"We'd like to let everyone on this flight know an important piece of information."

When you hear this sitting in seat 27D on a plane making the initial ascent from Atlanta, you hope not to hear certain things after it.  The right engine just fell off and we have three minutes to impact. Our pilot has just suffered a seizure, and the co-pilot is having an allergic reaction to someone's cologne in first class. We've been rerouted to Detroit, and you will have to spend the night there whether you like it or not. 

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This story also posted at AZ Desert Swarm.

So, how do Arizona Wildcat fans get themselves amped up for this one?  The Wildcats are coming off of a 4 game losing streak, and put forth the worst football game I've seen them play in years against their in-state rivals the Arizona St. Sun Devils.

Arizona QB Nick Foles put it best.  "We're just getting the mindset that we're starting over. A bowl game is a new season. It's almost like you have a camp going on and then you move forward. We're moving forward with workouts. We had a week straight of just workouts, getting our speed and explosion back. Once we hit the practice field I could just tell there was a little different vibe. Everybody had a little bit more movement. It's just the excitement. Everybody is excited to play in the Alamo Bowl and just to be out there playing. There's a lot of teams not playing in a bowl game and we're fortunate to be one of the teams who are playing. We had a lot of senior leadership this season, a lot of guys who stepped up and kept the team together. Even though we didn't end the season they way we wanted to, we were in most of those games and competing really hard. I think the key is continuing to move forward."

Foles is right.  This is a new season.  More than that, it's a chance for the Wildcats to prove that they belong on the national stage.  That this is not some middling program, but a program on the rise, in the toughest conference in the nation.  Some see the challenge of defeating the Oklahoma St. Cowboys as too much for Arizona.  The Oklahoma St. offense is too good, with the nation's best wide receiver, the Cowboys' Justin Blackmon being too much for the 'overrated' Arizona defense to handle.

To hell with that nonsense.

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This story is also posted at Cowboys Ride For Free.

I've been to San Antonio to watch Oklahoma State play in the Alamo Bowl twice. Once in 1997 when the world was introduced by a guy named Drew Brees, and again in 2004 when everyone was just getting to know a guy named Ted Ginn. 

Not exactly what you want to see from a "let's get a bowl win" standpoint.  

However, both road trips to San Antonio were fantastic. And when I say fantastic, I mean disgusting, hilarious, confusing, and great.

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This story also posted at One Bronco Nation Under God.

Boise State has become the storied program that it has because of fantastic athletes and great people. One of those people that has played an incredibly influential role in being part of Boise State's success is Jared Zabransky. Zabransky played quarterback and proved to be a handful for defenses with his great speed and accurate passing. Join me now after the jump as I break down my fifteen minutes of fame with Jared Zabransky.

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That's the beautiful five and a half hour stretch of grand American nothing between Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona, the last leg in the Good Hands Roadtrip and our path to the BCS Title game. We'll be in Vegas on Saturday night and driving in on Sunday, so don't be a stranger either on the Twitter (@edsbs) or in real life if you're around, especially since we'll be with Karlos Dansby on Monday at the Upper Deck Sports Grill from noon to 1 p.m. MST for the ticket giveaway, Q&A and trivia before the game. THAT'S RIGHT WE SAID TICKET GIVEAWAY. Save yourself a few grand and show up.

Additionally, if there's actually anything between the two we'll stop and see it as long as it isn't some kind of plot to get us kidnapped by mutant hill people. Okay, we'll stop especially if there's a chance of us being kidnapped by mutant hill people.

THE APPROACH IS KEY: I drove into Boise from Salt Lake, but that wasn't a given when the plane descended from the clouds and into Mormon Hoth. Salt Lake isn't the most polychromatic city, but snow didn't help, a full dusting with accompanying winterfog and a constant sleet. When I picked up the rental car, I was relieved to find they had given me a bright yellow Toyota Land Cruiser. Ninety dollars in gas bills would be painful, but bright yellow is a very visible color even in the fiercest of blizzards. At the very least it would make a nice beacon for the highway patrol to find my body after I drove off the side of a mountain. 

Fortified by In 'n Out Burger, I got on I-84 West and went north, hoping the roads would hold and I wouldn't have to spend a night a.) in any number of roadside Idaho hotels, where I would surely be lured into a murderous game of kill-or-be-killed by the demented owners, or b.) sleeping in the car and waiting for my beef jerky to run out while the wolves and mountain lions used coat hangers to jimmy open the doors.

Continue reading this post »

Boise State has become the storied program that it has because of fantastic athletes and great people. One of those people that has played an incredibly influential role in being part of Boise State's success is Jared Zabransky. Zabransky played quarterback and proved to be a handful for defenses with his great speed and accurate passing. Join me now after the jump as I break down my fifteen minutes of fame with Jared Zabransky.

Continue reading this post »

There's the roadmap for this weekend's drive: 338 miles from Salt Lake City to Boise, done today after we get off this plane where we've got the whole window seat row to ourselves and a stewardess willing to leave a whole coffee pot by us rather than waste her time refilling the shotglass she's giving us.

Why go to Boise now, a week after their season-crippling loss to Nevada? BECAUSE THAT'S THE LAST THING YOU WOULD EXPECT US TO DO, THAT'S WHY. This means we will be taking advice on several areas of reader expertise:

• Driving in blinding snowstorms
• Surviving in a car buried in an avalanche.
  
• What parts of a car are edible?
  
• Should we dress up as an Auburn fan and loudly cheer all by ourselves at a local bar during the SEC Championship Game?
• If we're thrown out, should we immediately demand reinstatement to the bar?
  

Wish us luck, and if you're in Boise drop us a line. We promise to make no Kyle Brotzman jokes.