byu football

although last night delivered a devastating loss to the byu football team... my faith is not squandered. i'm pretty sure the cougars will win the rest of the games this season, and go 11-1... that right there is a great season.

.so max hall has one bad game in his college football career... who doesn't? he's one of the smartest quarterbacks playing the game right now. brian johnson, quarterback for the utes, may be good too, but he doesn't think as quick as max does. and he gets caught in the pocket a lot. its true that max hall probably had the worst game of his life last night - getting worked by tcu... but come on, give the kid a break. everyone has a bad game, and what does it do? it encourages and gives motivation to never have a game like that again.

(**let me clarify that this is not a utah fan bash. i have nothing against ute fans and i'm not super offended by them telling me that they hate byu... i'm just annoyed at the moment. i know a lot of things are said in the spirit of sports... and that's fine. this is just an example of some of the conversations i've had lately. because, come on! part of being a sports fan is to razz other people and be razzed in return. that is something i know very well. so don't be offended. don't think i hate you. and don't tell me to lighten up! this is just my satirical response to what i've heard all my life. so enjoy it in the spirit of fun, light-hearted sports talk.)

but let me just put all of those byu haters in their place for a minute... because i am sick and tired of hearing all of their stupid excuses for loathing the cougars - generally unfounded, might i add.

reasons like "byu hasn't had to play anyone this season... they're schedule has been easy"... ok. first and foremost ncaa football schedules aren't just picked the year before. they're picked like 5 years in advance. and even if you thought you were the greatest unprofessional college football analyst ever, how can you possibly predict who is and who is not going to be good in 5 years? you can't. for example... where's miami this season? they aren't even ranked! could you have predicted this 5 years ago? 5 years ago when miami was in the top 5 in the nation? and besides, byu isn't the only team with an "easy schedule." the university of utah's schedule hasn't really surpassed the cougars in difficulty either. i think i've made my point. so anyone who complains about an "easy schedule" needs to be put in their place - try and make a schedule 5 years in advance. and then talk to me.

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another frequently used excuse: "byu just thinks they're better than everyone." puh-leeaasse! what school doesn't think they're better than every other school? utah fans think they're better than byu. unlv think they're better than utah. notre dame thinks they're the cream of the crop. texas is definitely a prideful school.... so why is it that everyone only bags on byu? texas is well known for their state pride... the university of texas, no doubt, thinks they're the best. what i'm trying to say is that every university has school pride. every school thinks they're great... and why shouldn't they? but saying you hate byu because they think they're better than everyone is just a juvenile attempt to curb your unfounded hatred.

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probably one of the things said that i hate the most is this - "i hate byu because they're all mormons." do you hate tcu because they're all christians? do you hate notre dame because they're all catholics? do you hate usc because they're all californians? i understand that there has been and always will be persecution against mormons. but really? "i hate byu because they're all mormons?" grow up. that's just ridiculous. for one thing, byu is not all mormon. there are plenty of people who aren't affiliated with the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. just like tcu isn't all christian, and usc doesn't only accept people born in california. along those same lines is: "you have to follow an honor code..." well, did you start to hate president hinckley when he proposed "raising the bar" in general conference? i didn't think so. there's no reason following an honor code should be a big deal if you can answer all your temple recommend questions honestly.

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it absolutely disgusts me when i hear "oh, well, byu must not have been as righteous this week because the lost..." oh yeah? well, you're just an idiot! why is it that when byu wins a game and is interviewed afterwards and there is a moment when they thank God for the win that all of a sudden its a reason to hate them? dumb. when schools not affiliated with any religion win and they're star quarterback says into a news camera that he would like to thank God for helping him win that night... no big deal. but when schools obviously attached to a religion bring up God - - - 'oh no! they're being self-righteous! they have no right to thank deity!' what? are people afraid that what a byu player says about religion might be true? w h a t e v . apparently the cougars should be punished and scorned for having a coach who holds his players to a higher standard. apparently byu football players can't thank God for their talents and their victories - no, that is controversial. get real.

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everyone doesn't have to love byu, but come on. have a little respect! you can't deny the fact that byu was good enough to break the top 10. you can't say that byu doesn't have a talented bunch of kids playing football for them. you can't deny that bronco mendenhall has been a fantastic coach overall. all of the people who have said that byu made it into the top ten by a fluke or that they don't deserve it - well, obviously they do. if you know anything about ncaa football polls... you know that you can't get in the top ten without working your tail off. and byu has worked hard! they've done really well this season! sure, they had a really bad game against tcu, but tcu has the #1 defense in the nation! that's hard to beat. byu isn't the only team that has lost to an unexpected opponent. take last weekend for example - oklahoma state (17) beat missouri (3). mississippi state beat vanderbilt (13). good teams lose! it happens. thats part of what makes sports so exciting. sometimes the unexpected happens. and sometimes it happens in your favor. others it doesn't.

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but don't be a jerk. i'm sick of unsportsmanlike conduct... particularly off the field.

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which brings me to my next subject. people complain about byu fans. but lets just be honest... every school has "those fans". you know what i'm talking about. it goes back to that pride thing i already mentioned. i'll be the first to admit that byu has some super irritating fans who are jerks and who are rude and who have no social grace when it comes to opposing team's fans. (or other people in general for that matter) i have seen it a few times in lavell edwards stadium. but guess what - - - i've also spent some time in the muss (mighty utah student section) and guess what i saw... the same thing, only wearing red instead of blue. every school has a jerk (or several) who is loud and obnoxious, takes off their shirt and sticks their disgustingly sweaty body in your face and tells you that you're stupid for not cheering for their team. and every school has a crazy person who maybe gets a little too into the game, making it uncomfortable for those around them. but one advantage to cougar fans at lavell edwards stadium is that there is no alcohol. the sweaty idiot next to you isn't completely sloshed and won't spill his beer all over you. (and yes, i speak from past experience and no it wasn't in utah) but its not exclusive to byu. its not only with cougars fans. and it is by no means a reason to say you hate byu. so don't tell me byu fans are the worst. a) i take that as a personal insult, because I am a byu fan. and i am not the worst. b) i can prove to anyone at any game for any school that they have fans just as awful as they say byu does. and c) every fan is not the loud guy or the drunk guy. if there were only 3 byu fans in the world who acted like morons, that would be one thing. but there are hundreds of thousands of byu fans around the world. and calling all of them stupid or sterotyping them into the "worst fan" category is completely unfair and makes you look stupid. do you think all germans are like hitler, too?

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i love byu football! sure i was disappointed and let down by the game last night... but the season is only half over! there's still so much football to enjoy! and i am the furthest thing from a fair weather fan. one stupid game against tcu isn't going to make me change my mind about the byu cougars. i'm sure i supported byu in 1984 when they won the national championship as an unborn child. i supported byu when they sucked under the reign of gary crowton. and i support them now.

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rise and shout? gladly.