A Boise Fiesta

As you might imagine, about the only thing people are talking about here in the Boise area is the very exciting Fiesta Bowl game, in which Boise State beat Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime. For those of you who missed it, here's a 2 1/2 minute clip that shows all the important plays from the last 1:30 of regulation and overtime:



As you can see, it was pretty exciting, especially considering that few people outside of Idaho gave BSU a chance to win. The win set off a great outpouring of pride among the local fans, as well it should have. Originally being from a traditional football state, I've found I have a hard time keeping quiet when some BSU fans, a little over-exuberantly, tend to engage in a little hyperbole when describing the game. Some, including fellow submarine blogger Dale over at Right Mind, and Cameron at Magic Valley Mormon (which is where I found the video above) have been calling it the "greatest game ever", which is clearly ridiculous -- while it was exciting, it was also fairly poorly played (seven turnovers, of which only two were due to outstanding defensive plays). College Football News has it just about right in calling it the 4th best bowl game ever. You also have people like Idaho Statesman sportswriter Chadd Cripe, in discussing the trick plays BSU used, saying idiotic things like:

The Broncos fought back with the kind of plays you just don't see in the Big 12, the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten.

Stupid statements like that only serve to make it look like BSU fans like him haven't ever seen a college football game that didn't involve the Broncos. (Of course, had he added "...when the game is on the line" he would have been pretty much right.)

Almost as heart-warming as the game was to BSU fans (and Oklahoma-despisers like me) was the story that started up right after the game. After star BSU running back Ian Johnson scored the winning 2-point conversion, he proposed to his girlfriend (the captain of the BSU cheerleading squad) on national television:


A lot of times, people in football town will hear stories about what a jerk the big football stars are. By all reports, though, Ian Johnson truly is the All-American boy they made him out to be on all the morning shows today -- he really is a nice guy who everyone likes. He, and BSU's win over Oklahoma, are what make college football great.