The Rivalry Dies

So the Western Athletic Conference concluded their media days in Salt Lake City as of yesterday. As expected, Boise State was picked to win the conference by a long shot and the closest batch of wannabe winners was the Nevada Wolfpack, who were picked to finished second. There wasn't too much excitement, the winner is pretty much a foregone conclusion and that was plainly obvious in everyone's minds down there. The most interesting thing to see this season will be the order of teams 2 through 8 and how they finish the season. (I didn't include number 9, which we all know will be San Jose State. They are the equivalent of Boise State, just on the losing side and guaranteed to finish last. They're really bad.) Idaho will be the most interesting to see how they follow up their decent season last time around. We will see if they can build on it or if it was just an anomaly of overachieving (my guess is the latter of the two). After the season, it is bye-bye to the WAC for Boise State and on to bigger and better football opponents. Despite Idaho Vandal's coach Robb Akey's arrogant comment that the only reason BSU is leaving is because Idaho is getting too good and the Broncos can't stand the competition, Boise State is long-gone and will be ecstatic to not have to play such a large group of complete losers (the conference as a whole, not just Idaho. But at the same time, especially Idaho).
Getting to the point, the media honks did what media honks do and tried to stir the pot, and stir it they did. Chris Petersen was asked if he thinks the BSU-Idaho rivalry should continue, and he said this "Why would we (go to Moscow)? I don't think our fans even like to go up there. Most of Idaho's fans are in Boise anyway" (Idaho Statesman; link here ). Boise State President president Bob Kustra chimed in and said there is no reason to even play the Vandals ever again, not even in Boise, and then proceeded to call the students a bunch of drunks (exact quotes and link to follow). That got Idaho president M. Duane Nellis and his panties all up in a bunch and tried to defend his school and the rivalry, saying that it is good economically for the state and the schools. Here is the quote from Kustra;

"This is a great example of why my wife and I no longer travel to Moscow games,'' Kustra said. "It's a culture that is nasty, inebriated and civilly doesn't give our fans the respect that any fan should expect when visiting an away team. ... I don't think at Boise State you're going to find that, so for me personally, when I read what Pete said I knew, I knew.

"For me, this is not about football. For me, this is a cultural issue. It's about fans having to learn how to treat other fans and universities. What bothers me more than anything else, is that the fans are not about denigrating our athletic program. ... What bothers me personally is the denigration of our academic programming. That's what I simply can't tolerate.

"I've seen rivalries all over America, Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, Texas-Texas A&M, Kansas-Kansas State, but you can go inside those rivalries and you'll find all kinds of slams and digs and whatever, but I've never seen the nastiness aimed at the quality of our academic program that I find here in Idaho from the University of Idaho Vandals and as long as that goes on, why would I want to encourage a game where people don't know how to act like grownups?" (Idaho Statesman, link here ).

One Bronco Nation Under God has a really cool and funny take on the whole thing. Check it out here and another one here.

While all of Kustra's remarks are 100 percent true and accurate, I can't help but think what life would be like without the Vandals. My feelings; I'm mixed. I agree with Coach Petersen, there is absolutely no reason to go up to the Moscow and play football in that run-down barn they call the Kibbie Dome, I would still like to see the Vandals come and get their egos altered down at Bronco Stadium from time to time. Other than that, it would save a lot of unnecessary and childish smack-talk from both sides, and save Vandal fans' the embarrassment of having to eat those words time after time following a 63 to 25 beat down by the Broncos. Economically, the rivalry doesn't make much of a difference, contrary to what Nellis claims. There aren't enough seats in the Kibbie Dome to warrant the Broncos going up there for a payoff. If the game is in Boise, Bronco Stadium will sell out yes, but it does almost every other game as well. From the financial aspect, it doesn't matter whether or not the Broncos and the Vandals continue to play each other. To me, the instate rivalry thing only goes as far as the two teams will let it. When one squad has been so terrible for so long and maybe getting only slightly better very slowly, while the other expands its axis of power at an unprecedented rate, that sucks, for lack of a better term. In other words, get better at football Vandals and we'll talk. Meanwhile, Boise State will dominate the Mountain West in a few years just as it has done in the WAC. There is no rivalry when one team can barely field a team worthy enough of a Division-1 sports program.