BYU Football Fighting for Its Existence, Relevance

BYU Football Fighting for Its Existence, Relevance

It's rivalry week. Utah thinks that they don't want to play their intra-state rival anymore. Especially the Saturday before their conference final.

BYU is 6-5, Utah is 8-3. Both have done good things this season and both have had some heartaches. Both will go bowling. Utah State, the smaller school Aggies of the north, is the highest ranked. (Go figure).

The Utes. Some of us think that they think they are  above the private school 49 miles to the south. Yes, we Cougars are a pesky thorn in their plans for PAC-12 conference relevance. They have to play us before their coveted conference championship, the same conference BYU fought and sacrificed for for many decades to be a part of, and was rejected by when Utah was invited. Years back, there were other times, when BYU was winning a national championship making the Inter-Mountain West relevant. Long before Fresno State or Boise State became big. People thought a religious school, an obscure place with obscure outdated rules like no drinking or pre-marital conjugal relationships before matrimony was a fool's errand. Hundreds of young men proved otherwise.

And those standards have remained. And they will. Some say BYU cannot get enough young athletes to abide by such peculiar old fashioned standards.

Some Utes and others may think that BYU prevents them from national relevance.

Not so. USC deals with Notre Dame. Look what they do. USC is big time program. No complaints.

Utes, get used to it. 

BYU will always be there as your rival. 

If you do not recognize that, then you will slide from national relevance.

 So, good luck this Saturday, and good luck down the road. I hope you do great, really. I love the state of Utah, your coach, and tons of your students and alumni.

Slight future scheduling of your religious brother down south at your peril.

BYU has higher standards, pays its personnel less, has tons of returned older missionaries like you do,  and has lots of in-state and national and international fans.

We are not better than you. Brigham Young football is not morally superior, just different.

Like Air Force or Army or Navy Academies, BYU plays to a different standard.

And Utah, this is part of who you are. It's your identity.

If you dink out of the rivalry, you will be left behind. Don't do it.

Again, best of luck. Get ready to play. Don't forget who you are.

BYU football fan and alum,

Eduardo

Hoosier Basketball Analysis: 5 Games In

Hoosier Basketball Analysis: 5 Games In

First of all, a shout out to this incredible looking Duke team this year: they lost tonight to Gonzaga. It came down to the last possessions as Gonzaga led most of the way. Way to go, Bulldogs! Now I hope that BYU can knock off a top notch Zag team, like in years past. Oh, and Maybe Indiana can play with these Blue Devils...

IU has a lot of promise, but some things are unsure for now. Archie Miller is considered good enough to make them a good enough team. We shall see. We. Shall. See.

I'll analyze the players individually, then put it together.  

1. Juwan Morgan, 6'8" athletic senior forward. He is a superb player who wins games; he will be a professional next spring. He can play great inside. He can hit three pointers. One weakness that I have seen this year and from last year, when he was their best player on a team to qualify for the NIT: free throws. He is not going to get all the FT points that the Hoosiers need in tight games. He will draw the fouls, however. Speaking of fouls, IU may not have enough quality big bodies to keep Juwan rest and foul trouble free. Which also has to do with IU's health, which now in game 5 is really bad. Too many dinged up dudes.

2. Romeo Langford, 6'6" everything  freshman shooting guard. Biggest home grown recruit since Cody Zeller around 2010. We have to have this guy. By the end of the year he will be better than Juwan, and maybe more clutch. He has played pretty good defense, and his threes and free throws need some work, but this should come. He is a natural and will be done after spring 2019, so IU needs to ride him and he them to the end of March. Hopefully.

3. Robert Phinesee, 6'0" freshman point guard. This kid is poised and can play. He proved that he could hit a key three on the close road loss to a pretty impressive Arkansas squad. He can control the ball, pass and hustle. Very cool. He seems to be about perfect. Time will tell.

4. Aljami Durham, 6'4" sophomore guard/forward. He might be the X-factor. He seems much improved from last year, and last year he was not bad. He hurt his back and left the game early last night, but he should recover and contribute a lot.

5. Justin Smith, 6'7" sophomore forward. Extraordinary athlete. Can do a little of everything. I really hope he matures and channels his talents. He could be a big reason the Hoosiers do well. Or not. Like Juwan, needs to improve his free throws, and probably go to the line more. He needs to dunk more, based on his unworldly jumping ability. (48 inch vertical, 6 inches higher than anyone else ever at IU. And he's tall).

6.  Evan Fitzner, 6'10" senior forward. He can shoot the three, but seems a bit weak and skinny. Hopefully gets stronger throughout the year. But, he is a senior, so will he fill out much this late in college. He seems pretty smart inside, too. Good addition.

7. Deron Davis, 6'9 junior forward/center. He has good inside presence but is a bit slow and less than explosive. His achilles injury from last year seems to be lingering into November. Currently hurt.

8. Devonte Green, 6'3" junior point guard. He has talents and skills that good do much for the team: energy, depth, hopeful intelligence and poise. Currently hurt.

9.  Zach McRoberts, 6'6" senior guard/forward. Red-shirt senior. He is savvy and seems to be in the right place at the right time. Shoots more confidently now. Currently hurt.

10. Damezi Anderson, 6'7" freshman forward. This guy, if developed right, could be a huge difference. He hit a key 3 late in a tight game against a lesser opponent at home last night (UT-Arlington); if he gets smart on the court maybe he will be part of the Hoosier depth and success.

11-13. Race Thompson, Jake Forrester, Jerome Hunter. Three young guys that may provide some depth and muscle. Mostly currently hurt.

14. Cliff Moore, 6'11" sophomore center. Can be an inside presence; showed some aptitude to getting buckets. 

The team has a lot of injuries in November, but as the Coach said, this has given some young guys some early experience on the court and as a team.

Very impressive performance at home versus a tough Marquette team, a close loss where Arkansas showed some grit and hustle away from the friendly confines, and tough resistance win against a very scrappy team from Texas. With starters leaving with back aches and bloody noses. 

This team might develop into something special.

We play Duke in a week. We shall see. 

New Long Term Goal: Antarctica (Free Asia Bibi)

New Long Term Goal: Antarctica

I have new long term end of life goals.

 
Can you read...? Sorry. Experimenting with font and script colors...

  Ok, my red color for the Hoosiers beginning their championship season tomorrow. Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan et al. Update: 1-0. Decent start.

Goals:

I wish to be the first centenarian to live a whole winter in Antarctica. That would be around 2070 plus.

Some time later I would probably like to die and be buried there.

Things can change, sure. Death can come with many options.

A great man, husband, father, mayor, soldier, officer, church member, person, just tragically died in Kabul, Afghanistan over the weekend.  He was 39. No promises.

Thankful for his service and example.

Great example.

So if God grants me another half century, I might make it at to my goal.

And do something that would have a benefit beyond my own life, to serve and bless others.

I would set up interviews or something.

The future will tell. 

Oh, yes: free Asia Bibi. She certainly deserves life and dignity.

https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2018/10/22/the_metoo_movement_has_forgotten_asia_bibi.html