Go Boise State Broncos!

Michael:

I have been a Penn State Football fan my entire life. I have been lucky enough to attend many games at Beaver Stadium. But recently, Saturdays bring nothing but a sense of dread, an acceptance of the ugly things to come. I keep the Nittany Lions close to my heart, but another team has caught my unendingly loyal but wandering eye, the Boise State Broncos. I don’t care what anyone says; the Broncs are a Top Ten team and put on an incredible show of football.

We arrived in Boise at 11am on Friday, September 10th. The front page of the Idaho Statesman spoke only of that night’s football game: Boise State vs. Oregon State. “Boise State Ready to Avenge Last Year’s Only Defeat”, “Beaver Fans Flood Into Area Hotels” and “Sea of Orange Expected at Game”.

We had to go.

I had seen games on ESPN played on Boise State’s infamous blue Astroturf field. But I had to be there. In person. We were going to try to get in, sell out or not. We left our hotel at 5pm, into the sunny 85 degree afternoon. Game time 8:00.

The stories of confused ducks trying to land (and sadly dying) on the turf became real as we strolled to the game along Boise’s serene greenbelt river walk. Ducks were everywhere. “Don’t fly near the stadium,” I beckoned. “Save yourselves!”

The peaceful nature walk ended as we crossed a bridge onto campus. Tailgating had already started. The atmosphere was a lot less professional than at Penn State. No catered extravaganzas, no bands and generally no semblance of order. RV’s, SUV’s and regular cars parked wherever there was space. There are no open fields in downtown Boise.
Side roads, boulevards, parking lots and driveways all filled with Orange and Blue clad revelers. It was great.

We first made a beeline to the ticket office. “Sorry, we have nothing. We’ve been sold out for weeks. (Oversold, we later learned) I think there are scalpers out on the corner. That’s your best bet.” We did not think 6pm was the best time to scalp, but we asked for the price anyway, “60 bucks a piece, good seats, you’re not going to get any better than that.” “We’ll try later.” “Good luck with that.”

We wandered across the street and into a makeshift beer garden situated across from the stadium and right along a main thoroughfare. Rowdy, stuffed-to-the-gills cars piled past where we imbibed $2.50 32oz PBR’s. A group of girls yelled out “Go Beavers. Go OSU. Go Beavers.” A woman standing next to me shouted a response, “Where’s your kicker, I’d like to buy him a beer.” (The week prior, Oregon State lost to #3 ranked LSU because their kicker missed three extra points.) The car’s occupants immediately went silent. Everybody cheered.

We watched the crowd steadily pile into the stadium from our perch, waiting for the right time to get tickets. 7:50. Let’s go. We returned to the scalping spot to find only one guy selling tickets. He wanted $30 apiece and had two left. “No way,” we said, walking away disgruntled and disappointed. Soon the same guy was bicycling past us offering $25 general admission tickets at face value. We bought ‘em and hurried to the entrance. The ticket lady did not want to let us in. “I don’t know. You’re awful late. There isn’t much space left. You can go in at your own risk.” We rushed in a little scared. Kickoff was about to happen.

We saw no available seats but scrambled into the end zone bleachers with confidence, moved to the top row, only about 15 rows from the field, and sat down on the stairs amidst a sea of Beaver fans. We made friends, I told them how great Steven Jackson and T.J. Houzmanzadish were and they forgot that we were sitting on the stairs.

Things started well for our Oregon friends as the Beavers took a quick 14-0 lead. The OSU fans grew cocky, taunting the Bronco faithful. Retribution would be swift. By the third quarter, Boise was ahead 34-14. Their coach took chance after chance. Throwing deep while way ahead, attempting a fake punt late in the fourth quarter. The coach knows his team is desperate for attention. They must do anything to catch the eye of the Top 25 voters. They must win and win big.

They did, 53-34.

Boise State plays with undeniable passion and heart. The fans feel this desire and feed off it. The game’s announced attendance was 30,950, the largest in school history. What a crowd it was. Loud and fun. Everyone was jumping around, happy to be watching high-flying aggressive football. We cheered, we yelled, we hugged the few Bronco fans around us.

Without question, the fans were louder than the 100,000 at Penn State. My parents told me about the Nebraska-Penn State game in 1982. How the atmosphere was electric. Has the excitement reached that level since?

As we left the stadium, Gab and I wondered how Boise State would fair against the Michigans, Southern Cals and Georgias. Pretty well, we thought, if only the BCS or those mega schools would give them a chance. As we might have expected, everyone around us was having the same conversation. “Do you think we could beat Oklahoma?” and “What happens if we go undefeated?”

Let’s hope they go undefeated. Let’s hope they get a chance to prove themselves in the bright NCAA spotlight.

Oh, and the blue Astroturf? Yes, it was strange and cool and distracting. Everything you think when you see it on TV. After a while, you accept it and place it in the background where it belongs. The Broncos are the attraction here. The performers shine much brighter than their peculiar stage.

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