Southeast Idaho sports are sublime. With so much going on, this weekly column is a space to look back at the past week and glance forward to what’s coming up.

LOOKING BACK

What a story. A girl grows up in American Falls away from the national soccer limelight, scores 178 career goals in her high school career and has her number retired before she even graduates. Then the local star signs with the local team, Idaho State.

That Maria Sanchez is at the Women’s World Cup is a major story in its own right. The Idaho State Journal named Sanchez’s saga its No. 2 story for the 2014-15 academic school year. It could have been No. 1.

And we’re hardly the only ones paying attention to Sanchez, either. TV stations and other newspapers have jumped on the bandwagon.

But what if she never actually played in a World Cup game? Sanchez is, naturally, well aware of the attention she’s drawn. The Journal has dedicated 15 stories (and counting) extolling her virtues as a brilliant soccer play so talented at the age of 19 that the Mexican Women’s National Team had to have her. When she returns to Idaho State or home to American Falls, I doubt she’ll be able to go anywhere and not hear congratulations.

Would Sanchez have let Idaho down if she never competed in a real match, right there on national television for us to consume and digest? What if all we ever saw was her in a warm-up jacket sitting on the bench? That was a big concern for Sanchez.

“I knew a lot of people were watching back home and supporting me,” Sanchez said on the phone from Moncton, New Brunswick. All of Sanchez’s supporters received what they wanted in Mexico’s game Saturday. Sanchez played the final 13 minutes of Mexico’s 2-1 loss to England.

Sanchez said she was more nervous than anything else before stepping on the field, but the experience confirmed the effort to reach that point of her career had been worth it.

Sanchez’s family, friends and fans may someday look back at those 13 minutes and dismiss them. They’re the first of many. Sanchez’s time playing for Mexico is just beginning.

But I bet they’re 780 seconds she’ll never forget.

LOOKING FORWARD

North Dakota is looking for a new nickname. The unofficial leader? North Dakota.

I’m not kidding.

UND, which hasn’t had a mascot since being forced to dump the Fighting Sioux in 2012, has an 11-person committee who evaluated a list of 1,172 nickname suggestions from the public. Those ideas were whittled down to 15 finalists, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

The 15 names are the Blaze, Cavalry, Explorers, Fighting Green, Fighting Hawks, Force, Green Hawks, Nodaks, North Dakota, Pride, Roughriders, Spirit, Sundogs and Thunder Hawks.

The Herald ran a poll asking, “Which of the following are acceptable UND nicknames?” North Dakota landed the No. 1 spot with 3,345 votes. In other words, 3,345 people would rather see UND remain mascotless than anything else.

All I ask is that North Dakota exterminates the Thunder Hawks, Pride, Spirit, Blaze and Force from contention. They’re truly awful. My personal favorite? The Roughriders. I have no idea what a roughrider is, but, gosh, it’s a great fit.

And for comedy’s sake, who doesn’t want to say the North Dakota Nodaks?

QUOTABLE

“It’s a baseball town. We’ve always been a baseball town. For me to be able to bring (five) other teams to this town and let them experience Pocatello, ... it’s so awesome.” — Grays co-owner Terry Fredrickson after Gate City hosted the Northern Utah League All-Star Game on Saturday. The Grays (6-2) take on Providence at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Halliwell Park.