Sticker time!

This is the most masculine sticker I could find.

Kids love stickers. I should know...I used to be one (not a sticker, but a kid). I used to have a whole book full of scratch-n-sniffs and Garbage Pail Kids stickers. Now, my kid is wracking up the stickers every time we go to Fred Meyers and he's loving them too. Well, the Boise State coaches are handing out star-shaped stickers during Spring Camp, and like the attendance sheet in elementary school, it's paying dividends.

"The coaches would say 'it's amazing what the (high school) kids will do for a sticker,'" (Coach Pete) said. "Well, the high school kids and college kids aren't that much different."

Nor are any of us, Coach Pete, stickers are awesome (especially potstickers from Oriental Express)!

The most heavily stickered player on the team is Richie Brockel...and not due to his on-field prowess. Brockel is injured this Spring and the tight-end crew has taken it upon themselves to sticker up Brockel's visage in the team room whenever they can.

Other childhood carryovers that may help motivate the Broncos this Spring:
Coach Pete draws a smiley face on players' playbooks.
10 minutes extra recess.
High fives.
Pizza party.
May pick one toy out of bin.

Star Power in Spring [Press Tribune]

Spend some time in the Big Apple with IJ...

You don't see this crossover much...

Could you put topspin on the football?

Crossover athletes. They were made all the rage by Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. There have been scores of athletes in the modern-era who were great at multiple sports...or great at one and had enough cache to at least attempt another...Michael Jordan? Oftentimes a soccer player will become a place-kicker, or a basketball player will become a wide-receiver—well how about this one: a tennis player becoming a football player? Did you immediately picture Pete Sampras returning punts? Didn't end well did it? Well, Boise State fans may just get a chance to see what would happen when a tennis player trades in his headband and sneakers for a facemask and cleats. Clancy Shields, nationally-ranked tennis player and brother of Luke, may just take a run at the blue next season.

According to the Montgomery Observer, Clancy thinks his athleticism, competitiveness, and unusual build (by tennis standards) may lend themselves well to the gridiron. After all, he'll have a year of eligibility left when he plays his final match for the Broncos.

"My brother who played tennis for Boise last year told me I should give football a shot," Shields said. "I mean when I work out in the gym I'm as big or bigger then some of our football players."

Shields later admitted he was talking about Brock Jaramillo.

Coach Greg Patton thinks that Clancy may have the right stuff as well:

"I love Clancy like a son," Patton said. "I'm a little biased because I'm a tennis coach, but I would love to see Clancy become a professional tennis player. But, I talk with our football coaches about Clancy possibly playing defensive back or running back. They like the idea."

They "like" the idea means that they'd love to have another practice squad tackling dummy that doesn't risk injury to any of the starting defensive backs or running backs. I mean, the idea is intriguing, but it's hard to imagine Clancy (love the name, by the way) pushing Kyle Wilson or Jeremy Avery for playing time. You have Bronco Nation's blessing though Clancy, you deserve a nice rest riding pine after an illustrious career on the courts.

Boise's Shields may catch football fever [Montgomery Observer]

This didn't hurt.

Must be the shoes...

After Ian Johnson turned heads and calmed nerves at the NFL Scouting Combine last month many just hoped he would sit back and ride out the wave of goodwill till Draft day. Ian wasn't hearing any of that. On St. Patrick's Day, IJ took to the FieldTurf again to show the scouts what he's got, and once again, impressed those in attendance. Johnson, who wisely chose to stand on his Combine 40-time of 4.4, ran agility drills for about 12 NFL scouts at the Caven-Williams Complex on Tuesday afternoon and garnered high praise from the reigning BMOC, Coach Pete:

“He’s as big as he’s ever been and moving as well as he’s ever moved,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “… He looked fast and he looked powerful.”

Chrissy, must be slipping some whey protein into the Hamburger Helper.

Also showing off for the scouts were Vinny Perretta and Jeremy Childs. Perretta may have piqued some interest from scouts with his blazing 40 times of 4.48 and 4.43 as well as some solid numbers in the agility tests, and Childs had to have improved his stock as he was able to make them forget his so-so Combine sprints by finally posting some sub-4.5 marks.

All-in-all...a good day for the newly-minted Bronco alums. Hopefully we'll see all three of the aforementioned sneak onto Kiper's big board.

Ian Johnson looks 'fast, powerful'...[Statesman]
Intriguing prospects work out at Boise State Pro Day [NFL.com]

Are you ready for some volleyball?

Big Hank and Bocephus want you to attend.

The annual rite of Spring is upon us. No, I'm not talking about flowers blooming or daylight savings time...I'm talkin' about ex-Bronco football players spiking volleyballs at J Bates head (for charity). Bronco legend and comentarista del color Alex Guerrero alerted me to this Saturday's proceedings at Sawtooth Middle School in Meridian. This year's event, sponsored by the Boise Area Crime Stoppers will feature the aforementioned Guerrero as well as BSU Alums Korey Hall, Vinny Perretta and Jerard Rabb...and if we're to take cues from the event poster...the game may or may not include a volleyball the size of a small planet. If you ever found yourself wondering what sound it would make when an NFL-caliber athlete bounced an inflated ball off of Joe Hughes' mustache*...this is the event for you.

Event starts at 6. Be there or be a quadrilateral.

*Joe Hughes and his mustache may not be in attendance.