Here is a less-than-perfect rendering of what Cedric will look like in the new Nike Pro Combat Gear:

The special uniforms do look pretty cool:

BK alum Spencer Gerke (’08) is also a member of the Broncos, having completed his redshirt season in 2009. He is 290-pounds and wears #77, so you should be able to spot him easily.

Kyle had two catches for 16 yards and played extensively in the Buffs receiver rotation.  It was way back on Nov. 17, 2006, the night of the 4A State Championship game at Bronco Stadium, that he had last played.

Teammate Cody Hawkins ‘06 saw special teams duty in his current role as QB2 for Colorado. The Buffs beat Colorado State, 24-3. More info at www.CUbuffs.com. Also some good stuff here from the Denver Post.

David Skinner (L) and Ben Ysursa during a BK football game bradcast

The threesome is an institution among BK football fans.  “Frankly there is no other place I’d rather be on a Friday night in the fall,” says Skinner. “And I know Benito and Kirky feel the same way.”  Indeed, when asked Skinner recalls missing only two of the games since 1991.  Such endurance bespeaks why Skinner is known as the Voice of the Knights.

The games are all streamed live online at www.BKfootball.com, and are later available on demand in the MULTIMEDIA section of this website.

Keith Pettyjohn at Salt and Light Radio reports that  KGEM is also looking trying some single game broadcasts for other sports not normally on the radio, such as soccer, basketball and other sports.  “We are pleased to continue with KGEM to broadcast the football games,” said Skinner.

The broadcasts have aired on numerous AM radio stations over the years, including KTIK, KFXD and KIDO.  KGEM has had the broadcast for the past few years, which is appropriate given that it was the first station to broadcast BK football games back in the 1960s.

BK football games are the longest running broadcast of any Boise area high school.  Not only is longevity unique, the presence of three unabashed BK partisans in the broadcast booth ensures that listeners are getting a view of the game through Black and Gold colored glasses.  Skinner and Ysursa have made no bones about their support for BK during the football games.  A listener of the opposing team or someone looking for an “objective” broadcast is going to have to listen elsewhere or endure a long evening.

Color man Ben Ysursa brings his unique approach to describing the action on the field.  Ysursa, who serves as Idaho’s Secretary of State (first elected in 2002), was Bishop Kelly’s first starting quarterback in 1964 and held that position for three seasons.  Known for doing virtually no pre-game research, Ysursa has an uncanny ability to predict what play will (or should) be called, as well the infraction after a penalty flag is thrown but prior to the official making the call.  Ysursa’s dual role as state elected official and color man for his high school alma mater has been noted by political writers.

Kirk assists Skinner and Ysursa as the stats man using a “Kirkulator.”  And then while Ysursa and Skinner take a break at halftime, Kirk takes control and interviews a guest, usually a school leader or sometimes a public official or noted alumnus.

Broadcasts have included some memorable halftime guest interviews.  In October 2005 Dennis’ older brother Michael Kirk joined the broadcast team and stayed on through much of the second half during a BK drubbing of Nampa 72-7.  The elder Kirk lives in Boston, is an award winning producer of the PBS television show FRONTLINE, and in the fall of 2005 Kirk had returned from recently Iraq where violence had escalated and he gave a chilling account of a nation on the brink of civil war.

BKfootball.com sat down with Skinner to discuss the upcoming 2010 season and also to reminisce over nineteen seasons. Here are some of the observations that came out of that visit:

• Skinner says the football team should have a good season this year.  “Lots of good athletes, they return a lot of players on defense.  It will be nice team.”  Expect to hear names like Hunter Griffith, Cody McCarthy, Butch Hyder and Nate Lothrop on the radio this fall.
• For the first time in memory the Knights’ first game comes later in the school year.  School started on August 17^th, and the first game is at the end of the 3^rd week of school, a week later than typical.
• When asked to think back over nineteen seasons of football games for those most memorable, Skinner was quick with a number of examples.  “Probably the 3^rd and 47 game has to be the most memorable,” he said, referencing the 2005 state football championship where BK secured a 31-29 win on an improbable running play for first down when backed up deep on a 3^rd and 47 late in the game.
• “The Lake City game was great.”  In that 2000 contest the Knights upset a favored Lake City squad in the first round of the 4A playoffs in the first season BK had moved up on classification level.  “I have to put the Sandpoint game up there too.  That was the game one week before the championship against Pocatello where it looked like all was lost until Cody [Hawkins] connected with Stew Tracy.”
• Skinner then went deeper into the past, to 1994, the year the Knights secured their first-ever state championship.  “The game where we went over to Weiser in mid season has to be one of the great ones,” Skinner said.  “John Hild was all over the place, playing quarterback, kicking field goals, making key tackles as a free safety.”  Hild, who some have likened to Jim Thorpe, led the Knights to the state championship over Snake River.  The radio broadcast team made the trip to Pocatello in a bus with forty other BK boosters, which brings up many road-trip memories.

Learn more about this 2-year school (where Jerard Rabb played before he came to BSU)  and the football program at Saddleback College by clicking this Gaucho:

The Spartans will be looking for payback from last year’s opening game when the Knights won the opener at home in a 24-0 shutout.  The one-sided score belies the season results where both BK and Minico made the state playoffs, and both losing in the first round.  Not only that, but Minico is coming off a strong 34-7 season opening win over Pocatello’s Century High School last Friday night.

The Knights come into the game with a #2 ranking in 4A state in the preseason poll released last week.  Minico received no votes from sports writers in the poll. You can also find more information on the season outlook for BK.

Jordan Roland tries to tie up a BK Knight in last year's opener

This is the fourth year running where BK and Minico have played, with Minco winning the first two games before the Knight’s victory last year.  The series record between the schools stands at 4-5 in favor of Minico.  The first meeting was the opening game in the 1979 season where BK won 19-0, the Knights’ first win in an 8-2 season that was one extra point short  of making the playoffs.  Minico won the next two games, including the opener in 1981 at BK (26-14) in a year when the Knights would go 9-2 and get to the state semi finals.

The nonconference games have generally been the season opener or second game, the exception being an October 1999 match where the 11-1 Knights executed a punishing 29-12 win on their way to the state A-2 finals.  That win turned some heads as Minico was in a higher classification that season.

Prior to the opener on Friday night the BK Freshmen and the JV teams will have their first games, both on Thursday.  The game schedule page shows the Freshmen opening at home against Nampa at 4:30 p.m. and the JV squad traveling to Minico for a 7:00 p.m. match.

The Minico game may also be available live with a video/audio feed. Check back at BKfootball.com later this week for additional details.

So check it out and help increase this “most watched in BK history” YouTube offering to the 30K mark.  You will also enjoy reading the comments from people around the U.S. who have viewed and shared their (sometimes hilarious) thoughts.  Here is a look at the increase in Total Views of the video from when it was posted in late November of 2006 through today: