No NBA? No Problem (Casey)

With the news earlier this week from the NBA that the NBPA rejected the offer from the owners and that  there may be NO NBA season this year it looks like our options are limited down to watching our local college teams play (which is not a bad thing). So as we begin this year in basketball let us take a quick look at our local teams and see what we can expect.

1.  BYU: Well Cougar fans all i can say is NO MORE JIMMER! That right The Jimmer is gone so whats next? Well I think the Basketball team this year should be just fine. BYU will have to rely on there bigs to keep them in games. Brandon Davis is back for being kicked off the team and he is joined inside by Noah Hartsock. Charles Abuo will be relied on to be a leader on this team as well. The concern I have is with the Point Guard possition, right now Brock Zylstra is there point and he is not a PG. There is alot of excitement about UCLA transfer Matt Carlino a 6-2 guard who will be available after Dec 17th for the Cougs who should take over the PG position. All in All BYU should be a good team and win some games this year and with games against Baylor and Gonzaga(twice) and Saint Marys(twice) and a new conference, this could be interesting. But i expect BYU to make it into the NCAA Tournament for the 6th straight year.
2. Utah: The University of Utah is going through a rough few years. Under Jim Boylen it seemed to me that this program went from bad to worse. But at years end the Utes Fired Boylen (good move) and hired Larry Krystkowiak who was an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets as well as a former Jazz player. The Utah version of Coach K will have a tough road ahead as he only returns 4 players from last year and welcomes in 11 new players as well as a new conference. Not to mention before the season even began there best player 7' 3" David Foster is out indefinitely. This year is going to be tough for the Utes. I expect them to have a losing record and finish at the bottom of the Pac 12.
3. Utah St: Well the Aggies are one of those teams that seem every year to play well, win the WAC and make it to the NCAA tournament only to be knocked out in the first round. And every year i pick them to win and am disappointed. Well this year will be alot of the same in my mind. Utah State under Stew Morrill is one of the steadiest programs in the state and The Spectrum is by far the craziest Arena in the state. Look for Brockeith Payne and Brady Jardine to lead the Aggies to another WAC Championship and NCAA tournmanet bid. They are young but they are good.
4. Weber St: Perhaps the Best team in the State, the Wildcats under Randy Rahe have been consistently good every year and will be good again this year. Behind Senior Klye Bullinger the Wildcats were picked to win the Big Sky and i think they should be able to do it. They play At BYU and At California which will be huge tests but after they slide into conference play i think they will do just fine and continue there winning ways.
5. UVU: Utah Valley University is a good basketball program. Last year they finished the season as the Great West Conference regular season champs and have been selected to repeat that again this year. Behind the play of returning all conference player Isiah Williams as well as Holton Huntsaker, big man Ben Aird and Forward Geddes Robinson this Wolverines team should be good and be able to hold there own against almost anyone even with a tough trip up to Logan.

So with all that being said it should be a great year for hoops in the state of Utah even without the Jazz playing Unless you cheer for the Utes but think about it this way Ute fans you will have an opportunity to see a #15 Arizona and a #23 California team come to your place. Sorry I dont know much about SUU or the other teams in the state. If anyone has info leave a comment!

Football Schedule 2012? (Tyler)

So i just got thinking to myself, since BYU has one more home game left this saturday against New Mexico State... who do i have to look forward to coming to LaVell Edwards Stadium next year? so far there is Weber State Sept. 8th, Utah State Oct. 5th, and Oregon State Oct. 13th..... these are the current home games scheduled for next year... i think Texas should be in that mix but no word on for sure dates and opponents. I've got a couple of teams i would like to see in LES next year. Who would you like to see in Provo? Lets hear it.

Somebody Stop Me!!! I Dare You!!! (Tyler)

The Green Bay Packers are currently 8-0 and top of the NFC North Division... i'm keeping tabs on their game right now against Minnesota and it's 24-7 into the 3rd Quarter and i got to thinking... who is going to break the perfect season for the Pack? Let's look at their remaining schedule. Green Bay doesn't have the easiest remaining schedule...

• Week 11 Tampa Bay 
• Week 12 @ Detroit
• Week 13 @New York Giants
• Week 14 Oakland
• Week 15 @Kansas City
• Week 16 Chicago
• Week 17 Detroit

Green Bay so far seems immortal but i think they have a legitimate shot at losing week 16 to Chicago even though they beat Chicago in Chicago week 3 27-17. The Bears are playing like a different team now than they were earlier in the year. That is my best guess.... whats yours? Or will they enter the playoffs undefeated?

• 
  

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? (Casey)

Since September 30th when Jake Heaps was pulled from the Utah State game and replaced by Riley Nelson there has been a lot of buzz about what Jake should do. Many of the local media around have suggested he transfer, even some have said he should transfer to Utah to play for Norm Chow and the Utes. All I can say is  Hold your Horses, Jake is going nowhere and i will tell you why. When he came to BYU he held a press conference and told the world how great BYU was and how he was going to win a National Title. In that same moment he told us he was going to have some help and out walked Ross Apo who decommited from Texas to come play with Jake at BYU as well as Zac Stout a LB star from Cali. When they did that in my eyes Jake solidified his 4 (or more) year commitment to BYU and those 2 and if he left he would be lying to those 2 as well as everyone else he told about BYU. Also once he got to BYU he found his wife and to tell her as they are both going to school that she needs to pack her stuff and leave and transfer, i just don't see it being that easy. Now I'm not going to lie his Sophomore year has not been all that great and he has had to deal with some challenging and humbling things, but we as fans have to remember HE IS A TRUE SOPHOMORE. I hope Jake takes a look at his situation and realizes that if he leaves and transfers to another school, unless he drops down a division, he will have to sit out a season anyway so why not redshirt next year and keep that year of eligibility. Plus he would be the same year as Apo and BYU has good WR coming in the next few years. I truly thing Jakes best situation would be to stay at BYU and continue to grow and learn under Brandon Doman and gain his ultimate goal of Playing for a winning program and getting into the NFL.

What i learned from Sundays games

(Dallin) As i was watching the games on Sunday ,now that its in the middle of the season, here are 5 things i learned.

• Philly is not going to the playoffs.  If you get all of these pieces in the offseason and cant beat the cardinals, with John Skelton at the helm, at home? i think you might have picked up the wrong people or personal to help them work together cause what your doing now just ain't working

• No matter who they start at quarterback the Washington Redskins are a bad team and losing your starting running back and wide receiver sure doesn't help but if you don't have a good QB then your not going to go far unless you have a great defence (Ravens of '01 and Tampa of '03)

• Its never a good idea to go for it on 4th down in overtime when your on your own 29 yard line, no matter how long you need to go for the first down. As most of you know the Atlanta Falcons took there game against New Orleans  to overtime.  After a couple of series the Falcons had the ball on there own 29 yard line.  It was 4th and inches and they decided to go for it instead of punt the ball and hope to stop them and get the ball back for another chance.  They handed it off to Turner up the middle who what stuffed behind the line and was short of the first down. The saints took over and kicked a field goal to win the game.  The thing is even if they made it they still had a long ways to go and might have not been able to move the ball further up the field to put them in position to win.  Now they are a 1 1/2 games behind New Orleans and 1 game out of the playoffs. Bad move Smith.

• The 49ers are for real.  At the first of the year i though there wins were just luck, but they have played so good team 3 of them have winning records and 2 others were in the playoffs last year.  All the 49ers have needed was a good coach that could put all of this talent together cause if you look at them they are the same team from last year.  Also Alex Smith is playing the best he has played since being drafted number 1 over all in the '05 draft.  He may not be putting up big numbers but he is not losing his team games with costly mistakes.  They will win there division since its so weak this year but i think that they can even win in the playoffs.  They only have 2 teams with winning records left on there schedule so they will most likely get a first round bye and home field advantage in there first game.  With good coaching, a solid running game, and good defence (number 1 against the run), and a QB that can manage the game its a good formula to a successful team.

• Dallas has a winning team that will make the playoffs.  With 7 games left on there schedule all of which i can see them winning.  They are 1 game behind the Giants and 1 game from a wild card spot.  They still have to play the Giants twice and they play them there last game of the season which could decide who gets in the playoffs.  Three of there remaining games are at home and only the G man have a winning record.  They go to Washington (win), to Arizona(win), to Tampa(win), then the big one at Giants stadium( i still think they win).  When there offensive line gives Romo enough time he has the weapons to have a very powerful offence, it also help when your running back (Demarco Murray) is playing as well has he has to help open up the passing game.   Also there Defence is able to apply pressure on the quarter back and cause turnovers.  If Dallas can continue to play consistent football then they will be in the playoffs and could go far.

Personal foul! (Casey)

Ray Lewis hit on Hines ward!

Ryan Clarks hit on Ed Dickson!

As I sat and contemplated my first blog there was one thing that I have had on my mind for a little while now. For the past few years the NFL as well as the NHL and other contact sports have put a emphasis on blows to the head or Helmet to Helmet contact. As someone who loves watching a lot of contact and physicality, in my eyes it takes from the game when you try taking the hitting out of it. I understand they are only trying to protect players, I mean nobody likes seeing anyone on the ground either unconscious and strapped to a board, carted off the field but there need to be some changes to the way things are done and i have some ideas.
      Because Helmet to Helmet contact is a 15 yard penalty there should be something done to ensure it is called correctly. Many times during the season i have seen calls where the player lead with his shoulder and because it was such a "bang bang" play the motion of the player made it look like it was a above the shoulders hit. Also there have been times when there was a Helmet to Helmet hit ala Ray Lewis on Hines Ward (picture above) that probably should have been called and were not. My solution to the problem is this;
     1. The NFL should have someone independent hired to sit in the booth that is watching the game and when there is a call like that it needs to be immediately looked at and determined whether or not it was Helmet to Helmet and buzzed down to the ref, it would not be a call that the Head Coaches could review and it would be reviewed only on obvious blows to the head that are not called (Hines Ward) as well as called Helmet to Helmet hits to make sure it was a correct call (Ryan Clark). In my eyes it wouldn't slow down the game anymore than reviews already do and the refs wouldn't have to look at it because the official in the booth would already see it and make the call. This could also be done on PI calls as well.
     I really hope the NFL takes a look at these rules and they make changes as needed, i hate to see hitting taken out of football. These are the games I love and being someone who loves to watch defensive football hitting someone is one of my favorite parts.

AFC WEST PREDICTIONS (CONT'D)

THE DENVER BRONCOS (Tyler)

The Denver Broncos are currently 3-5 and are one game behind 2nd place in the AFC WEST. Here are my predictions for the remaining games on the schedule for the Broncos.

Nov. 13th @Kansas City... as i predicted in my last post with Kansas City, i don't see the Broncos being able to repeat the same success they had against the Raiders. I see a loss coming here in KC. LOSS 17-3
Nov. 17th New York Jets... after a short week coming off a loss i'm not seeing hope in this game for the Broncos, the Jets Defense will shut down the Bronco offense. LOSS 21-6
Nov. 27th @ San Diego... Philip Rivers may be having a rougher season than we are used to seeing him have, Champ Bailey will have a INT or 2 in this game but the Chargers defense will not allow Tebow (or whoever the QB is for this game) to do a whole lot on offense. LOSS 17-9
Dec. 4th @ Minnesota... this game i can actually see Denver winning (no matter who the QB is) the Vikings are rebuilding around QB Christian Ponder. Ponder is looking pretty good in his first starts this year, but i think the Broncos will pull out a win here. WIN 14-13
Dec. 11th Chicago... Just like my other AFC West predictions when they play the Bears, i have the Bears defense being all over the Broncos offense. Devin Hester will run back a punt in this game also. Ugly loss for the Broncos. (but not shameful cause the Bears are good) LOSS 37-10
Dec. 18th New England... this is not the kind of team you want to see after a beatdown the week before. New England will come to Denver and show their QBs how to throw the ball effectively. LOSS 28-12
Dec. 24th @ Buffalo... The Bills have had an incredible year so far, however i don't see them continuing their winning streak. Fred Jackson will rush for 150 yards, but the Broncos will rush for 200 and slip a win in here against the Bills. WIN 17-16
Jan. 1st Kansas City... Just like my last prediction with the Chiefs. Kansas City will be playing to prove that they aren't a joke of a team and Denver doesn't have much to play for at this point. They will lose this game at home. LOSS 24-14

Summary... I have the Broncos finishing the season at 5-11 and last in the AFC WEST. I do however see some good things coming for the Broncos. I think John Fox is a good coach and will right the ship that was wrecked by Josh McDaniels. The defense is improved for sure and could use a couple of players to make them legitimate. The offense isn't very good but will improve over the next couple of years. There's always next year.