He was just that hot

I know, there's no way to prove it, but I knew Jimmer was going to hit that near-half-court shot at the end of the first half. He had just nailed a 3 on the last possession with some of the stickiest defense being played against him. The Utes turned it over with 4 seconds to play, of course he was going to make that shot.

Of course he was.

Whatever happens with the Cougar basketball team for the rest of this season, tonight's game is one to remember. It's been a while since I have had so much fun watching a game from my living room. My poor kids always get so scared when I erupt after a play like that shot.

Go Cougs.

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.

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.

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.

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.