The Senate approved three resolutions Tuesday celebrating athletic accomplishments. Both the Boise State University and University of Idaho football teams received praise for their bowl game victories last year, as did cyclist Kristen Armstrong for her gold medal in the Beijing Olympics.
Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, said BSU’s fourth place finish in the season-ending college football polls was impressive. “It is really an amazing accomplishment for a very small school for competing in this realm,” he said. Werk also said coach Chris Petersen’s 49-4 won-loss record at BSU is so impressive that it looks like a typographical error.
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, who received his law degree from U of I, said that football is only part of the good work at the university in Moscow. “We hope that they continue to have success in the football arena, but we know that they will continue to have great success in academics,” he said. During debate, Davis also remarked that U of I awarded hundreds of doctorate degrees last year, while BSU awarded one.
Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, added praise for academics at U of I. “We’re proud of all the fine lawyers that we’ve educated at the law school in Moscow,” he said.
Armstrong, a Boise resident, received praise from Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth. “She was the first resident of Idaho to receive a gold medal in the Olympics,” he said. He also called her a good role model.
Read IdahoReporter.com’s story on the House passage of the resolutions honoring the two college football teams here, and the Armstrong resolution here.
