Mountain West Conference


Moksha
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  • 3 weeks later...

I say this as a BYU fan -- but it seems like BYU is going to fit in very well with the At Large Independent crowd:

Army 3-1

Navy 2-1

Notre Dame 1-3

Brigham Young 1-4

It really can't be helped, but this is an absolutely LOUSY time for BYU to be looking this bad. Marching towards their independence with the worst start to a season in memory ... not good.

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1. I think we all knew BYU would go through some type of growing pains as they get a different Quarterback. I think the two QB system ended up hurting this progressing then helping it. I blame coaching for that.

2. We keep loosing the only star players we had, It makes it worst for what was already bad. (But I would think some secondary players would step up)

3. The one thing none of us expected is how bad the defense plays. It seems like each game they stop what the other team does. I blame this again on Coaching. Honestly I don't even know if Bronco thought his team was this bad. After USU scored near the end of the half, you can use Bronco swallow, kind of like !gulp! what is happening.

I don't think anybody ever thought the team was this bad. (most Sports radio hosts still picked BYU to win) We now realize how bad our team really is!

4. How many times has BYU gone down near the end of the half and scored (3 or 7 points). You feel some what good that they made a drive and got points. Only to see the other team either match the score or do better before the half. That is frustrating me more then anything. I blame the players for this one. They seem to score and then forget there is still time on the clock.

5. There is a rumor that TCU is talking with the Big East to join there conference. I'm a little surprised at that, but I can see TCU trying to see if there is another place to go. Nobody likes the MTN

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The crappy TV contract is going to be the death of the Mountain West. It's helpful to nobody. It keeps teams from being seen nationally. And the pay stinks too.

Seems that TCU would be a great fit for the Big 12 whenever they wake up and realize that going without a conference championship game is going to guarantee they just about never play in a BCS National Championship game. The Big East would mean longer trips for the same or weaker SOS than they have currently. I think they would be wiser to wait out for the Big 12 to try and get back to 12 teams. Of your available Mountain West teams, BYU is still their best prospect in terms of revenue.

One thing that could drastically change the future of the Mountain West would be if the Big 12 eventually really does collapse or see even more defections. At that point in time, the stubborn idiot powers that be of the Mountain West needs to be willing to renegotiate everything for everyone, and if they play it right, they end up with a very powerful conference -- and maybe even get BYU back in the process. Should be interesting to watch it play out.

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CBSSports.com wire reports

Oct. 2, 2010

PROVO, Utah -- BYU defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jaime Hill has been fired with the Cougars off to their worst start in nearly four decades.

Hill was fired Saturday, a day after BYU fell to Utah State, its fourth straight loss.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a statement he will take over Hill's duties, and graduate assistant Kelly Poppinga will work as a defensive coach for the rest of the season.

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It's probably too little too late. You have a young quarterback in his 2nd week of progression playing a schedule going into its 6th week. He's 3-4 weeks behind and half of fall camp. The defense has been uninspired at best. I look down at the sidelines and there is no fire whatsoever. No yelling, no red faces, nobody telling guys to get their act together. Nothing. Nobody telling these young guys what to do, and they've just lost their best tacklers for the game, if not longer.

During the game ESPN kept flashing back to the 'legal' block that Fuga got injured on, saying it needs to be illegal. Then they would pan to Fuga, and he's back by the stands on the sidelines laughing it up with another player in a jersey without pads, neither one paying attention to the game at all. Sorry, but if you as a player, injured or not, have no idea what's going on in the game, you have no business being in the team area. Go buy a ticket and sit in the stands. If you want to stay, go over and cheer your guys on, give encouragement, tips on how to make plays, fire them up.

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I hate to say this but this season was eventually going to happen. You can't always be on top. Just a few notes:

1- The two QB system hurt BYU. The QB is suppose to be the leader of the offense and that offense was dealing with two different leaders. That just breaks the locker room up into two (possibly three) groups. Jake Heaps supporters, Riley Nelson supporters, and those who don't care.

2- BYU didn't plan to play this year without Harvey Unga. Going into this year, they expected to have Unga for the season. After being kicked out of BYU for violating the Honor Code, they have been scrambling to find a new running back. JJ Di Luigi looks to be filling out that roll.

3- Better for this to happen this year then next year. Better for the rebuilding year to happen before we hit Independence play, that way our young team has a year's experience under their belt and will be that "turn around" team we always hear about.

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I thought there was some irony that Bronco fired Hill on Saturday morning and that evening at Priesthood conference Elder Utchtdoft spoke about how sports creates envy, social comparison, and pride.

I really am a BYU fan, but in many ways there is some justice in this losing streak. First, the BYU administration (not the General Authorities) acted like a jealous group of high school teenagers and acted too fast to jump out of the Mountain West Conference when Utah bolted (and I am still upset Utah bolted). Then, they help destroy the WAC by flirting with the idea of joining thr WAC to go indepdent t and have their other teams join the West Coast Conference (not very fair to the other sports teams). They then attempt to present a football team that can be a top 5 or 10 team via independence if they can only have two losses and set up a schedule next year that really does not have that many good teams to play (other than Texas - -who are no unranked – but are still good). I realize that next year schedule was rushed and I need to see if they schedule really good teams in the next few years.

I know I do not know the internal workings of the BYU sports administration – but I just see pride everywhere and I am now thinking that this elevated status is putting more pressure on the football team and this has resulted in Jamie Hill being the scapegoat. Again, I do not know the internal workings of what is going on with the football team – but I think a more classy and kind act would have been to let Jamie Hill go after the end of the season – not right after the Utah State loss which does present him as a scapegoat.

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John:

I am frustrated that both Utah and BYU left the moutain west conference. However, I am more frustrated with how the BYU sport adminstrators handeld the firing of Jamie Hill. BYU is suppose to be a role model of Christ-like living. Certainly, they could have re-assigned Jamie Hill or handled this with greater kindness that firing the guy in the middel of the season during a losing streak. I do not know the internal workings of the coaching staff and maybe there are things that I really have no clue about that makes a good justification for firing Hill. However, it does seem like he is being used as a scapegoat becasue the football team is trying to outline its higher status in football.

Now what did Elder Uchtdorf say about sports and envy and status Saturday night in priesthood conference?

I think the way BYU handed this entire leaving the Mountain West Conference was fairly classless and poor -- it seem linked to pride and envy.

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The thing is, you are certain BYU could have done something different, and in the next sentence admit you don't know anything about it. How do you know they hadn't been working with him for months or weeks with his explosive temper? How do you know they didn't try to address his situation using other tactics first? Why do you insist that this was the first thing they tried?

What makes you think Pres. Uchtdorf was aiming his comments squarely at BYU and not at all entities involved in sports? My thoughts listening to them were that he was speaking to fans more than singling out schools. For that matter, it may interest you to know that BYU's decision to go independent had to be cleared through a committee, which comprised at least one member of the Quorum of the 12, if not more. Remember when you are denigrating BYU for making decisions which you admit you don't understand, that they were cleared and approved by one of the Apostles. If this whole decision was really about pride, envy and status do you think an Apostle of the Lord would have signed off on it?

Why do I keep getting these feelings that there is more behind your anger toward BYU than just the events of the last two months?

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John:

Making a claim or proposition and then highlighting a potential limitation regarding one’s own claims is a sign of mature, in-depth, ethical and empathetic thinking. Thinking one is right and not outline one’s own limitations is a sign of a poor and lower level thinker. That is why I outlined my frustration with the firing of Hill, but also highlighted my own limitations.

I am obviously struggling with BYU’s athletic direction decisions. Here is how I put my thoughts together

• My value statement is that I wanted the Mountain West Conference, and possible the WAC, to bust the money driven, status driven, and completely unfair BCS system. The Mountain West – with Utah, BYU, TCU (and possible Air Force) were on their way to bust the BCS thus possible creating a new system that could have been fairer to non-included teams. With the rise of Boise State, the WAC could have had one team that could beat the power-house teams also, thus putting more pressure on the BCS flaws. The BCS system is not fair and is a status and money driven system. It has not been fair to teams like BYU, Utah, Boise State, Hawaii, and TCU.

• Utah was the first to bolt for money and status.

• Boise State left the WAC for the same reasons – money and status

• BYU then bolted for money and status and in the process contributed (not the sole cause) of the demises of the WAC. I hold BYU administration to higher standards that Utah and Boise State. From what I read in the Utah newspapers, the General Authorities gave the BYU athletic department the autonomy to make whatever decision was need – thus not endorsing or rebuking the plan. The people responsible are the BYU sports administration. I also think BYU leaving seemed like a jealous knee jerk reaction to the attention Utah was getting and BYU was marketing their football team as a top ten with independence – comparing them to Notre Dame (who is not a very good football team anymore).

• BYU then fires Jamie Hill. To fire a single coach right after a losing streak after BYU has outlined its future football greatness – seems like a low act to make. I am aware that I do not know the inside information – maybe Jamie Hill was a monster to work with – but there are more kind decisions that to fire a person outright, the day after the Utah State loss (scapegoating). BYU could have re-assigned him, provided some dignity while Jamie Hill covertly searched for another job. Firing is pretty brutal.

• Then Elder Uchtodorf delivers an inspired message regarding how sports can often be the example of pride, status, and envy with a winning at all cost mentality. I do not think Elder Uchdorf was directing his message to BYU – he was directing it to all Saints. There were many messages I needed to learn from General Conference and I will be the first to state I am full of sin and need to become a better person – but I also think Elder Uchtdorf’s counsel is timely in regard to how the BYU sports administers are acting.

I hope my outlining thoughts create some degree of clarity. In many ways, John, I am using this thread to process my own frustration with the changes in the mountain west and what looks like the demises of the WAC conference. The fingerprints of pride, status, and envy seem everywhere in these football conference changes and BYU should be a role model – not a equal partner – in this.

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