The So-Called Holy War

I seriously dislike University of Utah Athletics, but I despise BYU. 24-21 for the guys in red. Go Utes, kill the Cougs! But most of all, Go State!!!

Guy is Gone

Well, after a short absense from the blogging world I am back. This week has been quite full of end of the semester fun so I appologize for my delayed reaction to the Brent Guy firing. I assure that it did not take me long to form an opinion, it just took a while to get around to posting that opinion.
The firing of head coach Brent Guy was unfortunate, but necessary. Allow me to explain. If I had things my way I would have liked to keep Coach Guy for the remaining year on his contract. At the end of next year we could re-evaluate his success or lack thereof and decide whether to offer him a contract extension or let him go. This however was not a viable option if the team wished to stay competitive in recruting. In the world of college football one of the most crucial aspects is that of recruiting. If a team fails to recruit good players it will obviously fail on the field. In order to recruit well the recruiter must be able to boast a quality coach at his particular school. If you are trying to convince an incoming player that a coach, not worthy of a contract extension, that may or may not be around when you come to play next year is a quality coach, you will be totally out of luck. All that said, keeping Guy around without giving him and extension was not an option. You either have to extend him or fire him in order to stay competitive in recruiting.
Over Coach Guy's 4 years with the Aggies he averaged a mere two wins a season. Granted, Guy took over a team that was probably in the worst position it had ever been in at Utah State after various failed seasons as independent, and a few in the Sun Belt. The team was basically in utter ruin. Not to mention Guy was faced with the most difficult schedule an Aggie coach has ever had to deal with. However, even with all that being true you have to win games to be succesful in division 1 college football. To offer a contract extension to a guy that averaged 2 wins over four seasons sends a message to your fans and boosters that you are perfectly fine with losing. Not a good thing! You simply cannot send that message as an athletic administration.
With all that mumbo jumbo said I hope to have backed up my point that the firing was unfortunate yet necessary. I believe that no matter who coaches the team next year whether it be Coach Guy, John L. Smith, Mike Shanahan, Joe Shmoe off the street, or even myself, the Aggie football team will have one of its most successful seasons in a long time. I predict they will go even on wins and losses, or maybe, I don't know if I dare say it, have the first winning season in over 10 years and go to a bowl game. Coach Guy was not succesful in the win/loss column which ended in his firing, but I truly believe that he has built what will be a pretty successful team come next season. I feel Guy's pain, but know that he understands as I do that in the cuthroat world of college football winning is everything. When you lose consistently you get canned, it is just that simple. No matter who takes over Aggie Football team next season I certainly wish them the best of luck, and will lend them all the game day yelling support I can muster. I will reveal my picks for the next coach shortly. Until then I simply say, Go State!!!

BBall Preview

After seeing the 08-09 Aggie Basketball squad play 2 exhibition games and the first regular season I would say things look promising. The team once again has a lot of new faces that look to have talent, but are also still trying to figure out Coach Stew's system. The three returning starters Gary Wilkinson, Tai Wesley, and Tyler Newbold all look good. I am especially excited about Wesley and G-Will inside. Look for those two inside guys to anchor the Ags througout the entire season. Redshirt Freshman Jaxon Myaer looks very confident for a freshman point guard. He is still young, but should be a solid point that will also shoot well from outside as the season carries on. Backup point guard Jared Quayle from Brigham City is very talented, but still seems pretty confused in the new system. He is transitioning from 2 guard at Western Wyoming CC where he was extremely successful. He along with JC transfer Richard Sirju should score a lot of points. Pooh Williams who along with Newbold is a great perimiter defender should be scoring a lot more points this year as his playing time increases. Also, look for the very athletic Modou Niang to get better and better as well as Matt Formisano. Neither of these guys saw much playing time as freshman, but should see a fair amount of minutes off the bench. Modou is very exciting to watch on the defensive end. He just needs to improve offensively and be a little more assertive. Formisano is a solid guy that fulfills his role as a backup very well. JC transfer Stavon Williams is supposed to be a great shooter and will really help out a lot after he gets back from an injury to his hand. Basically Stew has done it again. The returning guys look solid and I feel very good about our recruits. It is great to also see some amazing young talent on the team. For now they look quite sluggish as many are still trying to learn and impliment the system, but as the Ags continue to dominate inside and the guard play improves look to see the boys in true blue to win a lot of games. The Ags will easily finish 2nd and very possibly 1st in WAC regular season. I also feel pretty good about a WAC Tournament title, but with the tourney at regular season favorite Nevada it will be tough. Can I just say also that the WAC really needs to get a neutral site for the conference tournament. That is just rediculous! It sure would be great to beat Nevada in Reno come March. That is certainly a good possibility. No matter what happens I will be behind my Aggies all the way. Go State!!!

La. Tech Reaction

Well, it was just the same old Aggies on Saturday afternoon. My team has once again successfully fought hard and played well enough, but with just enough key mistakes and bad luck to barely lose the game. After going up by 3 in the 4th quarter the defense held the buldogs to be called for pass interference on the pass break-up that would have given the Aggies the ball back with the lead. My old friend Al Lewis was convinced it was a horrible call, and that other more blatant pass interference calls were missed that would have helped the Ags were not called. I did not see the game live and thus can only say that the Aggies did not make the plays they needed to in order to win the game. The refs may have been as horrible as Al said, but those things have to be overcome. The 38-45 loss might be comforting to some as La. Tech is a decent team, but a loss is still a loss. I am really torn as to whether the team should let Guy finish his contract next year or just can him now. It is just so frustrating to know the team is much better, but not to see that show up in the win column. Either way I will continue to support my team in every way I know possible and hope things get better soon. Go State!!!

La. Tech Prediction

Had you of asked me before Saturday I probably would have said 28-24 Utah State. However, on Saturday the Aggies got blasted by Boise 49-14 (no big surprise), and La. Tech took care of San Jose St. 21-0 (big surprise). La. Tech has had great games and horrible games this year, kind of like my Aggies. Only the Ags have had a lot less great games. My prediction is that the great La. Tech team will show up as they are pretty confident and one game away from bowl eligibility. I also predict that the Aggies will once again show up with their lame road team. That said I sadly predict a 31-17 win for Louisiana tech. Either way I still say, Go State!!!

Support YOUR School

Today while I was driving the bus I was confronted by one of my biggest pet peves. I noticed one of the guys that got on my bus was wearing a Boise St. game day shirt. I was annoyed, but shrugged it off. He then commenced to brag to those around him all about how he was at the football game in Boise this week to see the Aggies get killed. Okay, now my blood is starting to boil. I decided that as an Aggie Shuttle driver it was not the best time to rant so I simply smiled and said "Go Aggies!" as he stepped off the bus. I think he got my point. In case you haven't, the point is that if you are a lover of BYU, Utah, Boise St, or any other rival of the Aggies and you chose to attend Utah State, get over it! You my friend are a Utah State Aggie. If you happen to have some prior allegiance to an inferior school that may not have accepted you, at least show a little decency to the school you are attending by wearing nothing other than Aggie blue while on campus. Go State!!!

Erase the Hate

Although the presidential election was a very big deal this year, I feel that the constitutional ban on gay marriage in California has been even bigger and more heated. With the ban passing by a slim margin I have seen the controversy and bad feelings only escalate. Now, I wish to comment on the recent blame and anger that has been focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For the first time that I can remember the church came out and made a political statement in favor of the ban on gay marriage in California. I might also point out that the church does not discriminate in any way against homosexuals. They simply feel that marriage should be defined as a union between man and woman. The ban also received great support from the Catholic Church and various other Evangelical faiths. Each of these churchs, along with those California residents that voted for the ban were simply exercising their right to free speech and voting as guaranteed by the constitution. Although I certainly understand why many are upset with the ban, and it is their contitutional right to express those feelings, I do not feel it is fair to simply target the LDS Church for their aforemetioned support of the ban on gay marriage. The people of California voted, and their voice was heard. These churchs merely voiced their opinion and allowed the people to vote the way they felt was right. You are allowed to be upset, but to target and blame one of the many institutions in favor of the ban is simply not fair. Let's erase the hate and start healing some of the pain that many have felt in association with the vote in California.

Keep or Kick

Yes my friends I have now become an official member of the blogging world. For the last couple years I have been very involved with various sports and political blogs and finally decided it was time to start my own. My first post will re-cap the Aggie Football season to this point and consider whether to keep or kick out Coach Guy. After a disappointing season opening loss 27-17 loss to UNLV it looked to much of the same from my team. This was followed up by a 66-24 loss to #19 Oregon. It was nice to see the offense put up some points on a solid team, but still left much to be desired. This small moral victory was followed by one of the most embarassing home openers in the history of Aggie Football; a 58-10 loss to then #22, now #9 Utah. Needless to say, thinks were looking quite bleak. Then finally a ray of hope as the men in navy blue romped on the Idaho Vandals winning 42-17 thanks mainly in part to the dominating play by new starting QB Diondre Borel. At this point in the season it was quite obvious the Ags could not compete against the nation's top 25, but with a romp on WAC foe Idaho you felt there might be a few more wins to be had in conference play. The recent win was followed up by a somewhat impressive 34-14 loss to #8 BYU at home. I say somewhat impressive due to the fact that BYU had shutout their previous 3 opponents. But a loss is still a loss my friends. At this point in the season with the Ags 1-0 in WAC play headed to San Jose St., also 1-0 in the WAC, I was feeling pretty good. Without going into much detail, the next two games on the road were straight up ugly! Utah State layed to seiously huge eggs losing 30-7 at San Jose, CA and 44-17 at Reno, NV. Now we arrive at the ex-top 25 time Fresno St.; Homecoming 2008. After fighting hard all game and being down 24-13 in the fourth the Ags put together an amazing comeback scoring a quick touchdown and only allowing a field goal by Fresno to cut the lead to 27-20. With just over 2 minutes remaining Diondre Borel drove his team down the field to end up scoring on a 4th and goal 1 yard run with 39 seconds remaining. The extra point by Caldwell was money; 28-27 Aggies with 37 seconds left! On the insuing Fresno drive they made it down to their own 45 yard line setting up a 58 yard field goal with 2 seconds left. Now keep in mind, Fresno's place kicker had already missed on field goal on the night as well as 2 that would have put them over Wisconson earlier in the year and 3 that could have won the game over Hawaii. Us Aggies were feeling pretty good. After a timeout by Coach Guy to ice the Freshman kicker he lined up, gave the ball a boot, and much to the horror and dismay of the Aggie nation the kick was perfect, right down the middle, with plenty of leg. I, along with every other Aggie in the stadium, could not believe it! I have never felt that sick after a football game in my life, and I have seen some pretty bad ones. Fresno St. 30 Utah State 28. Ouch! The next week, just when I was about to give up all hope, I was pleasantly surprised to see us trounce on the reining WAC Champion Hawaii Warriors 30-14. Great win due in large part once again to the amazing ability of QB Diondre Borel. The latest and greatest had the Aggies again on the losing end to an amazing #9 Boise St. squad 49-14. Thrice the Aggies reached close to the Bronco 35 yard line only to give the ball away to a fumble or interception by QB Sean Setzer. Again the Ags showed they could play great team better than most had all season, but a loss is a loss. I am sick of losing gracefully! The Aggies end the season with a game at La. Tech followed by a bye, and a home game against New Mexico St. Both of these games a very winnable and will really tell the tale as to whether my team is making much needed progress. Now the big question, to keep or kick off Coach Guy at the end of the year. 4 wins would be the most the Aggies have had in many years, but can we really be content with winning only one more game each year? On the other side, what great coach wants to come to a struggling Utah State? Many have said that the ex Aggie John L. Smith is interested. He was successful in Logan, but then was mediocre at both Lousiville or Michigan St. How much good could he really do, and will the Aggies win automatically when they have to impliment a whole new system. There is also the issue of money to consider. If the Ags fire coach Guy they will have to still pay out his remaining $230,000 or so for next year. What to do, what to do? I am inclined to let Guy go one more year, but will it be much of the same. Beating a few mediocre teams, and losing restpectably to the big schools? Only time will tell, but if our coach can finish the year with two more wins I say give him one more year to make his case. I will let each of you make your own call in the end. And as always, Go State!!!