of the Journal is going to breakdown each team in the Big Sky in his order of finish from last to first...first up, Northern Colorado at #9.

Look....Blackfoot Covers Idaho State again!
One of the things that has always seemed weird to me is why doesn't the Blackfoot Morning-News cover Idaho State athletics? We're like 20 away, or 12 if you are my daughter Jessica, but seriously, I've seen tons of old articles...they used to always be out here. Well, I'm happy to report, there's a new sheriff in Blackfoot, and his name is sports editor Ryan Collingwood. Not only is he an excellent writer, but his blog, Collingwood's Corner, is mandatory reading. It'll be great having Ryan at the games...check it out.