Most intriguing game on the extended opening weekend of semi-pro football — credit for hanging such an appropriate label on the college game goes to my good friend Barry Warner — is the Monday-night matchup in Washington D.C. between No. 3 Boise State and  No. 6 Virginia Tech. All the game’s BCS elitists will be pulling hard for Virginia Tech because little Boise has become the burr under the saddle of the big-dog establishment. If they can beat Frank Beamer’s always tough Hokies, in what is essentially a road game, the Broncos have at least a 50-50 shot of playing for the national championship. Or getting screwed out of the opportunity . . . Countless stories and TV pieces have been done about Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert and how much he struggled early on before settling in and playing surprisingly well late in last year’s national championship game against Alabama. Not once I have seen a writer or analyst question why, considering the number of chumps Texas played, Gilbert was not giving meaningful playing time to have him prepared for just such an emergency as presented itself when Colt McCoy got hurt. I learned a long time ago from a very good high school coach that it’s foolish not to get your backups experience in blowouts. Apparently, though, Mack Brown’s strategy is above being second guessed . . . Speaking of McCoy, after a rocky pre-season start with the Cleveland Browns, he delivered an impressive performance Thursday night against the Bears. Following a lost fumble on his first snap, McCoy went 13-of-13 against the Bears for 131 yards. He finished the pre-season 28 for 39 for 232 yards with two interceptions, no touchdowns and a 65.3 QB rating.

    Last Sunday’s column item that Bum Phillips will be at the Holiday Inn on Jimmy Johnson Blvd. for a 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 15 signing of his recently released autobiography — Bum Phillips: Coach, Cowboy, Christian —  has created quite the frenzy. Judy Schoolfield, wife of Holiday Inn GM Joe Schoolfield, said the phones haven’t stopped ringing, and numerous calls have come from former Nederland and Port Neches residents living in the Houston area. I’m not the least bit surprised at the reaction because few folks with Southeast Texas ties are more beloved that Bum, and that’s going to escalate after folks read a book in which he’s very open about much that happened in his life, and how he became a serious Christian 10 years ago.  Just a reminder, Bum and his wife Debbie will be bringing boxes of books with them, and the charge for an autographed copy will be $25. Those who purchase the book for $18.95 on Amazon.com, or elsewhere, will be asked to pay $10 for a signing. Proceeds are earmarked to Bum Phillips Charities . . .  I’d love to get Bum’s reaction to the big story out of Miami Dolphins’ training camp last week. Vince Lombardi’s, too. Seems Dolphins defensive end Kendall Langford forgot to take out his earrings before practice and lost one at some point during drills. To no avail, Langford and nearly a dozen teammates spent a couple of hours crawling around Miami’s two practice fields looking for the earring which reportedly had a 2.5 carat diamond worth in the $50,000 range. Lombardi, I’m guessing, would have freaked out, upon learning what the search was all about. Bum would probably have come up with a funny line.

    Much has been made of the $37 million or so the Beaumont Independent School District sunk into its new football stadium. Or, to be politically correct, the “Dr. Carrol A. “Butch” Thomas Educational Support Center.” What the BISD spent, however, is a mere drop in the bucket compared to  school board approved costs for a new stadium on the drawing board at Allen High School. Projected bottom line on the 18,000 seat facility, which will be the fifth largest high school stadium in Texas, is $59.6 million. The costs will come out of a $119 million bond passed five months after Allen won the 5A Division 1 state title in 2008 . . . All is not well at Southlake Carroll, where fans got spoiled by the dynasty created under Todd Dodge’s leadership. Carroll, in Dodge’s seven seasons, went 98-11 and won four state championships. All four of the state titles came during the final five years, with the Dragons going 79-1, and the lone loss being by one point in the 2004 championship game. Since Dodge’s departure, Carroll has posted 11-2, 8-3 and 11-2 records under his successor, Hal Wasson. Pretty good numbers most anywhere, but apparently not good enough to keep some of the natives from getting restless in Southlake. To make matters worse, already this season the Dragons have seen their starting QB ruled ineligible three days before the opening game, lost that opener  by a 35-14 score and been the target of an ongoing district committee review over whether coaches illegally participated in summer workouts.

    West Orange-Stark ex Earl Thomas made his first attention-grabbing play in the NFL last weekend when he returned an interception off none other than Brett Favre 86 yards for a touchdown. What left Seattle fans and media gasping was the speed Thomas displayed enroute to the end zone. One Seattle writer, Danny O’Neil, was so impressed he invited readers to twitter their impressions of the first round draft pick’s speed. Best ones I saw were “Thomas  is so fast he could name all of New York Jet safety Antonio Cromartie’s kids in five seconds.” Another good one was that “Thomas is so fast bullets are jealous.” Sounds like the Seahawks may have gotten a bargain on their 5-year, $21.5 million deal  . . . Lumberton ex Clay Buchholz continues to build a strong argument for the American League Cy Young Award. The Boston Red Sox right-hander was just named American League pitcher of the month after going 4-0 with a microscopic 1.03 earned run average in his August starts. He entered Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with 15-5 record and a 2.21 ERA that was the best in all of baseball. His biggest Cy Young obstacle is probably the Yankees CC Sabathia. Well, Sabathia and the fact Boston probably won’t make the playoffs . . . Most unique player in college football this year has to be Stanford senior Owen Marecic. Why is he unique? Because the 6-1, 244 pound Marecic, a three-time honorable mention All-Pac 10 fullback, will be starting at both fullback and inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.

    Expect to see lots and lots of red attire around Beaumont and Southeast Texas this week. With excitement building for Lamar University’s first football home game since 1989, the Beaumont City Council  plans to issue a proclamation Tuesday for area residents and businesses to “Get Your Red On.” LU coach Ray Woodard and several of his players are expected to be in attendance at the 1:30 p.m. Tuesday council session. The Cardinals, of course, host Webber International Saturday at 6 p.m. in Provost-Umphrey Stadium . . . It would be tough enough to sit through a TV commercial featuring either Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, aka  Jethro, or Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, aka Boy Blunder. Thanks to Papa John’s Pizza, football fans must endure seeing the two of them pitching a product together. It’s a particularly interesting dynamic,  considering Snyder’s inferiority complex where Jones is concerned, and his case of scoreboard envy that led to a couple of new 100-foot video boards at Fed Ex Field. Sounds like Boy Blunder wants to be able to say his is bigger than Jethro’s . . . Is there a bigger idiot walking around in the sports world than former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble? Dibble, the TV analyst for Washington Nationals home games, came down hard on the team’s rookie sensation, Stephen Strasburg, a couple of weeks ago for not being tough enough to pitch through pain. “You can’t have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow,” Dibble declared. A few days later Strasburg was diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament that would require Tommy John surgery and sideline him from 12 o 18 months. Not surprisingly, the Nationals have told Dibble to take a hike.

    Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net.