Welcome to CrashUtah - Where BYU fans Talk Sports

After much waiting and anticipation there is finally a gametime and network for the BYU vs. Oklahoma game.

The September 5 game that is part of the kickoff week for college football will be televised on ESPN at 6 pm central time. That’s 5 pm mountain for those of you in Utah.

I tried to look at the OU website to see if they were saying anything about the game, but there was more there about the Cowboys new stadium than the game itself.

Tickets have been released for season ticket holders, but the rest of us will have to wait for a little while to get our chance. They are going for $50-$80 as of right now, but I expect they will get a lot higher as the game draws closer.

Most people will be better off paying the $30-40 for parking and just watching the game on the big screen. It is ridiculous how much it all costs, but that is Jerry Jones for you.

Either way, I am really looking forward to this game. In the past when we have played great teams we have had lots of questions on our team, but this time, the nucleus is still there. The biggest question is how good our o-line will be, but I am not really worried about it. We always have at least an average O-line.

I’m getting really excited, and seeing as how there are no major sporting events between now and the start of the season, we should start seeing more and more about college football.

Sorry, I forgot the NBA Finals will start in almost a week. They just last so freaking long that they feel like the regular season never ends. Plus all these long breaks between rounds make me lose interest.

Forgive my sidetrack. BYU is going to have a good season, and may very well have a great season if they get a few good calls, and some favorable bounces.

Today I was seriously jonesing for something BYU, and there just wasn’t much to be had. If the men’s volleyball team had played better then maybe they would be defending their homecourt right now, but no.

Jonathat Tavernari is still testing the NBA waters, but if he leaves he is stupid in my opinion.

Matt Ah You is now a former BYU linebacker, though I can’t imagine why you would leave before your senior year. I’m sure he had a reason, and I wish him my best.

CNNSI.com had BYU listed under the barely missed it section of the post-spring top 25. Obviously this ranking doesn’t mean a whole lot, but the fact that TCU and Utah were both in the top 25 it goes to show that the MWC really made an indelible mark on the country last year.

I can’t imagine how Utah could be so high after losing Brian Johnson, Paul Kruger, and others but whatever, it is what happens on the field that matters, not the polls.

Tickets for the Oklahoma game should be released shortly which is exciting. Part of me hopes people are expecting a blowout so tickets will be cheaper. On the other hand, I want as many people as possible to see BYU be competitive. I guess we will see.

BYU’s softball team is now waiting to see where they will end up to take their shot at the women’s college world series. They should make a good run of it, if they get a good draw.

So while I am anxious for the football season to come, there is still quite a bit of BYU stuff going on.

The No. 6 BYU mens volleyball team played a suspenseful five set win over No. 5 Stanford on Friday night in California. With the match going back and forth throughout, it was ultimately a team effort from BYU that led to the victory.

The cardinal was not so accomadating on Saturday, and beat BYU in straight sets. The major difference was the lack of multiple dominant performaces from the BYU players. Futi Tavana was the only cougar with dounle digit kills.

Stanford simply dominated from the first serve and never let up. BYU also shot themselves in the foot throughout the match which prevented them from ever really catching up.

This hasn’t been the best year when it comes to the head to head with utah, but I came across a pleasant surprise tonight.

My wife and I had just finished watching a show on our DVR and when I turned it back to live tv it was on ESPN, which is what it usually is. As I flipped up the ESPN stations the title said college rugby, so I decided to stop and take a look. As luck would have it, it was BYU and utah playing.

What was even more beautiful was that BYU was dominating, and they have continued to do so since I started watching. I started watching about ten minutes into the second half, and it has just been a BYU scorefest since then.

Now I won’t begin to tell you that I know much about rugby, but any idiot can tell you that winning by 39 is a good thing. The hits have been hard, the passes accurate, and the playmaking creative. Make that winning by 46. Call me crazy but that is a good score for the game, not just for margin of victory.

I really wish I had gone to more rugby games in high school, it is just so much fun to watch. Having gone to Highland High the few games I did see were a lot of fun to watch.

It is such a pure sport when it comes to straight up strength and skill against your opponent. From what I understand, it is also the ultimate team game. Having one or two stars does you no good if they don’t have the support behind them.

I am also just starting to enjoy more of the sports that aren’t as well followed. It is so refreshing to see athletes playing just for the thrill of playing your best and winning. There is no expectations of huge paydays from the pros, and no over-analyzation of the media.

Congrats to BYU for a dominating win, and good luck with the rest of the season.

I was reading another article that had a similar theme and was extremely well written. I started to write a comment, but then it started to get so long that I decided to just write my own article.

In essence his article mentioned the Utah Attorney General’s anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS that should take place sometime this summer. To fully make sense of what I am saying you will need to read Jeremy’s article as well as the comments. Hopefully it will make some sense either way.

Do I think the BCS is unfair, absolutely.
Do I think this lawsuit will result in a playoff, or even a better system, no.

But, this is the best laid argument I have seen. Every other attempt to take down the BCS has been nothing more than a cryfest about how our team got left out and we should have gotten in, blah blah blah. The huge factor that continues to grow is that the Major BCS schools, meaning the ones that consistently have a title shot like USC, are saying we need a playoff.

What that says to me is that this is no longer simply a question of who should play in a BCS bowl, but that it has sincerely become a question of crowning a TRUE national champion. That is the argument that has needed to be raised to create change.

Let’s face it, the big conferences and networks are going to get their money one way or another. What I have really started to take issue with is declaring a national champion when there is a legitimate case for multiple other teams. If any major sport were to simply pick two teams based on polls and they played one game to determine the Super Bowl Champion, or the winner of the Stanley Cup, then there would be outrage. Why is college football the only exception to the rule in the world?

Of all the sporting events in the world, from pee wee sports, to the high school, to professional sports, and even to the Olympics, there is a playoff in place. Sure there is debate over what teams should make it, but now that I think about it, when was the last time you heard a country cry about not making it into the World Cup, or even the playoffs in major US sports? There is a system in place that makes sense and ultimately crowns a true champion.

While there will always be people making excuses about why their team didn’t win or why their rival did. However, there is no legitimate argument to take away their title.

Now the idea of sending the 11 conference champions plus 5 at-large bids to a playoff is completely stupid to me. There is no even remotely decent argument that the conference champion of C-USA, WAC, Ivy League, MAC, or even in some years the MWC champions have any place playing for a national champion. Last year evidenced that even the BCS conferences don’t always warrant a BCS bid. There is no reason to make it even that complicated.

I have written this before, but it could be very simple. You take the top 8, or 16 though I prefer 8, and put them against each other with their ranks as seeds. Add the Cotton and Holiday bowls, or others if you prefer, to the original 4 BCS bowls. They rotate yearly through first round games and the seminfinal games. Then you pick an entirely separate place, picked just like the Super Bowl and most leauges’ all-star games for the National Championship.

This creates even more money to spread around, and the major conferences would still get their cut because their teams would be the ones making it regularly. At the same time, smaller conferences would have just as much chance. There would be no argument that smaller teams don’t deserve it, because they would HAVE to schedule better teams to get ranked in the top 8. Going undefeated would not be enough for a non-BCS school.

I really don’t understand why they make it so complicated. Everyone in the world knows it is about money and nothing else. Don’t give me the time argument, because the national championship is already more than a week later than it used to be.

This may not be the best answer, but it seems like a legitimate one for me.

BYU has consistently had a strong softball team, and this year is no different. After winning in New Mexico over the weekend, they are now at 26-14 on the season, and 3-0 in conference play.

They feature a very potent offense that has been putting up big numbers all year. They have scored more than 10 runs 9 different times, and are consistently scoring 7-9 runs.

They also have a solid pitching staff, that has thrown 13 shutouts this year, and has only allowed more than 5 runs twice all season.

The highlight of the year in pitching came March 28 when Christine Zinanti threw a no-hitter. Her only walk came against the first batter of the game, who was hit by a pitch.

It is unfortunate that TCU doesn’t have a softball team, because that means there is no way I will get to see them play. Having been a softball coach, I look forward to any opportunity to watch a quality team play, and that is exactly what a BYU has this year.

This modern era of information overload is no different in the sports world. However, when it comes to college football, it may have come too far.

Not only can you get daily reports on every practice of your favorite team including play by play and stats, you can now watch the spring games on ESPN. That is just going too far.

It used to be special to watch a game on national tv. You would anxiously read articles about what games would be televised. This was even a bigger deal if you were an out of town fan, and your team was going to be on a network station. Growing up in Texas and being a BYU fan I was lucky to see one or two games a year, but now you can get not only every single game, but spring games and practices.

While I do appreciate being able to watch more games than I used to, I almost miss the old days. The quality of broadcasts has totally fallen off of a cliff. From the broadcasters themselves to the game production, it just isn’t nearly as good. Now we are stuck with former players that never made it, and never should have been given a spot in the booth.

The days of classic sporting events analyzed by well known broadcasters is gone. Instead we would probably be better off hitting the mute button and just enjoying the game itself.

The one exception I have found to this is that most radio broadcasts still carry classic announcers. I realize they can’t live forever, but by and large most teams keep the same broadcasters on the radio. I have found myself muting the tv and listening to the radio because they do such a better job.

So while I will continue to watch and read everything I possibly can about BYU, I wish the quality of broadcasts would go back up to what it used to be.

I must admit that I was shocked when I heard that BYU was matched up with Texas A&M again. I remember the feeling last year and A&M just isn’t a really good match up for us. They just have more athletes. However, we were in the game and so I think we still have a chance. On top of this, I think there are a number of other reasons why I’m still optimistic about BYU’s chances against Texas A&M in the tournament.

Jimmer Fredette - Jimmer is the future of BYU and thankfully he’s here now. He’s the first point guard at BYU in my lifetime (or at least memory) that can take someone off the dribble, get penetration and take it to the hoop. Plus, Jimmer just seems like a big game guy who seems to really get up for big games and I think he’ll do the same on college basketball’s biggest stage.

Team Defense - I haven’t heard nearly enough about BYU’s defense this year. I mentioned this a while back, but I think that BYU’s help defense and rotating to cover the open man is the best I’ve ever seen it. Add in quick hands by Jackson Emery and the JT’s ability to cause steals and turnovers (which is a surprise to me) and I have reason for optimism.

Underestimating Lee Cummard/Jackson Emery - Let’s be honest. If you looked at Lee Cummard and Jackson Emery for the first time, would you be nervous? Sure, they’ll have a reasonable amount of tape and hype on Lee, but he’s so long that I think that it takes teams a little bit to realize what he’s capable of doing. Emery should surprise people even more. Just wait and see if the A&M coach isn’t singing these 2 guys names after the game.

Miles Free Throw Shooting - I’m too lazy to look up the specific numbers, but we’re all familiar with Miles past troubles at the foul line. I’m not sure what has made the difference, but I’m not getting a heart attack every time Miles goes to the free throw line. In fact, he really seems to have some confidence on the line and won’t be the reason we lose the game.

Any other reasons that I’ve left out? I can’t wait for the game!!

With the conference tournament really starting today, it merits a few moments to consider what BYU stands to lose, and in turn gain, in the tournament.

In short, I really don’t think the outcome of the tournament will have a tremendous impact on BYU in terms of the NCAA tournament. Of course losing to Air Force in the first round would not be a good thing, but how likely is that to happen. Beyond a first round loss there really is not much damage to be done. Losing to San Diego St. would not be a huge upset, nor would losing to UNLV in their home invitational. Losing in the championship to anyone else would not be terribly tragic either.

In terms of what good can come of it, I also feel it is limited. Lets just say that BYU beats AFA, then either San Diego St. or UNLV who are pretty comparable, and Utah in the championship. All that may do is move BYU up one seed, two at the most. So instead of being an 8-9 seed they are a 7-8. There really is not a huge difference in the long run.

The biggest thing BYU could gain from the tournament is getting on a roll. It is insane how good they are when they get hot. With a shooting team like BYU it cannot be overlooked how important getting on a run can be. When shooters get hot it is hard to stop them. Playing three quality games in a familiar, if not friendly, arena could do wonders for helping them go into the big dance with some momentum.

Either way, I am excited for the tournament to start and the madness that is march to commence.

The end of the regular season gives me cause to reflect on the events of this year all the way back to the end of last season. The biggest decisions that affected how this season played out were made shortly after the season when Trent Plaisted decided to declare for the NBA Draft, and Lee Cummard decided to stay.

There is no way that anyone could possibly know what would have happened if those choices were changed in anyway. All we can do at this point is look at how those decisions have played out.

First, we’ll consider Plaisted. He was drafted number 46 by the Seattle Supersonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, and was immediately traded to the Detroit Pistons. He ultimately signed with Angelico Biella in Italy until he suffered a season ending injury in December.

While there is no telling how his fate would have changed had he stayed at BYU, at the time, I think he made the right choice to enter the draft, and I still do. There is no way you can forecast an injury, and with a full season of development he may very well have cracked into an NBA roster next season.

Now lets consider Cummard. Many so called experts felt he had a good chance to be drafted, but there is little reason to believe he would have gone much higher, if at all, than Plaisted did. The risk you run of staying another season is you may get injured, or you may not have a very good year, and your stock could drop.

While Cummard did not get injured, he did not have quite the stellar season he probably would have hoped for. He obviously did not show that he is a superstar team leader, but that is not all bad. In this day and age of egotistical superstars, there is more need than ever for roleplayers that are willing to do the dirty work.

I look at Lee as more of an Adam Keefe type player. Someone that you know will work their butt off, scrap for rebounds, and in the vein of Robert Horry, may just hit a game winner for you when the game is on the line. He is not an up and down emotional player, but rather someone that will consistently give you all he has. He will probably never put up 20 points a game in the NBA, but he may just be the difference maker in a series like Robert Horry, Steve Kerr, or Jeff Hornacek.

There is no way to know what would have happened if Lee had entered the draft last year, but as a diehard BYU fan, I would just like to personally say thank you to Lee for all of his hard work in his time at BYU. He has been a huge part of building a foundation of success at BYU that will hopefully last for years to come. Best of luck in the Las Vegas Invitational, and the Big Dance, and here’s hoping you find much success in the NBA, you deserve it.