Flubs, Flukes, and Decisions

I correctly predicted via twitter that I would have nightmares about blocked kicks. And so it was. I can't get it out of my mind, that one play with time running out, that one play that lately has always gone BYU's way, that one play that would have been the crowing moment in Mitch Payne's BYU career... when the game should never have hinged on a play like that.

But it did.

Pretty much everything that can be said about the game has been said. There are the bright sides, like how Jake Heaps showed incredible poise in that final possession, moving the ball down the field reminding us of all the great BYU quarterbacks and their precision. As a fan, with very little understanding of everything that goes on in the strategizing of the coaches minds, I would have loved to see them keep pushing ahead, using the clock a little sparingly but still running it down, but getting closer to the end zone. I would have loved to have seen Heaps throw a touchdown pass to beat the Utes. That would have been so satisfying. And it would have felt right, the way a BYU game should end. Somehow we don't really equate big BYU last second wins with field goals...

Could the Utes have been more lucky in this game? The shanked punt that went off BYU and Utah recovered? The Brandon Bradley interception that ended in a (controversial) fumble? The flubbed handoff between Heaps and Quezada? And all the other breaks that went their way.

Really, this game meant very little for BYU's program. The season was already decided for the most part. They are going to a bowl game regardless (please not New Mexico, please not New Mexico), and the turn around of the team, both offensively and defensively, defines this season as a whole. That loss in Logan was a turning point for the young players and I think we can all look forward to next season with confidence that this team will compete.

Anyway, I will be haunted for a while by this game, it would have been so satisfying to win it, but ... ah!

Dude

Wow. The Boise State/Nevada game just ended.

So, today, among other things, BYU's basketball team won their game in double overtime with Noah Hartzock's buzzer beater. The Jazz took down the Lakers (BEAT LA!), and now this.

Two missed field goals within 30 yards.

And that pass/catch right before the first flubbed field goal...

Wow!

And I'm most concerned about what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow. I probably won't get to see much, if any, of the game. It's a weekend I can't take off, I'm in retail, so I for one am not terribly disappointed the rivalry game is moving to September. I can watch it in September.

But, anyway, what I'm going to wear. I haven't worn a BYU shirt underneath my work shirt since the USU game. And things have worked out pretty well for the Cougars since then.

So, obviously, I feel like I shouldn't borrow trouble.

But it's the freaking rivalry game.

And Robert Johnson claimed that BYU cheats.

Whatever.

What I'm Watching

I know, there has been a debate going on in some circles about whether a BYU fan should attend/watch the BYU vs. UNLV game or the Utah vs. TCU game.

I'll be there, in section 145 of LaVell Edwards Stadium, cheering the Cougars. I always wear the white and blue. I expect a great and entertaining game in Provo today.

Jazz vs. Nuggets Blogging

I'm also a Utah Jazz fanatic. They are playing the first game of the season against the Denver Nuggets tonight. It's the third quarter. The Jazz are down by 25 with 9:31 to go in the third. The following are some of my musings:

8:53- Hair. AK's hair is like a baby's. It has that limp and floppy quality to it. Nene wants to be this guy.

6:19- Deron's feeling it. It's that LeBron commercial, what should he do? Not make commercials like this.

5:40- I wonder if Vegas has an over/under for Matt Harpring's use of "I'll tell you what" during a broadcast. Whatever it is, I'll tell you what, I'm taking the over.

2:40- I hate it when teams go on 3-point barrages against the Jazz. It seems to happen a lot. Um, you know, in past seasons.

4th Quarter

10:10- Elson gets the second put-back to go in. That's always nice.

7:40- How bizarre is it that Don Nelson has the most wins as an NBA head coach?

6:47- Wait a minute? Carmelo is still in the game? What are they worried about?

Commercial- My TV buzzes sometimes.

5:19- Earl Watson at the line. His name is Earl.

3:08- I guess I'm sitting the rest of the game out.

Fan-Dumb

Yesterday a local radio station was taking calls from people who claimed that they once were BYU fans, and now were UofU fans. One caller said something about how his entire life he has loved BYU, but BYU has not reciprocated that love. That BYU isn't about winning football games, they are about building young men into good people. Utah, on the other hand, is all about winning. So, therefore, this dude was going to switch allegiances and become a Ute fan.

Good riddance to you, bandwagoner.

In fact, anyone at all who is even considering whether they should switch their fandom from BYU or not, for whatever the reason, I say, Go! You were never a real fan anyway.

Being a fan is so much more than cheering for a team when they're winning. You bleed with your team. You feel, oh how you feel, all of the ups and all of the downs, with your team. But you stick by them. Even if you're not happy with them, you stick by them. You may call for things to shake up within the organization, you may be critical of them, you may even scream at them that their offense needs to play with heart like the defense (at least that guy isn't switching his allegiance, even if he is nuts). But the thing that remains is that you still cheer for your team. You still watch their games and you suffer when they lose.

And when they eventually come around again, and they will, you know they will, the satisfaction is so much more because you were with them in the trenches when things were terrible. The thrill of cheering for whoever is winning at the time has all the satisfaction of an imaginary spouse. It's nothing compared to a real relationship.

Play Calling

Far be it for me. I mean, I know very little about coaching and play calling. Maybe it's because I couldn't watch the game, so I listened to it on KSL and my opinion was influenced by Greg Wrubell and Mark Lyons.

Whatever.

Let me just say, let me declare right here once and for all, that I am a Cougar fan who would not complain if BYU reinvented itself this year as a power running offensive team.

Honestly, not a single complaint. They have a great offensive line, they are tough, and seem to really love driving defenders backward while Kariya pounds ahead for four or five yards. Granted that's not like Max Hall throwing his customary 50+ yard pass once or twice a game like we got used to watching over the past three years. That was exciting to watch. But you know what?

Four or five yards is freaking FOUR OR FIVE YARDS!!

I'm watching Wisconsin take on Ohio State right now. Ohio State, you know, the top ranked team nationally. Big favorites to win this game. Wisconsin is ahead by 11 points right now half way through the third quarter.

And they have got most of their offensive yardage by running the ball up the middle.

It works for them, and their offensive coordinator doesn't seem to mind calling the play many times over. Because, again, it's working for them. So why stop, right?

It's satisfying to watch a football team utilize something that works.

Unlike the BYU-TCU game earlier today.

Huzzah!

I like the coaches' t-shirts. They are very cool. I like the idea of a Band of Brothers. I hope this emotional charge stays with the Cougars.

I'm so glad they won this game today.

So glad.

Did I wear a BYU t-shirt under my work shirt?

Nope.

But that's not what made the difference. Coach Bronco Mendenhall made the difference, and the players believing in him made the difference.

And defense made the difference.

And running the ball up the middle consistently made the difference.

Whew!

I Know My Place

I try to convince myself that nothing that I do has any affect whatsoever on the success of the Cougars. I try to avoid using the term "we" when referring to the team. I am a fan, and that is all. Their success depends on coaching and execution, and things like that.

Not me.

I have made great strides in this area. In fact, today, I wore a BYU shirt underneath my work shirt to demonstrate my loyalty to the Cougars. I did this in spite of the fact that I have done the same thing for three of the four games this season.

What three games?

The last three.

You know, the ones we, no wait, the Cougars lost.

(I didn't do this on the day of the Washington game, but that's because I didn't go to work that day, so I couldn't have.)

So this morning, when getting dressed, I was sorely tempted not to put on a BYU t-shirt underneath my Seagull Book shirt. I mean, I was really considering it.

What if it is my fault that they lost those games? What if I could change the outcome of the game by changing my game day ritual?

This is the way fans think. Or at least the way this fan thinks.

But I threw caution to the wind, decided that even though the Cougars three straight losses this season came on days that I wore the white and blue underneath my garments of labor, that it really can't have anything to do with their performance on the field.

Right?

I'm right. I know I am. And tonight's game will prove as much.

That is, unless BYU loses, and then... well, let's just say I probably won't be dressing this way again for the rest of the season.

Rays of Hope

These last two games have been disheartening in really pointed ways. The game against Air Force initially felt like it was going to be a good, entertaining game, with potent offenses putting up points at both ends.

But after the first quarter, it's difficult to describe the pall that rested on the collective shoulders of Cougar Nation...

Against Florida State, when the decision appeared to have been made to make Jake Heaps the quarterback with some consistency, and he led two scoring drives to finish the second quarter, and the game was so close, it felt like we were witnessing a good ol' fashioned BYU comeback game. The momentum belonged to the Cougars coming into half number two, and we all watched with anticipation as the second half began, only to see the Cougars go three and out.

And we watched Heaps get sacked. Over. And over. And over again.

Part of me wants to believe that this is similar to what happened at the beginning of the 2007 season, when Max Hall was beginning his tenure as BYU's quarterback, and he got sacked a number of times against UCLA. That season didn't turn out so bad.

But this time it feels different.

Things feel disjointed, and there's a sense of anxiety around the program.

This coming Saturday will say a lot about this football team. Nevada's got such a prolific offense.

I'm just hoping for something exciting.

I'll be watching it from section 126, and screaming as loud as I can.

Through thick and thin, boys. That's me. I'll stick with you through thick and thin.

Beware of Wolf

I drink blue Kool Aid. I have to. Earlier this week, on 1320 KFAN, Alema Harrington insisted that the Cougars could still pull off another ten win season this year. I believe that too. and until the Cougars have lost four games, I will still believe it.

And they won't lose four games this season.

Right?

Never mind tomorrow's game against FSU. I'm hoping for a miracle tomorrow, and honestly, I think they can pull it off, if the defense plays with energy, and the offense makes those two or three big plays that change the course of the game.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think we have seen a really big pass play yet this year. There was Riley's pass to J.J. in the Washington game, but that was a relatively short dump pass to a very open DiLuigi who ran it in for a touchdown. But there hasn't been one of those long down-field passes that make the BYU passing game the legendary system that it is.

There have been attempts. Jake Heaps has launched three or four of these passes in the series that he has been on the field, but they have yet to convert one of them.

But let me shift gears for just a second here.

Next week BYU plays their second home game of the season, this time against an opponent from the WAC. The Nevada Wolf Pack.

I'm watching the Wolf Pack take on the California right now. Nevada just scored their fifty-first and fifty-second points of the game. I am really nervous for next week's game.

At least it should be exciting.

It better be anyway

Disheartened Cougar Fan

What does a discouraged and saddened Cougar fan do after a game like today's? Very few of us drown our sorrows in, um, beer and stuff like that. If we did, the bar(s?) of Utah County would be swarmed with long faces tonight. Instead, we prepare our lessons and talks and get ready for Sunday.

This was one Saturday that was not very special.

What was the worst part? Of the game? That is was on stupid VERSUS? The last three losses BYU has suffered have all been on that network. Last year, Florida State and TCU were the only two games BYU played on the network-that-shall-no-longer-be-given-the-satisfaction-of-being-named. Now this year? I will be honest, I had legitimate worries about this game primarily because it was going to be on the n-t-s-n-l-b-g-t-s-o-b-n. Is this irrational? Of course, but that's what fans do, we base things on completely irrational premises. At least I do. I'm not ashamed of being superstitious.

Turn overs? J.J.'s fumble, then Jake's interception and Riley's fumble? Miserable punting into the wind? Why not just go for in on fourth when the last time you punted it went ONE YARD?? I'm not one to believe in something so superstitious and silly like Karma, but was this an answer for last year's Vegas Bowl and the jokes that went for punts from Oregon State?

So what happens next week? Just Jake not play at all? Is one interception and a horrible loss enough to shake up this two-quarterback thing?

I can't breathe. I've got to go, um, something.

Plagiarism

Not really, but I wrote the post on my other blog. Go read it there.

Commish

Yesterday I heard an interview with MWC commissioner Craig Thompson. A number of things were discussed, and he had a ready answer for every question, but there were a few of his answers that didn't sit well with me at first, and now that I've had some time to digest them, they make me crazy.

The first answer that I wasn't satisfied with had to do with using any of BYU's premier television facilities and working out a deal where the conference could get more exposure using said facilities and BYU's cable network. Thompson said that really wouldn't work because it couldn't be fit into the contracts that they have with Comcast and CBS Sports. As a follow up, Scott Garrard of 1320 KFAN, the media member doing the interview, asked him about negotiating with ESPN for a TV deal to gain greater exposure nationally. Thompson basically said that they wouldn't absolutely rule this out, but that ESPN would want them to have games earlier in the week, and that this wouldn't work with ticket sales at schools like (mostly) Wyoming. He even used as an example of how fans at some other schools would feel about this the fact that Wyoming, Colorado State, and Air Force only recently installed lights onto their stadiums, and that some of the alumni of those schools had complained that this would mean that they would have to have night games now.

Can I just ask this? Which schools bring in the most revenue for the conference? Through ticket sales, donations, TV ratings, etc? Is it Wyoming or Colorado State? Why does Craig Thompson give a crap what Wyoming's alumni think about having a week night game? They never sell out their stadium, even for a Saturday midday game against a high profile opponent. What do Wyoming's ticket sales have to do with the health of the conference as a whole?

He went on to talk about the deal the conference has right now with Comcast, and talked up Versus as a network that is growing and soon will be like TNT or TBS. What? Versus is a horrible network. The quality of the games is so low, any casual fan isn't going to stop on a game on versus and watch it when ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPNU all have games with excellent coverage and quality available for them to watch at the same time. The Mountain is a terrible network. The Mountain West Conference has its priorities all mixed up, and it's time for BYU to take drastic measures and do whatever it takes to lift themselves above all the sub par efforts of this conference.

Summer Reading

For a deprived fan like myself, sometimes the summer months are very difficult. But I've recently begun to read books about the sports that are in the off seasons, so as to partially satisfy my appetite. I made a profound discovery in my search for good books, I can read them for free from a place called a library. I've been in the habit of buying all my books, but this library thing is pretty awesome. Especially if the book turns out to be a bust, then I didn't waste my money on it. On the flip side, if it's really an excellent read, I can then go and buy it.

Awesome, I know.

Anyway, yesterday I picked up a book called Who's #1? by Christopher J. Walsh. From what I have read so far, it is a history of college football with the intent of describing what led to the creation of the BS--sorry, I mean BCS. I am quickly becoming convinced that for a budding fanatic like myself, this is crucial reading. I'll sum up what I've learned so far:

There has never been a clear-cut way of determining a national champion in college football (meaning, now, Division I-A Football). Therefore, a system was created based on revenue (not necessarily talent) to determine an annual national champion.

I already knew this to a point, but I'm excited to get filled in on the details.

Fanaticism

I want to create a legacy. Something that my children can look back on and remember always that Dad would do this, and that they could look forward to it. It may seem initially like a pretty insignificant decision, but for a guy like me, it's huge.

I think I'll join the Cougar Club. (And this means season tickets. Every year.)

My first love has always been college (translated: BYU) football. We went through some rocky times, the Cougars and me, but now that I've seen the light and come back, I think about it a lot. Someone probably once said something about how what you think about when you don't have anything to think about says a lot about you, and your priorities.

I think about LaVell Edwards Stadium, and singing Rise and Shout, and a bunch of kids who are ten years younger than me chasing each other around on grass in the fall.

I knew that I had come back to the Cougars, but I didn't understand the extent of it until last year's season opener. You know, the one that was played in the new Cowboy Stadium, that one game that changed Sam Bradford's legacy at Oklahoma, that game when BYU shocked the Sooners and the beast that is division one college football. You know that game? Remember it? I do. More than anything I remember the way I wandered around in a zombie-like state repeating over and over, "I can't believe this. I can't believe this."

We drove to Twin Falls, Idaho that night to visit my wife's grandparents. I had no trouble staying awake for the drive. I didn't want to go to sleep that night. I didn't want that day to end. I wanted to talk about the game, I wanted to relive the game. That's why I bought the 2009 Cougar Football DVD (did you know they made one? Well they did, and I bought it. That's right, I did.), so I could relive that game. And while I was at it, I might as well relive the other games from the season too.

Even the two that were broadcast on stupid Versus. Now that I've brought those two games up, let us never speak of them again.

Is it healthy to put this much emotional stock in college football?

Yes it is. It keeps me going.

Bring on this blog, a blog from a fan's perspective. I'm not an insider. I'm simply a fanatic.