Let's See Who Really Pays Attention to This Blog...

Because I'm debuting the depth chart here first....this will be in the release on Monday, but savvy folks who like my blog get a freebie....see you on the radio today at 4:00 pm. Sorry for not formatting this, but I'm in sort of a rush...well enjoy.

Offense
Pos No Player Ht Wt Cl. Exp. Hometown
QB 17 Russel Hill 6-0 200 So 1VL Boise, ID
8 Kyle Blum 6-4 200 Jr 1SQ Moorpark, CA
10 Evan Mozzochi 6-4 225 Fr RS Vancouver, WA
WR 6 Eddie Thompson 5-11 190 Sr 3VL-RS Sacramento, CA
83 Angelo Magee 6-2 200 Fr RS Corona, CA
WR 18 Isaiah Burel 6-2 180 So 1VL-RS Corona, CA
15 Edsel Logan 5-11 175 Sr 1VL-RS Charlotte, NC
WR 1 Jaron Taylor 5-11 180 Jr 2VL-RS Lacey, WA
82 Kelvin Krosch 6-6 215 Fr RS Mackay, ID
TE 44 Trevor Messersmith 6-3 250 Sr 1VL Galt, CA
88 Brad Walker 6-3 245 Jr JC Granite Bay, CA
-OR- 80 Tyler Hjelseth 6-5 215 So 1VL University Place, WA
RB 5 Clint Knickrehm 5-11 220 Jr 2VL-RS Pocatello, ID
29 Kenyon Blue 5-8 180 Sr 3VL-RS San Diego, CA
FB 40 Jayson Bird 5-11 225 Gr Tr Shelley, ID
32 Ken Cornist 5-11 215 Sr 3VL-RS San Diego, CA
LT 72 Evan Dietrich-Smith 6-4 300 Sr 3VL-RS Salinas, CA
79 Brad Shedd 6-7 275 Fr RS Flagstaff, AZ
LG 71 Lance Cartwright 6-6 305 Jr 2VL-RS Layton, UT
70 Adam Chadwick 6-3 285 Fr RS Dalton Gardens, ID
C 75 Ryan Henry 6-3 285 Jr JC Upland, CA
67 Nick Tranmer 6-0 275 So 1SQ-RS Pocatello, ID
RG 66 Mitch Rudder 6-3 290 So TR Nampa, ID
70 Adam Chadwick 6-3 285 Fr RS Dalton Gardens, ID
RT 58 Aaron Klovis 6-6 305 Jr 1VL Graham, WA
79 Brad Shedd 6-7 275 Fr RS Flagstaff, AZ

Defense
Pos No Player Ht Wt Cl. Exp. Hometown
DE 48 Jeff Tuua 6-2 235 So 1VL-RS Long Beach, CA
59 Micah Cloward 6-3 250 Gr 2VL Casper, WY
DT 98 Demetrius Amos 6-1 300 Jr 1VL Los Angeles, CA
94 Scott Milbourn 6-1 300 Fr RS Houston, TX
DT 97 Josh Crittenden 6-3 255 Sr 1VL Brigham City, UT
50 Sean Rutten 6-2 230 So 1SQ-RS Pocatello, ID
DE 95 Jon Tuua 6-3 255 Jr JC Long Beach, CA
54 Mike Jablonsky 6-2 235 Sr 1VL Yorba Linda, CA
LB 52 Phillip Arias 6-2 215 So 1VL-RS Nampa, ID
20 Daniel Urias 6-2 230 Jr JC Laguna Hills, CA
MLB 12 Brad Rife 6-2 230 Jr JC Irvine, CA
36 Nic Edgson 6-1 225 Jr 2VL-RS West Vancouver, BC
LB 55 Ryan Phipps 6-0 225 Sr 2VL Corona, CA
11 Jeremy Gibson 6-1 205 Jr JC Richmond, CA
CB 2 D.J. Clark 6-2 200 Sr 3VL-RS Oceanside, CA
23 George Ortiz 6-0 180 Jr JC Las Vegas, NV
SS 21 Chris Holmesly 5-10 195 Jr JC Mission Viejo, CA
24 Keith Goins, Jr. 6-0 205 So 1VL Bloomington, CA
FS 25 Amir Owens 5-11 190 Jr 2VL-RS Tacoma, WA
-OR- 28 Rashaad Richards 6-0 190 Sr 1VL Pacoina, CA
-OR- 27 Dustin Tew 6-1 205 So TR-RS Idaho Falls, ID
CB 22 Kelvin Miller 6-1 180 Fr RS Lakewood, WA
4 Michael Wright 5-10 165 Jr JC Vista, CA

Special Teams
Pos No Player Ht Wt Cl. Exp. Hometown
K 16 Jarrett Huk 6-1 175 Jr JC Pleasanton, CA
39 Mike Ramos 5-9 165 Jr RS Redlands, CA
KO 16 Jarrett Huk 6-1 175 Jr JC Pleasanton, CA
39 Mike Ramos 5-9 165 Jr RS Redlands, CA
43 Jon Vanderwielen 6-4 220 Jr 2SQ-RS Upland, CA
P 43 Jon Vanderwielen 6-4 220 Jr 2SQ-RS Upland, CA
16 Jarrett Huk 6-1 175 Jr JC Pleasanton, CA
H 8 Kyle Blum 6-4 200 Jr 1SQ Moorpark, CA
6 Eddie Thompson 5-11 190 Sr 3VL-RS Sacramento, CA
17 Russel Hill 6-0 200 So 1VL Boise, ID
KR 29 Kenyon Blue 5-8 180 Sr 3VL-RS San Diego, CA
5 Clint Knickrehm 5-11 220 Jr 2VL-RS Pocatello, ID
28 Rashaad Richards 6-0 190 Sr 1VL Pacoina, CA
32 Ken Cornist 5-11 215 Sr 3VL-RS San Diego, CA
PR 6 Eddie Thompson 5-11 190 Sr 3VL-RS Sacramento, CA
29 Kenyon Blue 5-8 180 Sr 3VL-RS San Diego, CA
SN-FG 72 Evan Dietrich-Smith 6-4 300 Sr 3VL-RS Salinas, CA
SN-FG 75 Ryan Henry 6-3 285 Jr JC Upland, CA
SN-P 47 Chris Kirkegaard 6-1 185 Fr HS Scottsdale, AZ
72 Evan Dietrich-Smith 6-4 300 Sr 3VL-RS Salinas, CA

Bengals, Aggies, Soccer, Oh My!

Another day, another contest for Idaho State, and this time it counts. The ISU soccer team will take on Utah State at 4:00 pm today at Davis Field in what should be a pretty good game. Last year ISU went 7-5-6, and Utah State was 10-11-0, tying a school record for wins. The Aggies were 5-2 in the WAC last year thought, and interestingly enough, ISU head coach Allison Gibson has not beaten the Aggies, losing 1-0 in the 2006 opener, and 1-0 last year in overtime with Gibson in stands (she was red carded after the Utah game last year).

Anyways, the game kicks off at 4:00 pm, and the radio broadcast is at 3:55 pm or so....I'll try not to stink up the joint like I did last Wednesday...I'll be better...promise. Also, Utah State's take on today's match is here. In a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", USU's soccer SID is Kara Irving, who just joined that staff after working at the Western Athletic Conference as an Information Director, meaning that Jason Erickson, formerly the Assistant SID here, was promoted at the WAC to Director of Men's Sports Information. Jason and his wife Marisa are also expecting a boy in early January! Yea Jason!

Over Hill, Over Dale....
Russel Hill had been fairly vanilla in the first two scrimmages, but for the final one, he was near letter perfect, yet everyone, including Dan Thompson, wanted to talk to backup quarterback Kyle Blum, who had the play of the day on a blocked extra point. His extra stuff made it to the blog on the Journal site as well. Tony at Channel 3 filed a scrimmage report, as did Paul Shahen of Channel 6.

Thoughts on the Big Sky state
The folks over at MaxMedia in Montana have been blogging on the state of Montana and Montana State practices....and honestly, and I've said this before, but sometimes practice is just practice...guys are gonna throw interceptions in practice, guys are gonna catch passes...it's the little things that you look for in a practice. How a kid blocks away from the play when the coaches aren't watching...things like that. Still, you can see tons of practice video there, which is a little goofy, but oh well.

Look Who is Here....
Freshmen have arrived! Thankfully, no one has come to the office looking for the Holt Arena elevator just yet. Apparently, one senior isn't thrilled about things though, but hey, I took 21 hours and then 20 my final year to graduate...anything can be done.

A Bronco Perspective on Things
JT Ray, who writes for the very informative BroncoNationNOW blog, will be interviewing me about the game sometime Saturday for the blog. He posted his take on the game (mentioning the 2003 game as ammo of course), including some links, even linking to the Globe of Death that I posted on the site a while back. Even if you aren't a Bronco fan, JT's writing style is pretty good, and he's well informed. I'm curious to what type of access he gets from the BSU media relations folks, and I'll find that out on Saturday, but it should be a fun interview.

Also, have you heard that BSU is opening the season with a freshman quarterback for the first time in school history? Because it's been plastered everywhere, but here are the other freshmen who have started games for BSU.

Looking Ahead
Here is a report on the Vandals fall camp from the Argonaut. Cause, you know, we play them right after BSU...it'll be the first game of the season on a green field, so that should count for something.

I Got Email!
I just got the official release from the Sports Network that Eddie Thompson was named Preseason Second Team All-America at receiver...very cool.

Office Exploits
While I get grief for mentioning my hockey exploits (I neglected to mention the 195 foot goal I gave up last week from behind the other teams net....stupid bouncing pucks...), but this summer, Assistant SID Katie Zigars won a pair of tournaments, defending her title in the Chubbuck Days tournament and winning the Juniper Hills Open, which is a fairly big one as a USTA Sanctioned Adult Tournament (winning the women's singles open and doubles open). Of course, there are no online links to that, because as I've told Katie, my hockey is way more important than her tennis ... lack of online data supports my conclusion!

As always....
Questions, concerns, blog thoughts? Leave a comment, or email me at mercfran@isu.edu.

Game On

I'm so excited that the 2008-09 athletic season has started .... and it was a win. Yeah! No more talking about my roller hockey exploits (despite the fact i posted two more wins last night in goal, and picked up a second assist on the season, setting a record for assists in a season by a goalie, but I digress). The soccer game was brutal, and I apologize for how horrid I was on the air ... it was an exhibition for me too.

ISU Soccer 4, Northwest Nazarene 0
Anyways, Tim Flagstad was at the game, and has this report. Plus, and this is why we love the internet, all the stuff that couldn't make it into print is on the Journal Blog, which is a must after ISU home soccer matches, and Tim gets some good stuff into the blog.

The Interview
Kellis Robinett is gone for the next two weeks, as he is off to Kansas to get hitched ... apparently wedding in Kansas are a lovely affair, and no, I'm not bitter about not even getting an invitation, since he knew I couldn't go. Still, I'd have gotten him a gift, but I digress again. However, before the K-Man left the state, he conducted a very fun interview with John Zamberlin for his "The Interview" segment on his blog.

It's Almost Game Week
Boise State has selected their starting quarterback for the opener against the Bengals, and they are going with redshirt freshman Kellen Moore, who ran the scout team last year. Of course, it was just last season that Idaho State did the same thing, starting redshirt freshmen Russel Hill after getting elevated from the scout team the previous fall. Now Hill was a greyshirt, so he had two spring seasons of practice, but Moore also had about seven extra weeks of practice due to the Hawai'i Bowl practices. All the reports on Moore, a 6-0 lefty, is that he is a little undersized, but is a smart, solid student of the game, who has a natural feel for the position. Sounds alot like Hill, doesn't it? Anyways, you can now rush out and get a Kellen Moore jersey of your very own...in youth sizes too.

Quick trivia
Prior to Hill, can you name the last Bengal freshman that started a season at quarterback? If you said true freshman Seth Burford in 1997, you are actually wrong....it was Jason Whitmer back in 1988, who incidentally threw a 78-yard touchdown pass on his first collegiate snap. Burford started nearly every game in 1997, but he didn't start the opener...that honor went to Gary Anderson.

This is Cool....
Check out the trivia question in the Los Angeles Times. Glad we could help them out with that one.

Another Day....
....another dance camp, and another set of awards for the Bengal Dancers. By the way, I won a Media Guide Design Award a couple of times ... can I call my self the Award-winning Media Relations Director?

Bye Week Blues?
Dan Thompson has a long piece on how the Bengals are playing 12 games in a 13 week stretch this year, so ISU doesn't have a true bye week. Of course, our bye-week is September 13, but I believe what Dan is talking about is the fact that because we play the Thursday after the bye week this year, our bye week will actually be shortened since we have to get ready for a game two days earlier than normal. Still an interesting piece, and it's always fun to read something with a Demetrius Amos quote.

This Really Grinds My Gears
Wanna see the types of things that annoy me on a work level? Click this. RRRRRRRRRRR. Of course you can look at that compared to this and say that we win.

Quick Podcast Alert
I've been asked to do a podcast interview for Bronco Nation N.O.W. for sometime next week. I'll link to it when it's up, and I'll see if they can maybe get our logo to not be so squashed.

Reminders
Football scrimmage at 3:00 pm today, not 4. Also, soccer at 4 tomorrow at Davis, and volleyball's alumni match is Saturday at 3.

I Should Have Stuck to Wii Curling on Deca-Sports

You know, I gotta tell you, there's nothing like a thinking your 9s over 4s is good until your opponent turns over a set of 4s....oh well, nothing like a poker game to get in the mood for soccer on Wednesday. Oh, and yes, if you check the time stamp of this post, it is 11:11 pm....sigh. Anyways, remember that the soccer game is gonna start at a really, really goofy time of 11:00 am. The game will be on KISU, and you can get it on your computer as well, with yours truly bringing you the action. The real season starts on Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm against Utah State. It feels like they just ran the mile test yesterday. Anyways, let's catch up on some links....

A Suite Way to Catch the Season Opener
If you have some extra cash on you, you can watch the season opener next week in Boise from the last suite left open for the game. Better yet, watch the game on TV, and send the money over to the Idaho State Bengal Foundation....you will be glad you did. Seriously though, seats are running low.

So That's Why Eisenstein Left
See, if we had a Buffalo Wild Wings in Pocatello, Russ might still be here. Of course, there are certain other wing places I'd be fine with as well....no link, but you can figure that one out, can't you?

People that are Easy to Root For
The on thing that Dan left out on his excellent story on Kenyon Blue....he is a walk-on...had a scholarship, and is currently paying his own way.

Scrimmage Stuff
KIFI has an online report of the second scrimmage, as did Tim Flagstad, who pinch hit for Dan Thompson (something about visiting his parents...what a good boy). KPVI also had a report as well. Speaking of scrimmages, ISU is starting Russel Hill at quarterback on the 30th. Boise State however isn't quite ready to announce theirs yet.

And Last Place According to Kellis Goes to.....
Kellis Robinett discusses the relationship between Idaho and Utah State, and the fact ISU has a former player from each team is interesting.

More on Matt
Matt Gutierrez did not play against Tampa on Friday, and while some would say it's because he didn't practice much in the week leading up to the game, but according to the Providence Journal, he might have the #2 job sewn up....just one heartbeat away...or one bad ankle is more like it.