The Paper Chase - May 19, 2010

The suddenly-springlike weather has conspired with an abundance of baseball and softball games to curtail both my time and focus lately, but here's a mid-week look at what's going on around the Big Sky Conference...

Because I just can’t get enough of the conference realignment talk, here is a look at what the whole thing may or may not mean in our region. One innocuous quote from a West Coast president and it’s, Look out, Mountain West, here come the Broncos! And just when everyone seems to think they have a handle on things, Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany throws everyone for a loop by implying (or maybe by not implying) that his league looks south rather than on an east-west axis. My favorite columnist in Nebraska is intrigued by the intrigue.

Northern Arizona’s men’s basketball program just might have put a ribbon on the Big Sky Conference’s recruiting for 2010 with a pair of players that seem solid, even if pronouncing their names may be something of a challenge for the league’s radio and public address announcers.

If you’re looking for a wrap from this year’s Big Sky Conference spring meetings, Will Holden of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle gives a solid overview, as we’ve come to expect, and Bill Speltz of the Missoulian writes that Lady Griz basketball coach Robin Selvig will be only slightly mollified with the lifting of part of last year’s travel party restrictions.

For a little sporting whimsy on this hump day, take a look at the list of sports' best team nicknames in today’s Ogden Standard-Examiner. You won’t find Golden Bobcats on the list, but if you’re from the Chicago area there’s more than enough to keep you interested.

Craig Haley from the Sports Network takes a peak at a pair of recently-graduated FCS standouts. Craig will be ranking the top defensive linemen the FCS next week, and a certain returning All-Big Sky choice from Kalispell who anchors the Bobcat stop unit may sneak in there.

Finally, for those of you who are closet Nebraska high school basketball fans, like me, congratulations to Fremont High Coach Mark "Buck" Williams (FHS Class of '85), who earned the state's Class A Metro Co-Coach of the Year honors for reviving the school's flagging boys basketball program. All hail the Fremont Tigers!