Benedict Arnold Schmenedict Scharnold ... Bengals for Life

One of the interesting things that's been going on this week (aside from having the Boise media fawn over me since I'll let our players talk to them, a practice that Boise State and many Bronco opponents do not follow) is the propensity of interviews with Mitch Rudder, formerly of Boise State, and Jayson Bird, formerly of Idaho. Now, those two guys keep getting questions about why they left where they were, and why go to Idaho State, and all of that, and it's been interesting to hear the response from those two guys.

Mitch enjoyed Boise State, and the Treasure Valley, but as a married guy, having a scholarship was important, and when he couldn't get one at BSU in a timely fashion, he transferred. Jayson had a graduate school opportunity at ISU, plus he is also married and now closer to his and his wife's family. What was interesting was a question posed to Jayson, and I'm sure during the next few days you can catch this on KTIK's website during an archive or live listening of the Caves and Prater show, but Jayson was asked if he considers himself a Vandal or a Bengal? Actually a good question, and Jayson's answer made me think. He said he's both. He's a Bengal now, and proud to be playing football at Idaho State (and he's all smiles around practice...it's fun to see), but he is a Vandal alum, and wants to see his alma mater do well. Sorta makes sense to me.

Anyways, this got me thinking about people like Ally Sisel, who transferred to Idaho from Idaho State, or a Luke Butler (now at Augustana, and boy they are happy about having him around), or a Codi Boek, who was moved to fullback and is on the two-deep for Boston College's season opener against Georgia Tech. People come, people go, but they were all Bengals, and you know, if they are happy, I'm happy, and the fans should be too.

Side note, Luke is the starting quarterback for Augustana, and Codi, who originally left ISU because of some health issues with his dad, told me his dad is doing well and will be in Boston for his son's first game at BC, which is pretty cool.

Onto the links....enough rambling from me...

Bronco Bustin'
One of my all-time favorite non-ISU coverage beat writers is Brian Murphy of the Statesman, and he checks in with the five biggest questions for Bronco football. Brian's compadre Chadd Cripe talks to Rudder and company about returning home. Dipping out of the mainstream, Kevan Lee has a decidely slanted view of this Saturday's proceedings. I should mention that Kevan offered a wager to me on the game, with the winner getting a free post on the other person's blog. Due to NCAA regulations, the fact I like my job, and the fact that this isn't a fan blog (It's Official!), I passed...cute idea though.

Bengal Links
The College Zone returned to the Idaho State Journal (YEAH!), and Dan Thompson has his conference notebook detailing the fact that off the seven Big Sky games this week, all are up or downs (four teams play down, three play up). Dan also is not a fan of drop-down quarterbacks, although life might be pretty good for former ISU drop-down Matt Gutierrez. On the soccer front, as ISU has a challenging road trip ahead (seriously, I had no clue Colorado College was as good as they are), Lauren Ryan talked to Tim Flagstad about her midwestern roots. Also, ISU's extremely young cross country teams open at home this weekend at the Centennial Cross Country Course.

One other thing...on the right side of the blog is a Bengal newsreader that will showcase the five latest stories on the official site. Cool huh?

We weren't the only ones?
My good pal Paul Lukas checks in with his annual College FBS uniform change column....a must read. Also Kyle Whelliston has a Big Sky preview ... for basketball. Kyle is a great writer, and a big supporter of mid-major basketball, with his midmajority site, and of course, Kyle is the smartest writer on the planet, and just go to the Rescheduling section of this link to see why.

Podcast Interview online
My podcast interview with JT Ray of Bronco Nation NOW is online here, and if you want to skip ahead, it starts somewhere around the 38 minute mark. I was cooking my daughter's lunch while doing the interview, but I don't think you can tell. Also, if you go to the forums of Bronco Country (you need a login, but I think it's free) and find the thread for ISU Look Alikes....just hilarious. The Bengal Den needs to get on that pronto....

He's Back
Mitch Worthington, formerly of the Post Register, is now a graduate assistant in the sports information office, but he has his own blog where he can drop in some thoughts on things (and now, I haven't censored him). Make sure you check it out.

Totally Unsolicited
These were responses to my first set of football game notes...."Your football game notes is [sic] great. Informative without being boring like so many others I've read." (and that was from a Bronco fan!) .... "Those are awesome, I think somehow we need to work a rhombicosidodecahedron into sports" ... "Wow, one of the most random things on the face of this earth" ... "The most entertaining football game notes I have EVER read!!! Kudos for reminding us all that this job is supposed to be fun!!!!" .... nice to get a pat on the head, eh? See I got through the whole blog without mentioning that my hockey team won 6-4 last night, or that I had 26 saves, or that I picked up my third assist as a goalie, extending my league record. Well...almost got through it...onto Boise!!!!

Interesting Thoughts

Couple of notes for folks....first of all, a women's basketball schedule! Yeah!!!! The Jounral had some thoughts on the road-heavy slate. Also, Jana Davis-Boehler will only be out a few games with a strain of her knee. The MRI came back negatory, which was good to hear ... this is gonna sound funny, but she was in too much pain coming off the field for it to be a torn ACL. I've seen enough of them to know by this point.

Previews, previews....the best part of a movie.
Now, far be it for me to say this, but sometimes...just sometimes, beat writers drink the Kool Aid, whatever, and don't have realistic thoughts of the teams they cover. However, the Missoulian's football writer is Fritz Neighbor, who is one of the best in the business, and one of the fairest reporters out there, and he has his preview of Idaho State running today, and it's a pretty solid, fair assessment. Personally, I think .500 is attainable, but it's a solid piece. Take Idaho. The Vandals have lost 16 of their last 17, and they open at Arizona, so that's a tough one. The only win out of those 17 games was an FCS team by the way, and they've won three FCS games since the end of the 2005 season. It is for those reasons that I decry that whoever put this together for the Times News in Twin Falls must be a Vandal graduate.

Bronco Bits
Neil Lomax's son has decided that the writing is on the wall with a freshman QB, so he will be transferring. Also, a couple of other Broncos have been suspended for the game on Saturday for the all-encompassing violation of team rules. And while some folks might want to know what those violations are, I'm gonna say good for BSU and coach Petersen (a rock-solid, stand up guy by the way) for holding his players accountable. Just another chance to teach .... Also, BSU's Game Notes are online here (the link is at the bottom of the page).

We Agree...Gutz Should Win
SouthCoastToday.com thinks Matt Gutierrez is perfect for New England....we agree.

BigSkyTV Rhymes with Free!!!
In keeping with giving a treat to the blogger-fans out there, the Big Sky blog announced this little doozy ... nice huh? Jon Kasper and his crew hear all ....

I did a Podcast! Other Bengals did Regular Radio
It should be here in the next day or so....I did it while cooking my daughter a hamburger. Seriously. Also, Jeff Caves and Mike Prater are talking with John Zamberlin tomorrow, as well as Russel Hill, Mitch Rudder, and Jayson Bird today, and those will be on KTIK's page, and run on the afternoon drive show, so go here to check that out as well

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.

What an Opening!

Lots of stuff this week, but a couple of thoughts on the Olympics, and the scrimmage...first the Olympics.

Olympic thought #1: The opening ceremonies were as my daughter says "off the hook". Truly a thing of wonder, but I'm not happy that Bob Costas who is so quick with his quips and stuff missed the best one of all. When the Chinese gymnast was hauled to the roof and then titled to simulate running around the top of the stadium before lighting the torch, the guy's name was Li Ning. LI NING.....LEANING....he was tilted and his name was LI NING. That's too perfect.

Olympic thought #2: Tim Flagstad's blog is correct that it sucks that our time zone still doesn't get stuff live, so I have to avoid ESPN and the ticker and things like that, but I did, which made the swimming relay that much better and more exciting. What's funny is this is when folks come out and start thinking that maybe swimming and track will work on television, and while swimming and track meets are wonderfully exciting and feature world class athletes, it's that Olympic Medal at the end of the rainbow that really gets it going. This is why I could sort of care less about Olympic tennis. I'd rather watch Federer and Nadal at Wimbledon or the French Open....not the Olympics.

Olympic thought #3: If you want high comedy, invite my daughters over for the next Olympics gymnastics coverage...you will be entertained.

Scrimmage Stuff
Dan Thompson was at the scrimmage and thought it was the best he's seen in three years. He also has a general overview in the print edition, and Tim Flagstad makes a very good point about ISU's receiving corps. There is also some more football stuff with video here from Channel 6, and here from Channel 8. Make sure you click the Fast Chat with Russel Hill....all I'm gonna say is my dream car is the Batmobile...isn't it for everyone? To change it up, here's a soccer story from Channel 3, and they also have a report on the new Holt Arena fees.

Opponent Stuff
Not sure if he can quarterback or not just yet, but the Idaho Statesman reports that BSU QB Bush Hamdan can put on a heck of a softball game. Also, Chadd Cripe has camp reports from last week here and here. Up at Idaho, they are apparently having some receiver issues, and here from the Idaho Press Tribune is everything you ever wanted to know about Ian Johnson's injuries. I can't believe they left off the hangnail he suffered some in week seven of his freshman year.

The Favorites are Up and Running
Montana is the last Big Sky team to get going, and the Missoulian has the information.

Bengals in the NFL
Dan Thompson caught up with five of ISU's six NFL players for a fascinating look at life in the NFL. The story got more poignant when Johnson was cut yesterday.

Now Behind the Microphone....

How was that for a bombshell on the first day of camp? Nothing like having to change a bunch of plane tickets for football and basketball huh? But hey, I don't have to watch Russ come in my office and drink his Muscle Milk neither, so there are some plusses.

All kidding aside, Russ was superb at his job, and we all knew he wasn't gonna stick around long. I believe he will be the youngest play-by-play voice in the FBS at age 28, so talk about the fast track...Russ is on it. I have a feeling we will still hear from him once in a while. He was a good egg.

And speaking of good eggs, how about Jerry Miller back in the saddle? I was so geeked to find an audio cassette in the files here with "Globe of Death" on it...I'm hoping most folks got to hear it on the website. I'm not sure if this will work, but here is the audio link of it...


When I contact Jerry for some quotes, what he sent me was WAY too much to use in a press release, but it was really well thought out and kinda touching, so with his permission, here is the crux of his comments.

"As for my reaction to what happened today…

I knew there was a possibility that Russ might not be back this year, but I figured it was so close to the start of the new season that I’d be seeing him pulling back into town any day now. I knew that if Russ did get another job there was a possibility I might be considered, but I had pretty much put it out of my mind, and it was a total surprise when Jeff approached me about it. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Russ for the short time he was here. He’s a young man with a great deal of potential, and I was impressed that he came to me personally and asked me to give him any helpful pointers any time I thought he could tweak something here or there. Russ is one of the new breed of sports announcers that uses a laptop computer the way most of us use our cell phones, and I’m not that kind of guy and don’t know if I’ll ever get to the point he was. I also want to add that it’s an honor to be back in the same seat that Jim Fox held for so many years. I don’t think true ISU fans will ever get over missing him. As for me, there’s never been a job in my life I loved as much as announcing ISU sports, whether it’s been men’s football and basketball, or women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball or softball.

Speaking of women’s basketball, I’ve been announcing women’s hoops at ISU now for 8 years, and I have to admit that I wasn’t really a fan when I first started. But that first year covering the team coached by Ardie McInelly won me over, big time! To have the opportunity to watch a team win 21 straight games, and be a part of that was truly a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Coach Newlee and the quality teams he put together, and I’m confident that Coach Sobelewski will continue the tradition of building quality women’s teams at ISU. I’m also pleased that ISU has selected Mark Liptak to take over the mic courtside. Mark had done ISU women’s basketball for several years (five, I think) before they moved to KISU and I had the chance to sit courtside. Since the games will still be on KISU, I’ll get to work with Mark and still be able to follow the program closely..

Historical thoughts about being back in the saddle…

As I think back about the 12 years I spent announcing ISU football and men’s basketball, there are some memories that stand out as if they just happened yesterday. I’ll never forget watching the infamous “globe of death” play take shape right in front of my eyes in Holt Arena in a seemingly hopeless situation against Boise State. But I should’ve known better, because I also had the call on a bright sunny afternoon in Bronco Stadium in Boise as the Broncos had just scored a touchdown off a kickoff return to go ahead of ISU with not more than a few seconds left. Then they kicked off to us, and I’ll be darned if Frank Selto of ISU didn’t take that ball and run it all the way back for what turned out to be the game-winning score! Even though I missed the Mike Machurek years, I had the distinct pleasure of calling games with notable ISU quarterbacks like Paul Peterson, Vern Harris and Jason Whitmer. I saw Alfredo Anderson play both running back and quarterback. But maybe my greatest memories came from being able to call every single game that Merrill Hoge played in a Bengal Uniform. I’ll never forget that game at UTEP his freshmen season, when with just seconds left to play, he took at handoff at the two-yard-line and launched into the air for what would have been a winning TD for ISU, but instead, he got clobbered in mid-air by two Miner defenders and coughed up the ball. UTEP recovered the ball at the one and ran the clock out for the win. For some players, that kind of event could have held them back mentally for a long time. But Merrill used it as a stepping stone to become one of the all-time greats that ISU has ever seen. I saw all of those things. And having worked with guys like former sports information director Glenn Alford and analysts like Dave Molitor, Jim Beck and Mark Cousins have also left me with great memories. I’m very much looking forward to being able to work with Brad Bugger, who has been the one consistent about ISU broadcasts for years now. How could I not be excited about the potential of being a part of it again?"

Pretty neat, huh? I thought so. So welcome aboard Jerry, and also to Mark Liptak, who moves from the studio to the women's games, and will do great things there.

Other Nice BlogPost
The Big Sky Conference's Official Blog has a great post on Russ Eisenstein by the way. Jon Kasper is doing a nice job of rounding up a lot of good conference links, and his blog is highly recommended.

Journal Notes
Dan Thompson was out at practice, and he reported on John Zamberlin's first day as linebackers coach. Dan also has a blogpost on some of the new guys and some of the missing guys, and I'm gonna try to work around a doctor's appointment and a haircut to get all the new guys full info, but Dan missed several new guys, and Jared Barthlome was at practice but not dressed out ... not sure why as of yet. Oh, the snapper is Chris Kirkegaard, or as I call him, Joe Nelthorpe, Jr. Kirkegaard was brought in on Thursday of last week, and here he is....starting snapper with high probability.

At least that's one worry off Zamberlin's plate.
The Idaho Press Tribune is reporting that All-Everything receiver Chris Childs of Boise State will be suspended for the Idaho State game, and that there will probably be more suspensions for that game coming.

Things that Make My Blood Boil
Little rant here....I love college football. I came to Idaho State because I wanted to work in Division I college football. I love college football because the rules make you have to play...it's not the NFL. I don't care for a 40-second clock, and I hate how the NFL restarts the clock on out-of-bounds plays. Well, the NCAA football rules committee, who apparently forgot that the tried this two years ago and failed miserably, have again altered some of the clock rules. Why? College football's timing is awesome....you can comeback...you can have great endings...seriously, is there a fan who feels like there is too much action, and we need to cut down plays? What about records....if you are cutting plays out of a game, you are cutting out yards and points...are people and fans fine with this? Nope....this is about television...pure and simple, which is why it's really dumb that the chair is from a Division III school.....because I'm sure they are on TV all the time....Seriously...the fans should revolt.

¡La mirada, yo puedo escribir a máquina en español!
Aparentemente, si usted está dentro de la gama de KWEI en Boise, y usted habla español, usted ahora puede escuchar abridor de la temporada de Estado de Idaho en la lengua nativa. Muy fresco.

A Note from Katie Zigars...
Katie picked up an update on the Ricardis. Lois took sixth place in the women's 5k at the 22nd Annual Bozeman Run with a time of 20:30. Her brother John (who still runs for ISU...Lois finished last year), was second in the 10k at 34:00.