Why Boise State fans openly root against Chris Petersen -- and it's not what you think

I'm trying. I really am.

I have nothing but respect and admiration for Chris Petersen and what he did and meant for Boise State. Not just football, but the entire university and town. 

But I hope he fails miserably, faster than one of those stones the aliens used to build the Egyptian pyramids sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. 

I can't help it. 

I try to tell myself not to feel that way. My mind tells me to knock it off, to wish Petersen the best in his new endeavors at Washington. But my heart sends my brain packing faster than a weekend trip to see the in-laws gone bad.

And my disdain for Petersen is actually not directed toward him at all. It's the narrative that has been created around him that I can't stand.

Every single media member/institution outside of Boise says the Broncos are on a downward trend because Petersen WAS Boise State football. He built the program, sculpted it, molded it and built it to the top, then bailed when it had reached its peak. There is nothing left, they say.

It's not Petersen's fault, really. He did what was best for him and his family when he chose to dawn the Huskie purple. But that narrative must die. Burn its remains and salt the earth from which it was born. And in order for that thought to be silenced for good, he must fail miserably. 

Petersen's demise solidifies Boise State as a self-sustaining, successful football program. It means he didn't make Boise State, but rather Boise State helped him. It was a symbiotic relationship. 

Houston Nutt set the bar for ex-Boise State coaches. Dirk Koetter and Dan Hawkins followed suit. 

Why should Petersen be any different? Fans have dubbed it the Curse of Pokey Allen, a fitting and so far undefeated name.

The Broncos will continue to win games, it always have. That partially discredits the "Petersen made Boise State" narrative. The Huskies flaming out worse than the Hindenburg blimp seals its fate. 

History is bound to repeat itself. 

"The only writing on the wall Petersen saw was Joe Southwick's name trickling down a Hawaiian hotel balcony."

If I may, I'd like to borrow a page from Peter Griffin's book and let you know what really grinds my gears. 

Lots of things, actually. But, mainly, blanket generalizations and people who use a hope or a wish as a legitimate reason to make their claims. Doing a little research never hurt anyone. 

What's my point? I'm getting there. But first, let me set it up properly.

Naturally, as a biased fan of Boise State, I offer no apologies for my thoughts and opinions. In fact, I may cram them down your throat from time to time. 

Don't tempt me. 

As I watch the 2014 football season unfold (one I'm really enjoying, by the way), I can't help but ponder on what has happened to the Broncos in the past couple of years. 

Boise State went from BCS-busting Cinderella to washed up chump that clings to past successes faster than a Devan Demas 40-yard dash, according to clueless outsiders without a lick of knowledge or understanding. 

How quickly the Broncos were dethroned while the likes of Fresno State (lol) and Utah State (double lol) were crowned. 

Death. Taxes. Boise State winning football games. Take it to the bank. Tell your friends about it. 

It's not going to change. 

It's crucial to recognize, however, the fact that some things are indeed different. This is not the same BSU team that won a couple of Fiesta Bowls. And that's fine. As much fun as it is to cream every team we play, the aura of college football is that of challenge and emotion. Let's play on Saturday (maybe on Friday, in our case) and enjoy the ride. 

I am forever grateful for what Chris Petersen did at Boise State and for what he meant to the city and the program. That will never change. He built the indoor practice field and new facilities by the sweat of his brow for heaven's sakes.

But let's be clear, Petersen was not an infallible football god. I'm as guilty as the next person when it came to propping him up as such. It's interesting to look back and see that was not the case. Yes, Pete made mistakes. 

And with his departure came the idiot parade. It was one ridiculous argument after another as to the "true" reason for his departure. Allow me to address the one that bothers me the most. 

Petersen "saw the writing on the wall" at Boise State and left while the going was good. He saw that Boise State was on a downward trend and bailed. 

Are you serious? Are you really that naive? Such logic is as fallacious as a Jameis Winston explanation. 

Boise State's final two seasons under Petersen were far from spectacular. In fact, many aspects were downright putrid. He's as much responsible for that as he is the Fiesta Bowl years. Don't take the good and heap praise on him only to ignore or dismiss the negative in order to support your argument.

And let's not forget one of the greatest college quarterbacks in the universe played for him during the glory years. Petersen's recruiting at that position was suspect at BSU (Remember, Justin Wilcox brought Kellen Moore to Boise).

Petersen must have had a crystal ball because the only writing on the wall he saw was Joe Southwick's name trickling down a Hawaiian hotel balcony.

Or his own shortcomings at Boise State that came creeping back to haunt him.

And that's the key. A head coach is only as good as his assistants. Once Justin Wilcox, Bryan Harsin, Marcel Yates, Mike Sanford and Co. left, that was it. Their replacements under Petersen were subpar, to say the least.

Robert Prince, anyone?

With Harsin leading the way, the Broncos will continue to out-recruit its peers and win. It will be near impossible to replicate Petersen's 4-year run with Kellen Moore, but Boise State is not "slowly fading away," as some claim. Just look at the team's overall record: 399–153–2. 

Oh, and only two coaches have ever had losing records with the Broncos, and one of them wasn't even around for a full season (Houston Nutt in 1997 was 5-6 and Tom Mason was 1-9 in 1996).

Claiming Boise State is done as a successful and even dominant program is uneducated and lacking in historical perspective and knowledge. No, the Broncos aren't going anywhere, despite anyone's wishes or desires disguised as evidence.

Neither am I. 

10 minutes of fame? Since 2007, Boise State has had 4 first-round draft picks to Ole Miss' 3.

The amount of trash talk, worried tweeters and shaken confidence coming from the Ole Miss camp less than two weeks before the matchup with Boise State is a microcosm of the current state of both programs.

The feeling emanating from Oxford, Miss., is a mix of weary enthusiasm and unsupported confidence. My favorite comment came via Twitter from @TheNotoriousJON: "@JRodrigues89 but this Boise State team isn't of the same caliber that beat Georgia back in the day. To big a game for a first year coach..." https://twitter.com/TheNotoriusJON/status/501008268375105536

We can't overlook this one, either: "@Rafter17 @JRodrigues89 pretty sure Harsin is not on the level of Peterson Boise's 10 minutes of fame is up..." https://twitter.com/TheNotoriusJON/status/501030644718534656

Now, we can't put too much emphasis on the thoughts of some random tweeter with 271 followers, I did a little bit of research.

Since the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the game that catapulted Boise State into the national spotlight, the Broncos have gone 79-13, winning four bowl games, including the 2010 Fiesta Bowl over TCU. The Rebels have a record of 42-41 with four bowl wins as well, none of which were BCS Bowls.

Now before I hear any, "But we play in the ESS EE SEE PAWWWWWWWL! The best conference in the history of the world PAAAAAAAAAAWL!!!!" Comments, let's look at success another way.

Again, since 2007:
First-round draft picks-
Boise State: 4
Ole Miss: 3

Total NFL Draft picks-
Boise State: 13
Ole Miss: 13

How about that? As Kris (@lostriver76) put it: "Pretty sure BSU's "10mins" of fame are 9 1/2mins longer than any Ole Miss has had." https://twitter.com/lostriver76/status/501040945413255168

By no means am I guaranteeing a win over Ole Miss on August 28. In fact, I've said multiple times Boise State has a lot working against it and a victory would almost be a miracle. Clearly, however, Boise State is far from an afterthought for the Rebels. And any notion, talk or claim that Boise State's 10 minutes of fame" coming from an Ole Miss fan is laughable.

If nothing else, these stats show Boise State is on par or above the success rate of many SEC teams. Win or lose in Atlanta, the Broncos have made a name for themselves, regardless of what Ole Miss fans say.

The effects of "Power-5" autonomy on the FCS

For the record, I am 100 percent in support of the NCAA allowing conferences to vote for their own autonomy. This is the best thing that could happen to college football.

After all, the person who takes their ball and goes home in a fit of anger is my absolute favorite (like BYU. If the Pac-12 won't take us, we'll go play by ourselves). If you don't like the rules, why not change them? It's a win-win for everybody!

If you can't tell, I'm joking. This stuff has me more upset than when Friends ended.

I do not claim to be any sort of expert on the business side of college athletics, but my experience as a beat writer for an FCS football team does give me some insight. Let's explore.

If your team plays in one of the "less fortunate" conferences, I'm sorry to say this: At this point, you have to be wondering if your players will even have scholarships available much longer. Without the revenue sharing from bigger conferences, each school is left to fend for themselves. Of course, their conferences will jump to the aid. But, and excuse this comparison, but a bum doesn't have much financial backing to help support a hobo.

I covered the Idaho State football team for three seasons. This "Power 5" autonomy vote even affects the FCS level. Schools in the Big Sky, as well as other FCS teams, play one or two "body bag" games a season. They earn hefty sums of money that is used to fund their entire athletic department. With the autonomy given to power FBS schools, the likelihood of these money games continuing is very, very small.

When it comes down to it, however, FCS schools are in a better position than FBS programs in non-Big 5 conferences. Sure, there will be long-term effects, but that level of football is secure. Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said so on numerous occasions during meetings and press conferences I attended.

In fact, remember back in 2010 when Montana (and Montana State, as a necessity of maintaining a rivalry) considered jumping to the FBS level and joining the WAC? The Grizzlies said no and continue to be an FCS playoff stalwart.

Think about this: To date, the only football programs to move from Division 1AA (now FCS) to Division 1A (now FBS) and have success are Boise State and to a lesser degree Nevada. That's it. The rest have done nothing note-worthy, including Idaho.

Getting back on track, Montana's decision to stay put was incredibly smart. It will be even harder to succeed at the FBS level without membership in a "Power-5" conference.

Will the non-power conferences return to an FCS-type of membership? Will they accept the change or fight back to be included? Will conferences support their teams or will it be a fend-for-yourself deal?

Regarding Boise State, the Broncos have the national notoriety, money and ability to stay close to on par with the "Power-5." Who knows how long they can keep it up or if an invite to join the "elite" will ever come.

Seriously consider this: Would it be the worst thing in the world to accept defeat (if it comes to that) and join a stable conference, albeit at a lower, less money-driven level? Seriously. Consider the options.

Perspective is like a Sour Patch kid; sour and sweet

With just 41 days left until Boise State takes the Harsin show on the road and faces Ole' Miss. in the Peach State, I can't help but look back at what we experienced during the 2013 college football season.

There were moments of glory (winning at Utah State), but there were plenty of cringe-worthy and agonizing horrors (San Diego State, BYU -- the worst one, in my opinion). The Broncos finished with a disappointing 8-5 record, the season culminating with a loss to Oregon State in the Hawaii Bowl. Oh, and our head coach left. There's that, too.

Let's not forget our starting quarterback jacked up his ankle on the first play of the game against the Wolfpack of Nevada and then he (allegedly) urinated off a balcony in Hawaii and was sent home.

Yeah. I'd take a mulligan on a lot of those moments if I could.

As painful as it was to go through all that, and watch Chris Petersen sneak his way out of town for purple-er (not a word, I know) pastures, it could have been worse. Let us embrace the motto that our blue and orange-clad savior Bryan Harsin has supplied and forget about last season. It's time to attack the future. Seriously. Let's maul, maim, harm, injure, upend, tackle, mangle and otherwise pee on (too early?) the future.

But first, let's take a step back and gain some healthy and important perspective.

After the pineapple-scented dust had settled (in Hawaii, after all), Boise State was 8-5. Looking at the season from a somewhat historical view, take this into account:

- The last time the Broncos lost won eight or less games was in 2001 (8-4)
- There were 17 teams at the FBS level with eight wins in 2013.
- 33 teams had nine wins or more
- 68 teams had seven wins or less
- Idaho has not won eight games in a season since 1998 (finished 9-3)
-Furthermore, the Vandals have had just 12 seasons of eight or more wins since 1954, and that's only because they played seven-game seasons before that

So, relax Bronco Nation. The sky is not falling. Far from it, actually. Time will tell whether or not Harsin can continue the winning tradition at Boise State, and the pieces are there to make it happen.

I added an Urban Dictionary definition of the term "University of Idaho"

Read it straight from the website here. (There was already a really good one posted). Mine is still being reviewed before it will be posted, but I went ahead and pasted it here for your pleasure. Enjoy!

University of Idaho

Forever the little brother of its fellow school on The Palouse and its in-state "rival" down south, the University of Idaho is used to playing second fiddle. So it comes as no surprise that after being passed by that same in-state college in every academic and athletic spectrum, the butt-hurt pouring from the University of Idaho is at an all-time high.

Despite its self-appointed title as "the Harvard of the West," there are zero nationally-ranked graduate programs or nationally-prominent faculty members to be found. Better known for its rampant drinking and alcoholism among its student population, the University of Idaho is more a waste of mommy and daddy's money that it is an actual establishment of higher learning.

The school's location, Moscow, Idaho, is a cold, bitter wasteland where only Neo-Nazi skinheads and right-wing nut jobs are comfortable and welcome (Larry Craig, Sarah Palin are graduates). The only bright spot is leaving.

The University of Idaho football team is only competitive against Division II programs, making its losses to them that much more humiliating. Then again, the school is used to that feeling as it plays in an over-sized bathroom stall known as the Kibbie Dome. Not only is losing as natural as breathing to the Vandals, the football team also gets banned from postseason play (not that they would ever qualify anyway) due to poor academic progress reports. To rub salt in the wound, its in-state rival is ranked in the top 3 nationally for average GPA among its football team.

Despite the Vandals' pathetic attempts to remain athletically relevant, its in-state rival has surpassed it by light years. Instead of admitting the ship has sailed, the University of Idaho leadership persists on "saving face" and whores out its football program for money games and, most recently, the Sun Belt Conference.

Example:

"I used to love Cher, but she's pulling a University of Idaho and just needs to call it quits."

"My friend has everything. I'm so jealous of him, call me University of Idaho."

Dog days of summer got you down? Make sure to keep things Blue

We are smack-dab in the middle of the dog days of summer. I hate it.

Actually, the World Cup has distracted me from the football-less (that's American football, mind you) doldrums of my least favorite time of year. Under normal circumstances, only my Fiesta Bowl DVD collection could get me through it.

Some people have season depression where the cold, dark winter forces them into a sad shell. I'm the opposite. Summer makes me mad because I prefer the cold, and there's no football. Zero. Zip Zilch. None in sight.

I'd rather slit my wrists and do push-ups in salt water than watch baseball.

But, like any good die-hards, I rely on my fellow members of Bronco Nation to keep me and well. This offseason has been the most eventful and exciting in recent memory. Bryan Harsin has injected new life into what had become a complacent fan base. Every time a, "Go Broncos!" tweet from him shows up on my Twitter timeline, the adrenaline starts pumping and the anticipation is high.

It is my sincere hope that this excitement continues into the fall and is amplified on The Blue by a group of pissed off Broncos, upset at how last year unfolded.

So it is desired, so it shall be.

At least I hope so. See, that's the great part about being a fan. The optimism reigns in full force, regardless of how unfounded it is. It's what gives Dallas Cowboys fans undying hope of success as Tony Romo continues to do what Tony Romo does. It's what allows Idaho State Bengal fans to show up at Holt Arena every Saturday, waving their flags in the air and expecting a victory from their team. It may not happen, but the eternal flame of optimism continues to burn, even at the darkest times.

As Boise State embarks on a new era of football -- and we as fans go along with it -- there is more hope than ever before. Images of Jay Ajayi mowing down defenders then cart-wheeling his way past another toward the end zone occupy my mind as I wait for Aug. 28 to roll around.

Then I see incoming recruits like offensive lineman Troy Bacon full embracing what it means to be a Boise State Bronco (check out his Twitter timeline to find out what I'm talking about). There is so much more to The Blue than just great football. This has me excited about the future. This fuels my fire of optimism as much as what will take place on the gridiron.

Let's keep it going, Bronco Nation. We need each other as much as we need football. Can the season start now, please?