On Bulldogs, Broncos, Vandals and a streaker

Football fans at Sandpoint’s Homecoming game against Lewiston on Saturday witnessed a rare full moon. This one, however, had nothing to do with any lunar cycle. A streaker, bedecked in only a festive red thong, ran across the football field in the third quarter and jumped jumped over the fence, earning a smattering of laughter and some mild applause.

Once again, the Barlow Stadium field was a sight to behold on an unusually warm Homecoming night. Shaun Warren and the rest of the city Parks and Rec crew had the field manicured nicely, with each end zone emblazoned in red and white. Jesse Watson, his son Justin Watson and Jeff Beyer once again painted the midfield emblem on Thursday night, this time featuring a fast-moving Bulldog along with the words “sick’em.”

A special thanks goes out to Sandpoint High School teacher Wendy Auld, who volunteers to keep stats for the Bulldog football games and comes back to the Bee on Friday nights to add and type them all up. Without her efforts, there wouldn’t be any statistics to accompany the game stories.

Vandals vs. Broncos

Full disclosure: I grew up in Boise and played most of my high school football games on the famous blue turf, occasionally attendeding a college game when the Broncos still played in the Big Sky Conference.

I also spent every summer since I was young in Coeur d’Alene, and have lived in North Idaho for the past couple decades, attending a handful of Vandal football games in the process.

Having attended neither school, and therefore harboring no special allegiance toward either, I can offer a fairly unbiased, informed and fair assessment of both the Idaho black and gold and Boise State blue and orange.

Locally grown

Somewhere along the line, the Vandals cut back on in-state recruiting. Sandpoint boasts many former Vandal football players among its ranks, including Green Bay Packers legend Jerry Kramer. John Friesz (Coeur d’Alene), Ken Hobart (Kamiah), Wayne Walker (Boise) and Ray McDonald (Caldwell) are but a few of the home grown Vandal legends of yesteryear. Lewiston lineman Jake Scott is the last local player I can remember who starred for the Vandals, who also get credit for signing Bengal quarterback Justin Podrabsky last season.

By comparison, it was refreshing to watch two Boise State games on national television this season and hear the great Brent Musburger comment time and again on  plays made by so and so, “from the great state of Idaho.”

Whatever the logistics, in-state players seem to be making considerable contributions on the No. 4 ranked team in the country, yet seem almost non-existent on the rival Vandals. Here’s hoping the Vandals make a greater push to sign home grown talent in the future, and recharge a fan base that has grown dormant in parts of the state.

Gem State love

Idaho alumni joke about and generally dislike all things Boise. And vice versa. Ditto for UW and WSU, Oregon and Oregon State, Michigan and Ohio State, and anywhere else where a rivalry exists. It’s part of the fabric of sports, especially in football, which has just enough barbarism and tailgating involved to heighten the hatred of any rivalry.

Thanks to Boise State’s president fanning said flames with some cutting jibes recently, and the fact the long standing Gem State rivalry is about to be shelved — temporarily, we hope — one can only imagine how festive the crowd will be at the Kibbie Dome come Nov. 12 when the hated Broncos come to Moscow.

Normally I wouldn’t care much about the outcome, and would probably be rooting for the underdog, which has been the Vandals of late. But this year I’ll be pulling for the Broncos, because the thought of a team from Idaho winning a national championship in a major college sport transcends any in-state rivalry.

At the risk of dating myself, I can still remember the 1982 Idaho basketball team, which upset a host of big time basketball programs and at one time was ranked No. 5 in the country, before losing in the Sweet 16 at the NCAA tournament. The entire state of Idaho seemed to be behind them, whether they’ll admit to it now or not.