Utah Sports Cast

Listen Here! We tried to divide our time between the Utah Jazz and College Basketball in this week’s podcast, but we ended up talking about all sorts of things, including European soccer, small college mascots, and Zach’s cell phone number. It was a bit more unusual than usual, if that makes any sense. As a bonus, if you have ever wanted to be a part of the Utah SportsCast, you will want to listen to this episode - please download us or go to iTunes and subscribe! Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Sam Burgess 2. Paul Millsap 1. Matt Harpring We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Listen Here! This week in the podcast we address the recent four game home winning streak by the Utah Jazz, and debate whether that is sufficient to consider the crisis averted (hint: it’s not – not yet, at least). We also induct The Guy Who Looks like Demi Moore’s Husband into the Top 3 for the first time, and go through the local college hoops scene. All this among much, much more, as always. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Kyle Korver 2. Ashley Postell 1. Deron Williams We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Listen Here! Christmas Season Status as been officially changed from “Right Around the Corner” to “Practically Here” at the Utah SportsCast, so we figured it was about time to do a little shopping for some of our favorite local sports figures. We made a list of everyone we talked about this year, and what we thought they would either like or need. Some of the gifts were pretty easy to find (a box of tissues for Larry H. Miller, for example, or an English-Portuguese dictionary for Freddy Adu), but the others proved a bit more challenging. Here are some of the highlights: We started our holiday gift giving with the Utah Jazz, and Jerry Sloan was first. For Christmas he will receive Long Overdue Kudos, for producing one of the most remarkable careers a head coach has ever had in the NBA. There is a curious reluctance among basketball insiders to give Coach Sloan credit for his body of work. It is often mentioned that he has never won an NBA Championship as a head coach, although plenty of others have won awards like Coach of the Year without the hardware. When USA Basketball used to change head coaches in the 20th Century, it was always the previous team’s first assistant that was given a chance at the helm. Remember who had come up through that system and was due to coach the national team when they decided to disregard the long-standing accolade and just give it to Mike Krzyzewski? Does anyone believe USA Basketball would have made such a drastic change if the next coach had been Phil Jackson or Pat Riley, instead of Jerry Sloan? Incidentally, how many NBA Championships has Coach K won as a head coach? A little respect from the national media will do a lot of good for Coach Sloan this year. Next on the list is Andrei Kirilenko, and we are giving him a Reliable Jumpshot for Christmas (or whatever they celebrate in Russia). This is basically the only thing AK really needs as a basketball player, as his lessons with Jeff Hornacek do not seem to have borne fruit yet. We want to give him a little jumpstart, and turn Kirilenko into that third offensive option the Jazz desperately need. For Matt Harpring we would like to offer him a free Turning Back of the Clock. Of all the problems Harpring has dealt with this year, the most pressing seems to be the slow, steady creep of his odometer. Perhaps an extra year or two (kind of similar to what the NCAA does for medically ineligible athletes) would heal a lot of persistent pains and rejuvenate the hardest working man on the team. Paul Millsap is next, and for him we have picked Four More Inches of Height. Millsap is a talented, strong, and determined player who can be very good for an NBA team, preferably the Jazz. However, being just a little bit taller would take him to another level. Do you think he comes up with some amazing rebounds and unbelievable blocks now? Wait until he is as tall as Dwight Howard. We almost gave him a Great Nickname as his Christmas gift, but we thought he could make good use of the height upgrade now, and save that for another year. For the BYU Football team we began with Bronco Mendenhall. This was an obvious choice, and something we know he really wants. We would like to give Coach Mendenhall A Few More Non-Conference Wins as his Christmas gift. The conference hasn’t been a problem for the last few years, and he seems to have the Utah rivalry figured out. So the only thing he really needs to take this program to another level is a few more wins in the non-conference schedule. Of course, there will be a whole new set of arguments from the national BCS apologists when the Cougars go 12-0 next year, but at least BYU will be a part of the conversation. We think Max Hall will make good use of the Quicker Decision Making Ability we are giving him. Hopefully it will keep him from being dismembered in the pocket as often as he has in the past twelve games. In addition to concern for his personal welfare, he should also be able to find smaller passing seams and hit mo

Listen Here! As promised (or threatened, depending on how you look at it), an open letter to the Brigham Young University football team: Dear Cougar players, coaches, and administrators, First and foremost: congratulations Champs! That’s two in a row, after not having won one for a few years. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Fans in other conferences would have liked to see their team chase bigger dreams after a good season, but you guys have your priorities in order. Besides, that makes two straight undefeated seasons in your conference, which is pretty impressive, and looks good on a resume. Of course, it would be nice if you could win a few of the higher-profile non-conference games, and get a shot at the real prizes, but don’t worry too much about it. Besides, the Las Vegas Bowl loves having you, right? It’s the closest bowl to Provo (if I’m reading my map correctly), so everyone can come down and see it. Besides, nobody wants to travel during the holidays, even if it is New Orleans, Pasadena, Phoenix, or Miami. Get a nice, early bowl game and be home in time for Christmas. That’s wise of you. I should start by thanking Coach Bronco Mendenhall and his excellent program for putting things together. There is a coaching sweet spot where at the end of the year your fans are somewhere between Overjoyed About A Fantastic Season and Wish They Had Done Just A Little Better. Coach Mendenhall has found that hard-to-reach place for two seasons running, and good for him. That spells “job security” and “managing expectations,” right? Hey, the flippin’ stadium is named after the last coach who was consistently good, and Bronco has already learned the scowling reticence bit. A win or two against some of those mediocre Pac-10 and C-USA teams would probably help the legacy, though. As a fan, it was nice to see Bryan Kehl have a good senior year. He will certainly go down as one of the most athletic defenders to ever strap it up for BYU, and could almost have played any position on the field. In fact, a few times I thought it was too bad he wasn’t playing every position, particularly when Tulsa’s receivers were 15 yards behind his buddies in the defensive secondary. Oh well, like the old saying goes, you can’t win them all. Besides, BYU’s stars have always been on the other side of the ball. Good luck in the future, Bryan, we hope to see you in the NFL. We are really, really, REALLY going to miss you next year, when the fans will be hoping that opposing teams elect to neither run nor pass against the defense. Hey, speaking of offensive stars, how about that Max Hall kid, huh? It isn’t easy to step into the Legendary BYU Quarterback position, and he did it pretty well, for an underclassman. Naysayers and doubters thought he wouldn’t be able to handle it, but he looked comfortable in the pocket. Sure, that comfort led to a few rip-roarin’ hits and ugly interceptions by some lucky defenders, but he’s young (that’s “young” as in age, and not a comparison to “Steve Young”). Besides, if they ever hold an “NCAA Quarterback Who Looks the Most Like Comedian Will Farrell” contest, he has to be a finalist, at the very least. The real revelation of the season was Harvey Unga, who even set freshman team rushing records. We were every bit as excited about him this year as we were last year when it was Fui Vakapuna making the headlines. Now, Fui’s numbers may have dropped off a bit in 2007, but that’s okay, he’s still an exciting player, right? I would like to offer a word of advice to young Harvey, though. You may want to avoid two things in the off-season: (1) Your Sofa, and (2) Buffets. Given your 1,000+ yards and solid freshman season, we will expect nothing less than the Greatest Running Back to Ever Wear Blue out of you. We want you to help erase the painful memories of Luke Staley’s Senior Season That Never Was. So, you know… no pressure and good luck with that. Well, that’s about it. We sure hope you figure out something for that missing Nevada game

Listen Here! Hello Utah SportsFans and thank you for listening and reading. I would like to apologize for what will be a very brief blog entry this week. Not that anyone besides me reads them (well, Zach does), but I still wish I had time enough to offer something better. Next week we will return to regular posting with an open letter to the Brigham Young University football team. Until then, please enjoy our podcast efforts. As always, there is plenty to (hopefully), including a big win for the Utah Jazz, BYU’s season ending win, and even some local hockey. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: T-3. Harvey Unga T-3. Jan Jorgensen 2. Andrei Kirilenko 1. Carlos Boozer We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Listen Here! The much-anticipated Rivalry Week is finally here. Utah’s next scheduled game is in Provo, Utah against BYU, and vice-versa. Within a week the hype will be silenced, the preparation will be over, the plays will be run, the dust will have settled, and one team will stand triumphant over the other. I could not be more excited. Both Utah and BYU stretched their winning streaks to seven games last week, with significant wins over conference teams. Utah played at home, fending off a motivated New Mexico team with defense and luck. The Lobos had looked bad-to-shaky in past weeks, and were still fighting for the postseason. Utah was still swaggering after a dominating win over Wyoming, and with BYU looming on the horizon, was in danger of a potential let-down game. As has been the case in the past few weeks, Utah’s defense was the best squad on the field for either team. To be fair, New Mexico also has a good defense, and the offenses for both teams have been somewhat hit-or-miss this season, but it was the consistent play on defense that secured the game for the home team. Utah benefited from a few special teams mistakes by the Lobos, notably fumbled punts, and also managed a defensive touchdown as Koa Misi returned a fumble toward the end of the fourth quarter. The final score was 28-10, which means Utah’s offense was only responsible for three touchdowns. All things considered, that was probably not the best way to prepare for your in-state rivals. Meanwhile, BYU was in Laramie to take care of a fading Wyoming Cowboys team who had lost two of their last three, including the surreal 0-50 drubbing against Utah. The Cougars had not looked their best in past weeks, with offensive question marks and a shaky defensive secondary, but seemed to right the ship against the otherwise hapless Cowboys. Max Hall was shaken up by another big hit (note to BYU’s coaches: that’s something you may want to work on), but returned to close out the game and key a 35-10 victory. For the record, Wyoming has now been outscored 85-10 in two weeks, and lost three of their last four. In terms of offense, BYU looks solid. Hall still makes a few bad decisions and throws a few bad passes per game, but he looks solid going into the big game. The excellent backfield pieces of Harvey Unga, Manase Tonga, Joe Semanoff, and Fui Vakapuna anchor a formidable running attack, as well as contributing to a good overall passing game. The defense has played well, and it’s difficult to argue with allowing only 10 points on the road, but there are some holes in the secondary. Our best guess is that the game will be won between Utah’s vaunted defense and BYU’s potent offense. Even more specifically, it will come down to Utah’s quick defensive line against BYU’s solid offensive line. However, we made almost those same exact predictions last year, and after a crazy, exciting game, realized we were simplifying things a bit too much. So our best guess is probably that it’s anyone’s game. Will Kyle Wittingham’s big-game passion trump the clinical detachment of Bronco Mendenhall? Can Utah’s underrated running game evade the overexposed linebacking corps of BYU? Is Utah’s brave, powerful defense up to the challenge of BYU’s self-important, overrated offense? Am I allowing my cheering interest to compromise any objectiveness I may have had? The answer is yes to all of those questions. [Note: I am a fan of Cougar Football as well, but during rivalry games I have to suspend my usual trying-to-sit-on-the-fence trick. After this week I will be back to root for the Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl.] I typically write that we have much more in the podcast, but in fairness, there isn’t much. We are all about the rivalry this week, although we do mention some of the other noteworthy items, including Utah State’s first win of the season (as reflected in our Top 3, below). Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: T-2. Brian Johnson T-2. Max Hall 1. Rob Myers We would love to hear from you! Plea

Listen Here! On the surface, this was a pretty good week for the Utah SportsCast. The Jazz swept all four of the games they played since our last show, BYU won a critical conference game in Provo, and Utah completely outmanned their hapless opponent. That is a 6-0 combined record for the “big three” of this point in the sports season, and a fan could hardly ask for more than four game, five game, and six game win streaks, respectively. However, results do not always tell the complete story, and there is a deeper level of concern for each of these teams. The Jazz are off to a quick start at 6-2, but the wins seem to have come against lesser competition (although I still say Cleveland is a good team), and the two losses at by the only good conference teams they have played. BYU has a perfect conference record and only two early-season losses, but their offense didn’t look great in the second half against TCU. They still won, and their defense secured the game in the second half, but they did so without much scoring support. Then, there was the Utah game. I am the designated Utah fan here at the Utah SportsCast, and while I don’t have a fancy t-shirt indicating as much, I consider myself an invested follower of the team. I mention this because I have also noticed a vague and uncertain negative emotion – centered on the team – that bubbles up in me on occasion. I usually just ignore the feeling, and have never bothered to understand it, but it all crystallized early in the third quarter of the Wyoming game: Sometimes it’s hard to be a Utah fan, because sometimes they behave despicably. The latest example was the nationally-covered brouhaha between Kyle Wittingham and Wyoming coach Joe Glenn, but this isn’t the first time I have felt that way about Coach Kyle’s program. Every time a Utah player jumps up to strut around after a big play, I cringe. Each camera shot of Utah’s bench horsing around on the sidelines or laughing at the other team causes me to turn away. Any on-field mocking conversations cause me to shake my head in disapproval. Don’t get me wrong, it is just a game and I think players should be passionate about it. I like the excitement that comes after big plays, and I don’t have a problem with not being buddies with the other team. But Utah’s brand of attitude sometimes comes across as mocking, and that is intolerable, in my opinion. Worst of all is when that despicable behavior comes from the top. I could not have disagreed more with Coach Wittingham kicking onside when they were up by six touchdowns. After the game he made a lot of growled excuses about still playing in the third quarter and responding to guaranteed victories from Coach Glenn, but that point was made when it was 40-0 at halftime. Winning big without going out of the way to embarrass the other team would have been a more powerful statement; instead, the Utah coaching staff came across as petty and vindictive. The commotion is beginning to fade now that both coaches have apologized, and the Mountain West Conference has publicly reprimanded the obscene gesture. But deep down inside, anyone who watched it live, saw it on replay, or heard it described felt that Joe Glenn was justified in his one-fingered opinion. But that is the burden of being a Utah football fan: sometimes you have to deal with despicable behavior from your team and coach. As always, we have much more in the podcast, including more about BYU’s big win, a good start for the Utah Jazz, and local college basketball. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Gabe Long 2. Max Hall 1. Andrei Kirilenko We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Listen Here! It was good to have Brigham Young University back on the field after their rescheduling bye. It was only the second home game for the Cougars since September 22nd, and they hosted the bottom-dwelling Colorado State Rams. As predicted, suspected or hoped-for, BYU won by a large margin: 35-16. The Cougars are now undefeated in their past 12 conference games. Max Hall saw a return to earlier excellence, which, according to Zach, was the second most important thing BYU had to accomplish this week (winning being the first, of course). The entire passing game was the most potent part of the Cougar offense, racking up 355 pass yards with two receivers going over 100 yards, and seven different receivers touching the ball. The running game was more subdued, perhaps by design, although five different players rushed for positive yards (the punter being one of them). The team rushed for around 100 yards total. The defense looked good at times, like when they held CSU to one field goal for three first-half trips inside BYU’s 20 yard-line, but they were not impenetrable by any standard. The secondary was still a bit shaky, and if the Rams running backs could get beyond the defensive line, they usually picked up decent yardage. It is true that most of the scoring came against second string competition, but the level of effort from the first team may not have sufficed against a better team. All in all, it was a good opportunity for BYU to get back on track for the concluding games of the season. They have a much more stringent test coming up Thursday, November 8th against TCU, who is coming to Lavell Edwards Stadium following a 37-0 demolition of New Mexico. The short week for both teams should minimize the impact of strategic preparation, and the respective talent of each team will be exaggerated. Whether that translates to a BYU win will remain to be seen, although it should be a good opportunity to extend their streak. Please check out the podcast for much more, including a preview of Utah vs. Wyoming, and some Utah Jazz Talk. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Jan Jorgensen 2. Deron Williams 1. Max Hall We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Listen Here! I am a big fan of sports, which should be evident by the fact that I voluntarily wake up at 4:45 AM once a week to participate in this podcast. I have a reasonably broad range of sports I enjoy following, as well as some specific teams or players within that range. The same is true of Zach, I know, and I suspect could be said of most other sports fans in the world. We enjoy sports, we follow them, and for the most part we have more than one team/sport we follow. These are very pedestrian, general facts about sports fans, of course, and I only mention them because 2007 has been an unusual year for Zach and me. As purveyors of a “sports media outlet,” we watch and analyze sports much more than we did as everyday fans. Our once-casual “catch that game last night?” conversations have now become in-depth breakdowns of games, players, and leagues. We discuss interpretation of rules, quality of coverage, and socio-cultural impact. This is all on a very amateur scale, of course – the Utah SportsCast is just a free-time activity for us. To add to that pleasant confusion, both Zach and I have become soccer fans in earnest during the past year. We have outlined some of this in a new blog/podcast experiment we are trying to produce (visit at The Beautiful Podcast), so it doesn’t require mentioning for this blog entry beyond the fact that we now have new teams and leagues to follow. This just means more items to digest from our already groaning smörgåsbord of sports. To summarize, we are in a position where we have many different sports and teams to follow, with a semi-legitimate reason to do it. With that in mind, it’s not a surprise that I follow sports as closely now as I did as a teenager (I suspect the same is true for Zach, but I can’t speak for him). I suppose I could count the sports I follow, along with the associated leagues and teams, but that’s probably unimportant and I would miss some anyway. The short answer: A lot. So I was very surprised, in the midst of some fantastic sporting competition, when I realized that I have a single favorite team – one that stands above all other teams in all other sports. It does so in spite of my recent obsession with soccer, and in spite of an exciting year for local college football. Two NFL teams I enjoy are doing well this year, and “my team” in that league looks playoff-worthy, but it’s not one of those. It’s not even a national team, and there are few times I enjoy being a sports fan more than when I am following Team USA in anything. No, my all-time favorite team to follow is the Utah Jazz. [Note: The reader may have expected me something like “the Human Team” as my favorite, and me to praise the Beauty and Complexity of competition as my highest ideal. That probably would have been more philosophical and meaningful, and I wish I could write it here, but it wouldn’t be true.] I came to this realization two nights ago, and as mentioned, it was really quite surprising. I was watching them win their season opener against the Golden State Warriors, and it occurred to me that I invest more emotion and interest in the success of the Utah Jazz than I do any other team. Further compounding the strangeness for me is that I am not really an over-the-top fan of the NBA, certainly not more than other sports leagues. If I don’t have a rooting interest, I would probably rather watch a random game from the NFL, NHL, NCAA Football, or Barclay’s Premier League. It could be that the Jazz were my “first love” as a young sports fan – the team that got me interested in sports to begin with. Maybe it’s because they are the only local team of genuine national significance (sorry Real Salt Lake, and Major League Soccer). Maybe it’s because I really like basketball players and coaches with ties to the state of Illinois. I don’t really know. But I am certain that I am more anticipatory, I celebrate more plays, I bemoan more bad calls, and I am more superstitious about the Utah Jazz than any other te

Listen Here! I should start this blog entry with a disclaimer: I didn’t watch either the Utah or the BYU games this past week. It wasn’t a lack of interest, but I had other, previous engagements during both games. I did catch a bit of each on the radio, and read the post-game articles, but that was it. I only mention this in the interest of full disclosure. Well, that, and it gives me an excuse when all of my thoughts and opinions are more foolish than usual. Anyway, I had written Utah off for the year as recently as the afternoon of Friday, October 5th, just prior to their win over Louisville. At that point they were a shaky 2-3, and already with two conference losses. Their only wins at that point were a bizarre rout of UCLA that seemed to have come from another team, and a very pedestrian showing against Utah State. On that same afternoon, BYU was 3-2, and undefeated in two conference games. Their two losses were non-conference away games, and they were looking every bit like the team to beat in the MWC. They had beaten Air Force, who started strong, and opened the year with a nice win against Pac-10 Arizona. Since that afternoon, Utah has rolled off three wins in a row – two of them on the road against teams that were projected to be their respective conference champions. BYU has won twice, both in games where they were favored. There are a few similarities at this point in the season: both teams have won four games in a row, each with two wins at home and two on the road. Both teams have five total wins on the season. Both teams have a win and a loss against Pac-10 schools. However, Utah seems to be playing better football than BYU, at least at the moment. Last Thursday Utah held on for a big conference road win against TCU, and the next day local radio shows were buzzing with talk of the “swagger” returning. Two days later – and in spite of beating Division 1-AA/Championship Division/Whatever Eastern Washington by five touchdowns – the Cougars did not impress their fans or the local media. The consensus seems to be that Utah is coming together as a team, and BYU may be losing their focus a bit. The Cougars have a significant advantage in conference record (BYU 3-0, Utah 2-2), even though the overall standings are fairly close. Utah is still alive in the conference race, although they would need BYU to lose at least once before the Utah/BYU game, and then beat the Cougars in Lavell Edwards Stadium, accompanied by Air Force losing both of their remaining conference games. That is an unlikely scenario, to say the least. For BYU, all they need to do is keep on winning; which could be prove difficult considering they have to play TCU at home and Wyoming on the road in the weeks leading up to the Utah game. The unplanned bye this week may help them refocus and heal some nagging injuries, but it will also extend their regular season a week longer. If their level of play doesn’t improve, it could be disastrous. The final conclusion for both teams is far from clear, and the season is much more interesting than it was on the afternoon of October 5th. We have more about BYU and Utah in the podcast, as well as a bit about the end of RSL’s season, and even some preseason Jazz talk. We also rolled out a special edition “Top 3 from Real Salt Lake” to commemorate the very forgettable season: Our Top 3 from Real Salt Lake: 3. Eddie Pope 2. Nick Rimando 1. Robbie Findley Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Martail Burnett 2. Harvey Unga 1. Steve Tate Finally, we want to extend our thoughts, prayers, and best wishes to everyone in Southern California who has been misplaced by the wildfires. We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].