BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…April 3, 2008, 15 years ago today:
The official end of Paul J. Schneider’s run as the Voice of the Broncos. Schneider was on Boise State’s football and basketball microphone for 35 years, calling touchdown passes by everyone from Jim McMillan to Jared Zabransky — and interceptions by everyone from Rolly Woolsey to Marty Tadman. KBOI had temporarily lost the rights to Boise State football and basketball games that they acquired in 1973, when Schneider was sports director of what was then KBOI-TV and Radio.
Paul J. always wore his heart on his sleeve, and that’s one of the great ironies in the history of Boise State athletics. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1966, and he joined KBOI radio and TV in 1967. But by the time Schneider began calling Boise State games in 1973, he was woven into the Broncos fabric. He reached a crossroads in 1976, when he had a choice between TV anchor on Channel 2 and Voice of the Broncos and morning show host on 670 AM. We know which way he went (and we’re all better off for it).
That’s when Schneider partnered with Lon Dunn for the wildly popular Dunn & Schneider morning show on KBOI. They ruled the morning airwaves for almost 20 years. All the while, Paul J. was Voice of the Broncos, chronicling their rise through Division II and into Division I-AA, including the I-AA national championship in 1980. In basketball, there was the first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1976 and the unforgettable second one in 1988. Then it was on to Division I-A and the first of Boise State’s bowl games, and the early years of the Broncos’ golden era in the early 2000s.
I remember a Saturday night in October 1974, when I was 23. Twenty-three-year-olds usually have previous plans on a Saturday night, but I really wanted to listen to Boise State’s game against UNLV. Both were elite Division II teams at the time. I literally paced around the house listening to Paul J.’s energy steadily rise as the Broncos rallied from a 37-6 deficit early in the second half to pull to within 37-35 in the final two minutes. Pace, pace, pace. Boise State got the ball back — and the game ended with an interception on the Rebels’ 17-yard-line. Paul J. made it a heart-pounding experience. You probably have a similar story.
Little did I know at the time I’d be doing color for him in 1985 and 1986. It was a thrill. Schneider’s single most famous line (in my mind, anyway) came just before Boise State’s two-point conversion attempt in overtime of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma. With drama dripping from every pore of every fan, Paul J. said, “Well, they’ll talk about this for years to come, no matter how this play comes out.” Ian Johnson scooted into the end zone on Statue Left, and we’re still talkin’ about it. Today, Schneider is happily retired — and still attending lots of Broncos games.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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