Amid a sea of blue and orange tents and Bronco gear at Saturday's University of Idaho-Boise State University game was a solitary man in Vandal silver and gold — looking for someone to insult him.

The solitary man was the guy writing this column. I was there to accept a challenge from an irate U of I fan to attend the game in Vandal garb.

The fan had taken exception to a February column I wrote about then-interim Idaho President Steven Daley-Laursen's criticism of the behavior of some Idaho basketball fans as "ugly, outrageous and utterly unacceptable." I commended Daley-Laursen for speaking out, adding that the behavior was nothing new and that it was about time someone in authority said something about it.

The indignant fan offered to loan me Vandal gear and take me to this year's football game. His point: that BSU fans are as obnoxious here as U of I fans are in Moscow.

I accepted the challenge — make that a dare — and never heard from him again.

Enter Jefferson Jenkins, a source for a story I did last summer. Jenkins is a diehard Vandal and as nice a guy as you could meet. When I told him it looked like I'd been stood up, he immediately offered to take me to the game and a Vandal tailgate party. All I had to do was buy the gear.

So it was that I found myself in Vandal attire, trudging through an orange and blue welter of fans in the BSU parking lot Saturday. Boldly — some might say foolishly — I plunged into the heart of Bronco Nation, dressed in the enemy's silver and gold.

Initially, it was a bit intimidating. Tailgating has grown enormously at BSU. All it would have taken was one drunk to rearrange my dental work. There was a scuffle, in fact, that ended with the police hauling away pugilists from either side.

"What happened?" I asked a bystander.

"Just a couple of dumb asses," he replied.

An eloquent man.

Other than that, the afternoon was relatively peaceful. I roamed the parking lot in U of I regalia twice before the game and once at halftime. The most vicious insults to come my way were:

"Just take 95 and keep headin' north, fella'."

"You can afford to be optimistic now; the score's still 0-0. You aren't losing yet."

The rudest T-shirt: "Stop Vandalism."

That was it. Inside the stadium, it was more of the same. My wife said she saw an "FUBSU" sweatshirt while watching the game on TV, but I sat in the Vandal section with Jenkins and didn't see anything that was in poor taste. No vulgar shirts or placards, no bellowed profanities.

Jenkins hadn't warned the Vandal faithful I was coming, either. He didn't even know until the last minute that he'd scored some tickets.

Bottom line: Everyone I encountered — Broncos and Vandals alike — was polite and courteous. Except for the "dumb asses," and you can find them anywhere.

Frankly, I'd have been surprised if the boorish behavior the dare's originator predicted had materialized. I've attended dozens of games at BSU and rarely witnessed it. Sure, there are some drunks and loud-mouthed jerks. But every team has at least a few fans for whom restraint and good taste are alien concepts.

Especially at the biennial game in Moscow. That isn't just my opinion, either. Stories of rude behavior there have circulated for years, and a Vandal at Saturday's game told me that last year's game was no exception.

Monday, I spoke with Idaho Student Body President Kelby Wilson. He attended the Boise game and said that "for the most part, it was a friendly, positive atmosphere. ... You still see some of the other kind in Moscow. There's smack talk, and they reprinted the shirts this year of the Bronco with its head up its butt."

He doesn't like that.

"I think we can support our schools without being distasteful or X- or R-rated," Wilson said. "I hope so because the universities collaborate so much off the field. It's horrible that fans ruin that on game day."

Fans in both silver and gold and blue and orange proved Saturday that they can watch a game together in Boise and behave like responsible adults.

Can they do it next year in Moscow?

Tim Woodward: 377-6409