Frank's Epilogue

Sigh, So this is it...this is really kind of bittersweet as I look back on 12+ years here at Idaho State. In case anyone has missed it, I am leaving my position here as Asst. A.D. for Media Relations to take a similar position with the University of New Mexico.

Honestly, it was an offer I couldn't pass up, as there are some benefits there that ISU just can't match, although I won't say that necessarily makes it a better job. What it does do is give me a new adventure. I will get to run the office there and try new things, much like I did here. I will work specifically with men's basketball and men's tennis, and assist a bit with football. It's less travel, more home games, and a bigger conference in the Mountain West. I still get to hit Salt Lake and Boise every year ... well, SLC this year, Provo after that, and Boise starting next year, and my two oldest daughters live in Boise, so that is a bonus.

I would be lying if I said I loved every minute of my 12+ years here, but certainly the frustrating things were few, small, and very far between. I have watched hundreds of student-athletes graduate and move on to great things...one of my favorite stories is of Akilah Lacey, who played football here and is now a member of the Pocatello police force, protecting the citizens of a town who showered him with so much affection as a player. I've been greatly affected by things too. I will never forget being woken up by a phone call that freshman Jacori Rufus was killed in an accident while driving home over Spring Break, or some of the other close calls that thankfully turned out OK.

As far as student-athletes go, I've had to privilege to get up close and personal with so many tremendous competitors, from Jared Allen to Stacy Dragila to David Schroeder, and many, many others. Perhaps none is more special that AnnaMarie Hofstetter, who was not only maybe the best player in ISU's 12-year soccer history, but was a First Team Academic All-America pick as well, proving to be the very best of both student, and athlete.

As far as coaches, I've worked with great ones. From those that are gone such as Gordon Henderson, Larry Lewis, Doug Oliver, Jon Newlee, Mike Welch, and Ardie McInelly, to the current group of coaches, who are not just fantastic to work with, but are great people who care deeply about their players and this school. I just can't stress that enough to the fans...the coaches are desperate for success and spend most of their waking time working towards it.

It's funny, I've worked for five A.D.s in 12 years here, and all had their positives. I was hired by Irv Cross, and then worked with Howard Gauthier, Jim Senter, Paul Bubb, and finally Jeff Tingey. I've had great working relationships with all, but personal friendships with some, but I'll say this, as young on the job as Jeff is, what he has been doing in his short tenure here is nothing short of spectacular. He is learning how to navigate the roadblocks that show up at his door, and he is raising money, and hiring good coaches. The GPA is up, and the wins will follow...for a guy literally thrown into the fire (Jeff and I had many a conversation before he got named the interim a few years back), he has done some great things, and I'm absolutely positive this athletic department is in good hands with him running the show.

One of my favorite things about ISU has been the assistants I've worked with, from my first Reed Hollinshead, who got married and left the profession for the Idaho Housing Authority (he is still there too!), to in order, Wendy Broker (left here for Purdue), Derek Smolik (left and became the head SID at two Division II schools), Jason Erickson (Director of Information at the WAC) to my last assistant, Katie Zigars, I'm excited that I was a part of the beginnings of so many great media relations careers. Even our current graduate assistant Jamie Schroeder is great and will no doubt make like a former G.A. of the office Michelle Railsback-Smith, who is on staff at Boise State, and go to big places.

I've had 12 years worth of media folks, and some great ones. One of the early ones, Jones Schwartz, is now working at SNY in New York and hosting NY Mets games, and Kellis Robinett is covering Kansas State football and men's basketball. I've worked with great announcers from Russ Eisensteing to Jim Fox to Jerry Miller to Mark Liptak and Brad Bugger, and many others in between. I've greatly enjoyed the ISU media, and hope the Albuquerque media is just as gung-ho and talented.

I've also greatly enjoyed interacting with the fans. This blog in particular, which won an award two years ago, was done with the fans in mind. When I got to ISU, stats were not computerized, and the website was, well...it wasn't really a website. Now, 12-years later, as my last little gift, you guys are getting one heck of a new site courtesy of the folks at Sidearm. We have livestats, live free audio (Russ Eisenstein gets a big assist on that one), live streaming (Mike Pritchett and KaLee Kopp get those big assists...like HUGE assists there), blogs, chats, video reports...I'm proud I was able to update ISU's internet presence like that. And what is great is the new person that follows me...they will do all that and more, and I welcome following ISU as a fan now and seeign what goes on.

But without a doubt, while I'll miss many things about ISU...the people, the athletes, the fans, even Holt Arena...I will miss the people of Pocatello. I raised three daughters here, and I can't imagine a better place to do it. I will miss our friends, my wife's school teachers who welcomed her with open arms, and just the general feeling that Pocatello people are just good regular folks.

There's probably many people I didn't mention that I should have (Jay McMillin comes to mind LOL) and I'm sorry about that...too many folks to thanks and remember.

So with that, I'm off to Albuquerque (Rio Rancho actually), and I am excited to live in a place with nine Panda Expresses, a couple of Olive Garden's, and one PF Changs. There are some former Bengals down there at the school, and with facebook, and www.isubengals.com, I can definitely keep up with how the teams are doing.

One last thing...support these student-athletes and coaches...they are working so hard to make you all proud. As an alum of ISU (grad. degree in 2006), I know I'm already proud of them, and proud to say, I will always be a Bengal! Let's take the Big Sky, and GET ON BOARD!

Frank Mercogliano

SID Musings...

So as I sit here the morning after another bizarro basketball game in which I can't figure out (like we gave up 82 points), I started thinking about certain things, as a person tends to do. I should mention that this thinking started while watching the reruns of the Pyramid on the Game Show Network at midnight (total aside, but was there ever a better game show minute then the Pyramid's Winner's Circle? Any game where a prepositional phrase is considered illegal is something I'm going to love.)

Anyways, I've come up with a couple of theories on this, and the first is this...sometimes the ingredients are correct but they don't just mix. Case in point...I have three daughters. My oldest Jessi (22) and my youngest Angie (14) both like to cook and know how to cook, especially things like cakes, cookies, brownies...you know, the stuff that spikes my cholesterol. Well, both kids make brownies a lot. Both use identical brownie mix, and both use identical ingredients, the same oven, the same pans. Yet what inevitably happens is that one set of brownies is usually good...better than I would have thought, and one set of brownies is disappointing. Why? Everything is the same ... but sometimes the ingredients mix better, and sometimes they don't mix at all, and for some reason, this Bengal team has a hard time mixing together. The ingredients are there, and some games, and even for portions of games, everything mixes well, but sometimes ... the brownies just don't come out right.

The other thing I've come to realization is that it might be me. Now while that might sound silly...but I've done a little research on this, and well...it sucks. I've been an SID for 18 years, two at Belmont Abbey, four at Augusta State, and this is my 12th here, and I'm starting to think, especially in men's basketball, it's me. I've always kept this file, and I've now updated, but this is not something I want on my tombstone...

Year School Overall .PCT Conf. .PCT Finish

1992-93 Belmont Abbey 12-16 .429 6-8 .429 5/8

1993-94 Belmont Abbey 7-19 .269 3-11 .214 T7/8

BAC TOTAL 19-35 .352 9-19 .321

1994-95 Augusta State 8-19 .296 4-14 .222 10/10

1995-96 Augusta State 11-16 .407 6-12 .333 7/10

1996-97 Augusta State 9-19 .321 5-13 .278 9/10

1997-98 Augusta State 5-22 .227 3-13 .188 T11/12

ASU TOTAL 33-76 .303 18-51 .261

1998-99 Idaho State 6-20 .231 4-12 .250 8/9

1999-00 Idaho State 8-19 .296 3-13 .188 T8/9

2000-01 Idaho State 14-14 .500 10-6 .625 3/9

2001-02 Idaho State 10-17 .370 3-11 .214 7/8

2002-03 Idaho State 15-14 .517 7-7 .500 T3/8

2003-04 Idaho State 13-18 .419 7-7 .500 T2/8

2004-05 Idaho State 9-18 .333 3-11 .214 8/8

2005-06 Idaho State 13-14 .481 4-10 .286 T7/8

2006-07 Idaho State 13-17 .433 8-8 .500 T5/9

2007-08 Idaho State 12-19 .387 8-8 .500 T4/9

2008-09 Idaho State 13-19 .406 9-7 .563 4/9

2009-10 Idaho State 7-19 .269 4-9 .308 8/9

ISU TOTAL 133-208 .390 70-109 .391

OVERALL TOTALS 185-319 .367 97-179 .351

The So if you can't figure that out yet...in 18 seasons, I've had one....ONE...winning season, and that was 15-14 back in 2002-03. I've had TWO winning conference seasons...10-6 in 2001 and 9-7 last year. I have had 11 18-loss seasons, and counting this year, three 20-loss seasons. Only four times in 18 years have I seen my team finish in the top half of the conference, and thankfully for Joe O'Brien, he's gotten me half of those.

At Idaho State I cover football, men's basketball, and softball, and I figured this one out too. The last time one of the teams that I cover was more than one game over .500 for the season ... was January 5, 2006 when Idaho State men's basketball was 7-5 after starting 7-2. That was so long ago the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin hadn't started yet, the Seahawks had never played in a Super Bowl, and Blu-Ray DVD players were not available in stores.

My wife swears it's not me, but after I left Belmont Abbey, the made the NCAA Tournament five years later, and Augusta State in the last 12 years after I left has had 11 winning seasons, six 19-win seasons, five 20-win seasons, one 30-win season, three conference tournament titles, five NCAA appearances, they lost in the National Title game last year, and they were ranked #1 this year.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this....

Z and E with J and B....
Jon Zamberlin and new offensive coordinator Phil Earley joined Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger courtside on Monday night to talk football recruiting and a little Bengal football offense prior to the Bakersfield game, and fans got a great look into what ISU will be trying to do offensively, and what ISu is still looking for recruiting-wise. The amazing thing is they didn't run over in talking with Earley, who has more stories than a Dr. Suess library.

Conference Tournament Musings...
First to the women, who got a road sweep this past weekend against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado to go to 6-6 and stay tied with Montana State for fifth place. Northern Colorado is the closest team chasing ISU, and the Bengals take on Weber State this Thursday, and a win there would give ISU sweeps over NAU, UNC, and WSU, the three teams chasing ISU, meaning the Bengals would have all sorts of tiebreakers with those teams, and would be a near lock to make the tournament.

The men's side isn't so simple. ISU is at Weber State on Saturday, and the big games are with NAU and UNC hosting EWU and PSU. Right now, it looks like the best team for ISU to catch might be Portland State, who is 5-7, as the Vikings have two tough road games this weekend, and then still have to host Weber State and Idaho State. It's still too early to figure things out, but ISU could make it into the tournament with just one win, or they could conceivably win all three and have to rely on tiebreakers, but ISU would get in with three wins. That all starts on Saturday in a rematch of the game of the year, ISU's 95-93 loss in triple overtime to Weber State.

Softball Stuff
The Bengals got one, and then lost four at the Red Desert Classic, but the team had never won in three previous trips there, and have a double header at the College of Idaho on the 27th for their next contest. The team didn't get great pitching overall, but that should improve with fourth-year junior Kandis Clesson and freshman Nora Maschue, who both had moments over the weekend, and were facing their first live opponents in an outdoor setting.

Gone Fishin'

Well, not really, but I'm headed over to Boise to help out with the NCAA First and Second Rounds (Free hotel and shirt doncha' know), and then it's Spring Break and I'm taking some time off to hang around the house and reintroduce myself to my family and pets, so it'll be quiet here for a little while, but the tentative spring roster for football is up, and I'm still trolling around a little. Brad might add his thoughts on the first round, and I'll let you know how my "for-fun" bracket did.

Ciao for now!
Frank

The Newest Bengal Legend from the ISU Upset of UCLA is......Jeff Balmer?

There are great names in Idaho State's athletic history ... Mike Machurek...Jared Allen....Steve Hayes....Les Roh....Natalie Doma...well, now the fans can add the name Jeff Balmer to the mix. Did he ever play at Idaho State? That would be no...and that's good, because Jeff's contribution to ISU athletics is greater than being a player.

About six months ago, Jeff got in contact with me, and sent me a DVD of the 1977 Idaho State/UCLA game. Now, it's pretty cool, but it was just the coach's film, so there was no audio or anything like that. Seemingly, the audio is lost. Should I put that as "was" lost? I should, because Sir Balmer (I would knight him if I could), has sent over the ISU audio of the game. I have not listened to it yet, but now the goal is to get everything merged together into one package. Could be a heck of a fundraiser, no?

Anyways, all the thanks on this go to Jeff Balmer. He got it done....big time.

Open Mic Night Tonight...
Tonight we are having an open mic night to find our new public address announcer for women's basketball. It's a paid gig, with tickets and gear (a nice Nike shirt....like $60) and I've had some interested parties contact me already. We are going start as soon as the women's basketball team ends practice at 8 pm, and no, I won't be like Simon Cowell making comments, but what an opportunity for someone to get involved...and get paid to boot. It's also open to the public, so come out and listen in. The official announcement was posted here.

Where Has Frank Been?
I've been finishing up the men's basketball media guide for the last few weeks, so I have not been posting as much here as I tend to normally, but big props to Brad Bugger for all of his posts, which are a highly entertaining read from someone really well versed in Bengal and Big Sky history.

Onto a major amount of links...

Basketball is practicing...yeah!
A lot of eyes are on both the men's basketball program, but the women's one as well. Kelvin Ang had an article in the Journal on the Natalie Doma replacement sweepstakes, and he also touched on some other things in his blog. Also, the men's basketball team was picked third by both the coaches and the media...how 'bout them apples?

Why Walk-Ons Shouldn't Work on the Weekends...
Jaclyn Hone was originally going to redshirt to keep a commitment to her employer as a restaurant, so give Chad Teichert credit for getting her on the court this year. Kelvin Ang, who I think did almost everything in the paper yesterday (including a horrifically easy Jumble), covered that story as well.

Football Saturday
Remember football? Well, It's been well documented that ISU's last win was against Portland State, and look who is on the schedule for this week....Portland State. However, Dan Thompson has his Big Sky Notebook today, and John Smithers (who?) of the Missoulian has his Big Sky Notebook up as well, and suffice to say, John isn't getting any Christmas cards from me. Charles Pulliam of the Montana student paper the Kaimin previews the upcoming week, and he proves that you can live in Missoula and not take potshots at ISU. Thank you Chuck!

Big Soccer Weekend
The online link isn't up, but the Bengals have a big game today against Portland State, the first place team in the Big Sky. The Bengals have not won a game since August, but they've been right there for most of the season, and they still can make the Big Sky Tournament, but it won't be easy. The game is at 4:00 pm at Davis Field, and it will be on the radio on KISU 91.1 FM.

If you need a Chuckle...
I was interviewed by Jason Marsteller for the SIDShow podcast ... my portion is a painfully long 31 minutes, so book some time out. The media relations folks have a message board (like the BengalDen, but we all use our own names), and the SIDShow is a part of that.

Ross Cunningham Will Just Die...
It's true, Idaho State is partnering with the Montana schools for an energy degree. But not those two Montana schools...it's Montana State - Billings, MSU-Great Falls College of Technology and MSU-Northern. And I might as well admit it here now...Ross's picture of him waving that big giant flag on the court after the Montana win in the tournament....yeah, that made the media guide.

If I can get it done, I plan on taking a lot of pictures from this road trip for you folks...while putting together the cover for the basketball guide. Stuff never ends sometimes....

Pinch-Hitting for Pedro Borbon.....Manny Mota

Ah, one of the best parts of Airplane for those that didn't get it. Just a note to let you know when you tune into the broadcast on Saturday at 12:30 pm, it will not be Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger, but myself and Brad. As many of you guys know, Jerry worked at KLCE on the morning show with Wayne and Liza for over nine years, and sadly, Wayne passed away over the weekend while vacationing in Hawaii with his family. Wayne's funeral is on Saturday, and Jerry understandably wants to be there, and that is totally understandable. I'm proud to stand in for a week, and I hope to do him proud.

The irony of all of this is last year I filled in for Russ and got to announce Josh Barnett breaking the all-time rushing record, and now I will probably get to announce Eddie Thompson breaking the receptions record. Jerry may be "Voice of the Bengals", but I'm quickly becoming "The Voice of History"

Links, links, links
Dan Thompson is just chock full of links today, including links to his column on why the Big Sky should add ... North Dakota. Kellis Robinett also jumps in with some thoughts on ISU's four walk-ons in basketball (and since it has been asked about elsewhere, nothing official on Kelvin Krosch playing basketball at this point, and that was from the head coach). Kellis however is none-to-happy about the last two games being at Reed Gym, and in a perfect world, yeah, we don't want those games there, but like Jeff Tingey stated in the release, the economic impact to the area was too great...we have so many great sponors in the hotel and restaurant industry that need this tournament. This is why we have to have Bengal Village, and it's why on all these football road trips we've had our fundraisers glad-handing, driving to meet with boosters and potential boosters, and basically getting the processes started.

Eye on Sports Media
Eye on Sports Media apparently knows of this blog (at least someone does), and they a while back made mention of the fact I broke the two-deep here, and I sometimes get stuff here first for the die-hards before the offiical page. Well, they asked me to write a guest piece on why I credentialed the blog site www.idahosportszone.com (a must visit site by the way), and they posted it this morning. I swear I look like I'm 12 in that picture. Seriously...I shave like all the time.

Beer Pong Gone Wrong
Now while it is true that according to statistics that the alcohol-related citations have gone up at ISU to 70, when you figure that's less than six per month, or like just over one per weekend in a school of almost 14,000 .... well, that's not horrid, is it? However, I'm guessing that if beer pong is going to happen in the Gem State, it'll be a happy affair. Sadly, that's not the case at the University of Montana.

Volleyball Drops One in Four
Katie Zigars filed this story regarding ISU's loss at Boise State in volleyball last night.

The Greatest Catch You Will Ever See...
Seriously...catch out this catch by Morgan State's recevier....this is the greatest catch in college football history. Seriously...I defy you to show me a better one. If you think you have one, you know what to do.