This spring I ignored the call from athletic department to renew my 2018 University of Idaho football season tickets. At the time I believed it was out of spite and/or because I wanted to make a statement. That may still be partly true, however, I believe the real reason was I could not face the fact that I was telling the team no. The administration and their decisions are whom I was frustrated at and it saddens me that it was at the cost of my beloved Vandals.

I caved, the university called my bluff with a season ticket promo and I folded.

I renewed my season tickets and I honestly couldn’t be more excited. You should too. What has changed since we last wrote about this? What is there to get excited about?

Full disclosure, I am still adamantly against the FCS decision. However, I have gotten to the acceptance stage of the seven stages of grief.

Now I am looking forward to these types of opportunities, such as:

• Contender for Big Sky championship and to make a deep playoff run.
  • #23 Hero Sports
  • #12 Lindy Sports
  • “Others To Watchâ€? Athlon
  • Big Sky Media Days
    • Coaches 1 first place vote
    • Media 3 first-place votes
  • We host the 85th meeting for the Little Brown Stein
    • We are 55-27-2 all-time in rivalry
    • First time playing Montana in 15 years
    • Trophy currently resides in Missoula
  • Travel Opportunities
    • @ Eastern Washington (Cheney, WA): Just under a two hour drive from Moscow, eight hours from Boise, five hours from Seattle and just in the backyard of Spokane.
    • @ Montana State (Bozeman, MT): Seven hours from Moscow and Boise, six hours from Spokane and a short two-hour flight from Seattle
    • @ Idaho State ( Pocatello, ID): Eight hours from Moscow and Spokane, three hours from Boise and a manageable flight from Seattle.
  • Change of Leadership
    • Chuck Staben will be out of the picture at the end of this academic school year.
    • New beginnings need support. We want to create a united front to the university, state, Big Sky, FCS and even the FBS.
  • History in the making
    • Believe it or not, a lot of eyes are on us. We are the first team in history to make the move down. Lower FBS teams may want to see how we do as some study the possibility of such a move in the future. The current FCS is curious and possibly a little afraid of us. We, in theory, should have more depth than most FCS teams from recruiting in the Sun Belt and working with a full 85 scholarship athletes last season.
  • A chance to fall in love with College Football for the first time all over again.
    • New teams
    • New in-conference and out-of-conference opponents
    • New and renewed traditions
    • New stadiums
  • The trip to sunny and warm Texas in January
    • That’s where the National Championship game is, in case you were wondering
  • Legacy
    • This is possibly the most important of them all. We have a legacy of being a Big Sky Powerhouse at this level. Let’s pick up where we left off!
    • 11 Playoff Appearances
    • 9 Conference Championships
    • 2 National Semifinal appearances (loss to eventual champion both times)

The weeks are ticking away before kick off on September 1 against Fresno State. I know my excitement level grows more every day. I hope I was able to find something to get you excited about. If we are going to play at this level, we better make the most of it and find the silver linings. That silver lining is getting some gold trophies.