Who will be the face of the Offense?

Now that basketball season is officially over, the major sports die down until the fall when college football will dominate Saturdays once again. Of course there is a long time till then, and that leaves fans with the torture of speculation.

Nothing should be higher on the list of Vandals fans than the question of who will be our starting quarterback next year. Will Nathan Enderle once again lead the offense of the northern tribe? Or will JUCO transfer Brian Reader impress Coach Akey enough to dethrone Enderle?

Nathan Enderle has been the head of the Vandal passing game for the past two years posting largely mixed results. In 2008 Enderle threw for 20 touchdowns but also for 17 INT’s. Not exactly the states of a winning QB. However Coach Robb Akey has a lot of faith in the Junior, saying that the spot is his to lose.

Brian Reader is a much harder player to read. Apparently Reader threw for 2599 yards and has a touchdown to INT ratio of 18 to 9. He also won player of the year in both his conference and for his team. The problem is he has not taken one Division 1 snap in his career, although he did redshirt at Arkansas before going to a junior college. Sometime JUCO recruits work out, but often they don’t which is something that I am sure is causing doubt, not only in the coaching staff but in fans as well.

As for my opinion, I think that Brian Reader will end up taking the snaps for this year’s Vandals, although I am sure he will go through growing pains. I have watched Enderle play for his whole career here at Idaho, and while I have enjoyed watching him play for these past two years, unless he makes major improvements I just don’t see him making the plays that the Vandals need.

Regardless of who is taking the snaps next year, let us all hope for a much more competitive team. Go Vandals!

Hmmmmm

So here is where the Idaho Men’s Basketball team stands, we finish third in the WAC and find our way into the first ever CollegeInsider basketball tournament. Hopson won all WAC honors and was even named one of the five best “young gun” college point guards in the west at www.bbstate.com. I think it is also worth noting that Hopson’s photo was at the top of that article. Also we got some recognition when Travis Mason-Bushman’s Vandal song to the Tune of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” won a contest on the nationally read website www.midmajority.com.

I find this to be very interesting because all of this happened shortly after Athletic Director Rob Spear was questioned by Idaho faculty about whether or not Idaho could ever play Division 1 sports at a competitive level, or if it is worth the money. I will admit that Idaho did not exactly transition very well out of the Big Sky. But now that we are starting to be competitive in a major sport you would think the critics would back off.

Perhaps they have some valid points. I am not an economist, nor am I an expert on advertising so I really have no right to argue the points of either side. There is one thing I will say though, and it’s something I am sure most alumni and students can agree with. When I graduate I will use Vandal Athletics as a way to keep in touch with the university. If Idaho wants to stay dear to their alumni’s hearts (and wallets) Idaho must keep the Division 1 programs.

The anti-athletics faculty members need to grasp one concept. Fans will come and spend Money in Moscow to see the Vandals play Boise State no matter how bad they beat us. Noone will care, much less travel, if you replace that Boise with Weber State.

Jazz Fest 09

The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival is now in full swing here at the University of Idaho. This is my first year living in Moscow so I really didn’t know what exactly this week would bring. I suppose I thought it would mean I would hear music walking to and from class, see musicians in black suits and sunglasses, and I would have a chance to hit on sexy jazz girls who hated main stream music.

. . . I was wrong.

The first thing I really realized about the festival is that for the average student it brings nothing but trouble. Thanks to my generous professors I have mounds of homework that have prevented me from attending any concerts, workshops, or anything else that would expose me to jazz culture.

However, I have gotten to experience the transformed commons area, where to serve people faster they made the food smaller and undercooked. Plus, in the spirit of the festival, they decided to “jazz up” (Ha!) the menu and rename the food, making it a crap shoot on getting the food you want.

I have also experienced a near death experience this week trying to dodge the many buses that now plague our fair campus. On every other week of the school year the road below the administration is completely devoid of anyone on a vehicle, and then without warning the roads are infested with school buses piloted by homicidal drivers, who take joy in scarring the crap out caffeine starves students who aren’t fully awake yet.

The worst thing has to be dealing with all the kids though, I realize the publicity is good for the school and many of the little brats could very well be the next generation of Vandals. Can’t the administration herd them into one place though? It’s hard enough dodging the buses but now I have to plan a route around a bunch of gossiping middle school kids on their cell phones. I don’t care that Stephanie dumped Tommy for Brad; I just want you to stop crowding the steps so I can go to class in peace.

The good news is that today is Friday and I can leave these problems behind and party with my friends far away from the jazz festival. Plus once I sober back up and the school week starts again the festival will be over and the students will reclaim the campus once again. Cheers!

Facebook March Madness Bracket

If you have facebook feel free to join my bracket or even better join the Idaho fans Bracket.

Just don’t forget to cheer on your own Idaho Vandals, show some pride and bring us to the top of the WAC!

Vandal Football

While I know we are right in the middle of the basketball season and we should be focused on that, I cannot help but get excited over next year’s football season. Maybe it’s because I have gotten a taste of how sweet winning is with this years basketball teams, or maybe it’s just because football is the nearest sport to my heart, but I just can’t stop thinking about Vandal football.

While I am excited, there is not much for the average fan to be hyped about. The cards are once again stacked against our beloved Vandals. The past few years has been less than spectacular and this year’s recruit class was ranked a miserable 115th in the nation according to scout.com. On top of that we lost some of our best defensive players with the transfer of Linebackers Justin Allen and Jonathan Faraimo.

The news isn’t all grim though for the vandal faithful, this might be the year light finally breaks through the clouds and shines on the Vandal Nation. First of all let’s keep the scout rankings in perspective, while they are entertaining and can sometimes be accurate for the most part they don’t mean anything. The vandal recruiting class might be ranked low on paper but the 2009 class brings a lot of much needed speed to the often sluggish Vandals, and more importantly it gives much needed depth.

With these new bodies coming in our depth chart can finally settle in and place the talent where it belongs. According to govandals.net (http://idaho.scout.com/2/837527.html); Vandal standout Quin Ashley can permanently move to wide receiver instead of playing filler for a backup quarterback, and Andre Ferguson can focus at defensive end. Perks like that fails to show up on a rankings list, but can go a long way in putting a few W’s in the stat books.

Another big achievement the Vandals have accomplished this year is bringing in standout junior college QB Brian Reader. If Reader doesn’t take the starting job outright, he will at least provide Nate Enderle with the competition he needs to become better.

Even with all these positive improvements, expectations will be low for the Vandals this year, they have only beat one Division 1 team in recent history and this year’s schedule is the toughest the Vandals have scheduled in a long time. Based on this information alone critics will likely rank the Mighty Vandals at the bottom of the NCAA.

However there is a silver lining to that dark cloud. Historically when everyone counts Idaho out the Vandals shine their brightest. The Vandals only bowl victory came in 1998, a year where the Vandals were picked to finish dead last, and you know what they say, history tends to repeat itself.

Bandwagon Vandals

This morning instead of doing my speech homework I browsed the forums over at govandals.net (a great site for students and alumni alike by the way). I glanced at the smack talk forum where I read a post by a Bronco fan saying the Taco Bell Arena was full of Vandal Bandwagon fans on the fateful night our team came back from a 13 point deficit to beat Boise State.

I really didn’t know what to make of this statement, on one hand the thought of bandwagon fans is something that the Vandal athletics department hasn’t thought about in a long time, it’s a nice thought. On the other hand this guy is most likely a retard because bandwagon fans still isn’t something the University of Idaho won’t come across in a while. Our basketball team is making great strides this year, they are a very exciting team to watch play, however we are still fighting to end the season at .500. Not exactly the kind of environment that attracts bandwagoners.

The noise in the Taco Bell Arena came not from a lot of new fans but rather from Vandal Alumni, their kids, and of course current Vandals. U of I faithful have been quietly waiting for a team like this for a long time. The vandals were louder in the stands not because of a large chunk of bandwagon fans, but because of legions of proud vandals who wanted to stick it to our hated rivals, came out and wore our colors with pride.

One day maybe other schools can complain about our bandwagon fans, if Verlin stays that day might come real soon, but right now the only people who are out supporting our teams is those who bleed silver and gold, the kind of fans BSU cannot hope to have come out for a basketball game.

Free Basketball Advice to the University of Idaho Administration

First of all, I believe congratulations are in order the hiring of Coach Don Verlin. Now, don’t get too carried away, though we swept our rival (huzzah!) we aren’t that great of a team yet. We should celebrate the future that this coaching staff can bring, what he has done in his first year is nothing short of miraculous.

However, I do have some worries that I would like address. I love the University of Idaho. You administrators do have a bad reputation for messing things up though. This is why, in a act of pure kindness, I am going to give you, the administration advice on how to keep the gravy train rolling

First Tip: For the love of all things holy extend Verlin’s contract. Sweet talk him, get him drunk, do whatever it takes to keep Verlin and his glorious moustache here in Moscow. Make sure the contract his huge, make it almost impossible for the contract to be bought out (we all know other schools will come knocking). The contract shouldn’t even be realistic. Make the buyout price like 10 million dollars and three virgin sacrifices if you have to. Just keep Verlin here!

Second Tip: Now that we have an exciting team to watch, it would be incredibly nice if we informed the community. Currently we advertise our next loss in football very heavily but the University of Idaho sparsely advertises for basketball. The students do a good job at showing up but the university must make an effort in gathering fans from the local community.

Final Tip: Plan for the Future. Basketball cannot continue to be held inside of the Kibbie Dome. If we want to attract talent, and keep Verlin, we must move basketball into its own venue. If the program is going to grow we must create an iconic building to host the team. Hell, name it the Verlin Stadium if you have too, just start planning for it now.

There, I hope you take it to heart. Follow these simple steps and maybe, just maybe, we will actually ‘Restore the Glory.”

Filling the Stands

Now that the University of Idaho has a semi exciting team the university is faced with an entirely separate problem, filling the stands with fans to support them.

While the students have responded to the tallies in the win column, the majority or the community has not. The University of Idaho has to compete for casual fans with the likes of Washington State and Gonzaga, if you haven’t figured it out yet this leads to a lot of empty seats in the stands.

It isn’t hopeless though, Coach Don Verlin has done a great job of recruiting and coaching our basketball team this year, and he has a legitimate shot at leading the Vandals to the Wac Title next year, something that is sure to put some fans in the seats (and money in the athletic funds).

Until then though there is only one surefire way to bring the many residents of the Palouse into the Cowen Spectrum. Bring back the slutty cheerleading outfits!

Go Vandals! Go Mighty Vandals!

Highway Death Trap

For every Idaho student who lives on campus there is a rite of passage that every person must eventually complete. The student must journey through the tower parking lot, step into an old student road, cross an old abandoned railroad track, and finally face a terror that even Frogger would avoid. Yes I am talking about crossing the Moscow Pullman highway.

It may not be such an amazing feat in other towns but the good people of Moscow Idaho like to do things a different way. In most cities the town has crosswalks set up in order to cross major roads, but here all you have is a button that starts a flashing light, an orange flag, and a sign that reminds you that the cars don’t have to stop for you. The whole system reminds me of a trap in an Indiana Jones movie. Except instead of a golden statue of an Aztec God you get a shitty burger at Wendy’s.

Every year some poor soul gets hit crossing the death trap and every year people complain about the current system set up. Perhaps it is time for the city to put up some money and solve the problem. Do the students a favor and place a real stop light at the crossing, save someone a lot of hurt.

ESPN’s Idaho Mt. Rushmore

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportscenter/news/story?id=3836434

espn.com has posted an article honoring four athletes for every state. Idaho’s list is very pleasing seeing as there is no donkey and two formal Vandals.