Wednesday, June 9, 2010.
No question that the most influential market in the Mountain West is Salt Lake City, and conference commissioner Craig Thompson acknowledges that yes, he reads the papers and the Internet. Hey, maybe the presidents do, too. So what are they saying about the Boise State situation down there? Kurt Kragthorpe in the Salt Lake Tribune says the Mountain West “still has time to make the right choice.” Writes Kragthorpe, “If you're tired of a Mountain West schedule than produces basically three meaningful football games each season—BYU and Utah vs. Texas Christian and BYU vs. Utah, with occasional challenges from Air Force mixed in—you have to spend the next three weeks waiting and hoping for the MWC presidents to revisit the Boise State addition.”
Dick Harmon in the Deseret News says, “My guess is this stare down between egomaniac Big Ten commish Jim Delany and Pac-10's new visionary Larry Scott will fizzle out. Texas is not going to the Pac-10 and play second fiddle to big dog USC. (Nebraska) and Mizzou are not going to abandon tradition with the Kansas schools, Oklahoma and Texas. In days to come, some sane minds may just back down and call Delany on his narcissism. Scott will then disengage his counter money grab and the MWC will invite the Broncos.”
A lot of national writers seem mesmerized by the old romantic movie angle when it comes to the Broncos’ uncertain situation. Here’s Ivan Maisel at ESPN.com. “I’ve seen this movie,” writes Maisel. “Boy (Mountain West) meets girl (Boise State); boy courts girl, and just when girl is ready to fall for him, boy decides he wants to see the world (especially Kansas and Colorado). The way Hollywood tells this one, the girl waits faithfully, the boy shuns the big distractions, decides to stay home and they live happily ever after. You remember that movie—‘It’s a Wonderful Conference.’” There you have it. The Mountain West is played by Jimmy Stewart—Boise State by Donna Reed.
Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton, always open and energetic, was on Idaho SportsTalk yesterday and discussed the WAC’s yearning for Montana. For the Grizzlies, it’s a matter of getting a return on investment with a move, because it would require a considerable investment. And then there’s the issue of Montana State. “I think there will be a strong push on the board (of education) to keep the two schools together,” said Fullerton. As for the Mountain West, Fullerton mused that the conference would “have a hard time keeping its hands off Boise State.”
Ryan Dinwiddie, Boise State’s career passing leader, looks like he might get that second shot in the CFL with Saskatchewan. The Roughriders have released former Kansas standout Todd Reesing, leaving Dinwiddie as the leading candidate for the No. 2 quarterback slot behind Darian Durant. Dinwiddie is competing with Cole Bergquist and Kent Smith, but coach Ken Miller likes Dinwiddie’s experience. He spent three years as backup in Winnipeg and started the 2007 Grey Cup game for the Blue Bombers. After being released last summer, Dinwiddie sat out last season and coached at Mountain View High. He turns 30 in November.
Among the interesting nuggets among Chicago Cubs picks in the Major League Draft yesterday was righthanded pitcher Aaron Kurcz from the College of Southern Nevada. He spent this season throwing to Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and one of the most celebrated big league prospects of the new century. Kurcz could end up in Boise next week. A guy who’s spent years playing catch with Harper was also selected by the Cubs. They took Harper’s older brother, Bryan, in the 27th round. Bryan is a 6-5 pitcher who also played with Bryce at Southern Nevada.
It’s too bad the Hawks aren’t still affiliated with the L.A. Angels, because former Bishop Kelly star Josh Osich would have had a chance to camp out at Memorial Stadium this summer. Osich, a pitcher for Oregon State, was drafted in the seventh round by the Angels yesterday. He missed this season for the Beavers after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Osich twice won Idaho’s Gatorade Player of the Year award at BK. Now we’ll see if he signs with L.A.—or elects to stay with OSU. Seventh round is pretty good.
Former Boise Hawk Jamie Burke missed out on a front row seat for Stephen Strasburg’s much-celebrated big league debut last night by this much (envision fingers a millimeter apart). Burke, just called up last weekend by the Nationals, was designated for assignment yesterday to make room for fellow catcher Ivan Rodriguez coming off the disabled list. Now 38, Burke’s career may be over. He waited the longest of any Hawks alum to finally make the majors. Burke played for the Hawks way back in 1993, and he didn’t debut in the bigs until he was almost 30 years old in 2001. He got into the Nats’ game against Cincinnati Sunday as a defensive replacement and didn’t get an at-bat. Burke played in 19 games last year for the Mariners.
The quest for All-America honors begins today for three Boise State athletes at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Eugene’s historic Hayward Field. Zacharias Arnos will be first up for the Broncos, competing in the men’s triple jump trials (and hopefully finals) this evening. Pontus Thomee and Kurt Felix join in the next two days in the javelin and decathlon, respectively.
This Day In Sports…June 9, 1973:
Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes by a staggering 31 lengths to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 25 years. There would be two more in the 70’s (Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978), but there has been no Triple Crown winner since then.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He’s also handled color commentary on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football the last five seasons.)
