Sports
Listen Here! As promised (or threatened, depending on how you look at it), an open letter to the Brigham Young University football team: Dear Cougar players, coaches, and administrators, First and foremost: congratulations Champs! That’s two in a row, after not having won one for a few years. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Fans in other conferences would have liked to see their team chase bigger dreams after a good season, but you guys have your priorities in order. Besides, that makes two straight undefeated seasons in your conference, which is pretty impressive, and looks good on a resume. Of course, it would be nice if you could win a few of the higher-profile non-conference games, and get a shot at the real prizes, but don’t worry too much about it. Besides, the Las Vegas Bowl loves having you, right? It’s the closest bowl to Provo (if I’m reading my map correctly), so everyone can come down and see it. Besides, nobody wants to travel during the holidays, even if it is New Orleans, Pasadena, Phoenix, or Miami. Get a nice, early bowl game and be home in time for Christmas. That’s wise of you. I should start by thanking Coach Bronco Mendenhall and his excellent program for putting things together. There is a coaching sweet spot where at the end of the year your fans are somewhere between Overjoyed About A Fantastic Season and Wish They Had Done Just A Little Better. Coach Mendenhall has found that hard-to-reach place for two seasons running, and good for him. That spells “job security” and “managing expectations,” right? Hey, the flippin’ stadium is named after the last coach who was consistently good, and Bronco has already learned the scowling reticence bit. A win or two against some of those mediocre Pac-10 and C-USA teams would probably help the legacy, though. As a fan, it was nice to see Bryan Kehl have a good senior year. He will certainly go down as one of the most athletic defenders to ever strap it up for BYU, and could almost have played any position on the field. In fact, a few times I thought it was too bad he wasn’t playing every position, particularly when Tulsa’s receivers were 15 yards behind his buddies in the defensive secondary. Oh well, like the old saying goes, you can’t win them all. Besides, BYU’s stars have always been on the other side of the ball. Good luck in the future, Bryan, we hope to see you in the NFL. We are really, really, REALLY going to miss you next year, when the fans will be hoping that opposing teams elect to neither run nor pass against the defense. Hey, speaking of offensive stars, how about that Max Hall kid, huh? It isn’t easy to step into the Legendary BYU Quarterback position, and he did it pretty well, for an underclassman. Naysayers and doubters thought he wouldn’t be able to handle it, but he looked comfortable in the pocket. Sure, that comfort led to a few rip-roarin’ hits and ugly interceptions by some lucky defenders, but he’s young (that’s “young” as in age, and not a comparison to “Steve Young”). Besides, if they ever hold an “NCAA Quarterback Who Looks the Most Like Comedian Will Farrell” contest, he has to be a finalist, at the very least. The real revelation of the season was Harvey Unga, who even set freshman team rushing records. We were every bit as excited about him this year as we were last year when it was Fui Vakapuna making the headlines. Now, Fui’s numbers may have dropped off a bit in 2007, but that’s okay, he’s still an exciting player, right? I would like to offer a word of advice to young Harvey, though. You may want to avoid two things in the off-season: (1) Your Sofa, and (2) Buffets. Given your 1,000+ yards and solid freshman season, we will expect nothing less than the Greatest Running Back to Ever Wear Blue out of you. We want you to help erase the painful memories of Luke Staley’s Senior Season That Never Was. So, you know… no pressure and good luck with that. Well, that’s about it. We sure hope you figure out something for that missing Nevada game that will be winnable and impressive to voters. Obviously, we would like to see you steer clear of any Division II teams, but you already know that. Ohio State can play cupcakes and still end the season highly ranked, but BYU cannot. Even if we, the fans, think you should, sometimes. With more hopefulness than you might expect, Nate N.Co-Host, Utah SportsCast There is plenty more in the podcast, particularly considering that we really didn’t talk much about BYU football. So, tune in for our quarter-season grades for the Utah Jazz, and a few words about college hoops. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Luke Nevill 2. Trent Plaisted 1. Deron Williams We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.