Day Before NBA Free Agency

College football news is pretty slow today so I am going to vent a little bit on the subject of Lebron James.


OMG how much coverage does this really need???!!!

If Lebrons head was not big enough, his ego must be off the charts now. Every sports pundit from all types of media outlets are driving me cRAZY with all of the Lebron speculation. He has to be sitting back with his peeps, entourage, friends and family laughing his ass off. I am sure he has made his decision by now but can sit back and watch all of the foolishness going on with the teams that are courting him. Hell even Obama and Oprah are making a pitch for him in Chicago, (that did not work out too well for the Olympics), Spike Lee, Trump, Chris Rock for the Knicks are you kidding me.

I don't recall anything like this for any player in any sport. And all of this for a guy who has not played in an NBA finals.
Now they tell you that if Lebron, Bosh, and Wade, end up playing together that will make them a title contender, I think not. It is still a team game and there is only one ball, (see Iverson and Carmelo), any team that considers Lebron should grab one other player that is thought to be a star, three won't work. The Lakers gave it a try with Gary Peyton and Karl Malone to play with Shaq and Kobe and that did not work out. The Celtics have Garnett, Peirce, and Allen, but Allen is not a superstar and Rondo showed flashes of brilliance but also a lack of an outside shot. Yet still they have won a championship and been back to the finals in the last three years by playing unselfish team basketball. that's how it is done.

The love fest for Lebron is understandable but one man does not guarantee you a championship and three or four superstars will not do it either, just ask Mike Brown the former coach of the Cavs. I don't hate Lebron, I think he is a hell of a talent and may end up being one of the top five players to ever play the game, but being a great player will only get you so far no matter how much talcum powder he throws in the air. The way he tore off his Cavs jersy after losing in the playoffs this year gave you a look at the real Lebron, a spoiled athlete pouting because he did not get his way.

I'll take a great team over a great player every day.

Sports Junkies And My Addictions

Summer.
This is a difficult time of the year for me because I can't get the sports fix I need. Sure major league baseball is in the middle of their endless summer run but since we don't have a major league team here in Utah I don't have the passion for a team like I do for the Jazz or Utes. Now don't get me wrong I still have a plethora of choices for my addictions, it's just not the same as from August training camp to NBA springtime playoffs.
I will have to admit the following:

Yes I did watch the USA soccer team in the World Cup. You knew immediately what was on, the steady hum or buzz or whatever sound those annoying uvuzelas make gave notice that you were watching something completely different. It was very difficult to stay focused on the match and I found myself clicking back and forth between the US Open at Pebble, or later, the College World Series featuring a TCU team that was enjoying a dream season. The channel stayed on the latter two mostly but I still managed to keep track of the soccer during commercials and what they call extra time, (I call nut cuttin time), for the US team.

USA lost to Ghana and is out, TCU lost to UCLA in a blow out to get to the finals of the CWS, and a Northern Irishman won the US Open. Not exactly thrilling stuff but something to feed the addiction.

There were a few significant events splashed in the middle of the last few weeks. Utah being invited and excepting to become a member of the PAC-10 and the NBA draft. Both of these have enormous implications and helped ease the pain of being in between seasons. (I love the Hayward pick for the Jazz).

My most guilty pleasure, which will be kept just between us, is NASCAR. I have a driver that I follow and a weekly wager that keeps my attention to the circuit. I don't understand why I watch it but believe it or not I am hooked, I actually enjoy it. I don't know what that says about me but I do know that ESPN  reports on it, has a half hour show dedicated to it, and broadcasts a large portion of the years races.

So shut up!

I have other friends who seem to have the same addictions as myself. The last twenty or so years we gathered at the local pub, watched and wagered on all types of sporting events, even to the point we would bet on who would win the girls pool tournament happening right at the bar. What fun was had by all.
As addicts we keep our spirits up by having bragging rights to rivals.  Some are life long fans and others are homers. The true lifelong fan has little use for the homers as they claim bragging rights to whatever team is playing well at the time. These people are very easy to spot because they have NO knowledge of their teams history, players, coaches, and usually the dedicated lifers know more about the homers supposed teams than they do.

So to my fellow addicts and sports sufferers keep your chin up, step off the ledge, NFL and college camps begin in five weeks and I will keep you posted on the happenings. In the meantime try a shot of Nascar, watch the MLB All Star game, knock down a few golf tournaments, keep an eye on the box scores so when September and October roll around baseball games will become interesting again.

PAC-10 Teams Getting Familiar With New Members

As with any new neighbors you want to see what they are all about. But when the new neighbors are the ones that have been bullying your kids for the past decade, your welcome may not be as cordial as one might expect. The Utes are moving and PAC-10 schools are taking notice, not that they are not aware of what Utah has accomplished over the past ten years, they just were not planning on having the team bus pulling onto their driveway, kicking their dog, flirting with their wife, and then taking their ball.
It makes it even worse that eventually they have to come over to Utah's house for a Saturday brunch that may or may not taste very well.
Utah is excited about the move.....the existing neighbors...not so much.
Now if they were splitting their subdivision with Texas and five other teams from the Big 12, they would have embraced the move, their value would have increased and they would have had bragging rights with the big boys of the SEC for having the biggest, um...conference, and TV revenue. But the potential PAC-16 bonanza was shot down when Texas got it's way and made more money staying put and pushing it's own neighbors around for the next however many years.

But to be sure the PAC-10 will put on a smiling face, but will always wonder why they had to have Utah move in, especially when they know for a fact that Utah's dog bites.

Check this out:
10 Things
Cal Bears thoughts

Conference Move Paying Off

Utah recruiting seems to be on cruise control. The Utes picked up two more commitments for 2011.http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700042457/Utah-Utes-football-gets-commitment-from-2-more-players.html This may seem like normal news as the Utes usually land a few players in the summer, but the timing shows that great recruiting and the opportunity to play in a BCS conference was enough to sway players that may have otherwise gone elsewhere. This can't be overstated as Utah faces stiffer competition after this season in the PAC-10 (12). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/06/18/utah-pac-10/

So far I have not seen any venom laced rants from MWC or PAC-10 sites about the Utes move or potential success in their new conference. But I did read a Cal blog that hooked up with JazzyUte from the Block U and they seemed very gracious and inquisitive. http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2010/6/23/1527789/q+a-with-new-pac12-sbn-site-blocku

Check these links out, all are good reads and gets me jacked up for the upcoming season.

Interesting Offseason To Say The Least

The announcement came and went and Utah fans had their moment to gloat, brag, and be their arrogant selves. This description includes myself. I have relatives and friends that are BYU fans and I was unforgiving in my "we are better than you" reveling. But a funny thing happened as I was tossing digs at every turn, the majority of BYU fans want to continue the rivalry. I don't get it.
If the position were reversed and BYU had joined an AQ conference I would not want anything to do with them. As far as I am concerned, that team jumped for the money, (which I don't blame them), but I would leave them for another quality AQ team and go about my business playing for a great season and potential BCS game.

Scheduling BYU does nothing for Utah other than continue the rivalry. The only team to benefit from the match up is BYU. Playing now a BCS opponent with a huge chip on their shoulder, feeling slighted they were not invited to an AQ conference, the Holy War sideshow, and an opportunity to show that they were the deserving team and not Utah.
Utah receives nothing in return. Tradition must go out the window here. I can't think of any reason to play BYU now. If you think that now we are a PAC-10 school automatically gives us a victory over MWC teams, you need to put the crack pipe down and step away from the table. BYU is going to do everything they can to ruin the Utes season, but this would happen in September, and that should be unacceptable. BYU feels like they have been disrespected and if you don't think that makes them a dangerous team feel free to ask Alabama about it.

Utah thought about themselves when they made the jump to the PAC-10, they need to continue to do so in scheduling teams that can't hurt them for reasons other than play on the field.

I told you that I was going to update you on my progress golfing. I played last Friday at Gladstan Golf Course in Payson, Utah. It was very disappointing and I shot a 101, +29. That sucked but I did strike the ball better. I played Sunday at Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course, (my favorite), and shot a 90, +18. Much better and I forgot to change something with my driver until the back nine which really pleased me. Back to the driving range to continue to improve.

When it's official

Just waiting to get official word that the Utes are accepting the invite to the PAC-10. I assume it is going to happen but just in case, I will wait for the official announcement.

Not a done deal....yet.

Here we go again. Big 12 decides to stay put with ten teams in the mix leaving the PAC-10 commish with a bit of egg on his face. You have got to hand it to Larry Scott for having the stones to try and lure the six teams to the conference but in the end I am sure it is a little bit of an embarrassment that he could not pull it off.
That said staying put as the Big 12, (well ten teams), keeps traditional rivalries in place and mellows some of the drastic power moves by other conferences that would have been forced to make hard choices to try and keep up.
That brings us to the latest scuttle butt keeping Twitter nuts and bloggers busy, Utah to the PAC-10 bringing the team total to 12 with Colorado coming into the fold last week. This would be a win win for Utah as I am sure they will jump at the opportunity. Salt Lake City is the 31st largest television market and brings two national powers in football and ladies gymnastics to the conference. It will also bring in a huge revenue spike from what they would have received from the MWC.
On the other hand it has been enjoyable watching the MWC as the perennial underdog conference that, on a regular basis, beats up on the big boys of the BCS. But I would still rather see Utah play conference games against UCLA, Arizona, Oregon than I would New Mexico, Wyoming, and UNLV.
Crazy days indeed!

Football Expansion

Well I did not see this coming. Very surprised that the PAC-10 is going after six teams out of the Big 12. I assumed they would be plucking two teams from whatever television market would pay them the most in revenue.

The Mountain West strategy appears to be paying off. It looks like there will be a fire sale after these conferences are pilfered. It looks more likely that Utah will stay put due to reports that the PAC-10 wants the majority of the Big 12.

I am hopeful that Utah stays in the MWC because I love the underdog mentality of the conference. The more AQ teams that get whacked by MWC teams just proves how asinine the BCS system is and should eventually give us AQ status at some time.


My golf swing dramatically improved at the range yesterday, which excited the hell out of me. So I went this morning and BOOM the groove is gone. Damn frustrating but I will push forward. I am going to start posting my scores as we get into summer. Hopefully the scores will be going down, kind of my own Haney Project without the Hank.

Changes

I still am not sure what this site is going to look like. It will be an evolution of sorts as I try and decide on look and content. I am posting hoping for feedback so feel free to comment on anything you like or hate.

I might even change the entire blog to incorporate more of daily life along with the sporting events that I am passionate about. Having "Utah Football 365" as my blog title seems to limit what information I want to share.
Hopefully in the next week or so I will finalize design and put more focus into content that I think you will like.

No Boise State

My first post was about Boise State being a offered membership into the Mountain West Conference. When I posted that blog I was 90% sure that the MWC would make that happen.

About an hour ago commisiomer Craig Thompson chose to stay pat with the conference in it's current form. Apparently all of the rumblings about the PAC-10 and Big 12 expanding or losing teams has the MWC put into a wait and see mode.

ESPN's Outside the Lines basically dumped on the possibilty of Utah and Colorado joining the PAC-10. They did not think that the television revenue would benefit the conference considering they will need to split that money with any new school added.

Pretty Damn Easy

So far so good on this blogging thing, considering I have never done it before IN MY LIFE! Blogger has been very easy to navigate and set up the layout for someone with zero experience in HTML code. I assume sometime down the road I will be getting a domain name and posting without (.blogspot) tagged to the URL. But for now I am pleased with the way things look.

My good buddy Wendall thinks that I should go with a black background and white text, but to me it seems hard to read. I agree with him that it looks better black but I can't decide. I will do one post with black and upload a pic in white and let you guys decide. Please leave a comment for your which look is easier to read, or you would rather look at.

It is all about content and ease of navigating the page so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Former Utes in the NFL

Below is a list of current Utes that are playing or have been drafted in the NFL. During the next few weeks I will spotlight each of the players and how their careers are going. There are a few players not listed that were recently released and are not currently listed on a roster.







Jordan Gross

Jonathan Fanene - Bengals

Jordan Gross - Panthers
Ma'ake Kemoeatu - Redskins
Chris Kemoeatu - Steelers
Sione Pouha - Jets
Barry Sims - 49ers
Alex Smith - 49ers
Paul Soliai - Dolphins
Eric Weddle - Chargers
Sean Smith - Dolphins
Paul Kruger - Ravens
Koa Misi - Dolphins
Robert Johnson - Titans
David Reed - Ravens
RJ Stanford - Panthers
Stephenson Sylvester - Bears
Zane Beadles - Broncos

Brooklyn Decker on The Dan Patrick Show. Must see TV

Brooklyn Decker, the new cover model for Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Edition, was at the Dan Patrick studio to put her poster up on the "Wall of Morale". Check it out.
ps: Brooklyn is married to tennis star Andy Roddick.

They Say College Football Begins In June. So lets go!

It did not take long after June 1 for the season to start shaking up. The board of directors from the Mountain West Conference are meeting in Jacskon Hole, Wyoming from June 6-8.


The major buzz coming from the meetings is the possibilty of MWC extending an invitation to Boise State University to join the conference. With conference alignment being a hot topic since February when the Pac-10 commish Larry Scott mentioned potential expansion, college football experts went absolutely insane with all types of scenarios of conference expansion and who it may effect.

There is a certain amount of irony in the fact that "if" Boise State is offered and accepts the invitation to become the 10th member of the MWC. It will set off rash of innuendos and scenarios from the same BCS conferences that keep the MWC from competing on their level for a true national title. Just the fact that the MWC could initiate one of the biggest conference shake ups in college football history, when those same conferences consider them inferior is pretty funny.

Idaho athletic director Ron Spear jumped into the speculation in his monthly blog. "I am predicting that June 7th will be the day that the first shoe drops on conference alignment,".
Sounds like a busy few weeks in store for the conference and the effect that it will have on Utah and the rest of the conference teams is a story that you should absolutely pay attention to.