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.