Welcome to CrashUtah – Where BYU fans Talk Sports

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that BYU was able to pull out the 45th home win in a row against the hated Yewts. Games against the Yewts are always way too close for comfort and painful to watch. Well, at least until BYU wins. Unfortunately, not many people saw it because our beloved TV partners decided to show it on the MTN instead of CSTV or Versus. Even BYU TV would have been 100 times better than the MTN. Dick Harmon described the shows that showed on CSTV and Versus as opposed to BYU vs. Utah:

Versus showed “Wildcats,” a 1986 movie staring Goldie Hawn and Nipsey Russell from 7 to 9 p.m. After that, Versus chose to show Stage 3 of the “Tour of California, which may have been a repeat.

CSTV — which chose to air a fine blowout of Utah’s over BYU women’s basketball on Tuesday night to a national audience — on Wednesday aired a One2One sports highlight show on the career of Doug Williams from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

From 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., right in the critical part of the Ute-Cougar battle, CSTV aired a repeat of a Memphis-Tulane basketball that aired earlier. By the way, Memphis won the game 97-71 the second time around also.

Ok, I could see Versus telling us to shove it if it was the Tour de France, but some old school movie and the Tour of California? It’s amazing the choices these stations have made. Too bad we’re stuck, because my guess is that almost nothing can be done about it now.

On a higher note, I think we saw the future of BYU in Jimmer Fredette. Finally a guard at BYU that can make shots for himself, drive the lane and hit a 3. Not to mention how well he’s matured over the year. Let’s just hope he steps up and plays just as well in the NCAA tournament. Yes, they’re going to the tournament. The only question now is whether we can keep the winning ways going and get a decent seed in the tournament. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

UPDATE: Looks like the AD at San Diego State says that there’s a deal between the MTN and DirectTV. Too bad the MWC office and BYU’s Assitant AD say they haven’t heard anything. I expect this means a deal is close to done. Will this deal push other cable networks and Dish Network to get on board too?

I think we’ve all been thankful to have Lee Cummard on the team this year. He’s been better than I ever would have expected. The most consistent player by far. I guess that’s why I enjoyed a recent Trib article about Lee that included the following quotes which left me laughing:

“He loves his body,” his wife, Sarah said. “He thinks he has the most rocking body in the whole world and the biggest muscles. He has told me a few times he has the best body on campus, so he is definitely not lacking for confidence there.”

Cummard, 22, has a deal with BYU strength coach Justin McClure if Cummard tips the scales at 190 pounds, he never has to wear a shirt in the weight room again.

“I am real close,” Cummard said with a sly grin. “Maybe this summer, but I have never been afraid to show off the guns.”

I think we all hope that Lee will put on a few pounds. Looks like Justin is using some good motivational techniques to get him there.

I’m so happy that tomorrow we can all enjoy the BYU basketball game against Michigan St. It’s going to be a great match up between #20 and #9 in the nation and broadcast to BYU fans around the world on BYU TV.

The best part is it looks like it was suppose to be on Versus, but BYU basically stuck it to them. Here’s what it said on the BYU Athletics site:

BYU controls the live television broadcast rights to the game and had offered live nationwide broadcast rights to Versus and BYUTV, and local broadcast rights to KJZZ Channel 14. BYU received notice Thursday that Versus has decided not to air the game.

“We are excited for the opportunity to air the BYU-Michigan State game nationally on BYU Television,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “Our goal is to continue to find ways to broadcast live sporting events to our fans across the United States and throughout the world. We appreciate the long-standing relationship we’ve enjoyed with BYUTV.”

Many could argue that playing on BYU TV will mean that recruits won’t see BYU play. However, I just can’t believe that recruits are more likely to find BYU playing on Versus than BYU TV. It’s a wash in my book. Not to mention BYU playing on BYU TV is going to mean that a ton of Michigan State fans are going to learn about BYU TV. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Most importantly, I’m just glad to see a ranked cougar team matching up against the third top 10 basketball team this year. These match ups can’t do anything but help us come March.

The MWC’s deal with CSTV has been absolutely ridiculous. The tv coverage for football has been horrible. All of that said, I have to give BYU a little credit for already getting a couple BYU basketball games streamed free on BYU TV. The online stream of BYU vs. Portland just started and the previous BYU TV coverage of Louisville was great too.

I wonder how much it would cost for BYU TV to purchase coverage for all of BYU sports games. It would be interesting to find out and see if BYU fans could put together enough donations to make it happen. Ok, so I understand that won’t get exposure to recruits, would never happen, etc etc etc. That doesn’t mean we can’t still dream about watching BYU sports.

At least we can enjoy BYU basketball streamed on BYU TV tonight.

I don’t think there are many BYU fans that are really holding out hope that BYU will get into a BCS bowl game. I mean seriously, Tulsa beat us. Or maybe if we decided to play the first half against UCLA we’d have a good argument.

All of that said, there is a really wild outside chance that all the stars will align and the BCS gods will smile down on BYU. Here’s that the Trib said BYU needs to have happen to have a shot at a BCS bowl game:

BYU must beat San Diego State
LSU must beat Tennessee – A close one so far
Arizona must beat Arizona State
UCLA must beat USC – UCLA has too many turnovers already
Va. Tech must beat BC – Va Tech Wins
Washington must beat Hawaii
Oregon State must beat Oregon – Beavers are playing tough

I’ll try to update this as the day goes on (or follow on ESPN yourself). I think USC is going to be our heart breaker.

I got the following email about the upcoming tailgate party and fireside in San Diego before the game. I posted the same type of information previously and so I figured I should follow up with the correct information now. I got the information from a BYU alumni email.

WOW! What a game, what a season. Fresh off a huge 17-10 win over Utah, BYU looks to close out the regular season here in San Diego Dec. 1, at 3:30 p.m. Game and tailgate tickets are going fast, so order before they are sold out.

BYU Tailgate Party- Everyone Welcome!

Western BBQ, live bluegrass band, games, trivia, BYU logo gear, BYU Cheerleaders, face painting and more.

Adult Menu: BBQ brisket, beans, salad, rolls, drink and dessert. $15, Kids Menu (12 and younger): BBQ hot dog, chips and drink. $5

Limited space so be sure to sign up in advance, presale ticket cutoff Nov. 28: Go to http://sandiego.aa.byu.edu for info and sign ups.

Saturday, Dec. 1, 12:30-3 p.m.
Qualcomm Stadium, Parking lot section J-2
(Just west of the Qualcomm Trolley Station)
9449 Friars Road
San Diego, CA 92108

BYU vs. SDSU FOOTBALL GAME TICKETS

Dec. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
Qualcomm Stadium

Game Tickets: Tickets are available for the BYU/SDSU football game through the SDSU ticket office; special discounts are available through the group ticket office, (619) 283-7378. Tell them you want the BYU group discount! Go Cougars!

sandiego.aa.byu.edu

BRONCO AND TEAM FIRESIDE

Don’t forget, Coach Mendenhall and the football team will present a special fireside Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the San Diego North Stake Center, 4741 Mount Abernathy, San Diego, Cal. Open to everyone!

Take a look at this post on cougarboard. The person predicted a BYU loss and BYU choking. Winning after someone saying that is awesome!!

Too bad they turned the TV off and didn’t see the ending. If they aren’t a Yewt fan, then I’m not sure we want them as a BYU fan.

I’m sure that most BYU fans are focusing on the BYU vs. Utah game tomorrow, but true BYU sports fans have been anticipating the Thanksgiving holiday weekend full of great BYU sports games. Tonight BYU men’s basketball will face #6 Louisville at the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational. Here’s an excerpt from the Desert Morning News describing BYU heading into this game:

A 4-0 record, a team scoring 90-plus points a game and a 31-point margin of victory — BYU would love to continue its torrid start and gaudy results, but the Cougars know the level of competition takes a steep spike as they face No. 6 Louisville tonight.

Sounds like an exciting game. An undefeated BYU team that’s been scoring points like crazy and meeting a highly ranked opponent. The only thing more we could ask for is one of those 4 previous wins to have been against ranked opponents and not cellar dwellers.

Living in Las Vegas I was excited to see BYU play a quality opponent (yes, I don’t count UNLV as a quality opponent). I checked the Orleans arena website to find out about ticket prices and was shown that I’d need to spend $91 for the entire 2 day tournament. Are you kidding me? I read on and it tells me that they aren’t selling individual tickets either. Are they serious? First the CSTV broadcasting deal and now $91 to see a game.

Ok, so I might not mind spending that much money since hopefully BYU will win and get to play North Carolina tomorrow. However, a bunch of my extended family is visiting for the holidays and they wouldn’t even consider going to one game at that price. Not to mention, the BYU vs. Utah game is tomorrow and if BYU loses tonight, then am I really going to pass up BYU vs. Utah to go and see BYU vs. Old Dominion?

Well, thank goodness that somehow BYUTV has the rights to broadcast the game tonight. Should be a lot of fun to grab a piece of delicious pumpkin pie and watch the game. Although, I’d much rather be at the game screaming my heart out. Just not at $91 a head.

Need I say more?!

Today it was announced that Trent Green of the Miami Dolphins has been placed on the IR. That leaves backup Cleo Lemon as the starting quarterback and BYU’s very own John Beck now as the backup. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m excited for John Beck to get a chance to show his stuff in the NFL. At least now he’ll get clean up minutes and possibly be forced into a starting role if injuries happen or Cleo Lemon doesn’t play well.