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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Utah Sports Cast

Episode 55 – Utah vs. BYU Redux

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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 54 – Have the Utah Jazz solved their problems?

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 more receivers, which will be nice. It was either that or A Mustache, which would make him look more old-school, but we wouldn’t want him to have Honor Code issues. Bryan Kehl won’t be playing for the Cougars next year, but we are giving him a gift anyway. He will be getting More National Attention, which has been sadly missing for an athlete of his caliber. Not only will this benefit Kehl as a football player (not to mention his soon-to-be-bulging bank account), but an NFL team will find themselves with an exceptional, adaptable defensive player. With his size and speed, Kehl could be one of the scariest safeties in the league, or a tough, blitzing linebacker. Congratulations, Bryan, and you’re welcome. [Note: Here I wanted to give Harvey Unga the gift of Becoming the Starting Running Back for the University of Utah, but Zach vetoed the idea, rather dramatically. Sorry, Harvey.] We started our list for the University of Utah football team by giving Kyle Wittingham a Season with No Significant Injuries. Every coach knows that being hurt is a part of football (the game does involve wearing armor and hitting other people, after all) but Coach Wittingham seems to have had unusually bad luck in that department last year. There are plenty of theories as to why: some people think it comes from over-practicing, and others claim it is really under-practicing. We say: no worries either way. With this gift, no Utah player will miss significant time due to injury, and then we can really evaluate the season, without disclaimers. The gift of Durability for Brian Johnson was an easy call. We wanted to give it to him during the first half of the first game this year, when he was trudging into the locker room with an injury. This was after just a quarter-and-a-half of competitive football in a little under two seasons. But we didn’t have that kind of foresight, and besides, Christmas was still a few months away. When Johnson came back he was tentative at best, and looked like he thought every hit may be his last. A little dose of durability should give him the confidence he needs to have a great senior season. Brice McCain was a bit difficult to shop for, and you know there is always at least one on your list. I wanted to give him a Time Machine, so he could go back a few weeks and properly cover Austin Collie on fourth and 17, but that wouldn’t really solve the problem (and I imagined another nixing coming from Zach). We finally settled on The Ability to Stop Making Rookie Mistakes, which should be beneficial in the future. We also remembered Jason Kreis, the head coach of Real Salt Lake. We are giving him Greater Public Support as his gift, which will help a lot as he struggles in the coming years. We considered giving Coach Kreis More Offensive Weapons to help him win over the soccer-ignorant masses, but instead we just went right to the source. Finally, to Nick Rimando of Real Salt Lake we would like to give a Reliable Back Line. The best defender RSL has had in their brief existence (Eddie Pope) is now retired, and he was overburdened as it was. Having one of the best young keepers in the league is great, but he needs to be making one or two great saves per game rather than five or six. With our gift of talented defenders, he doesn’t have to be miraculous in order to get a clean sheet here and there. That’s it for the holiday gift highlights, and thank you for reading. Please download and listen to our show for previews of the Poinsettia Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl, a little ranting and raving about the woes of the Utah Jazz, and a little bit about local college hoops. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Ronnie Brewer 2. Lee Cummard 1. Jaycee Carroll We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 52 – Bowling Week and Bad Jazz

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 that will be winnable and impressive to voters. Obviously, we would like to see you steer clear of any Division II teams, but you already know that. Ohio State can play cupcakes and still end the season highly ranked, but BYU cannot. Even if we, the fans, think you should, sometimes. With more hopefulness than you might expect, Nate N.Co-Host, Utah SportsCast There is plenty more in the podcast, particularly considering that we really didn’t talk much about BYU football. So, tune in for our quarter-season grades for the Utah Jazz, and a few words about college hoops. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Luke Nevill 2. Trent Plaisted 1. Deron Williams We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 51 – A Bad Luck Sports Week

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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 50 – Time to Go Bowling

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! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 48 – The Rivalry Show

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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 47 – A Week of Winning

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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 46 – BYU Wins, Utah Rests, and the Jazz Split

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 team. There are other individual games that may reach that high status for me (Utah versus BYU in football, for instance), but as far as daily interest goes, nothing touches the Jazz. That may not be crucial to me as a fan, but it was nice to find out where my heart lies. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the 2007-2008 season. There is much more to enjoy in the podcast, which took a few unusual turns this week. Hopefully, it will make for entertaining listening. If not, well, our iron-clad guarantee holds true: you will love this podcast or your money back. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Steve Tate 2. Ronnie Brewer 1. Carlos Boozer We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 45 – Continuing the Winning Ways

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 comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 44 – Winning Streaks on the Wasatch Front

Listen hereThere's been a year or more of UtahSportsCast episodes. I suppose it was bound to happen that I put the wrong file up there eventually. It's all fixed now, just click the "listen" link above and you'll get the right show.Sorry about that folks!

Episode 43 - For reals this time

Listen Here! To begin, I would like to present a quote from this very blog as posted last week. It was the latest version of my developing opinion about the University of Utah football team: If they lose big this Friday at Louisville (as, unfortunately, I am expecting) then the “mediocre” definition will probably stick. If Utah manages to keep the score close and look good (or, in another shock, win), then we may have to back to the drawing board. So, I was shocked (as predicted) when Utah not only beat Louisville 44-35 at Papa John’s Stadium, but looked pretty good in the process. They dominated the first half and scored enough in the second half to hold off the best quarterback in the NCAA. A big loss would have answered more questions than the highlight win, so I find myself again at the proverbial drawing board. In one way, this game was even more impressive than the UCLA tilt because everyone watching that knew it was a world-class fluke. Not so much that Utah won, but that they dominated every aspect of the game. They took a top-ranked team and made them look like the biggest cupcake they would play all year. It didn’t help that UCLA gave up halfway through the third quarter, but the damage was done by that point. The Louisville game was much different. Again, Utah dominated the first half, but Louisville brought it back to as close as six points in the fourth quarter. It was a fight to the end, in other words, before Reliable Louie Sakoda booted a 46 yard clinching field goal with about 90 seconds left. The running game for Utah was spectacular, behind Darrell Mack’s 163 yard, 3 touchdown performance. Brian Johnson threw for 312 yards and added two more touchdowns (one passing, one rushing), with no interceptions. Utah’s line played great on the defensive end, controlling the line of scrimmage and holding Louisville to just 26 total rushing yards. Unfortunately, that opened the field to the Cardinals’ Brian Brohm (the afore-mentioned “best quarterback in the NCAA”), who lit up Utah’s secondary for 467 yards and four touchdowns. He was sacked three times in the game, which doubled his total sacks on the season, but some of that had to do with his two best receivers being out for the game. As a fan, I would be curious to see how different the game would have been with those star receivers playing. Then again, if Utah had Brent Casteel and Matt Asiata, it would have made a difference, as well. It was a great, exciting win, and Utah looked good in the process. However, it also reinforced the inconsistency theory, and created more questions about the team. Utah has now won three of their last four, including two in a row (their first winning streak of the season). Two of those wins came against teams that had been ranked in the top 15 at one point in the season. The one loss was an embarrassing shut-out to one of the worst teams in the conference (UNLV’s only other win, ironically, was Utah State). So, was the Louisville game the beginning of a long winning trend? Was it a sign that the UNLV game, like the UCLA game, was something of a fluke? Is the real Utah team now emerging, ready to challenge for a bowl game (and with a lot of luck, the conference title)? Or is this yet another tantalizing hint of what could be? A peek at how talented and explosive the offense really is, when they have consistent playcalling? Is another bumbling loss just around the corner? I would like to say that I have stopped guessing and analyzing, and that I will just take each game as it comes. That would be completely untrue, but I do wish I could say it. Utah plays San Diego State at home and TCU in Dallas for their next two games. One of those games should be relatively easy and the other a tough contest, although the way this season is going I’m not so sure which is which. Time will tell… I hope. There is much more in the podcast, as always. Well, maybe not much more, but it’s more entertaining, anyway. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Brian Johnson 2. Tim Toone 1. Darrell Mack We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 43 – A big win for Utah, yet another loss for RSL

Listen Here! Zach and I were able to get together last Saturday and watch both Utah vs. Utah State and New Mexico vs. BYU. It was not the first time we had watched games together, of course, but it’s pretty rare that we have a chance to do it. It was good to see Utah get a cruise-control victory in the driving snow. It was also nice to find out that BYU could stumble a bit against a motivated opponent, and still pull out a win. After the game we celebrated by playing a few rounds of FIFA ’06 on my Xbox. A good time was had by all. The problems surrounding the University of Utah have been ground up by the local media (including us, if we qualify as “media”) for several weeks, now. It started as a bad luck story with key players out with injuries, turned very bright for one week, and now seems to have settled into understanding. My current diagnosis is that Utah is just a mediocre team that played dynamite for one week. Under this theory, the “inconsistency” I have mentioned before is changed to read “mediocrity.” Yes, they put up 34 points last Saturday, but that was against a below-average team. Not to mention Utah State scored 18 in the process. We should have a handle on this team after five games, but the anomaly of Utah/UCLA still looms large. If they lose big this Friday at Louisville (as, unfortunately, I am expecting) then the “mediocre” definition will probably stick. If Utah manages to keep the score close and look good (or, in another shock, win), then we may have to back to the drawing board. I am tempted to hope for a loss, just so we can finally figure this team out. Of course, my internal fan won’t let me make that mental jump. The bigger story this week was BYU’s timely win at New Mexico. Watching the game as a somewhat less passionate fan (I couldn’t wear one of those “Fully Invested” shirts – it just wouldn’t be right) I can say that New Mexico has good athletes, they scouted BYU well (point courtesy of Zach), and were excited and prepared. The Cougars, on the other hand, did not play a great game. The offense had trouble moving the ball, the defense seemed confused much of the time, and they were relying on athleticism and big plays to win. Where it becomes good news for Cougar fans is they still managed to win. The score was close at the end, but BYU played through a bad week, on the road, and pulled out a victory. I don’t know whether to credit superior talent or better coaching, because I don’t think BYU is much better in either of those categories. After the game, UNM head coach Rocky Long said BYU deserved to win, but they are not a better team than New Mexico. I can’t say I completely agree with that, but the difference in talent level is much closer than blinkered BYU fans may think. Not having seen any other New Mexico games this year I can’t evaluate their relative level of play. It could be that they stalled a bit, as well. Regardless, I wonder if Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s emphasis on mental toughness and discipline made the difference against New Mexico. BYU has been an oft-penalized team this season and has turned the ball over with disappointing frequency, both of which are always pointed to as a lack of discipline. The penalties and turnovers were still there, but it could be that his young team finally understood what Mendenhall has been yelling about all this time and won the game on sheer determination. There is much more in the podcast, including a conversation about the Utah win, more on BYU and a vaguely-interested discussion of Real Salt Lake. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Derrek Richards 2. Bryan Kehl 1. Darrell Mack Thanks to our listener who submitted a reader e-mail this week! We hope to hear from many more in the future. Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 42 – Uninspiring wins from BYU and Utah

Listen Here! There is almost always something interesting going on around the Utah Sports Cast, with the possible exception of that slow, dull time in mid-summer when we half-heartedly cover baseball while waiting for a blockbuster Utah Jazz signing. The rest of the year is split between football and basketball seasons, so we don’t generally have a problem finding things to talk about. At this time of the year (early fall) the primary teams/sports we follow are Real Salt Lake, The University of Utah football, and Brigham Young University football. I mention this because last week these three teams tallied one win (Utah) against three losses (BYU and RSL lost twice). This week the “Big Three” went 2 – 2, with RSL splitting two games, BYU winning, and Utah losing. The one team that won last week had their collective heads handed to them, and the teams that lost managed to find some victories. So it is being a Utah sports fan. Our teams are often mediocre – enough so that flashes of real, legitimate success are remembered for a long time (what BYU fan doesn’t smile at the simple mention of the year 1984?). More often than not we have teams that look fine one week and shaky the next. In that sense, September has been a very typical month in Utah sports. The ultimate expression of this inconsistency was displayed during the past two weeks by the University of Utah. They started with a significant, career-defining win over a nationally ranked opponent one week, followed by a pitiful shutout loss at the mercy of a team that was at the very bottom of division-one football last year. Utah went from looking like a great, underrated team with a potent offense and an iron-clad defense to being throttled by one of the conference cupcakes. To give UNLV their due, they do seem better this year from last; and they were prepared, motivated, and eager for the game. All the same, the Utah team that kicked UCLA to the curb would have blown the Rebels all the way back to Dixie. Not that history has much to do with it, but this was the first time Utah had lost to UNLV since the Ford Administration. That provided motivation for the Rebels, and left Utah without excuses. I suspect Utah will win another few games. In fact, they may have a winning streak sometime in the season that will bring their record to more respectable numbers. Then, like every other Utah Sports fan, I will be predicting brighter days and bigger victories to come. I will probably even write about it on this blog. Then, with another bottom-tier bowl in the books, I can look forward to 2008 with much more optimism than the situation deserves. Not that I mind -- that is the life of a Utah sports fan, after all. In other news, BYU played well and looked pretty good. I’m not trying to ignore that, but the stuff we have in the podcast about them is very interesting and I wouldn’t want to spoil it. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Kyle Brown 2. Travis Bright 1. Harvey Unga Thanks again for listening and reading! Please feel free to contact us at comments@utahsportscast.com.

Episode 41 –The winner lost, and the losers won

Listen Here! This past weekend, the temperature for Utah sports was hot, cold, and lukewarm, all at the same time. The University of Utah football team was very hot, and looked virtually perfect as they trounced 11th ranked UCLA 44-6. Real Salt Lake managed a lukewarm 0-0 draw against Toronto, but considering they were down a man for most of the game and playing in Canada, the effort was hot. BYU’s offensive statistics were hot (they got in the end zone seven times), but the rest of the team was lukewarm at best (they still lost by more than a touchdown), and the special teams were downright cold. Utah State, sorry to say, is neither hot, nor cold. Following a 54-3 drubbing at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners, the only word to describe them is: bad. Not bad that they lost to the #3 team in college football – bad that the overwhelming defeat was expected by everyone. The question lurking in the midst of all this is: which of the many teams we have seen are the real ones? Is Utah the team that is capable of demolishing strong Pac-10 opponents? It wasn’t just a loss, either – Utah beat them in every possible way, and made UCLA hang their heads. Or are they the team that can’t manage more than one touchdown against a lesser-talented (but very hard-working) Air Force defense? Which BYU will take the field next Saturday – the team that worked over Arizona? Or will it be the team that racks up lots of offensive yards but also lots of penalties and turnovers? Even RSL has had flashes of brilliance in the midst of their dismal season. At least Utah State is consistent, even if it is consistently awful. The upcoming games will provide interesting tests for the two biggest college programs. Utah’s game will not be as much a test of athletic ability as an indication of preparation and concentration. The same team that can wipe out a significant Pac-10 school should have no problems with a bottom-of-the-pack conference foe. If Utah does play well and beat UNLV in Las Vegas, then we have reason to hope they could recover from a shaky start and produce a good-if-not-great season. The injuries have been significant, but Utah has shown that they have enough talent to make up for the missing players. The Cougars have a bit more significant of a test, hosting Air Force this Saturday. The Falcons are on a tear right now, having beaten the other two “elite” schools in the Mountain West Conference (Utah and TCU) in the past two games. If they could knock off BYU, that would complete the task and put Air Force as the standing favorites to win the conference. Among the problems BYU will face is that Air Force runs an unusual offense designed to keep opposing defenses off-balance. If that sounds familiar, consider this reminder: Tulsa 55, BYU 47. BYU’s defense has been questionable since the Arizona game, and their special teams are just bad. Field position is important when facing a ball-control offense like Air Force, and the Cougars have had their struggles winning that battle. On the other hand, the offense is still high-powered enough that they may just be able to outscore the Falcons. The bottom line is BYU needs to win this game, and if they can do it with convincing defense, the light at the end of the tunnel may not be a freight train after all. Our Top 3 in Utah for this week: 3. Nick Rimando 2. Darrell Mack 1. Robert Johnson There is much more on the podcast, and we hope you check it out. We would also love to hear from you at comments@utahsportscast.com. 

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Utah Sports Cast

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