It's been a while since I posted, but considering it is the slowest part of the sports season, why not. I believe I commented on this last year, but this is the worst part of the year for sports, by far. It's not even close; baseball still doesn't matter yet, football hasn't started, no basketball, Wimbledon is over, and there aren't even local high school sports to follow. Something has to give; someone, in one of the major sports, needs to adjust their schedule to save us from this hell that is July-August. The NBA has had all sorts of exciting trades, which only makes the wait for the season to start that much worse. I've been hearing exciting reports about BYU's Basketball team--apparently, Tyler Haws is tearing it up--but once again, it only makes the hurt more pronounced.

BYU Football is the closets great sport on the horizon, and they have a loaded schedule. I expect them to get destroyed by Oklahoma, but I would rather see that happen, than watch the Cougs play Wyoming. They also play Florida State at home; I know FSU isn't the same program it was 10 years ago, but they are back to being a consistent top 25 team, and they have more guys that run 4.3's on their team every year, than BYU has had in its history. Fortunately, BYU is very good at home, and they get the Seminoles there. Playing Oklahoma in Dallas, makes the game a home game for the Sooners, and I'm sure the Cougs will be very intimidated. Obviously, its mostly a win-win situation for BYU since they aren't expected to win; the only way they lose is if they embarrass themselves by getting absolutely crushed.

I'm excited for the NFL--will Tom Brady be the old Tom Brady, will Brett Favre be a Viking, will Austin Collie earn the 3 spot for the Colts, will Mark Sanchez start, can Matthew Stafford end the Lions curse, will the Cardinals be a one-hit-wonder...the list goes on and on. Personally, I really hope Favre comes back, and when they play the Packers, I hope he tears them up. I don't know why people care so much that he can't make up his mind. It effects him, his family, and the teams waiting on his decision, but it doesn't effect us. If he's still good enough to play in the NFL--he is--and there are teams that want him, then why shouldn't he play if he wants to? He's a living legend, one of the greatest quarterbacks/footballs players to ever play the game, and the longer we get to watch him perform, the luckier we are.

Anyway, the sucky part of the summer is coming to an end soon, and I can't wait. I'm so pumped for football, and right when the the NFL starts, the US Open final is played. I hope, and expect, to see Roger going for his 6th straight title and Flushing Meadows--hopefully against Roddick or Nadal. Even though I'm suffering right now--and the rest of you die-hard sports fans are too--there is life just around the corner.

BYU Sucks

Quest for Perfection? That was an awesome goal; BYU should come out with more clever themes for their sports programs--Quest for eternal life (considering the fact that Mendenhall ranks football as the 5th priority for his players), Quest for 10 & 3'ness, Quest for Suckiness, Quest for slow-white-playerness, Quest for really-bad-play-callingness. BYU played 3 good teams this year and got worked by all 3; the argument that BYU deserves more respect, or even the argument that if they go undefeated any given year, they deserve a BCS game, is a dead argument. They aren't good enough to beat good teams on a regular basis; Mendenhall has chosen to make football a secondary part of his job--the first is being a spiritual mentor--and as long as he chooses to only recruit Peter Priesthood players, then BYU won't get better than they've been the last 3 years. Slow white kids that played at Timpview can't cover fast players, and when the majority of the team is slow white players, any really athletic team is going to be tough to beat. BYU is probably playing Oklahoma next year at the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium--that will be a good example of BYU's trouble with good teams--they'll probably lose 50-10. Anyway, 10-3 is good for the lack of talent BYU has, but it sucks when you consider the strenght of their schedule, and their cheesy slogan for this season.

College Football Playoff

Should college football have a playoff? It seems like the majority of fans and coaches want it to happen, but there are a few powerful players that are averse to the idea. The playoff idea gets thrown out there every year, only to be ignored while the BCS crowns another controversial champion. So why bring it up now? What is different? The difference is the new, vocal, support of President-Elect Barack Obama. Having a popular President get behind this issue gives it more life and possibility than it has ever had before. Obama is pitching an 8 team playoff, arguing that it would only add 3 weeks to the season and that it would eliminate the ambiguity of the championship. If school presidents are concerned about student-athletes missing class, then the regular season could be shortened by a game or two, offsetting the postseason. I think Obama isn't going far enough. Why not make it 16 teams--10 conference champions, 6 at large bids--adding 4 weeks to the season. It makes it more like March Madness, and it eliminates the arbitrariness of the current system. The field tells no lies. The field eliminates politics and bias. The field would determine an undisputed National Champion. College football fans should unite and with President Obama, put unignorable pressure on college presidents. Boycott games, sign petitions, write tons of letters, .....do whatever it takes to change the current, broken, system.  Put pressure on ESPN; threaten to stop watching their station if they don't support a playoff. Write them letters, call their talk shows, email their people, and let them know we are sick of their bogus support of the current system. I am hopeful that the backing of President Obama can be the difference, giving us a college football playoff.

BYU Football

The Cougars play at Air Force tomorrow, in a game that they should win, but one they could easily lose. If they keep playing with their post UCLA victory hangover, then they will lose. Since thrashing the Bruins 59-0, BYU has been a mediocre football team. It's like they used some sort of blue-tinged super meth to help them destroy UCLA, and they've been suffering withdrawals since then. They might get by Air Force even if they haven't sobered up, but if they stay hungover, playing Utah will be like a drunk Buster Douglas fighting Mike Tyson. If anyone knows of any quick hangover recovery methods, send them to Mendenhall. 

2023

The New York Yankees drafted pitcher/center field/power hitter/freak of nature Sam Taylor today, 1st overall in the 1st round. The Yankees haven't had the #1 overall pick in 15 years--a pick that ended up flopping--so they decided to play it safe...yeah, that was tough. They picked the consensus #1 all around player, Sam Taylor. Taylor has been the #1 prospect since he started the 9th grade; a modern day Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, you name it, a freak that many believe could have started for any MLB team when he was 14. Taylor finished his senior year for Timpanogos High in Orem, Utah, batting .752, with 22 home runs...in 25 games. Taylor broke his own records, ones he had set as a freshman, sophomore, and junior; he improved on those records every season. That is what he did from the plate. From the mound, Taylor through 9 no-hitters in 11 starts, ending up with a .10 ERA and an 11-0 record. What to do with a multi-dimensional talent like this? Scouts are unsure where he'll end up playing--he throws 99-102 with 4 wicked pitches, he runs a 4.2 in the 40 and has a Bo Jackson type arm, making him perfect for center field, or he can play 3rd or short with impeccable fielding skills. He may be the 1st player since Babe Ruth to really contribute from the mound and the plate, with some in the Yankee's organization suggesting he may pitch every 4 to 5 days and when he's not on the mound, he'll be in center field. Yankees GM, Derek Jeter, plans on having Taylor start with the Yankees Triple A team, and after no more than a dozen games or so, moving him up to the bigs. When asked about the rapid pace of this plan, Jeter respond "When he's ready to be an All-Star today, why waste time in the minors? He's only going there for a couple of weeks to take a little pressure off of him. With New York fans and media all over this kid already, we want him to break in before he becomes a paparazzi star." Jeter knows what it's like--although he never had the hype behind him that Taylor currently has. Whether it's 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months, when Sam Taylor makes his debut in Yankee Stadium, he's going to have Michael Jordan-like expectations awaiting his first trip to the mound/plate. I for one, believe he'll meet the expectations we have for him. I had a chance to talk to his family at the draft. They seem to deal with the crazy media circus pretty well. Sam's dad, Steve, said he's not worried about Sam dealing with the hype, "Sam has always put aside other people's expectations and focused on what he can control. He knows what he's capable of doing and whether or not that aligns with outside perception or not, it doesn't really matter to him. He knows that he can do amazing things on a baseball field and as long as he focuses on that, he'll be fine." His mom Stacy, and younger sister Sophie, both echoed Steve's comments, saying Sam will do what he's always done and whether he's in New York or Orem, Utah, it won't change how he plays baseball. Conspiracy theorists are already concocting theories about MLB fixing the draft, but regardless of how they got the #1 pick, they got it and now they've got the biggest freak of nature to step foot on a baseball diamond in a long, long time, maybe ever.

New Sports Blog

My other blog is usually about politics so I thought I'd start a separate blog solely about sports. I'm taking a journalism class so I'm going to practice writing about sporting events like a journalist. I've even decided I'm probably going to look into getting a Master's Degree in Journalism and try to cover politics or sports or both.  I know that I have at least two readers--my wife and my mom, so this is for my own satisfaction and practice more than anything else. If I end up writing something half-decent, I might submit it to various publications, looking for a possible freelance role. Anyway, I will cover sporting events that I watch so I can give a first-person perspective to my stories, hopefully providing some sort of insight that isn't found in the newspaper.