Watch it again...

Sorry, Sean Penn...Z's acceptance speech was better.

Found a little website that lets you watch Out of the Blue in streaming format without commercial interruptions (and in its entirety). Watch this great little doc about our beloved Broncos again...or for the first time. Here's to a slow day at work tomorrow.

Out of the Blue

Ex-Bronco roundup

Yesterday. I ruminated on Gerald Alexander's Mother's day gift that made us all look bad...but what are the other ex-Broncos up to?

Orlando Scandrick, now a Dallas Cowboy, impressed in mini-camp, but is sitting out OTA's with an eye infection.

Ryan Clady already on his way to Canton?

"This one goes to eleven." Legedu Naanee changes numbers and solidifies his position.

Taylor Tharp gets a bit more competition in Carolina.

Daryn Colledge trying to fight off the competition in Green Bay.

Ryan Dinwiddie will fight to remain number 2.

TJ Acree traded to Argonauts. Does Jason know?

Also, trying to confirm reports that Marty Tadman has decided not to pursue an opportunity with the Jets and instead focus on the impending birth of his first child and his ministry.

Tadman slips under the radar

OBNUG has finally cracked the Marty Tadman case as they tracked him down at Jets' minicamp. Officially, this looks like a tryout for Tadman, but this is more info than the Statesman dragged out, so kudos to Kevan and the gang (not affiliated with Kool and the gang) for giving us the valuable 411. All Marty was looking for was a shot...now he's got one. We're sure he'll make the most of it and then one day memorialize it in a sweet forearm tattoo.

Boise State beats Fresno State again...

An epic puff piece in the Fresno Bee today underscored just how dominant Boise State has been for the last 4 years in one category: tattoos.

Marty Tadman was the standard bearer for the WAC in sheer volume and religious fervor of his tats. Tadman, or "Tattedman" as some more juvenile folks like myself liked to call him is right this very moment searching for small bits of body canvas on which to throw a few more well-inked scriptures and parables. Fresno State's celebrated tat man "Marvelous Marvin" Hamler's ink looks tame compared to Boise State's beloved Minister of Defense.

Hamler may have a shot title of the WAC's "most inked" now that Tadman has left the blue, but we all know that he will never hold a needle candle to the people's champion, Marty Tadman.

Fun Fact: Did you know that if you took all the ink that make up Marty Tadman's tattoos, you could write two editions of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World...in cursive?

Boise State 2008 Draft Recap

Ryan Clady just loves the Orange and Blue
Orlando Scandrick will have an opportunity to play ghost to Dallas' Pacman
Dan Gore's a dolphin...be very careful when punctuating that statement
Taylor Tharp inks a free-agent deal with the Carolina Panthers

Tad Miller, Jeff Cavender, Marty Tadman and Nick Schlekeway are still looking for camps or free agent gigs—I'll keep you posted on those developments as they happen.

No pistol...we've got Pete.

Outside of maybe the Idaho Vandals...no Bronco opponent has quite the same history and bad blood as the Nevada Wolf Pack. In the mid-90s, Nevada's coach Chris Ault famously said that if Boise State didn't improve the quality of its players...he saw no reason to continue the "rivalry". Well, Ault now looks like a prophet of sorts as the Broncos DID improve the quality of its players (and coaches, and recruiting, and facilities,etc, etc.) and the the rivalry has continued. The only slight wrinkle being that Boise State has absolutely OWNED the Wolf Pack as of late. 1998 was the last year that the Wolf Pack tasted victory against the Broncos...and since then its been ugly. Boise State has one the last 7 meetings in the series by an average of 38 pts. In fact, last year's BCS-clinching game in Reno was the closest the Pack has come to the Broncos in that span—they lost by 31.

As funny as Ault's past comments seem now...they are still the cause of much fan hatred between the schools—multiplied by the head coaching stint of Vandal "great" Chris Tormey. Ault has been much more complimentary as of late of the Bronco program, but you can see in his aging eyes that he dies a little inside each year the Broncos wipe the floor with this squad. Last year, as Boise State sat at 11-0 after storming their way through their schedule...some prognosticators still felt that the Broncos would be defeated by Nevada. Not so, obviously as the Broncos won 38-7...the Broncos always seem to get "up" for the UNR game...like no other (even Idaho). Maybe the history between the schools (BSU now leads 21-12 all-time) or the fact that the media always seems to think the Wolf Pack will beat the Broncos just gets under BSU's skin. Who knows, maybe it is the fact that the Broncos had to share the title with Nevada in 2005 after beating them 48-14 on the blue. Maybe it's just the fact that the "pistol" seems to backfire against the Broncos?

This year, unfortunately for Nevada, won't be any different. Nevada is coming off a tough home loss to Fresno State and the Broncos our coming off a 58-point shutout of New Mexico State. Nevada's rushing defense is ranked 119th in the country, while Boise State's is ranked 4th. Nevada's total defense is ranked somewhere around 100th and Boise State is 3rd. Now, Nevada does have a pretty good offense, ranking 10th in total yards...but BSU is not far behind at 15th and really...do the Broncos need to put up a lot of yards when our defense has been so prolific in shutting other schools down? UNR is also without their starting QB, Graziano after a freak foot injury ended his season last week. Redshirt freshman Colin Kaepernick will get the start against BSU, and looked pretty good against Fresno, but is probably too young and inexperienced to be thrust into a tough game against an amazingly stout D and expected to do much damage. Kaepernick is supposed to be pretty fleet of foot too, but if he gets too happy with his feet...I fully expect him to run right into Nick Schlekway or Mike T Williams...that will probably slow him down a bit for the night. Also, look for the Broncos to put pressure on the young QB and force him into some errors...namely picks for our stellar DBs.

I don't want to seem like I am giving the Wolf Pack no respect...but given the recent history and the matchups that this game poses—I see this one getting out of hand...yet again. Look for the outstanding trio of Ian Johnson, Jeremy "don't call me 'peanut'" Avery and DJ Harper to get yards in bunches and feast on the porous Nevada run D all night. Also, look for Titus Young to have at least one more 50 yard reception as he seems to be always open when Tharp looks deep. Lastly, look for our secondary to have at least 2 INTs and for Marty Tadman to light someone up.

Boise State 47, UNR 13