The Good Old Boys (BYU Fans)

Well, it has been a very long while since I have posted anything on this beast. I need to post my feelings about the new USU Football coaching staff, but that will have to wait a bit longer. This past Friday Amanda and I were able to hook up with a couple of my ex-mission companions/really good friends and their wives for dinner at the Red Robin in Layton. It was really great to catch up on life with Brad and Brick and to meet their wives. It had been almost four years since I had seen those guys. It was super cool to talk about the good old days back on the mish in Chile as well as remember so many of the friends we made down there. Emorie has recently developed this thing where she gets really bored and thus hard to handle at restaurants. Since she has started walking all over the world it just drives her nuts to have to sit still. It was still great for the old mission crew to get to meet her.

I would also like to make a qualifying statement about BYU fans at this time. Brad graduated from BYU, and Brick is attending the U of U, but grew up in BYU land thus they are both BYU fans. If you know me well you might commonly hear me comment on the annoying, prideful nature of BYU fans. Let me just say that there are at least a few, including these friends of mine, that do not fit that mold. They are quality fans that simply want to support their school, and although I will never find great joy in Cougar success, I can support where Brick and Brad are coming from. Here's to you guys and to all collegiate sports in the state of Utah. May next year be full of success across the board. But especially, Go State!!!

P.S. Brad loves to see the Aggies do well, and Brick is also a huge fan of the boys in Logan!!!

Way to represent guys!

Show Your True Blue!

I just found out that BYU fans are being encouraged to wear white to the game. For all you Aggie fans heading to the ESA, be sure to have on your true blue aparrel in order to drown out the white Cougars. Go State!!!

USU/BYU Preview

So here is my most non-bias take on Saturday's big game. I will go ahead and say that BYU's backcourt that includes Cummard and Tavernari is a little more talented and definetely more experienced than the Aggies backcourt including Myaer, and Quayle. However, it is also clear to me that USU's inside game is much more talented and experienced than BYU's. I firmly believe that a strong inside game will trump a strong outside game any day of the week. That being said, as long as Wilkinson and Wesli can hold their own inside I predict a 76-71 win for my very own true blue Aggies of Utah State. Me, Amanda and Emorie will be there along with various members of my and Amanda's family screaming our guts out for the Ags. I hope to see as many true blue as possible as we bring the Spectrum to Dave Rose (that is terrified of playing in Logan for good reason) and Salt Lake City. Go State!!!

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!!!