Arbiter Online » Search Results » The Big Eye In The Sky

From the Blue to You: Risky Business Payoff

Brittney Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Chris Petersen, as a head coach of a top-10 program on the brink of the third undefeated regular season, you demand respect from the players. As a coach, you want them to listen to you and the things you instruct as they take the field to compete. If someone goes against your wishes, more often than not they will sit solemnly on the bench with their tail between their legs.

Saturday at the big rivalry game, Doug Martin and Titus Young did the unthinkable that turned into the unbelievable.

Before taking the field to receive a kickoff with 22 seconds left in the half, with the wind behind the kicker, and the ball likely going into the end zone, Coach Petersen told Martin to advise Titus to take a knee and get the touchback. Martin disobeyed, egging Young on to return a ball caught six yards deep in the end zone. The decision will likely go down in Boise State versus Idaho lore.

After a quick hand motion from Martin to take it up the field, Young rambled 100 yards for the game changing momentum shift that stamped a big W in the win column for Boise State. One of the most exciting parts of the play wasn’t the one that will show up on the stat sheets forever, it was the steamroll block by Martin mere seconds after the decision to motion Young out of the end zone. The hit put the exclamation point on the exciting special teams play that littered Sports Center Highlights Saturday night.

A risky decision of Young to ignore Coach Petersen turned into a huge smile on his face, risk turned into reward. If you are going to go against the Coach’s wishes you might as well notch six points on the board in doing so. Six points that will save your booty as you face your coach on the sidelines. Six points that will put the rival teams fans on sitting on their hands dumbfounded. Six points shifting momentum back to your team.

Thank goodness for Young’s and Martin’s risky play that contributed to the 63-25 shellacking of the instate rivals. The Broncos scored on offense, defense and special teams.

As Coach Petersen and staff look back on the victory, surely they will not be too worried about the decision made against their wishes that turned into the icing on the Bronco Cake and the thorn in the Vandal’s side.

Students protest religious commitment with debaptisms

Andrew Ford — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:44:00 +0000

GLENN LANDBERG/THE ARBITER Rebecca Ames, a former political science student who graduated in May smiles and closes her eyes as she prepares to be sprayed with “unholy” water Tuesday afternoon in the Quad.

As the “unholy” water sprayed into his eyes, he squinted. With the reverse baptismal prayer already said, there was just the blow dryer of “reason and inquiry” left and Mitch Brinton, a freshmen psychology major from Salt Lake City, would be debaptized.

The former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said he heard about the de-baptizing event two weeks ago. Tuesday afternoon, Brinton followed through and was debaptized in front of 10-15 people clustered around the event sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance in the Quad.

“I was planning on doing it anyway, but I thought, hey, it will be fun,” Brinton said.

According to Brinton, he was ”probably the Mormonest Mormon you’ve ever met.”

Alicia Clegg, a junior English literature major from Blackfoot and treasurer of the SSA performed the debaptism on Mitch.

The debaptism began with reading a baptismal prayer backward. The SSA chose the LDS prayer because according to Clegg, it was the shortest.

After Clegg read the garbled, reversed prayer, she quickly sprayed the unholy water.

Next, students were dried with the blow dryer of “reason and inquiry.”

With the process over, debaptized students were given an orange Get out of Hell free card. The card was given “just in case we’re wrong,” Clegg said.

In the first two hours of the event, about 10 students were debaptized, according to Clegg.

She said the purpose of the event was to give freedom from past religious commitment.

“Catholics get baptized when they’re babies and they don’t have a choice in that. Mormons get baptized when they’re eight. They’re kids!” she said.

Clegg said she was raised LDS and baptized at age eight. At 18, she left the church. She said she went through the questions she had about religion and came to a conclusion.

“I found out the god in the sky was an unreasonable idea to hold,” she said.

Across the sidewalk from the bustling table of the SSA debaptizing, was the Tau Kappa Epilson fraternity president, Mike Pennington, handing out information and hoping to recruit members.

“I don’t know what to think about it. It’s freedom of speech if they want to do that,” said the sophomore marketing and biology major. “It’s somebody’s choice to be baptized, but if they’re here trying to get people to be debaptized, it’s like they are saying they were brought up wrong.”

While twisting the cap of his water bottle, he said he questioned whether students would have wanted to be debaptized, if not for SSA making it such a big display.

“In the bible it says you should be baptized,” said Billy Mogensen, an advisor for the Campus Crusade for Christ or BSUCRU. “It’s showing that you have made the decision to follow Christ and you want others to know it.”

Mogensen said CRU hasn’t performed any baptisms on or near campus.

“I would call it (debaptisms) funny if the reasons behind it weren’t so serious. You know what I mean? I want to laugh at it. It’s amusing to me and they probably think it is too. But it’s very much mocking something that I take very seriously,” Mogensen said.

SSA meets every Friday at 6 p.m. in the SUB. This Friday, they’re hosting a Pastafarian Pasta party to celebrate the internet phenomenon of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The FSM is a religious satire website that argues if intelligent design should be taught in schools, then so should the history of the FSM.

According to their Web site, venganza.org, the church has existed for hundreds of years.

“With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshipers, the Church of the FSM is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents – mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs,” according to their Web site.

Rebecca Ames graduated from Boise State in May with a Political Science degree and was debaptized Tuesday afternoon.

“I liked church because I felt an sense of awe. I thought that (awe) was god.”

Ames said she went through different faiths before deciding on atheism.

“I realized that the world is big, the universe is big, there’s a lot of beauty,” she said.

Without believing in god, she said she still sees “awe” in the world.

“I’m connected to something whether there’s a god or not.”

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

PopRocks! presents:Subliminal Disney Moments

Archive — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Remember the days of innocently watching Disney movies? Well those days are gone, my friend. Part of growing up is appreciating the adult jokes in chlidren’s entertainment. But what we’re sure none of us oh-so-innocent children expected were dirty messages in Disney movies. Oh, the horror! We didn’t want to believe Disney could be so naughty. But now, thanks to YouTube, there’s no denying it. And so, we bring you the top five subliminal moments in Disney movies:

5The Little Mermaid

Oh, c’mon, don’t be coy. Everyone knows that the original cover of “The Little Mermaid” features a penis as one of the castle turrets. Disney, of course, changed the cover for all subsequent releases. But true children of the 90s remember that image with

immature fondness.

4Aladdin

There’s no doubt Aladdin and Jasmine are the hottest Disney couple. So, really, who can blame the guy for trying to get hot and heavy? When Aladdin is on Jasmine’s balcony trying to woo her, Rajah doesn’t take kindly to the male suitor. Aladdin is supposed to say, “Come on … good kitty. Take off and go.” But many people hear him say, “Good teenagers, take off your clothes.” Which story do you believe? The PopRocks! girls don’t mind the idea of hunky Aladdin

strippin’ down.

3The Lion King

This could be the most widely known subliminal Disney moment. When Simba flops down in the flowers, they fly into the night sky, and the swirling dust spells S-E-X. If you slow down your DVD, and squint a little, you can see it. There is a fun little video on YouTube that goes through almost the entire movie and points out all the instances “sex” appears. It’s written all over in that movie, but it is clearest in the flowers. (By the way, check out the Nazi imagery in “Be Prepared”. Eat your heart out Leni Riefenstahl).

2The Little Mermaid

… again. And the award for Most Phalluses in an Animated Feature goes to … This second “Little Mermaid” penis has gathered a lot of attention. It is probably the most obviously dirty moment in a Disney movie. When Ursula (as the evil human lady) and Prince Erik walk down the aisle, the priest performing the ceremony has a chubby. Totally. Disney defended this one to the death. They said it was his knee poking through his robes. But notice, once again, that the ambiguous knob is missing from the rerelease.

1The Rescuers

Here it is: the only moment of actual nudity in a Disney movie. And, oh, what nudity. We’re not sayin’ this chick has particularly great boobs, but the scene is so obvious. When the mice take off on their albatross, they fly past an apartment building, and there in a window is a woman with her top off. This isn’t your slow-it-down, sit-close-to-the-screen, squint-and-cross-your-eyes boob shot. It’s the “Woah! Was that woman naked? Rewind!” We have to give props to the animator(s) who slipped in that little number in there. This was several decades ago, making it infinitely more risque. Bravo fearless, dirty-minded animator(s), bravo.

LAURA ROGERS AND CHARLOTTE TAYLOR
Arbiter Staff

Emotion through motion:Balance dance set to wow

Archive — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Leah Clark hopes that “Ready. Set.Balance” will leave its audience with more questions than answers. The artistic director of Balance Dance Company has been a teacher of modern and ballet forms for almost 15 years. Balance Dance Company brings a collage of talent and a variety of media together for this weekend’s performance, featuring poetry by Judith McConnell Steele and a musical program featuring Led Zeppelin, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Bjork, among others.

“Ready.Set.Balance” features two main performance groups. Boise State student, dancer and choreographer Amanda Micheletty directs a performance by Balance 2, a group of pre-professional young women.

They will perform “Hypnosis,” which explores the idea of how people interact with each other, balancing intimacy with autonomy. The piece invites its audience to relax and experience the artistic expression possible through dance, and is enhanced by a disarming and breathy soundtrack. Balance 2’s main piece, “Whether,” is a high-energy exploration of the process of seeking understanding and meaning in life. The musical program moves from minor keyed discomfort to hopeful, energetic pieces and the dancers explore a whole range of emotion. The piece comes to a close with a series of abstract symbols expressed through arm motions, and the idea of chance communication comes to mind throughout.

Of course, this is only one limited interpretation of a rehearsal of these pieces. Clark, who received an Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship for Artistic Excellence, said she seeks to avoid contrivance by avoiding a particular overall theme.

If anything, she said, both Balance and Balance 2 explore the ideas that arise as we “teet[er] between roles of child and adult.” Clark is very much a believer that while modern dance is often seen as a thinking person’s art form, it can be enjoyed at many different levels and in this iteration, the goal is to create a tongue-in-cheek rock show, with performers flying around the room, hair down, bringing a sense that performance for entertainment and art’s sake is more important than profundity and ambiguity.

The main event is choreographed in collaboration with New York City-based Laura Peterson, whose lengthy resume includes a performance in the film “Across the Universe.” Balance’s pieces are inspired in part by the photography by Edward Burtensky, and incorporate building materials that start out as part of the stage and gradually

become wearable.

This concept seeks to explore the idea of what we consider garbage in a society that is increasingly more disposable.

Micheletty, who has been dancing since she was 4, explained the connection between ballet and modern dance with a memorable analogy. In short, modern dance did to ballet what jazz did to classical music, taking classic structured forms and adding an improvisational twist. The passion that all of the people involved in this production show is tremendous and uplifting, and the show promises to be massively entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time.

“Ready.Set.Balance” will show Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m., at the Fulton Street Theatre. Tickets are $5 for students and $12 general, and are available by calling 332-9224.

BRIAN MARSHALL
Arbiter Journalist

Twin Tigers sharpens claws

Archive — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0000

With a locked-in rhythm section and a towering, but comfortable sound, Twin Tigers from Athens, Ga., surfs waves of noise/psychedelic/shoegaze ushered in by the likes of fuzzsters No Age, Deerhunter, and the recently resurrected My Bloody Valentine. Sure, it sounds a little familiar.

But where those “big” bands seem more exacting, Twin Tigers thrives on the sheer pleasure of the groove more than a dense sonic tableaux. The Tigers could get nods from introverted Violens listeners as well as drearier fans of Asobi Seksu.

Don’t let that offend you, fans para Seksu; Twin Tigers just take a little more time in getting to the point. But it always goes down smooth.

A new EP by the quartet is out now digitally and on 7-inch under Old Flame Records.

Side A, “Sexless Love,” hits heavy right off the bat and slides into a lofty chant.

Glamorous but unadorned, ferocious, devastating and ultimately forgiving, the sky-high climax touches the cohesion of TV on the Radio but still holds its own.

Side B, “Envy,” really stands out, building into a jamming bridge slowly, carefully, but without losing the directive of the groove. While it sounds as fresh as anything right now, the coolest thing about this song is the “How it Feels to be Something On” Sun Day Real Estate vibe.

“Man we gotta put this out!” Matthew Rain, Twin Tigers frontman, said of the band’s shared sentiment in creating the release. “I don’t want to say scrapped together. It makes me happy because we just started this new collective with this record label. All the attention is kind of unnerving. I’ve been playing music since I was a little kid. You never know what people are going to familiarize with in our tunes, but it’s always great.”

The driving vocals of “Envy” really make the track exceptional. “I know you’re out there/I feel your eyes on me/I know the reason for your demons.”

“It’s a song with a story just like any other – lost love. Nothing entirely new,” Rain said. “Envy” closes with a noisy, unconstrained guitar flail, giving credit where credit is due to masters of noise (Sonic Youth, Boris, etc.).

With Deerhunter and of Montreal as precedents for stage antics (among a cast of many legendary Athens acts), Rain says the live show is energetic and thoughtful.

“You can’t think about that stuff,” Rain, who lived in Orofino at one time, said. “I don’t think you even have to be a music critic to understand that sometimes you can get over the top when dialing it in.”

Practicing in a rented basement on the eastside of Athens, Twin Tigers draws as much from the Beatles and Velvet Underground as the aforementioned artists. “My favorite record last year was that Beach House album ["Devotion"],” Rain said.

DALE W. EISINGER
Culture Editor

Petersen, coaches not caught with stars in their eyes

Archive — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Chris Petersen, Boise State head football coach, knows the Broncos compete against the elite football programs when recruiting. But at the end of the day, he is looking for somebody who might make a great Bronco, regardless of their ratings prior to enrollment.

When fans look over their recruiting class they can see little in the way of high-level recruits. Most often there are middle of the road players – the type of players that have always made Boise State football. Their power rests in knowing these recruits can put the hammer down and play hard, but above all smart, football.

“I think football-wise you put the tape on and look at these guys high school careers and for most of them it speaks for itself,” Petersen said. “Really then what is going to determine, in our opinion, how well they do is all of the intangible stuff. That’s why we’re really feeling excited about this crew. We’ve got some really good kids with great families who are supportive.”

This type of recruiting is less like looking at thoroughbreds and more like listening and watching people.

One could look at any of the major recruiting schools see the athletes going to USC, Ohio State and LSU rate as the best the world has to offer.

Take Texas for example. They have 20 commitments. Twelve of those 20 young men are rated either four or five stars in their class. Sometimes when recruiting, coaches only see stars.

“We really don’t pay attention to that,” Petersen said. “Maybe we’ll go back and pull the list of off and it will probably be embarrassing in some ways. I think that the whole recruiting process and how they rank those guys is embarrassing. I think it is a lot on who is recruiting them. Some kids get hype and some don’t.”

Petersen’s recruiting tactics stray away from simply seeing these kids play. He extends his analysis to their families and attitudes. He is known for wanting athletes who play unselfish football.

Petersen says it best.

“We just want good players who are great kids.”

Not to take away from the aspect of athleticism. But Petersen and company steer away from the hype and focus on what players can do. The study of film before approaching a recruit takes precedence above any rating attached to a recruit.

“The eye in the sky don’t lie,” Petersen said of watching film.

The philosophy of Boise State football has worked well and their success will undoubtedly bring in that bigger, faster and stronger player who sends coaches into overdrive with excitement. But the Broncos believe they have that. There is always room to improve, without question. But Boise State talent broke two college football greats in Oklahoma and Oregon, not to forget their conference dominance. Compasses all point to the Broncos’ success as the 2009-10 season approaches.

KIRK BELL
Sports Coordinator

Have we evolved:

Archive — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The basic assumption is that as modern day Americans, we are the most highly developed and progressive creatures on the planet. Our culture permeates the globe and is the center of planetary attention. Though we may like to think in terms of superiority and elevation, how does our status quo stack up? Have we evolved?

Looking at the current musical landscape, the easy answer is no. Investigating in particular, the hip-hop/rap genre, the very easy answer is no.

What happened over the last decade in the rap realm that allows for such regressive and horrendous music? How can Soulja Boy be adopted into the American lexicon?

There is no way he would have ever made a dent in music had he come out in the ’90s.

Look at who was dominant in the early and mid-90s. It could be argued that the hay-days of rap and hip-hop were lived out in this period. There were true musicians and lyrical monsters at the time. They were artists in the truest sense of the concept.

Try and line up Soulja Boy against the likes of Tupac and Biggie. It’s not even fair to the latter artists to have their names listed on the same page as someone so pathetic.

Why is Soulja Boy so bad? What is wrong with his style of hip-hop? Many things when looked at in terms of progress, innovation, talent and artistry. Look at some of his lyrics, nay, not lyrics. Look at some of his incoherent ramblings and noises:

“Soulja Boy off in this oh/Watch me crank it, watch me roll/Watch me crank dat, Soulja Boy/Then superman dat oh

Now watch me you/(Crank dat, Soulja Boy)/Now watch me you/(Crank dat, Soulja Boy)

Soulja Boy off in this oh/Watch me crank it, watch me roll/Watch me crank dat, Soulja Boy/Then superman dat oh.”

Seriously? Where did he get this stuff? It looks like it was written on the bathroom stall of an elementary school. This is not progressive and innovative. This is not talented or artistic.

Look at some of Tupac’s lyrics, nay, not lyrics. Look at some of Tupac’s poetry and art:

“Be grateful for blessings/Don’t ever change, keep your essence/The power is in the people and politics we address/Always do your best, don’t let the pressure make you panic/And when you get stranded/And things don’t go the way you planned it/Dreamin of riches, in a position of makin a difference/Politicians and hypocrites, they don’t wanna listen/If I’m insane, it’s the fame made a brother change/It wasn’t nuttin like the game

It’s just me against the world.”

Investigate deeper and there is the same, base and absurd music across the current hip-rap genre. What is it about this decade that is so musically uninspired? It may not be fair to compare a great like Tupac against a tool like Soulja Boy. But what about artists who crossed over from the ’90s?

Snoop is a great example. His work on “The Chronic” was legendary. His own albums were great as well. Look at his lyrics from his song “Murder was the Case:”

“As I look up at the sky/My mind starts trippin, a tear drops my eye/My body temperature falls/I’m shakin and they breakin tryin to save the Dogg/Pumpin on my chest and I’m screamin/I stop breathin, damn I see deamons/Dear God, I wonder can ya save me.”

Snoop was introspective and had genuine fluidity in his flow. It appears as though he was thinking about what he wanted to say. But again, it was the ’90s, when hip-hop was interesting and fun the listen to. Here are some of his lyrics from his 2006 album, “The Blue Carpet Treatment:”Beat up on yo pads/C’mon little homie, go on and beat up on yo pads/Yeah, beat up yo pads/Steelers, Steelers/Yeah, beat up on yo pads/C’mon little homie, go on and beat up on yo pads/You love football? Well, beat up on yo pads/You down with Snoop Dogg, go on and beat up on yo pads.”

This is not a case where you have two different people with different talents and agendas. This is the same person with all the same talent and all the same flow. The only difference is the time period.

So, in terms of hip-hop from the early ’90s to the status quo, have we evolved?

Verdict: No!

Bob Beers

No related posts.

Men’s tennis eyes four-peat

Archive — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The Boise State men’s tennis team has experienced as many highs and lows as Head Coach Greg Patton has ever seen in his career. The Broncos have won 11 consecutive matches heading into this weekend’s Western Athletic Conference Championships. That winning streak hasn’t come without some tribulations, however.

“In life, every step you take, you have got to get stronger,” Patton said Sunday after the Broncos’ season finale at home. “You learn. You have to be resilient. You have to withstand adversity.”

BSU is 21-10 this season. The Broncos have only managed a 2-6 record on the road this spring, however, which gives Patton room for concern with the WAC Championships being held in Las Cruces, N.M.

The Broncos won’t just have to overcome its road woes. They will also be looking for redemption in case of a possible rematch with Fresno State. BSU fell to the Bulldogs, 2-4, on Feb. 24.

Patton said all that is behind the Broncos now; their focus is now on bringing home another WAC Championship.

“We’ve won three [championships] in a row but we want to make it four,” Patton said.

One of the biggest factors working against the Broncos’ odds at doing so has been the weather in Boise this spring. BSU has been very limited in the amount of time it has been able to play outside this season.

The Broncos were even forced to move their last two home duals of the season, last Sunday, to the BOAS Indoor Tennis Complex. Patton said he is a little concerned about the lack of practice outdoors, but he doesn’t think it will be a factor in the team’s success.

“We’ll get to practice out doors [this week],” Patton said. “We’ll practice outdoors rain or shine.”

And at the end of the day, BSU is overflowing with confidence with its current trend of success. Last Sunday the Broncos made quick work of the Big Sky Conference champions, University of California-Santa Barbara, 7-0 and Weber State University 6-1.

“This is kind of like the first round of ‘Dance with the Stars,’” Patton said about Sunday’s matches. “We did the right dance moves. The music was good. The dancing was good. We’re excited. We played good."

JAKE GARCIN
Sports Editor

Breathtaking to the extreme:

Archive — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Some individuals have never been plagued by fear.

These people crave risky endeavors.

These people are extreme sports

enthusiasts.

And this weekend they are sharing their most notable adventures from the past year with the world.

The Sawtooth Mountain Film Festival will be presented by the Boise State Outdoor Program and many other sponsors in the BSU Special Events Center, Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8.

In 2000, Boise State presented its first film festival, an event that included film selections from both amateur and professional directors and producers.

The film festival is one of the first of its kind.

It allows all talent levels to be honored and displayed together.

The festival was a big hit with the community and has since become a popular tradition over the past nine years.

This year’s festivities also include a special new event, the Boise State Campus Rail Jam.

Seventy-five riders from Boise State and surrounding shops and resorts will compete in an intense urban rail riding showdown.

The exhibition will be held Saturday at the Boise State Events Field from 1-5 p.m.

Bogus Basin Ski Resort will provide a unique wintry atmosphere for the competition by donating five semi-truck loads of snow.

The festival is renowned for presenting stunning accounts of sports, such as snow kiting and windsurfing.

Audiences throughout the northwest region of the United States as well as many other countries flock to Boise for the festival.

The weekend’s events will consist of the screening of 18 films.

Exposés from Idaho and other western states as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Papau New Guinea and South America, will all be shown, and feature the stunning natural beauty found across the globe.

Colin Clark’s film, “Lateral Movement,” was a part of the film festival in 2005.

Now he’s back with another thrill-seeking episode. “Sink or Swim,” a skateboarding film, will be shown on day two of the weekend event.

In this traveling documentary-style film, Clark, Ethan Chancer and Devin Wonacott present a view of the Northwest region through skaters’ eyes.

“We mostly focused on tricks and talents, but include some city shots as well,” Clark said, while describing his film.

“Sink or Swim” debuted at the Boise State Special Events Center recently to a crowd of nearly 400 people. Most attendees were friends of the filmmakers or of their sponsor, Prestige Skateshop.

Saturday night’s screening will be a much different experience, since the film festival offers a great and exciting opportunity to present the work to a fresh audience.

“It’s really cool to have a venue for alternative sports that allows people who make non-mainstream film to present their work,” Clark said.

Overall, from this filmmaker’s point of view, the Sawtooth Mountain Film Festival is a time to celebrate talents, both in the realm of extreme sports and moviemaking.

“Through the experience, you are able to show a creative side and progress in cinematography while creating something that’s worth watching,” Clark said.

That seems to be what the festival is all about, learning and growing, while having the time of your life.

Enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts of extreme sports can enjoy an adrenaline rush through the Sawtooth Mountain Film Festival.

The adventure awaits.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and screenings begin at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Outdoor Program (located in the Student Recreation Center) for $6, tickets at the door cost $8.

KAYLA CHRISTOPHERSON
Culture Writer

Bronco stronghold

Archive — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The 2007-08 men’s basketball season has gone in polar opposite directions for the University of Idaho (5-15, 2-7) and Boise State (16-5,7-2). That is why Saturday night’s 78-64 BSU win might not appear to be particularly meaningful. It seems a win for the Broncos over their in-state rival, but it might hold more importance to BSU than just what meets the eye.

With Saturday’s win in Taco Bell Arena, the Broncos have won 14-consecutive games against the Vandals. That means that no player on the BSU roster has suffered a loss to UI. The last time Idaho knocked off a BSU team was in 2000-01, 70-67. That was three years before any of the current Broncos arrived at BSU.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” BSU Head Coach Greg Graham, who is 12-0 against the Vandals, said. “We’ve had some close games. We have guys graduate and new guys step up and have played well … It’s a rival game that our guys get ready for. We’ve battled at it and been fortunate to have the upper hand.”

In the most recent meeting, it took 40 minutes for BSU to hold off the pesky Vandals squad that, despite falling behind by 25 points in the second half, managed to cut the lead to 10 with minutes left.

“I think when you have that type of lead you have a tendency to relax a little bit,” Graham said. “I had quite a few guys in and tried to keep the same intensity.”

A big part of that intensity came courtesy BSU seniors, Matt Nelson, Reggie Larry and Tyler Tiedeman. Despite a slow offensive start against the Vandals, the trio managed to combine for 55 of the Broncos’ 78 points. Larry led the way with 21 points, including two 3-pointers and nine rebounds.

He exploded right out of the gates following intermission with the Broncos’ first eight points of the second half. Larry’s aggressive mentality jump started the BSU attack, which gave way to a Bronco run that was simply too much for Idaho to overcome.

“This one was pretty much like the last few games we have played with them,” Nelson said. “Idaho, when you look at the record you might not think they are very good, but they’re not that type of team when they play us. They always bring their ‘A’ game and never quit – like tonight.”

It took a solid defensive effort for BSU to keep a spread throughout most of the game. The Broncos forced 19 turnovers and held the Vandals to just 22 first half points.

“Turnovers are huge,” Tiedeman said. “It kills their offense and most turnovers start our breaks … It’s kind of a back breaker for them, coming down and not scoring then we take it down and score on the other end.”

The rivalry atmosphere was as apparent as ever too, with 8,492 fans on hand to watch the game. Following the win most of the BSU players found their way to the student section to thank fans for their support.

“Make sure you put a thanks in [the paper],” Tiedeman said after the game.

The attendance was the second highest of the season, beat only by the 8,779 fans that witnessed the Broncos’ 73-70 win over then No. 20 BYU.

“It’s huge,” Nelson said about the crowd after the game. “It makes all the difference to us. It keeps us high energy. We feed off the crowd. There is nothing better than playing in front of big crowds like that.”

The Broncos will now be challenged with a two-game trip away from home at Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. With Saturday’s win BSU is currently in sole possession of second place in the Western Athletic Conference. The Broncos will return home Feb. 14 to host Nevada.

JAKE GARCIN
Sports Editor

No related posts.