Random Thoughts from the Past Week

University of Utah Football

We are into week 3 of the football season and the boys are off to another solid start. Coming off a blowout with a backup QB against UNLV, Utah is on it's way to another solid season. This team reminds me a lot of the 2008 team that went 13-0. Solid running game, solid offensive and defensive lines, and a defense that will flat out lay the wood to you. If you need any indication on how hard this defense hits, please see Brian Blechen's hit on UNLV's Mark Barefield. If I would have taken that hit I would have had urine and poop running down my leg. A lot of people doubted the linebackers for this team but I have been extremely impressed. They're fast, athletic, and Chaz Walker undoubtedly reminds me of Chaz Michael Michaels from Blades of Glory, although I don't know if he's an ice devouring sex tornado. Note: Blades of Glory in my book just about beat out Anchorman as Will Ferrell's best movie. Jordan Wynn at times reminds me of a cool collected quarterback and other times he reminds me of Jake Plummer, the old mountain man gunslinger who was best known for throwing off his back foot. Two things the season will rest on : Jordan Wynn's ability to protect the football and the secondary getting settled in. Do those two things and we may be packing our bags to another solid bowl game this year. That and we need to beat TCU - - how can I forget that damn horned frogs from down south?

BYU Football - Independence & Two Quarterback System

I guess I'm still having a hard time understanding why Bronco Mendenhall went with a two quarterback system to start the year. It's like choosing between Khloe or Kim Kardashian, hello, you'll take Kim any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Let me ask you this, you are breaking in a whole new offensive side of the ball besides a few wide receivers, why not start with a fresh QB? Especially a 5-star athlete and not a castoff from Utah State. Take it easy Aggie fans, I cheer for your football program, but let's be realistic, the only thing to cheer for up north is your cheese, and get rid of that stupid cult chant you do during the basketball games. If I'm Bronco, I come out tomorrow and say Jake Heaps is my guy for the rest of the year. Let the kid learn the hard way, look what happened to Jordan Wynn. During the TCU game he got beat up more times than Tiger Woods did with a 3 iron from his wife. Note: I glanced at the People Magazine article that his wife gave, in which she claims that she never harmed Tiger. OK, so why does Tiger take off at 2 a.m. unless he is being assaulted? That's like saying I've never ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, which is the greatest restaurant on the face of the earth. BYU fans should call for Heaps, he should be the man for the rest of the year.

I'm still trying to understand why they are going independent. 3 teams in NCAA athletics are independent, what does that tell you about the success rate? They aren't getting the same love that Notre Dame is getting, which Notre Dame's last good season was 2005 when they were getting blown out by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. I understand they want to launch their own broadcasting network and I understand they signed the deal with ESPN and it's more money. But it won't equate to more wins, unless they take the Hawaii route and then they will be laughed right off of the national scene. BYU pulled the classic "I'm taking my ball and going home, nobody wants to play with me." Well, enjoy mediocrity for the next 10 years, you'll look back on this with regret.

"Chris, why do you golf so much?"

I guess the real question is, why the hell does anyone care? No but realistically, the golf course is a great place to get away. It's the one place where you don't need to worry about anything else but hitting your next shot or for me when to drop the next expletive. There is nothing better than getting up at 7 a.m. and meeting friends at Davis Golf Course to play just right as the sun comes up. Hardly anyone is out, you can hit multiple balls, and you can cuss as loud as you want. Between shots you talk about Utah football, how much work blows chunks, and how Lady Gaga has emerged as the greatest artist to walk the face of the earth. OK, that last part was all my doing, but when one guy says Panic at the Disco (Ike) is the best band, and the other guy just listens to AM radio (Rand), I don't have much to argue with. I enjoy the game, I'm not great at it, but it's a game you can enjoy without being a scratch golfer.

9/11/2001 - 9 Years Later

Boy I can't believe it's been nine years since the September 11th attacks. I remember walking into the old field house at Davis to put my football gear away for practice that day. Brody Van Brocklin came in and told me that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. I honestly thought it was an accident. Went to my first class and realized that we were under attack when we saw the next plane crash into the second tower. Words can't describe what must have been going through the minds of the passengers on those planes. Words can't describe what people were thinking seeing a plane flying into their work building. Horrific scenes of people jumping out of the towers because it was so unbearably hot, people running from the towers collapsing, and watching people post pictures at a command center hoping their loved ones would be found or identified. I remember hearing Afghanistan and the name Osama Bin Laden and my reaction was "load up the Anola Gay with Little Boy and drop the a-bomb on them." I remember how angry I was and I realize how much I appreciate those who keep my family safe every night fighting overseas. Words can't express what our soldiers should mean to us, everyday we hear about a car bombing, an ambush, or a suicide bomber going off overseas. Paul Butterworth, Tyler Burgin, Dustin Durrant, and the rest of you, thank you for serving. This country is safer because of you. And thank you to the rest of our men and women serving all over the world.

UNITED WE STAND