Jim Meehan

Jeff Robinson will be in Seattle on Sunday, but apparently not as a member of the St. Louis Rams. The former Ferris Saxon and Idaho Vandal left the Rams earlier this week and appears ready to retire. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Robinson is expected to file his retirement papers with the league.

Idaho men's basketball coach Leonard Perry wanted his young squad to get some seasoning before dates with Gonzaga, Washington and Washington State, so an exhibition game against Carroll College was added to the schedule. Sounded good at the time.

Western Athletic Conference football coaches plan to set down their clickers for a few hours Thursday night for some must-see TV. Boise State, winner of 31 consecutive WAC games, and No. 20 Fresno State clash for conference supremacy that night at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno. ESPN's Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreet will be on hand to call the game.

North Idaho College wrestling coach Pat Whitcomb has been around long enough not to go overboard with the results of one early-season dual match. Still, the Cardinals displayed a myriad of positives in a 38-3 dismantling of rival Lassen College Friday night at Christianson Gym.

The North Idaho College wrestling team displayed a myriad of positives in a 38-3 dismantling of rival Lassen College Friday night at Christianson Gym in Coeur d'Alene. First, the Cardinals always seemed to be scoring late in periods, a sign that they're in shape and that they were the aggressors.

Head coach Leonard Perry is about the only thing that isn't new with the University of Idaho men's basketball program. Just four Vandals return who saw appreciable playing time last season, and one of those played in less than half the games. Perry's staff has two new assistants in George Pfeifer and Leroy Washington.

The Spokane Shock have an official schedule, a spiffy field to play on, a conference in which to play and a growing roster. The arenafootball2 expansion team will debut at home against fellow expansion club Stockton on Thursday, March 30, at 6 p.m. in the Spokane Arena. The game will kick off the af2's seven-game opening week. The remaining openers will be played Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

North Idaho College men's basketball coach Jared Phay had the interim label removed from his title last March, but in some ways he feels like he's still proving himself. Phay was promoted to interim head coach six weeks before the 2004-05 season opener when Hugh Watson left for another job. Now, Phay has a year under his belt and he's had a full recruiting season to assemble NIC's roster.

There are few favorable matchups on Idaho's football schedule, but the thought of New Mexico State does evoke positive memories for the Vandals. Since the two schools became conference brethren in 1996 – first in the Big West, then the Sun Belt and now the Western Athletic Conference – Idaho has won five of eight meetings against the Aggies, including a 35-31 victory in Las Cruces in 2003.

The University of Idaho football team is losing one starting offensive lineman, but getting one back. Freshman guard Kris Anderson has a sprained knee and is expected to miss the New Mexico State game Saturday. Idaho has a bye the following week, so it's possible Anderson could play against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 12, coach Nick Holt said.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Special teams, generally regarded as one-third of a football game, were more like three-thirds of the Idaho-Fresno State contest Saturday. The Vandals essentially gave up three touchdowns on punt team miscues, paving the way for 24th-ranked Fresno State's 40-10 Western Athletic Conference victory in front of about 12,500 (paid attendance was announced as 15,047) at the Kibbie Dome.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Fresno State ranks first in nine of 14 football team statistical categories charted by the Western Athletic Conference. Senior Paul Pinegar is the conference's most efficient passer. The Bulldogs are fifth nationally in scoring, tops in the WAC in scoring defense, and their special teams can be found throughout the national rankings. Those lustrous statistics might not be Idaho's biggest problem when it hosts the 24th-ranked Bulldogs (4-1, 2-0 WAC) today at 2 p.m. in the Kibbie Dome, the first ranked team to visit Moscow since 1960.

The Spokane Shock on Wednesday officially hired Chris Siegfried, landing a head coach with an extensive background as an Arena League player and coach, not to mention a football-related movie credit on his resume. Siegfried will lead the Shock, an arenafootball2 expansion team that begins play next spring. He has a 37-21 career mark, the third-best winning percentage among active af2 coaches. He guided teams into the playoffs three times in four years as a coach.

University of Idaho head football coach Nick Holt thought the Xs and Os were in order, but the Vandals were flat and absent-minded Saturday afternoon. Holt didn't see it coming and he's not sure why it happened. Idaho is young and mistakes are inevitable, but the problems went far deeper in the 62-14 loss to Nevada in Reno.