It's the Most Wonderful Time of the (Sports) Year!

     Tomorrow is the first day of October.  For the sports fan, that means one thing.........Sports Heaven!

     It doesn't matter what your sport is, there is something going on.  Seasons are wrapping up in some cases, and others are just getting under way in others.  For this month, they all seem to overlap and there is something for everybody.

      Do you like Major League Baseball? Good! Me too.  As we come up on the last few games of the season, there is some big time drama.  Who will win the wild cards in the AL?  Who will claim the title in the brutal AL East (Hint: It will not be my Red Sox.....I am petitioning to have this joke of a season erased from the record books).

      Throughout this month, we will get to see some great baseball as we get closer and closer to the world series.

     My prediction?  I'll take the Giants to beat the Yankees in a seven game thriller.

     How about College Football?  This is the time of year when things REALLY get interesting.  We are officially past the "let's see how good they are before we start talking" stage and into the "oh wow, we are really terrible/average/awesome this year!" portion of the season.  At this point, those who were overhyped in the preseason have gone by the wayside.  Over the next two months, we will witness some classics as teams try desperately to win their conference title.

     Locally, its going to be a fun week.  Utah will host the Trojans from USC on Thursday night.  I certainly don't expect the Utes to win, but I am hoping that they can come out and show some fight.

     The big match up this week will feature Utah State and BYU.  Five games in, and I am not sure what to make of either team.  I am looking forward to a close, low scoring game.

   There is a lot of football left to be played, so I won't make a prediction as to who will win.  I do have a good feeling about the Florida St. Seminoles, so we will see how that goes.

     I can't forget the Jazz!  I am intrigued by the makeup of this roster.  I feel that the team has depth at all positions.  But at the same time, this team is by no means a lock to get a playoff spot.  The competition will be fierce.

     How much has Gordon Hayward improved?  Is he finally ready to be the player we know he can be?  Will Alec Burks get more playing time this year?  As always, how do we find time for all of our worthy front court players?  Is Mo Williams an upgrade over Devin Harris?  How will we ever survive without CJ Miles? (sarcasm).

    I think the Jazz will take 6th place in the West this year.  I look forward to a fun season ahead!

    Is Hockey your favorite sport?  Well you are in luck!

    (this paragraph intentionally left blank)

     How about Real Salt Lake?  After winning the MLS cup in 2009, RSL has remained a force to be reckoned with in MLS play, but has yet to claim a second crown.  Could this be the year for RSL?  After a big win over the goats (Chivas USA) in LA last night, the team is playing with confidence.

     Getting past San Jose and Sporting KC will be difficult, but RSL has the talent, experience, and chemistry to do it if they can get/remain healthy.

     Whatever your favorite sport is, this is an exciting time of year.  If you are into all sports, then this is the most wonderful time of the (sports) year!

Some memories and thoughts on "The Battle of the Brothers"

    Tonight is the first time that Utah and Utah State have met on the gridiron since 2009.  I thought I'd give some of my favorite memories of this series.

1996:
This was right after my family moved to Utah from Texas.  It was the first game I watched as a real Ute fan (I had watched the 1994 Utah-CSU game in TX, and that remains one of my favorite all-time Ute moments).    Unfortunately, we lost, but that game is where I truly fell in love with Utah football.

2001:
2001 doesn't seem like that long ago, but it was back in the days when Utah football gave out tickets to anybody who would take them to fill the stadium.  As such, the kids in my ward (an LDS congregation) were all given tickets by the youth leaders.  We went and had a blast.  We sat in the North End Zone and I was in heaven, especially since we won.

2003:
My first game as a member of the MUSS (mighty utah student section).  My buddy and I were walking in and past a guy wearing a USU shirt.  My friend stopped, stared at him, started laughing hysterically, then kept walking.  I LOVED my time in the MUSS.

2007:
Fresh off our win over #11 UCLA, we had gone to UNLV and been blown out 27-0.  We were 1-3 on the season and things weren't looking good.  I came up from SUU where I was in school to go to this game with my Dad.  I remember converting a big 3rd down play and yelling "You just saved your job, Whittingham!"  A laughable thought now was amazingly spot on back then.  Strange, eh?

So that brings us to tonight.  Here are some of my thoughts:

-I LOVED Jake Murphy in last Thursday's game.  In that one game, he had more receptions and yards than in last year total.  However, Northern Colorado a) probably didn't game plan for him much and b) didn't have the personnel to contain him anyway.  Utah State will have both.  I'm anxious to see how Murphy does tonight.  Hopefully, he can show that he is a force to be reckoned with.

-I thought that John White would have a line more along the lines of 20 carries, 157 yards.  We also used him a lot more than I anticipated (he sat most of the fourth and still had 24 carries).  The backups had their moments, but they will need to get better.  John White is great, but we can't run him like we did last year.

-Keep your eyes on Seni Fauonuku, #98.  He is the backup to Star, but he can play either spot on the interior of the line.  He was extremely active during his limited reps last Thursday.  He has quite possibly the quickest jump off the snap on the team and remains active until the play is dead.  He is only about 6'0 but that can have its advantages.  The comparisons to Steve Fifita and Kenape Eliapo leap to mind.  Personally, I think he is going to be much closer to Fifita than Eliapo, which is a good thing.  Also, it helps ease my concerns over next year when Star is not here.  I'm not saying that there won't be a dropoff, but I think having Seni will be great for us.  Though I have no doubt that we will be endlessly bombarded with "The Utes are in trouble without Star!" from the media, but what else is new?

Prediction:

Utah 27-USU 17

The Best of the Rest

    The University of Utah football team has become the top dog in recent years up on the hill.  But that doesn't mean that the other sports are taking it easy.  Here is a rundown on how some other teams are doing this year.

    WOMENS SOCCER

    The Utes' are off to a great start to the season as they head into year 2 in the Pac-12.  So far, they have accumulated a 3-1-1 record.  Included in that record is a 1-0 victory over the Team Down South.  The victory was the first for the Utes over their rivals since 2007.

    Tomorrow at noon, the Utes face a tough test as the Texas Longhorns come into town.  First kick is set for noon at Ute field.  Next weekend, the team will head up to Boise to participate in the Boise St. Tournament.  The two games up there will be the final tuneup before the rigors of conference play start.

     WOMENS VOLLEYBALL

      The theme of this year's team has been a youth movement.  With only one senior, all conference candidate McKenzie Odale, the team is light on experience but high on talent.
 
     So far this season, the team is 6-2.  After a fast start, the team struggled a bit in last weekend's tournament at UC-Davis.

     The schedule does not get any easier as the team will be in Provo tonight to take on the Team Down South.  They will remain in Provo and take on Portland State and Bowling Green tomorrow.  It will be a grueling weekend, but they have the talent to win.

     Next weekend, they return to Crimson Court to host the Utah Classic.  On a personal note, if you have never been to Crimson Court, I STRONGLY recommend it.  GREAT environment.

     BASEBALL
 
      Utah has never been known as anything close to a "baseball school", but a couple of Utes have really done well this season.

     CJ Cron has been on a tear at High-A Inland Empire in "The Los Angeles Angels" (which can I remind you is "The the Angels Angels" when you translate it.).  He has far more RBIs than any other minor leaguer.  Look for CJ to start next season in Double-A and maybe even get some time.............at Triple-A Salt Lake!

    Less commonly known is former Ute pitcher Stephen Fife, who was drafted by my Boston Red Sox in 2008.  He has since been traded to the Dodgers and remains in their organization. He was able to get two starts at the Major League level this year, but has been in Triple-A with the Albuquerque Isotopes for most of the season.

     Last night, he recorded the win for the Isotopes as he went 7 innings, giving up three runs in the win over Omaha in the PCL playoffs.

    Check back in early next week as I update you on all that happened this weekend, and as always, GO UTES!

Digging Deeper-Utah versus Northern Colorado

    Thursday night marked the season opener for the Utah Utes.  With Northern Colorado coming into town, it was more of a chance for the Utes to try some things than to actually find out where they are as a team.  What can we learn from digging a little deeper? Let's find out!

    It's often said that a key to winning football games is to "keep the chains moving".  So it was with the Utes in this game.  Rather than big offensive plays that gained large chunks of yardage, the Utes seemed content (perhaps out of necessity?) to move the ball down the field methodically rather than with big hits. 

   One key to moving the chains is to convert on 3rd down.  In this particular game, the Utes were faced with 16 such opportunities.  They converted on nine of these, punted twice, went for it (and made it) on fourth down three times, tried a field goal, and simply let the clock expire on the last attempt.  

   Let's a look a little closer to see how they did and what we might be able to expect in coming games.....

   Of the 16 third downs faced by the Utes, eight of them could be considered "manageable" (4 yards to go or less).  Of these, they successfully picked up the first down seven times.  The only miscue was when Jordan Wynn missed a throw.  

   The team struggled a bit more on the longer downs, going 2-8.  Jake Murphy caught an 8 yard TD pass on 3rd and 8.  Kenneth Scott caught a pass from Travis Wilson is garbage time to pick up the other long conversion.  

    To me, its equally as telling to look at who was targeted on 3rd downs.  This gives us an idea of who has the trust of the QB and the offensive coordinator.  Not surprisingly, John White had the team lead for being targeted on 3rd down (tied).  He ran the ball twice, picking up the first down each time.  He also caught a six yard pass, which failed to move the chains.  Wolfman also picked up a fourth down conversion by scoring a five yard touchdown. 

   Tied with White, and this surprised me, was Jarrell Oliver.  He carried the ball 3 times on third down, and went 2/3.  That says a lot about what kind of trust Brian Johnson has in the freshman if his number is being called that many times in his first game.  

    Otherwise, Jake Murphy (2), Westlee Tonga, Dallin Rogers, Dave Rolf, Dres Anderson, Kenneth Scott, and Kelvin York were all targeted on third down.  

     Which players get the call on third down will be a fun thing to watch this year as we get into the meat of the schedule.  Having players who can make the big play when it matters most will be a big help to the Utes in their quest for a Pac-12 title.

     Other random notes:

     Where was VJ Fehoko?  I heard a LOT about him during camp and in the spring.  Didn't really hear his name called.  The stats show that he recorded one assisted tackle.  Seemed to me that Dave Fagergren was in on more of the action. He actually led the team in tackles.   

    I loved that we were getting our hands on the passes.  Six pass breakups in all.  Three were batted down at the line.  

    All in all, there were seven tackles for loss.  I have heard some who are upset that we only sacked the QB twice, and one of those was on a snap over the head.  Watching the tape, it looks to me like we were VERY vanilla on defense.  

    Next up: The Utah State Aggies! I am very excited for this matchup and look forward to a great game in one week.  

The Race-by DH Groberg

    I love to watch the Olympics.  I can watch just about all of the events (ok, well I struggle with Equestrian and that one where they ride their bikes as a team around and around and around.)

   Its fun to see people who have worked hard and reached the pinnacle of their sport.  Its amazing to see what people can train their bodies to do.  

    One of the things that it is hard to watch is when someone falls.  I feel so bad for them.  They worked so hard to get there and one little mistake ruins their chances to win.  

    As I see this, I am reminded of a poem that has inspired me and I think is a good metaphor for life.  Its attributed to DH Groberg..............

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
    my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
    excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
    or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
    and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
    to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
    was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
    the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
    and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.
As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
    Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
    which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
    and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
    his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.
He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
    “I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
    with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
    “If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
    but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
    “There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.”
    But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
    for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
    You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
    and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
    still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
    Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
    head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
    the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
    you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
    “To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
    the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
    And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
    another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

Ben There, Trolled That

     I boldly claimed that my run-in with Gordon Monson was the best troll fest I had ever started.  As I got to thinking about it, I realized that there are a few more that deserve serious consideration for that honor.

"Caught with........."

       During my time at SUU, one of my favorite things was to go to the basketball games.  SUU was half decent, we had the Goose Man (legendary, he deserves his own blog entry, ill get to him at some point), and we had a student section that sat right on the court.  Harassing the opposing team was no problem at the Centrum Arena.  

       About halfway through the second half of each game, a promotion called "Caught with a Coke!" was run.  Some PR lady would pick some random person in the audience who had a coke to be the winner.  The cheerleaders would hold up this big sign that said "Caught with a Coke!".  When there was a timeout, the PA guy would say "Turn your attention to Section F, Row 13 where Jeremy has been CAUGHT WITH A COKE!".  Good old Jeremy then got a free drink at the next game.  Some promotion eh?

       So my friends and I started trying to win this little contest.  We'd go by a drink before the game and we'd try to be over the top in showing off that we had them so we could get picked.  Didn't work.  

      One night, we are sitting in the convenience store right by the arena and we got an idea.  One of the guys said:

       "Why is it just 'Caught with a coke'?  Why isn't 'Caught with a..................(im scanning around the store looking for something obscure and I finished his thought)....can of creamy tomato soup?"

      And thus it was born.

     We bought a poster board that we knew was at least double the size of the little "caught with a coke" sign.  We make it look all fancy (ok, not really).  We had someone bring it in.  Then we waited.  

     With 12 minutes left in the game, we saw the cheerleaders get ready with their sign and we got ready with ours.  When there was a timeout, as soon as the PA guy started his little speech, we jumped right up and started yelling at the top of our lungs.  I had the soup can, and my friends on either side of me held up the sign. I think we had about 10 guys there in on it, so we attracted quite a bit of attention.

      Our timing was so perfect that the vast majority of the arena looked at us, and not at the Coke person.  Thus, the promotion was completely ruined that night.

     Here is what it looked like:

   
"Je-rry! Je-rry! Je-rry!"


        If you have never been to a baseball game at Spring Mobile Ballpark in SLC, I strongly recommend it. One of the neat features of the park is that there is grass all around behind the outfield to sit and enjoy the game.  This is my favorite place to watch a game from.

       On July 4, the team always has a fireworks show after the game.  In 2009, I took my girlfriend there.  I intended it to be a double date, but my buddies showed up alone.  Oh well.

       Anyway, and this will come as a surprise to exactly no one, but I like to heckle the opposing team at whatever sporting event I attend.  So, I made plans to get to this game very early so that we could get a spot right behind one of the outfielders, so we could heckle him.

       I discovered that the center fielder for the Tacoma Rainers was named Jerry Owens.  (For an in-depth analysis of this baseball legend, click here.)  Every time Tacoma came out into the field, we heckled this poor guy.  "You're the man, Jerry!", "How's Ichiro, Jerry?" "You were adopted Jerry!"  (I still cant figure out why that last one is insulting, theres nothing wrong with being adopted. but my buddy yelled it out!)

     Anyway, this spread like wildfire.  Soon, we had all the people around us heckling this guy.  It got to be a mob!  I felt bad when it got to the point that kids started hurling profanity in his direction.

     When the game was over, and Tacoma had won, Jerry came right over to us, pumped his fist a few times, and yelled "yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!" before pointing at us and running away.  Still, the fact that we led a mob that grew and grew throughout the game, was awesome.

     And by the way, despite this display of maturity, my girlfriend still agreed to marry me three months later!


"Hey!"


      My athletic career in high school was remarkably unremarkable.  And by that I mean non-existent.  Lots of reasons for that.  But I always loved to go to the games.  One night, we were playing Fremont in basketball.  Some buddies and I got together and decided to paint our faces to show school spirit.  While we are using the bathroom mirror to do that, some little kid walks up and asks for some face paint.

     Being the nice guy I am, I painted this kid's face all up  I put "VHS" on both of his cheeks and just did an outstanding job of making him look like a Viking.

     I forgot about it, I enjoyed the game.  We won.  As I'm walking out, joking around and talking with my buddies about the game, I feel this sharp, sharp pain in my leg.  I look down in time to see this kid launch another vicious kick that hits me right in the shin.

    "YOU PAINTED ME THE WRONG COLORS! GO FREMONT!"

    Whoops! My bad!

    All in a day's work for a troll like myself............
      

A Sweat Band and a Baseball Glove; The Journey to Find Out What it Means to be a Sports Fan

             If you follow me on twitter, you know I can be best described as all over the map.  Sometimes, I am dead serious as I share my feelings on a serious topic.  Other times, I couldn’t be less serious if I tried.  I’m usually trolling someone though, but you already knew that.

              Another thing that is all over the map is the way I “support” my teams.  For the Utes, I despise fair-weather, cynical fans.  For the Red Sox, I am a fair-weather, cynical fan.  For the Jazz I’m somewhere in between.  

              I got to thinking about why that is so.  I’m a Utes fan because my Dad played for the Runnin’ Utes and we just grew up cheering for them.  I’m a Red Sox fan because of the Carl Yastrzemski glove that my Dad got for his1 2th birthday in Bountiful, UT in 1968.  Dad cheers for the Sox, and he passed it on to me. 

              I have never been to Boston.  I don’t know if I’ll ever make it to Fenway.  I have always cheered for the Red Sox and always will because now, as I get into my late 20’s my Dad is still my hero and my role model.  

              The funniest thing about it is, through all of the frustrations that came as I grew up a Sox fan, I really have never had the chance to celebrate.  

              In 2004, when the Red Sox finally broke through and won the series, I was an LDS missionary in a tiny Midwestern town.  I didn’t hear about it until a week later and even then didn’t really think much of it because I was so deep into my time as a missionary.  In 2007, I was away at school.  I wanted so badly to be in my parents’ living room, to jump up and down and hug my Dad.  But there I sat watching it alone on a TV in Cedar City with people looking at me strangely as I pumped my fists.  

              Of course, Dad and I did get to watch Aaron Freaking Boone hit the Tim Wakefield  meatball out of the park in 2003.  Of course, the Sox have had one epic collapse after another whenever my Dad and I can watch games together.  So during the time of my Sox fanhood, I have enjoyed all of the bad and only a little of the good.  

              So, logically, why do I even bother now?  Why don’t I just write them off if I hate them so bad?  To me, my Sox fanhood is about the bond I share with my Dad.  It’s bigger than a trivial game.  I’m a Sox fan because it’s something that my Dad and I can laugh at together.  It reminds me that I’m so lucky to have such a Dad, and to not take him for granted.  

              In the meantime, I’ll probably troll them on twitter until the day that they block me!  

              What does it mean to be a fan anyway?  Is it being loyal to something your whole life? If that’s the case, I’m not a Jazz fan.  I was a die-hard Rockets fan until I was 10.  Tree Rawlins threw me his sweatbands at a game once!  To this day, Hakeem Olajuwon is my favorite player.  

              I think twitter has changed my view of what it means to be a fan.  

              For instance, I know that @davidwilbur and many others cheer for the Angels.  So, when I look at the box scores, I am always looking to see how the Angels are doing.   I always hope they are doing well, for the sake of my twitter pals.  

              I know that @clayjondavis and @utesfan89 are big Pirate fans.  So when I look at the scores, and see the Pirates doing well, I feel good for them.  

              Occasionally, I find someone like @crackalacka22, who cheers for the same teams I do, straight down the line.  I know I can tweet anything at him to get his take on it.  

              As another one, I know that @schumacherf2006 likes Formula 1 racing.  It was on TV the other day, and I gave it a try, simply because I knew that he was into it.  It was cool.  

              Heck, I am even starting to not be so bitter about the Yankees!  With people out there like @ChelleFC and @sublimed19, it’s so hard to remain bitter……thanks a lot guys! Why did you have to be so nice?!?!? 

              On Friday night, you may have noticed me talking about my little brother.  As I had the chance to kick back and chat with him about it, I had a wave of memories.  There we were as kids, pretending to be Ute football players kicking the football to each other.  He kicked the ball towards me and it sailed up and up and up and……………right into our sister’s window!  That cost a lot to replace…..  Or there were all the times we would make a snow man in the backyard, draw a big “Y” on it, line up next to each other in our three-point stances, and I’d yell “Hike!” and we’d run as fast as we could and hit that snow man with everything we had.  Then we would holler and yell like we had just won the Holy War!  

              Now he has worked hard to earn a walk-on spot at SUU.  And with him goes the spot as my favorite college football team.

              As I think about it, yeah, it’s possible to be a “fan” of multiple teams in sports because of the people you interact with.  I have a long-time friend named Brandon, aka @jazznmagic.  He invites me over every year for the first BYU game.  I always go, and I always want BYU to win because he and the other friends he invites have been a big part of my life, and I’m happy for them when their team wins.  

              I’m not trying to say I’m perfect (oh goodness no, not even close), but I just think that we get so bogged down with “I’m a fan of this team and to heck with everyone else”  It doesn’t have to be like that at all.  

              So what it does it mean to you to be a sports fan?  As you can tell here, I don’t have anything close to a finished product.  These are just some thoughts and anecdotes that have helped make me, me.  I’d love to get thoughts on what it means to you to be a sports fan.  Anything at all, it doesn’t have to be related to this, just tell me!