After more than six years here at the Idaho Press-Tribune, this will be the final time I occupy this space.

With much thought and debate, my family and I have decided to move on, setting sail for Southern California. I must confess, I'm pretty happy this winter will be my first without shoveling snow.

For those who don't know me well, I moved to Idaho more than nine years ago from Michigan...read more

Dan Hawkins was close to having a shrine built in his honor outside the varsity center at Boise State prior to taking over as the head coach at Colorado in 2005.

Everyone loved him at Boise State, nationally he was regarded as not only a great football coach, but a better motivator. He was considered college football's version of Phil Jackson.

Heck, I thought he was a great hire, only doubting...read more

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the USA Today's coaches' Top 25 poll is a joke.

When I think about top 25 polls, there are a few criteria for teams deserving of the honor. How well have they played all season? Who have they beat? How did they win? How did they lose?

A three-point loss to a top 10 team (USC over Ohio State) may not be as bad as a seven-point win (Missouri...read more

First Quarter

Boise State score first: After going three and out on its first drive, the Broncos wasted little time going 92 yards to take an early 7-0 lead.Boise State scored on a 17 yard TD pass from Kellen Moore to Austin Pettis.

Big pick leads to score: Boise State got an interception from George Iloka, two plays later Kellen Moore threw his second TD of the game, this time to Tyler...read more

This is why I love college football. Because every week is so critical and every week brings new drama.

It was a week ago when Boise State was on the fast track to another Bowl Championship Series game. Pasadena? Glendale? Who cares, the Broncos were going to one of the four major bowls. No need to play the other 12 games, right? Not so fast!

Just when Bronco Nation was feeling great about beating...read more

Boise State bills itself as a blue-collar team. The Broncos showed that again Thursday night on national TV in a hard-fought win against a Top 25 team.

But what wasn't workman-like was the actions that led to Oregon's LeGarrette Blount's cheap shot of Byron Hout.

On Friday, Blount was suspended for the season. His career, at least collegiately, is over. By no means am I sticking up...read more

First Quarter

The Broncos forced the Ducks into a thrre-and-out. Since taking the ball, Boise State has marched down the field and are faced with a third-and-goal from the 17.

Broncos miss score

After having the ball on the Ducks' 1 yard line, the Broncos failed to covert on a field goal from Kyle Brotzman from 29 yards out. Score is 0-0 with 4:59 to play in the first.

Second quarter

The...read more

Before I let you all know which way I'm leaning for tonight's game, I've got one thought ...

After driving home from the office early Thursday morning (shortly after midnight), if finally hit me — this really is a big game. Sure it's a big game for BCS reasons, but here's why I know now it's huge in our community.

In all my time driving home from work the night...read more

This is pretty funny ...

New bobbleheads are out!

With the departure of William Love, I will — for now — take over the voting in the Idaho high school football poll. This is the first installment.

Mr. Love was helpful with this week's poll, but It's all me for the rest of the season. Here is the poll, followed by the poll that was submited by the IPT.

Idaho High School Football Media Poll

Preseason

Team 2008 Rec. Pts. (First)

Class...read more

You gotta love technology if you're a sports fan. The upcoming football season has been much more insightful this season because of it.

As a fan of the Big Ten Conference, I feel right at home this season thanks to the Big Ten Network's football tour, a series devoted to all 11 schools with a 90-minute program chock-full of practice segments, player interviews and coaches breaking down...read more

The Western Athletic Conference media preview is now in our rear view mirror, so what did we learn?

Here's a look:

— For starters, we found out Boise State is far and away the class of the conference —I can't recount the many times I heard that the last few days.

At one point, it became a bit over the top. Louisiana Tech head man Derek Dooley made no bones about it, he's...read more

Robb Akey

This season mark year three for Robb Akey on the Palouse. Akey is pumped as usual for good things to happen to the Vandals.

"We're bigger, we're faster, we're stronger," he said.

Akey talked about how the team has more depth than in the past, but still have a few holes they need to fill to be a complete team. Avoiding injuries is also key.

"We got better...read more

Derek Dooley

Derek Dooley leads La. Tech for the third season, one that could be his most successful.

Last year, the team ended with a bowl victory and eight wins. This year, the Bulldogs are expected to finish in the top third of the league.

With many starters back, Dooley said the players they did lose were the "the glue of the team."

With many games on TV this season and three...read more

About one quarter of the questions directed at Karl Benson were about the Mountain West during his forum early Wednesday. It was clear Benson was getting annoyed on the subject, sighting many of the recent stories on Boise State leaving the WAC were not fact based.

"It makes great stories ...," he said.

After all, Boise State and its president, Dr. Kustra, have been fairly vocal about...read more