BLANKET COVERAGE

Howdy from Boise, where the sky is gray and the field--and my fingers--are blue.

(dad
I arrived upstairs at Boise State's press box to learn that I'd been placed in auxiliary seating. That means I'm booted from the press box which, considering that it's just below freezing here, did not sound too appealing. But I've actually been kicked out of the open-air press box down to the open-air University Club (read: boosters) seating. The food is better here, but more importantly, each seat comes with its own blanket.

And, as it begins snowing here in the first quarter, I'm sitting with my new friends the Roches, a father-and-son duo from here in Boise. I just told Ken (dad) that I was at the Insight Bowl two nights ago and he said, "They should fire that coach from Minnesota."

"They just did."

Which reminds me: In three of the last four games I've covered, including tonight's, one of the coaches was fired (Dirk Koetter, Glen Mason and Larry Coker). Fired for a subpar season and your team is still bowling...in case you were wondering whether there's an overabundance of bowls.

It's snowing. Just thought you'd like to know. The Roches were up skiing at Bogus Basin (local resort, "a hidden gem," says Ken) on Thursday and they say that the Miami Hurricanes were there. I'm guessing you don't see that many big African-American young men in Boise, so I'm taking their word for it. Anyway, they said the Canes were tubing down hills and having a big ol' time. For many, it was the first time they'd ever seen snow.

Since I'm sitting in a fan section, I'll just keep typing until I run out of power. I'm not talking about computer power. I'm talking about me. Besides, my fingers are numb.