12-0: Are You Kidding?

The BSU Broncos wrapped up a perfect football season by beating Nevada today and while the rest of the country is saying "ho-hum", Bronco fans are going crazy!
Today's win assures a spot in a BCS Bowl game. They will probably wind up at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ against the Big 12 champion, either Nebraska or Oklahoma. This is not for sure, they may yet go to another major bowl, but the Fiesta Bowl scenerio seems most likely.
I spent some time in Norman, Oklahoma last year (2005) and they are nuts about their Sooners. I made comments to some that Boise State would love to have a chance to play them and the response was pretty much no more than a blank stare. Most of the country did not see BSU's success coming, even though since 2002, only one team in the country has more wins than we do and that's USC....and only one more. Granted, our schedule is not one of the toughest out there, in fact, it's comparatively easy, but it's still pretty impressive to keep winning at the pace we have. Anyway, I wonder if those Normanites even remember me or what I said.
Some guys that did know all about our team were a bunch that I met in Boston They were workers for the MBTA for whom I did some work. Those guys knew a lot about sports as fans and as gamblers. One of them told me that betting on BSU's football team had won him a bunch of cash over the last few years. I met those guys last December and ironically, Boston College came to Boise last year to play BSU in the MPC Computers Bowl and they won. That was the Broncos last loss.
Enough about that. Tomorrow I return to Spokane where their basketball team (Gonzaga) has achieved similar success to BSU's. They have been on the national radar for some time now and as it turns out, sports fans in that area root for the BSU football team with pretty much the same ferver that fans in Boise root for Gonzaga basketball. I suppose it's a regional thing.

Home Again

After months on the road with my crazy job I am in Boise for the Thanksgiving holiday. This town is going crazy for the football team. Boise State is 11-0 and is one of only two Division 1 teams in the country that is unbeaten...the other one is Ohio State. BSU plays Nevada in Reno this Saturday. A win would guarantee a spot in a BCS Bowl, probably the Fiesta Bowl against a very high profile team. Nevada has been playing well and would love to knock the Broncos off of their lofty perch. They just might do it if BSU plays like they did two weeks ago when they barely got by San Jose State.
Most of my time away from home is spent in Spokane, WA. I also get to Whitefish, Montana and Libby, Montana as well as to Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint, Idaho. It is all very pretty country, but it would be nice to spend more time in one place.
It was great to see my favorite baseball team win the World Series. Pretty much all of the 'experts' were picking the Tigers whose pitching staff looked practically unbeatable. That's why they play the games. If their favorites always won, who would ever want to watch?