Well, according to the channel 6 sports staff here in Boise; they have a reliable source up in Moscow that has said a press conference will be scheduled for next Friday for the official invite to the WAC. Channel 6 asked Benson to confirm it, and he said he couldn't, but that he and the university are in negotiations. My roommate is a channel 6 reporter and he told me this last night when he got off work.

Welcome to the WAC Vandals. Now let's make rivalary week in November mean something again to the state of Idaho.

sawtooth79 Wrote:Well, according to the channel 6 sports staff here in Boise; they have a reliable source up in Moscow that has said a press conference will be scheduled for next Friday for the official invite to the WAC. Channel 6 asked Benson to confirm it, and he said he couldn't, but that he and the university are in negotiations. My roommate is a channel 6 reporter and he told me this last night when he got off work.

Welcome to the WAC Vandals. Now let's make rivalary week in November mean something again to the state of Idaho.

That is what everyone seems to think......
Idaho should get the invitation come Friday!

Then we can get on to sports topics and leave the realignment issues behind us for a while!

Sidenote for those outside of Idaho: Channel six is the vandal channel in Boise!

sawtooth79 Wrote:Well, according to the channel 6 sports staff here in Boise; they have a reliable source up in Moscow that has said a press conference will be scheduled for next Friday for the official invite to the WAC. Channel 6 asked Benson to confirm it, and he said he couldn't, but that he and the university are in negotiations. My roommate is a channel 6 reporter and he told me this last night when he got off work.

Welcome to the WAC Vandals. Now let's make rivalary week in November mean something again to the state of Idaho.

WOW, what a shocker.................someone from Channel Six thinks Idaho is a shoe-in. LOL :laugh:

What's the history between Boise State & Idaho?

Is BSU ok with adding Idaho?

I know LTU would welcome UL Lafayette but would never want to be in a conference with UL Monroe.

Just wondering...........

There are two different camps on the Idaho addition... the largest camp says, what in the heck have you done, EVER, to be included in Division 1?

When BSU and Idaho left the Big Sky for the Big West, it was state leadership insisting that Idaho be included as part of the package... which many have said delayed BSU's invitation by a couple years in the first place. They have skirted D-1 requirements for their entire existance at this level. Borrowing another stadium so they have the 30,000 capacity... then the rule was changed to 15,000 seats sold... so boosters bought tickets en masse, ultimately they were stacked in convienance stores in Northern Idaho, begging people attend... some did... but who knows how many? cause they never reported pulses... just tickets sold.

BSU moves up to the WAC... leaving Idaho behind in the Big West and immediately following the Sun Belt, have failed to win more than 3 games in the past two seasons in what nobody would argue is the weakest football conference in football. Losing 3 games to 1-aa schools in the process... and NOW they are going to be rewarded with a higher level of play.. and a higher level of exposure, although not significantly higher, as Fresno, Hawaii, and BSU get most of the press run.

The humorous thing is... we're only adding a team so that we have an equal number of road and away games in conference... eh?? Excellent reason to screw up EVERYBODY's SOS worse than it already is. Outside of that they provide a marginal men's basketball team... facilities in the bottom 1/16 of D-1... a couple good non-revenue sports... and an ego so large that will fill any room they enter.

Why is the WAC a good fit? Because there are four other land-grant institutions in the conference already... so it's a natural fit for us. EH? What?? Sir, do you realize that the primary reason that Athletic Conferences exists is to facilitate athletic competition? Relating to athletics, how do you think the UI fits into the WAC? Geographically it makes more sense than the Sun Belt. No $hit sir? wouldn't you agree that the MAC makes better sense than the sun belt?

The other side of us says... I liked playing Idaho at the end of the season... I liked watching Idaho compete against the same competition week in and week out... and I especially like it when they get their asses handed to them, which they will consistently in the WAC, especially by BSU/FSU/UH/UN/LTU... San Jose/USU/NMSU will be good matchups.

When it is all said and done... they do have a few solid academic programs... cloning animals etc... so it seems a certainty that they will be a great addition to our conference.

I really don't want to become part of the Idaho and BSU feud, but do you think Boise would have fared much better if they had not been invited into the WAC? Recruiting would have suffered as an independent as a member of the SBC. It certainly has not been a picnic for USU's football program. Idaho is bound to get better in the WAC. The football stadium etc. are issues that must be dealt with at Idaho however.

What the $h*t is a "Kibbie Dome"? It looks like a big gym. Do they really host football games in there? Would they host a WAC game there?

Dawg81 Wrote:What the $h*t is a "Kibbie Dome"?  It looks like a big gym.  Do they really host football games in there?  Would they host a WAC game there?

Go here to find out

<a href='http://www.uiathletics.com/' target='_blank'>Univ. of Idaho</a>

PosAggie Wrote:I really don't want to become part of the Idaho and BSU feud, but do you think Boise would have fared much better if they had not been invited into the WAC? Recruiting would have suffered as an independent as a member of the SBC. It certainly has not been a picnic for USU's football program. Idaho is bound to get better in the WAC. The football stadium etc. are issues that must be dealt with at Idaho however.

Let's try dealing with REALITY, okay. Fact is Boise State WAS invited into the WAC......period. So suggesting hypothetical situations that are pure fantasy is a waste of time.

As to Idaho, no, they are not "bound to get better in the W.A.C.". They may get better if their new head coach is worth a damn, but only if that is the case. Being in the WAC is not in and of itself going to make Idaho any better at all. The fact is they have been getting their butts kicked for the last four or five years now, and after losing that much it takes a heck of a coach to get them out of that mind-set. Maybe their new coach can do that, maybe not. But stepping up a notch (or two) in competition certainly isn't going to help them get any better.

Dawg81 Wrote:What the $h*t is a "Kibbie Dome"? It looks like a big gym. Do they really host football games in there? Would they host a WAC game there?

The Kibbie dome is named after the guy who donated the money to build it. Can't recall his first name, but his last name was Kibbie. He was a very wealthy Idaho alum and he is related somehow to Idaho Statesman sports editor, Mike Prater. I think the story is that Prater's grandmother was re-married to Mr. Kibbie in her later years or something like that. I've heard Prater mention the fact that he grew up visiting Mr. Kibbie when he was married to his grandmother. This may give you a clue as to why Mike Prater's articles in the Idaho Mistakesman always seem to have an anti-Boise State/pro Idaho theme to them.

The Kibbie dome as far as football is concerned is a nightmare. They have an absolutely horrible field inside of that dome. It is the very old astro-turf stuff and it's extremely hard. Kind of like playing on asphalt, only not as forgiving as asphalt. . Plus there is no arc or crown to the field at all. It's absolutely flat. It is a horrible surface to play on, ask anyone who has.

It will never be a Div. 1 facility because it only holds about 15 or 18 thousand maximum and there is no way to expand it. And to make matters worse they have no funds at all for building a larger stadium in the future. In fact, they are smack dab in the middle of a financial scandal called the University Place scandal that make previous scandals involving Fresno State look like saints in comparison. So, yes, Idaho will have to continue to schedule at least some of their home football games, including WAC games, at Washington State University (located 7 miles away in Pullman, WA.).

correct me if i'm wrong, but they COULD expand the kibbie dome if they just removed the dome.

i've seem images of the stadium before the dome was added, and it was a nice facility. if they removed the dome and added upper decks, it could be a very cost-effective way to increase capacity without building a new stadium from scratch.

of course, that means the basketball teams will need a new facility, but it's infinitely cheaper and easier to find a place to build a basketball arena than a football stadium.

BoiseStateRules Wrote:

1boisebro Wrote:correct me if i'm wrong, but they COULD expand the kibbie dome if they just removed the dome.

i've seem images of the stadium before the dome was added, and it was a nice facility. if they removed the dome and added upper decks, it could be a very cost-effective way to increase capacity without building a new stadium from scratch.

of course, that means the basketball teams will need a new facility, but it's infinitely cheaper and easier to find a place to build a basketball arena than a football stadium.

That's possible, I guess. But extremely unlikely. They built it as a DOME for a very good reason. Ever been to Moscow, ID. in late November or December?

Secondly, where do you think Idaho is going to come up with the money to do all of this new construction? :withstupid:

Moscow is very warm in the winter.....compared to Green Bay and the Packers do not play in any wimpy dome!

BoiseStateRules Wrote:

1boisebro Wrote:correct me if i'm wrong, but they COULD expand the kibbie dome if they just removed the dome.

i've seem images of the stadium before the dome was added, and it was a nice facility. if they removed the dome and added upper decks, it could be a very cost-effective way to increase capacity without building a new stadium from scratch.

of course, that means the basketball teams will need a new facility, but it's infinitely cheaper and easier to find a place to build a basketball arena than a football stadium.

That's possible, I guess. But extremely unlikely. They built it as a DOME for a very good reason. Ever been to Moscow, ID. in late November or December?

Secondly, where do you think Idaho is going to come up with the money to do all of this new construction? :withstupid:

Moscow is very warm in the winter.....compared to Green Bay and the Packers do not play in any wimpy dome!

BoiseStateRules Wrote:Ever been to Moscow, ID. in late November or December?

Secondly, where do you think Idaho is going to come up with the money to do all of this new construction? :withstupid:

who cares what the weather's like in moscow? this is football, meant to be played in the great outdoors, including snow and cold.

as for the money issue, i never suggested they had or didn't have the financial means to do so. however, idaho has indicated in the recent wac meetings (according to the statesman) that funding is not an issue.

which, naturally, doesn't explain the big dust lot that is "university place"...

broncobob Wrote:

BoiseStateRules Wrote:

1boisebro Wrote:correct me if i'm wrong, but they COULD expand the kibbie dome if they just removed the dome.

i've seem images of the stadium before the dome was added, and it was a nice facility. if they removed the dome and added upper decks, it could be a very cost-effective way to increase capacity without building a new stadium from scratch.

of course, that means the basketball teams will need a new facility, but it's infinitely cheaper and easier to find a place to build a basketball arena than a football stadium.

That's possible, I guess. But extremely unlikely. They built it as a DOME for a very good reason. Ever been to Moscow, ID. in late November or December?

Secondly, where do you think Idaho is going to come up with the money to do all of this new construction? :withstupid:

Moscow is very warm in the winter.....compared to Green Bay and the Packers do not play in any wimpy dome!

Hey Guy -- You got that right; football is meant to be played outside not inside a wimpy-a**ed dome :D

The point I was trying to make was that Idaho will be able to recruit much better as a member of the WAC than they were as a member of the Sun Belt or as an independent. You can't tell me that WAC membership didn't hellp BSU. Bad coach or not, Idaho has been at a disadvantage for several years .. just as Utah State was. I really don't know that much about the U of Idaho, but logic tells me that they will improve ... if they can solve the facility inadequacies. I am very confident that WAC membership will significantly help Utah State and N.M. State, and they will be competitive in the WAC. They will be a bigger problem for the "Big Four" than were the eastern schools that left for CUSA.

PosAggie Wrote:I really don't know that much about the U of Idaho, but logic tells me that they will improve ... if they can solve the facility inadequacies.

Nice quote!!!

As I, and many others have pointed out before, Both Aggies have nice sports facilities and Idaho is sadly lacking. That is what holds Idaho back! That and fan support. They only have 2,000 season ticket holders for football and students outnumber paying fans for basketball.

That being said, I feel that Idaho will be in the WAC for the 2005 season, so I hope they can gear up quickly and get the WAC some more OOC victories.