Scott Slant: Are the Broncos over the hump?… presented by Pastry Perfection.
Going into last weekend, Boise State’s three WAC victories had come against the bottom three teams in the conference at that time. Then came the major step forward, the 15-point win over Nevada in Reno. Tonight BSU will find out it’s not the only team trying to make hay in the WAC this season, as Hawaii see this week’s road trip to the state of Idaho as a corner-turning experience. The Warriors are right on the Broncos’ heels in the conference at 3-2. UH has well-documented problems any time it strays from Oahu, but the Warriors have won twice in six WAC trips to Taco Bell Arena. They have some momentum right now, too, having posted back-to-back wins for the first time this season under new coach Bob Nash.
Coach Greg Graham’s substitution patterns will be interesting tonight. Since the Broncos don’t play again until Monday night at Fresno State, they can afford to have their starters expend a lot of energy against Hawaii. My guess is the sub most central to the game will be Kurt Cunningham. The 6-9 sophomore has contributed the most consistently valuable minutes in WAC play, although there just haven’t been very many of them—11 minutes a game. But Graham says Cunningham’s minutes “have really helped”, allowing him to rest Matt Nelson and “discuss things” with the senior standout. Cunningham has made his time count, hitting 75 percent from the field for the season.
The big series last week in the WAC was Boise State’s road trip to Utah State and Nevada. This week it’s New Mexico State’s homestand against USU and the Wolf Pack. The Las Cruces version of the Aggies gets Nevada tonight—a crucial matchup as the Pack tries to avoid falling below .500 in conference,and NMSU seeks to remain a half-game behind Utah State (assuming the Logan version of the Aggies wins tonight at Louisiana Tech). Elsewhere, San Jose State plays at Idaho as the Vandals look to eclipse their win total in each of the past two seasons by grabbing their fifth victory.
The long-awaited renovation of the Kibbie Dome is set to happen, as the University of Idaho announced yesterday its $52 million campaign to repair and improve the 33-year-old facility. Highlights include lowering the field and adding 3,600 seats to increase capacity to 20,000. Now comes the fun part, as the Vandals have to raise $35 million through private funds. They’re counting on more seats to bring in more people and more dollars. “We feel we can generate between $800,000 and $1 million of additional revenues per year,” said athletic director Rob Spear yesterday.
But the current football seating hasn’t come close to being filled. Idaho averaged 11,479 fans per game in 2007, 116th out of 119 schools in Division I-A. There’s not a lot of revenue in that number. There’s not a lot of revenue in that number. So it’s going to have to come from high-end boosters turning their pockets inside out. This project has to happen, but there’s a tough row to hoe.
Boise State’s drive to get names on its season ticket waiting list has worked so far. Ticket manager Anita Guerricabeitia says over 400 names have been added to the list, requesting over 1,200 tickets. Some of those will be accommodated by expansion, as the sky suites and club seats will be ready for the August 30 kickoff against Idaho State, bringing Bronco Stadium capacity to just under 32,000. BSU capped season tickets last year at 20,845.
Hawaii has had similar success the past week. The Warriors launched a drive for new season tickets following the hiring of Greg McMackin last week and has received requests for 1,300 new season seats so far. With all the hype that went into Colt Brennan and the school’s 2007 season, Hawaii saw a real spike, increasing season tickets by over 4700 to a total of 22,975. The Warriors’ goal this year is 30,000. They have a lot more latitude than BSU, with 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium at their disposal.
After last night’s ECHL All-Star Game in Stockton, the Idaho Steelheads’ Kellen Briggs and Greg Rallo are headed down the San Joaquin Valley to Fresno to meet their teammates for tomorrow night’s game against the Falcons. But Hay is off to the AHL for at least the weekend, coach Derek Laxdal said on Idaho SportsTalk. It’s not like Laxdal isn’t used to this. He’s seen six different goaltenders on his bench over the past three weeks, and he’s dealt with about 25 player moves. There’s always somebody new stepping up, though, as Mike Sullivan scored the game-winning goal in each of the two victories over Alaska last weekend. Rallo, incidentally, scored the National Conference’s first goal last night and added four assists, and Briggs allowed only one goal in one period between the pipes. Which is saying something, as the Nationals won a 10-7 track meet over the American Conference.
Back to hoops, the Idaho Stampede try to break their franchise winning streak record tonight in Qwest Arena, going for their 13th straight victory. They’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way—yes, they’ll have to earn it. The Stampede, with the D-League’s best record at 17-5, host the team right behind ‘em in the West Division, the L.A. D-Fenders. The Stamps are also trying to tie the club record for home winning streak. They’re 11-0 in Boise this season; they had a 12-game home streak in 2003-04. (Hey, that was in Nampa.) The hottest Stampede player right now is Mouhamed Sene, the Sonics’ project from Senegal who’s been allocated to Idaho for the second straight year. Sene has canned 22 of his last 29 shots from the field.
In women’s play, Boise State enters what coach Gordy Presnell calls a “crucial” two-week stretch, with three of four games on the road. BSU plays at Hawaii tonight, and star guard Jessica Thompson has been day-to-day with a hip pointer. She is expected to play, though. The WAC Preseason Player of the Year is averaging 15 points a game. The defending league champions are 3-2 in the WAC, two games behind conference leader Fresno State, who they host in Taco Bell Arena Monday night. By the way, there surely have been some interesting trans-oceanic phone calls this week—Hawaii guard Keisha Kanekoa has a sister who attends Boise State.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by THE ASHLEY INN OF CASCADE…just a scenic drive away!
January 24, 1982: Two weeks after Dwight Clark makes “The Catch”, the San Francisco 49ers win the first of their five Super Bowl titles, beating Cincinnati 26-21 in the Pontiac Silverdome. Joe Montana moved the Niners into position for four Ray Wersching field goals, offsetting a 300-yard day by Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson.
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