Brian Murphy joins Statehouse beat, seriously

Idaho Radio News is reporting that Statesman sports columnist Brian Murphy will be leaving the Boise State sports beat and moving to the Statehouse beat starting this winter. Why? Your guess is as good as ours.

Instead of writing about the Xs and Os of Bronco Football, he’ll be sorting through the Ds and Rs of Idaho politics. Yes… Murph’s Turf will now be the Capitol Mall, as he’ll join the Statehouse beat this winter. No announcement from Curtis Rd. on the switch yet - and Murphy didn’t return my e-mail for comment.

Murphy's departure leaves a lot of unanswered questions in its wake, not the least of which is "Who are we supposed to make fun of now?" Sucks to be Chadd Cripe, we guess. (Don't worry, Chadd, it's nothing personal.)

Among the other questions we have in Murphy's impending absence are these:

• Who will replace Murphy?


• What will become of Murph's Turf?


• Will there be free Domino's Pizza for guessing closest to the voting margin on Prop 48?


• How will Bronco Nation know when they are or are not acting appropriately toward the Boise State basketball team?


• Will there be a going away party?


• Will we be invited?

The move is a joyful announcement for those who felt that Murphy was horribly biased against the Broncos, and it is rather sad news for those who feel he is horribly biased against Independents and economic policy. We at OBNUG find the news to be bittersweet: we've wanted for a long time for the Statesman to find a Bronco writer who likes the Broncos, but we'll truly miss Murphy's awkward writing style and skewered Boise State analysis.

Once we get offered his job, though, everything will be forgotten.

Read more: Murphy's move [Idaho Radio News]