The Front Row with MARK NELKE October 10, 2010
The Idaho Vandals were college football fans like the rest of us on Saturday, which meant they got to rest on their 3-2 record for another week while their past and future opponents pounded on each other for at least an additional 60 minutes.
So what kind of shape are the Vandals, with eight games remaining - and four wins needed to be eligible for a bowl game?
Idaho has long since stopped kicking itself for losing in the fourth week of the season at Colorado State, which had lost its previous 12 games, including one in Moscow last year.
Hopefully that win that got away won't come back to bite the Vandals.
Last year Idaho went 4-4 in the WAC; this year, a similar mark would help the Vandals reach the magic number of seven wins needed to be bowl-eligible.
It's dangerous to assume wins, of course, but Idaho's best chances are Oct. 16 in the conference opener at Louisiana Tech, the following week at home against lowly New Mexico State, Oct. 30 at Hawaii, Nov. 20 at Utah State and Dec. 4 at home in the regular season finale vs. San Jose State.
Of those teams, Idaho beat all but Utah State last year.
The Vandals' other three losses in WAC play last year were to Nevada, Boise State and Fresno State. Idaho gets two of them at home this year, Nov. 6 vs. Nevada and six days later vs. Boise State when ESPN2 comes to town. Idaho plays at Fresno State on Nov. 27.
Idaho will be expected to handle New Mexico State and San Jose State at home. Obviously the Vandals will have to be near-perfect to beat Nevada, Boise State and Fresno State, but with two of those games at home, who knows?
The key could be the other three WAC games, all on the road - at Louisiana Tech, Hawaii and Utah State.
The Vandals are much better on defense this year, and are doing well offensively despite a young offensive line.
So they have the ability to overcome the usual problems teams face on the road. But if they self-destruct and trip up too much on the road, that bowl invite could be in jeopardy.
The Seahawks also have a bye this week, not that many would notice. Some might have thought they were idle last week, scoring all of 3 points in a loss at St. Louis.
Of course, at 2-2, Seattle is in a three-way tie for first in the NFC West, and already two games ahead of The Team That Thought They Were Going to Win the Division. The Seahawks are nearly halfway to the five wins they totaled all of last year, and are showing signs of competitiveness more often than not.
That other team, well, they’re just trying to find the end zone more than just occasionally. If that happens then maybe, just maybe, a victory will follow.
But that’s a big “if.”
In football, BCS stands for Bowl Championship Series.
If they had a BCS in baseball, it would stand for Blown Call Series.
When the first few games of the baseball playoffs are known for a missed call on a shoestring catch by a Yankee right fielder, a missed call on an alleged stolen base which led to the game’s only run — and, oh yeah, only the second no-hitter in the history of postseason baseball — maybe it’s time to consider whether modern technology would be helpful.
It’s not like instant replay would make the games seem too long — they’re already too long. American League games, in particular, last longer than many relationships.
Use it for close plays on the bases, and to determine whether it was a catch or not. Let the umps make the call on checked swings and balls and strikes, though most TV stations use a tracer to show where the pitch crossed the plate.
However, at least for the Mariners games, the sensors on the tracer may have gotten knocked out of whack by Don Wakamatsu on his way out of town. Pitches that look like they’re right down the middle from the center field camera somehow show up about 6 inches off the plate on the tracer.
Of course, you could probably say the same about the Mariners after their 101-loss season.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.