Burning bright

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dthompson@journalnet.com

BOISE

Boise Burn fans milled their way through Qwest Arena’s modest concourses on Saturday in search of seats, beer specials and entertainment, enveloped in the scent of hot dogs and popcorn.

The arenafootball2 team seems a good fit in Idaho’s capital city, with its $11 upper-deck tickets, $2 first-quarter beers and the fast-paced football on the turf below.

The franchise appears stable in Boise. In two seasons, the team has averaged nearly 4,000 fans a game. Players, including many former Idaho State football players, are recognized in the community, and a local TV station broadcasts every home contest.

But other franchises — 31 since the league’s inception in 2000 — have enjoyed success for at least part of a season only to disband at its end. As safe as the Burn appear to be in Boise, there’s always the risk it will leave.

As long as it’s here, though — which should be at least a couple years, provided fans keep attending — coaches said they will continue to look to Idaho State and other regional programs to stock its roster.

“They’re reliable,” Boise defensive coordinator Bill Stone said of the five Bengals on the Burn’s active roster. “They’ve got great individuals coming out of there, and if they’re available, we’d like to have them on our team.”

Three players from Idaho State — Ernie James, Mark Weivoda and Shak Okoebor — have played nearly every game for the Burn this season. George Yarno, a captain on the 2007 Bengals, and lineman Eric Price joined the team four weeks ago as a stop gap. Injuries all but extinguished the Burn — they lost four straight games in May and June — and left a series of available roster spots that coaches filled with many former Big Sky players.

In arena football, there are no regional requirements for teams. The Burn don’t need to keep a certain number of Idahoans on the roster. But it certainly helps to do so, and the fans seem to appreciate it when players like Eagle High graduate Royal Gill or former BYU linebacker Levi Madarieta take the field for the Burn, coaches said.

Empty seats are, after all, what kill arena football teams. Full ones sustain them and their $1 million to $3 million budgets. So far, the Burn have sold out eight times in two seasons.

Head coach Lee Leslie said he wouldn’t have left his job with the AFL’s Utah Blaze if he didn’t have faith in the Burn’s staying power.

“I love this setup,” he said, gazing out at the cozy Qwest Arena field. “You can’t get a better setting than this.”

Before and during the game, fans can eat at the Sports Zone restaurant. For $33 a person, fans can sit at one of the 12 tables with a view of the field. The eatery holds 198 people and is almost always full during the game, its General Manager Deane Blakeslee said. A half hour before kickoff Saturday, half its seats were occupied.

During the winter, Qwest Arena serves as the home of the Idaho Steelheads hockey team, an affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Those games, along with the National Basketball Development League’s Idaho Stampede and various concerts, help keep the arena and the restaurants in the adjacent Boise Centre on the Grove busy from January to December.

The trick, coaches said, is drawing people into the arena during the beautiful summer months, when the sun doesn’t set until as late as 10 p.m.

So far, the Burn haven’t tested their fans’ patience with any unbearable losing streaks. In its first year, the Burn finished 8-8. This year, they’re 8-6 and on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs.

The Burn started the season with a number of Pac-10 graduates, and Leslie — who played and coached in the West for 24 years — is confident he has the connections to always fill the roster with talent.

But he is certain there will always be room for in-state players, and this October he plans to hold a team tryout in Pocatello.

“I’ve got a real good core of Idaho State guys right now,” he said. “There’s a million kids out there who want to play and a lot of gifted athletes who haven’t been given the chance yet. Kids like George Yarno really appreciate it. That’s the kind of kid I like.”

By Dan Thompson

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