Goals = Gold: Scoring in Soccer is Worth Its Weight in ... Well ... Gold

Close your eyes and imagine your dream car. Go ahead. I'll wait.

...

...

Ready?

Now think about why this particular vehicle is your dream car. Is it expensive? Are there very few of them in the world? Is it not legal to own it in the United States because it's too fast?

Now ponder on what it would take for you to own your dream car. Money, or lack thereof, is the obvious and most likely deterrent.

Why is this vehicle your dream car? Seriously. Why?

I contend the answer is because it is hard to get, for any number of reasons. I also contend that very few people, if any, have a common vehicle as their dream car. Nobody longs to own a Chevrolet Cobalt or a Ford Focus because you can go to any car dealership and find one. They are not rare.

In essence, a car's true value is found in how dear to the heart it is held by a potential owner. Things that are easy to obtain do not hold such meaning. It's human nature.

This is where I make the transition to sports (this is a sports blog, after all). In the world of soccer, or football (futbol) as it's called by the rest of the world, scoring a goal is like finally owning the car of your dreams based on the worth those pursuing both entities have placed on them. It's meaning is found in its rarity.

Goals in soccer are rare, particularly at the highest level of the sport. That's why when one is finally scored, the player who netted it celebrates as if he's discovered a cure for diabetes, and oftentimes gets mobbed by his teammates and coaches

Scoring a goal is like getting that first kiss as a teenager. You've wanted it for so long -- and worked so hard to make it happen.

Compare it to basketball. A single point -- while still valuable -- is not as meaningful or important as a goal in soccer. Obviously the endgame in any sport is to outscore the opponent, but think about it logically: Where is more worth in a point or goal held, in a 2-1 soccer match or a 98-95 basketball game?

Don't misunderstand me. It's obvious that a single point can make a difference in basketball in the same way that a single goal can be the difference in soccer. My argument is based on the fact that there are more points scored and numerous more opportunities to score on the hardcourt than on the pitch. Therefore, the game of basketball provides many more opportunities for a game not to be decided by a single point.

Goals = gold.

For the record, I love basketball just as much as soccer. I am in no way trying to diminish the game invented by James Naismith. I am, however, attempting to respond to soccer detractors.

We've all heard it; "Soccer is boring. If I wanted to watch someone struggle to score I'd take my friend to a bar." Yes, but when your friend finally does score, his or her celebration will be like Carli Lloyd netting a goal from half field against Japan. Those moments are priceless, a value placed by the people seeking them.

And if a soccer game does end 0-0, blame the bad offensive game plan and execution, or credit the defenses, but don't blame the game itself. There's a reason it's called The Beautiful Game.

Think about it: How difficult is it to control a soccer ball? There are no fingers to grasp it like a basketball. In a way, all your hand-eye coordination is in your feet. Just check out what Argentinian Lionel Messi or (in his hayday) Brazilian Ronaldinho can do. Those two, along with many other world-class footballers, work magic with their feet.

The difficulty of the ball control, combined with the everyone-must-be-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time aspect of all 11 people on a soccer team, show how valuable a goal is, and how difficult it is to score one. It's an 11-part, high-precision machine.

Sit down and watch a soccer game sometime and appreciate the skill and effort it takes to control and move the ball up the field. When a goal is scored, value it as much as the players on the pitch instead of hating it for not being enough.

Goals = gold.

Conference Schmonference: Boise State Proves Success Is More Than League Affiliation

Stop me if you've heard this one before: "Get in a real conference Boise State!"

How about this one: "Cute little Boise State couldn't play a full season in a big boy conference. They'd get killed."

And another: "All Boise State has to do is get up for one or two real games a season, unlike us in the Pac-12..."

I know that my grammar in these examples is far better than you'll find from the mouth-breathing, parents' basement-dwelling knuckleheads who actual say these things, but the point remains true. The Boise State "haters" use this argument like the Broncos actually have a say in what conference they're in. Believe me, they would jump to the Pac-12 in a heartbeat. Boise State does not purposely choose to be in a perceived "lesser" conference.

As logical as that is, the point I wish to make is separate. Let's get right to it.

Ponder this for a moment: Since 1933, Boise State has had just 11 seasons with a losing record. 11! That is a total of 78 seasons. Percentage wise, only 14% of the Broncos' seasons have finished with them under .500.

Let's dig deeper.

Five of those losing seasons came in the first nine years, when Boise State was a junior college. That means BSU has had winning seasons in 64 of the last 69 years.

BSU's last losing season came in 1997 when the Broncos played in the Big West Conference and went 5-6.

Overall, Boise State is 408-155-2 (.724) all-time.

The Broncos have won 18 conference titles, a junior college national championship in 1958, a D-I AA national championship in 1980 and Fiesta Bowl championships in 2007, 2010 and 2014.

Boise State is 10-5 (.667) in bowl games.

Had enough yet?

Only Notre Dame (.732) and Michigan (.729) have a higher all-time winning percentage than BSU, though both have been playing football longer than the Broncos.

Boise State has done all this while being associated with four different Division I conferences, as an independent and as a junior college program.

That, my friends, is called consistency.

Now to wrap a bow around this package, time to tie it all together.

Boise State has proven it can win regardless of its conference affiliation or what decade it may be. That has nothing to do with only having to really get up and prepare for one or two "big" games a season.

The consistency is based on an established program culture, regardless of who is in uniform or who is coaching. If Boise State had the same resources, money and "prestige" that automatically comes with being in the Pac-12, without a doubt the Broncos would compete for conference titles and win games, just like they always have. The numbers and history tell you as much.

After all, the Pac-12 affiliation has allowed Washington State to reel in highly-rated recruits year after year, despite being a sub-500 team (500-526-45 all-time, 12-25 in the last three seasons).

Culture and history transcend everything in college football. They are the bridge that would eliminate any sort of gap -- talent, perception or otherwise -- between the Mountain West and the Pac-12 if Boise State was ever invited.

So while there is a portion of truth in the three statements I mentioned earlier, they are wholly lacking a fundamental understanding of facts.

What makes a team consistently successful is not its conference affiliation (Exhibit A: Washington State, Kansas, etc.), but rather its record over time established by a strong culture of winning.

Vernon Adams and Eastern Washington: A divorce that's soured a once beautiful marriage

Early in the Marvel film "The Avengers" when Asgardian Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) makes his initial appearance, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) says, "We have no quarrel with you."

Loki responds, "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

That statement made by the would-be conqueror of earth describes my thoughts the first time I saw Vernon Adams in person.

It was Nov. 2, 2013 and Adams led the Eastern Washington University Eagles into Holt Arena in Pocatello to face the Idaho State Bengals. EWU prevailed 55-34 as Adams threw for 432 yards and five touchdowns.

I remember saying, "How in the world is this guy at an FCS school? He's incredible."

Adams, a redshirt sophomore at the time, was the boot. The Bengals were the ants.

Flash forward a little over a year and Adams is on his way to Oregon as a graduate transfer from EWU, much to the dismay of Eagles head coach Beau Baldwin.

"Obviously Oregon doesn't feel like they recruited or developed a guy to the same level we did in Cheney, Washington," Baldwin said in a radio interview. "I'll be honest, that can be a little bit frustrating and I would ask the question because I don't see myself finding my next QB at (Division III) Linfield in that regard."

Baldwin has subsequently barred Adams from working out and using Eastern Washington facilities. It's a petty act soothed only by the knowledge that EWU opens the 2015 season against its now former quarterback and the Ducks in Eugene, Ore.

I take issue with Baldwin's words, however. It is hypocrisy at the highest level.

In 2010, Eastern Washington welcomed junior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell into the program, a transfer from FBS school Southern Methodist University in Texas. Mitchell proceeded to lead the Eagles to the FCS national championship that year.

Baldwin, the same man criticizing Oregon for not developing a quarterback on its own, held up the title trophy that his transfer quarterback helped win.

Pot meet kettle.

Eastern Washington got yet another transfer from SMU in 2012 as Kyle Padron joined the team. He was a key part in the Eagles' continuing success.

That hole you're digging for yourself is getter deeper, Mr. Baldwin.

The NCAA has made it possible for fifth-year players to transfer to a different college with no penalty so long as the new school offers a graduate program that the first does not. Whether or not Adams and his decision to transfer follows the spirit of the law is a completely different discussion. And if it does not, that's an NCAA issue.

Can the case be made that Oregon -- and many other FBS schools -- made a mistake by overlooking Adams, a Pasadena, Calif., native, in the recruiting process? Sure. But once again, that's a different argument.

Baldwin's strong statement is a double-edged sword. He better have another quarterback developed and ready to take over at EWU or he'll come off as even more of a bitter hypocrite.

Words of Victory: The 2014 Boise State Football Season Put in Perspective

"Improbable" isn't the right word. That one is reserved for the 2007 Boise State Fiesta Bowl victory.

"Unlikely" doesn't fit, either. Let's give that one to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl squad on account of the outrageous defensive scheme the coaches used and the flawless execution from the players who beat TCU.

No, this year felt different. Better in some ways, the same in other ways. So what word can we use to describe it? Does a single word do it justice?

The Broncos' run to the 2014 Fiesta Bowl championship and a 38-30 win over No. 10 Arizona deserves more than a single, solitary word. It deserves a whole list. How about some of these:

Incredible

Deserving

Justice

Fun

Disappointing

Exhilarating

Heart-stopping

Crushed

Growth

Anguishing

Relief

Vindication

Excitement

Champion

I'm certain there are more, but I felt every single one of these emotions or ideas at least once during the regular season and bowl game.

Bryan Harsin and this batch of Broncos blazed their own trail and wrote their own chapter in the growing history books of Boise State football. They emerged from the shadows of the juggernaut Chris Petersen squads with their own shiny, gold football.

The Fiesta Bowl win removed the notion that one person, one group or one coach defines BSU. It's a cut-and-dry example of a culture being more important and longer-lasting than individualism.

It showed the longevity of Bronco football, one that was in place before Petersen arrived, but was eclipsed by his greatness and success.

The win solidified many legacies at Boise State. Grant Hedrick, Jay Ajayi, even Matt Miller will forever live in Bronco football lore because their accomplishments culminated in a shower of confetti in the Valley of the Sun.

It forged new household names. Tanner Vallejo, Thomas Sperbeck, Kamalei Correa and Jeremy McNichols are young superstars on their way to creating their own legacies at Boise State.

Defeating the PAC-12 runners-up and top 10 Arizona Wildcats showed the nation -- skeptics, doubters and hopefuls alike -- that BSU never really went away.

The Fiesta Bowl championship assured Boise State a spot in the limelight for a little while longer.

It established Harsin as the next Bronco coach who is sure to get offers from "Power-5" schools. Not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, the last time a coach left BSU, this happened.

The 2014 Fiesta Bowl champion Boise State Broncos proved they are indeed a power program and the BSU football flame is a long way away from being extinguished.

Thanks for the ride, Broncos. I've never been more proud to be an alumnus.

Pride. Now there's a nice, descriptive word.

Firsthand Fandom: The Full Fiesta Bowl Experience

Brandyn Thompson had one more play in him. I knew it.

Andy Dalton dropped back, seconds ticked off the clock and the Frogs were in need of a touchdown and extra point to tie -- or they would go for 2 and put the game away.

As he surveyed the field, I looked into Dalton's eyes from my seat in the end zone bleachers (Boise State's end zone, of course). He looked panicked, unsure, most likely from Kyle Wilson's snot-bubbler blindside sack earlier that left the quarterback in a heap on the University of Phoenix Stadium field.

Finally, Dalton launched a pass to the left sideline (to my right). Thompson, making my thought as prophetic as a time traveler who's already seen what happens, stuck out his hand and tipped the ball into the waiting and willing hands of nickel Winston Venable.

I went nuts. If the people around me didn't already know me, they would have been scared. But I didn't care. We had just won our second Fiesta Bowl and had beaten newfound nemesis TCU at the same time. I was on cloud nine. The entirety of Bronco Nation was on cloud nine. We were on top of the world.

The 2009 football season, and subsequent Fiesta Bowl, took place during my final year as an undergrad student at BSU. I was a proud member of the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band. Interim band director had taken the whole group to the Valley of the Sun in a convoy of 4 charter busses to support the team.

Memories of the trip to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego the year before were still fresh. TCU had beaten us 17-16 in a game many expected the Broncos to win. We were out for revenge, though I was skeptical of the chances of that happening.

The busses drove 16 hours, most of it through the heart of Nevada on the Extraterrestrial Highway. We stopped in Ely for some grub along the way. The sign at an Arby's restaurant read, "Broncos trample Toads. Welcome BSU band."

When we to the Phoenix area, our hotel was in a beautiful part of Scottsdale. We spent time in Tempe, Glendale, Chandler and Phoenix. It was incredible.

I sat in an outdoor pool at midnight on January 1. That did not suck at all.

It was incredibly warm. I was sweating profusely during the Fiesta Bowl parade. It was worth it.

When game day arrived, we rolled up to the stadium. If you've never seen University of Phoenix Stadium, it looks like one of those Jiffy Pop stovetop popcorn skillets with an aluminum bag that's been fully popped.

Inside, it's massive. It's an NFL stadium, after all. We walked around in the bowels of the structure. The bleachers I sat in were removable, which was important because the grass field was on a giant "tray" that could slide outside and get some sun when needed. Incredible ingenuity.

At kickoff, the stadium electric; half purple and half blue and orange.

When Thompson got his pick-6, I was confident. After the Kyle Brotzman to Kyle Efaw pass on a fake punt, I was ecstatic. When Doug Martin cartwheeled into the end zone for what became the game-winning touchdown, I went out of my mind.

You know what happened next. Game. Set. Match. Goodbye Toads.

I still smile every time I think about that trip and the game. It set Boise State apart from the rest of the non-BCS schools and firmly onto the newly-minted "power program" shelf. Being a fan and representative of the university was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

The last two seasons have been hard at Boise State. Whether it was Petersen, Prince, Kwiatowski, complacency or a combination of any or all of them, the team was down. The mystique was faltering, but not totally gone (sorry Rocky Long). Change was needed, though some of us, including me, didn't know it yet.

Change has done Boise State well. Harsin is our blue and orange knight. How fitting that he has the Broncos back in the Fiesta Bowl in his first season as the head coach, just like Petersen once did.

Win or lose, Boise State has reestablished itself as the premier "Group of 5" team, one that has stood the test of time and is far from the one-year wonders that pop up every season.

Those who are in Glendale for the game, keep all this in mind. Cheer loud, enjoy the moment and take lots of pictures. It's a bowl game, but this particular Fiesta Bowl is Boise State once again showing the nation and naysayers it is here to stay.

Go Broncos.

One year later the world hasn't ended; a look back at Petersen going purple

When I was younger, I had a favorite blanket. It was my constant companion while at home and I thought about it often while I was away. 

I had separation anxiety from my "blankie."

One day I came home from school to find blankie was missing. The devastation was severe. It was ugly. I had a crisis on my hands. I interrogated the only suspect, my mother, and she cracked. 

Blankie was gone forever, never to return. My mom had thrown the ratty thing away, and I immediately knew life was over. Permanently altered. 

Why go on? What is life without your favorite blue blanket? Oh how I longed for it. 

As time passed, I replaced the hole in my heart left by blankie with other things; sports, video games, girls, etc. Before I knew it, the blanket never crossed my mind, even accidentally.

I was over it. I had finally let go. The wounds were healed, and, you know what? My life was pretty darn good. 

As a longtime Boise State fan, Chris Petersen was my college football blankie. Strange comparison, I know, but think about it. How did you feel when he left for the purpler grass at Washington?

Like crap. I know I did. 

When Ian Johnson scored the 2-point conversion against Oklahoma in the first Fiesta Bowl and Petersen did his double fist pump celebration, the man immediately became my idol. When he left, that role model was ripped from me just like my mother removed blankie from my life.

I went through the stages of grief. That night when Huskie Athletic Director Scott Woodward flew to Boise and the news leaked that Petersen was leaving, I was in denial. No way. That guy loves Boise. He IS Bronco football. 

What were we going to do without Petersen? Life was over. We were screwed. It sucked. We were never going to win again. Rip up the blue turf and sell it to some high school in Alaska. 

But, time passed, as it always does, and the wounds began to heal. The Petersen-shaped hole in my heart was partially filled by Bryan Harsin's energetic, BAMFy attitude and confidence. 

When August rolled around and Boise State faced off against Ole Miss in Atlanta, I saw a team with energy, fight and desire. 

I saw Boise State was still Boise State, Petersen or not. The loss to Air Force had me worrying, but what transpired after that has me as giddy as a 13-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. 

One year later, Petersen is no longer a concern. I wrote a piece saying I was rooting for Petersen to fail at Washington a couple of months ago, but even those feelings are now watered down. In fact, I find myself cheering for him. I discovered I still have a deep, deep respect for him and his work. 

Now he just needs to beat Oregon and we'll be even. 

Life goes on. It's actually pretty sweet. Life after Petersen hasn't been all candy canes, puppies, rainbows and gumdrops, but it's been far from the Broncopocalypse we all expected it to be.

I bleed blue. Always have and always will. So carry on, fellow Bronco fans. Who we are wasn't forged by just one man, one season or one win. We are a conglomeration of everything we've been through and experienced, including the departure of a beloved coach and role model. 

Enjoy what's left of this season. I sure will. At least we aren't on flight watch and coach Defcon alert this time around. 

Go Broncos!

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.