My Outlook on the 2010 Football Season

I am so excited that the BYU Football season is so close. I am anxious to see all of the pieces that will come together by Sept. 4 and hopefully they will all come together a lot sooner than that. I noticed here that the posters for the season are on sale and they are nice!!! It is a good way to look at what we will be without next season.

I am optimistic about this year, I know it is being labeled as a rebuilding year but BYU is getting to the point now where they don't rebuild they reload. I mean John Beck his senior year seemed to be leading the team to a season that would go down in the history books and not be seen for a really long time. Yet in comes Max Hall having "never having taken a snap in D1 before." And he matched the same record and a conference championship. I don't think it is a coincidence that BYU in the last 4-5 years has had a QB lead the school in passing yards behind Ty Detmer and another QB that is the Winniest in school history. A receiver that has the school record for receiving yards. A TE with all time receptions and a RB that has the school record in all time rushing yards passing another RB who just had the honor. BYU continues to get better each and every year. That is why I think they will be fine this year. Not to mention that during this "rebuilding" year BYU has the BEST recruiting class ever, and a lot of guys are coming in that can play right away. Which ever QB is under center will have success, they may not lead the team to a conference Championship or a BCS game but they will win a lot of games because of the talent that surrounds them. The QB will be behind a very talented, and experienced O-LINE. The RB don't have tons of miles but they have a good amount of experience and are very talented. And the receivers, lets just say if they get it in the the vicinity it will be caught. I could go on but I think the team will be a lot better than some might think and I am confident that the QB battle will be decided well before the first game. BRONCO DOES NOT WANT IT TO GO INTO THE SEASON, but he will do that if that is what it takes. Some one will step up and everyone will recognize that. This post is getting long so I won't even touch the defense right now, but they will be great I think.

One of the things I would like to comment on is what I talked about earlier about RELOADING as opposed to rebuilding. One of the things I noticed is that BYU is getting a lot of talented players throughout the country. I don't think that will change with U know who going U know where. I wanted to focus on the Receivers. When I think of the WR of a few years ago I think of:

Zac Collie 5-11

Margin Hooks 6-0

Reno Mahe 5-11

Matt Allen 6-0

Bryce Mahuika 5-9

Nate Meikle 5-9

All very productive and got the job done, some have some nice records in school history, but one thing is common is size, don't get me wrong size is not everything, there are plenty players in any sport 6-0 and under that have performed, but BYU has fewer and fewer of those types of "Great route runners" and "good hands" type guys. So I looked up some of the current players on the roster.

Luke Ashworth 6-2

Mckay Jacobsen 5-11

O'neill Chambers 6-2

Brett Thompson 6-3

Jordan Smith 6-4 (RM) He served his mission in MA and was at Marybeths Parents house during the Christmas Holiday in 2008. I didn't know much about him but got to meet him and talk a little FB.

Marcus Matthews 6-4 (RM)

Cody Hoffman 6-4(RS Freshman)

Ross Apo 6-3 (FR.)

Once again size isn't everything but boy does it help. These WR are not only big but they are athletic. The QB will have plenty of veteran WR to throw to that have been in the system for a number of years as well as a handful of very talented young players. During media days A. Rich was talking about how Phenominal Apo is and how he will contribute right away and have a very good season. He had off season surgery but appears to be %100. On the Deep Shades of Blue Website they break down the BYU's WR and it mentions this about Apo "He has put on a show in player workouts and the reports say that defenders have had no answer for him this summer. He has demonstrated excellent speed, great route running, sticky hands and an uncanny ability to go up over any defender to get the ball." If that doesn't get you excited I am not sure what will. I think that any and all of the WR can have a really good year and it should be exciting to watch. There have been talk of having McKay in the slot, can you imagine him in the slot and Apo and Chambers out wide???? Anyway that is enough for now but I am looking forward to Aug 7th so I can start hearing how the team is coming together.

Identity Crisis

Ah yes, July is winding down and August is approaching fast. We can all agree that July is a fun month. You start it out with 4^th of July barbecues, parades and firework shows. For those of us lucky enough to live in Utah, we get to do it all over again on July 24^th for Pioneer Day. All of this is done in the middle of the hot heat with tons of trips to Seven Peaks to get some sun and cool off. But it is all an attempt to hide the sick sad truth: July is the WORST MONTH OF THE YEAR. Don’t believe me? You need to take a closer look.

True sports fans will tell you that September through January are some of the best months of the year. We practically get 48 hours straight of pure football and 5 days to talk about it all. February through March? Well that goes without saying. April through June? NBA playoffs are in full swing. But what happens after the NBA Finals end? There are a few tennis and golf tournaments in July. We have the Tour de France, but that is basically going to be irrelevant now that Lance is done (not that anyone sat down and actually WATCHED the racing). Every four years we have the Summer Olympics and it seems like we can add the World Cup the list of events that interest us for… what? Two weeks. Or until the US gets eliminated. And MLB….

Don’t even get me started on the MLB regular season. 130 games in a regular season? How can you expect me to care about a Red Sox loss to the Rays when they’re going to play each other 7 more times this week? On top of that, they take a break from the games that actually matter somewhat for a game that means nothing at all: the MLB All-Star Break. That’s a joke in itself. Every team gets at least one player on the roster. Does a pitcher with an 0-2 record really deserve to be considered an All-Star (see Joaquim Soria of the Kansas City Royals). And the manager tries to get the entire 30+ roster on the field before the night is over. It’s like youth YMCA basketball all over again.

Don’t get me wrong – I love baseball. Watching your team win the World Series is great and if you’ve been to a big league park to watch a game, there is nothing like the sound of the crack of a bat. But I can’t bring myself to watch baseball games during the week when I get home from work. The games just aren’t that exciting and have no championship implications.

Furthermore, I watch ESPN enough to know when they have too much on their plate and when they are reaching for a story. The headline when I woke up Monday morning? “Rookie, Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys refuses to carry veteran wide receiver’s shoulder pads back to the locker room.” Is that really a story? Are you kidding me, guys? That’s the day’s top story? It’s not ESPN’s fault. There is simply nothing going on in sports right now. MLB trade deadline speculations aren’t that exciting since half of the trades made won’t even matter. We usually don’t care about NBA free agent signings. This summer was an anomaly with the LeBacle. It’s just a slow month.

Don’t believe me? Then why has PTI’s host, Tony Kornheiser had the entire month off? Michael Wilbon had two weeks off and they had the show cancelled for a week altogether. Around the Horn was also off the air for a week. I know these guys need vacations. So what better time to do it than when there is no news to debate?

Can anyone tell me what events happen the night the ESPY’s are on? Nothing? Right. It’s the day after the MLB All-Star break. A desperate attempt to bring sports fans back to life after a comatose weekend of baseball players messing around.

So what am I trying to say? I am taking this opportunity to confess openly that the circumstances I just described led to my behavior on Monday, July 26^th at roughly 7:00 pm. I watched pro wrestling. WWE Raw. For thirty minutes. Then I recorded the rest and watched the rest Wednesday night.

There was NOTHING on TV that interested me enough other than pro wrestling. I used to follow the male soap opera quite a bit between the ages of 10 and 17. I can admit it. And I always knew it was fake. But the drama was so intriguing and the crazy moves they did were pretty cool. If you are judging me, then I’d like to see you try doing a back flip from the top of a steel cage and land on your stomach on top of someone else. I never tried it, but I did try a few submission moves on my sister. She used to tap out so fast. Wuss.

NFL pre season starts August 8^th with the Bengals against the Cowboys. I just hope that I can wait that long. Because if I watch anymore pro wrestling, it will be like an alcoholic on the verge of a relapse. I mean, Bret Hart (my childhood wrestling idol) is coming out of retirement for a 7 on 7 elimination match on a pay-per-view event on August 15!! I almost can justify the $45 to watch that.

Good heavens, please help me…..

SR-71

Some of you may know that I work with the Air Force and get to see the newest military aircraft do their thing pretty much every day. Personally, I think airplanes are pretty awesome, and to me, fighter jets qualify as manly enough for a testosterone laden blog such as this, so here is my little ode to the SR-71.

Basically the SR-71 was a super high flying, super fast flying spy plane. It was developed by Lockheed Martin's revered Skunk Works under the closest security. It could reach speeds of Mach 3.2+ (2200 mph+), and could fly at a sustained altitude of over 85,000 feet (16 miles). Because the conditions in which the aircraft flew were so extreme, the pilots basically had to wear space suits in order to survive.

To give you an idea of the conditions this plane flew in let me give you some info. The temperature of the canopy after landing was over 550 degrees Fahrenheit, which was too hot for maintenance personnel to approach right after landing. The forces on the plane in flight are so extreme that if the aircraft were to lose control (as happened on one occasion) the plane would literally disintegrate leaving nothing but the pilot and a few remaining pieces of the fuselage hurling through space. FYI the pilot did miraculously survive this experience - a very manly story in itself that I will have to share at another time. The forces this plane generates are also extreme. When flying at supersonic speeds, planes generate a shock wave known as a sonic boom. The sonic boom from the SR-71 flying at top speed is enough to seriously damage the structure of your house (not to mention shattering all your windows in the process).

To this day, the SR-71 is the fastest and highest flying manned aircraft ever built. So needless to say, this plane is pretty amazing. Sadly this aircraft is retired, and we don't get to see it fly any more, but we do have one on display at the museum at my work, so we can still bask in its glory.

Bronco

I just have to say that Bronco Mendenhall is a man's man. For those who do not know, the MWC conference media days are being held. Of course, everyone was talking about Utah leaving and about BYU regarding expansion. The nice thing about Bronco is that no one has to read between the lines:

"BYU isn't any other place; there are some conferences that quite frankly don't want a faith-based institution, regardless of performance, regardless of how many people are in the stands, regardless of how many games are won, regardless of the tradition, conferences look for alignment as well."

"We always have made it very clear we are very unique; we'll continue to play our way into any opportunities we can get, but really nothing has changed for BYU. We're very clear on who we are, what we represent and how we're going to play. We don't measure ourselves against anyone else, as much as others would like to measure Utah against BYU or vice versa; I won't acknowledge that, and I won't do that."

He further elaborates:

"We don't intend to change; my job is to continue to uphold the values, beliefs and ideals of the school and the institution, and to win football games to help others understand those (values, beliefs and ideals). And if someone wants that, then great--if they don't, then we'll stand alone or stand as part of the Mountain West Conference in the meantime."

Finally, here is one more statement regarding Utah leaving. I guess that a lot of people have been comparing Utah to BYU and wondering if BYU didn't measure up. Here's Bronco's thoughts:

"We'll continue to play our way into whatever opportunities we get, but nothing has changed for BYU. We've made it very clear who we are, what we represent and how we play and don't really measure ourselves against anyone else as much as everyone would like to measure University of Utah vs. BYU and vice versa."

It'll be interesting without Utah in the conference, but BYU will be BYU. Adding Boise State bolsters the conference. I wish that BYU would have been invited, but BYU is a unique institution and they, quite frankly, have not had the big stage success like Utah.

On another note stud line backer Uona Kaveinga may be able to play for BYU this fall. BYU has filed a petition for a waiver that is being granted players who chose to transfer from USC after NCAA punished the Trojan football program. Mendenhall says BYU should know about the waiver decision by the end of next week. He adds that while Kaveinga transferred to BYU before sanctions were announced, some of his reasons for transferring to BYU "fit in" with events that precipitated the sanctions.

Fall camp starts soon and it should be very interesting. The four most important players on Bronco's team are the middle linebacker, the free safety, the center and quarterback--all new comers this year. It would be really nice to have Uona to fill in. Also, Bronco mentioned that there is the possibility of having two quarterbacks when the season opens. Wouldn't that be interesting. It depends on if someone defines themself as the clear cut starter. I guess that we'll find out in a little more than a month.

Purpose

Dante, Rod, and I were talking about having a good blog to catch up on man stuff--you know shooting guns while BBQing, changing the oil and watching a sporting event all at the same time. Hence, Man Stuff. The idea is to share some manly BBQ techniques, some good bike routes, keep up to date on sports, and anything else manly. If you want to post something girly, go somewhere else. Feel free to start posting.