BOISE, Idaho - Coach Rick Minter is not pleased two of his football players, Brad Jackson and Brent Petrus, played for UC's basketball team Saturday night in Cleveland.
Jackson, a starting linebacker, practiced with the football team in Boise on Saturday morning and then flew to Cleveland. Petrus, the No. 3 wide receiver, remained with the basketball team. Both players were to rejoin the football team here today.
''I think we've been more than fair on the thing,'' Minter said of sharing the players with basketball coach Bob Huggins. ''But I've been getting what's left over. Hopefully they'll be rested on game day.''
Jackson, who plays sparingly in basketball, will retain his starting job in football.
Petrus, who has become a key player in basketball, may find himself standing on the sidelines for the football game because Minter believes he has spent too much time away from football.
''(Petrus) said after the (Eastern Kentucky) game he was going to go out to Idaho after this (UMass) game,'' Huggins said Saturday in Cleveland. ''I thought everybody knew that.''
Huggins said he set up all the flights for the players to go back and forth from Boise.
Hometown favorites
Minter continues to woo the city of Boise, asking the city to adopt his team as its favorite for Monday's game. UC is holding a pep rally here tonight, at which it plans to award game tickets to the first 500 Boise fans who show up wearing UC's red-and-black colors.
''Unfortunately, we can't bring a ton of our own fans to this game, because of the distance (2,000 miles) and the cost,'' Minter said. ''So we're appealing to the local people to come out and support us.''
New dad
Jason Fabini, UC's standout senior left tackle, joined the team in Boise late Friday night after his wife, JoAnne, gave birth to a baby boy on Christmas Eve in Florence, Ky.
The child, named Jason Hunter Fabini, is doing fine after being born three weeks premature at 6 pounds, 1 ounce.
Mountain men
UC players have not had much chance to sightsee in Boise but have been taken in by the picturesque setting. The city sits amid the snow-capped Boise Front Mountains to its north and Owyhee Mountains to its south, with the Boise River running through the middle of the city.
Alpine and cross-country skiing are less than an hour away, along with a wide range of other outdoor activities, including trout fishing. But UC players are mostly just familiar with the cold weather (ranging from the teens to upper 30s) and the famous blue AstroTurf of Bronco Stadium, where they have been practicing.
''About the only things we've been able to do are go to the mall, walk around town, maybe catch a movie,'' linebacker Phillip Curry said. ''It's been fun, but this is mostly a business trip for us.'' And no skiing.
''We can't do anything where we might get hurt,'' Curry said.
Quarterback Chad Plummer, who is from Tallahassee, Fla., is mostly concerned with just staying warm. He was bundled up, Eskimo-like, with two sweatshirts among his multiple layers of clothing at practice Saturday. A light coating of snow greeted UC players Saturday morning.
''I hate the cold,'' Plummer said.
Jackson marveled at the mountains, something he doesn't see back home in Akron.
''I've seen this place on a map,'' he said, ''but I never thought I'd be in the potato state.''
Ticket update
At last count, UC had sold 2,500 tickets for Monday's game. As of Saturday, about 20,000 tickets had been distributed overall for the 30,000-seat stadium.
Monday's game-day weather calls for partly sunny skies, with a high of 41 degrees.
Humanitarian history
OK, why is it the ''Sports Humanitarian'' bowl?
Well, Boise is home of the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, established four years ago to recognize athletes who have reached out to help others through charity work. Inductees include ChiChi Rodriguez, Bonnie Blair, and the late Roberto Clemente and Arthur Ashe.
The Humanitarian Bowl was formed through a joint effort of Boise State University, Boise River Festival officials and the Hall of Fame.
Bowl reports - Season in stories
Humanitarian Bowl web site
Utah State web site