Monday Morning Thoughts

Here we are on a Monday, but not just any Monday, the greatest Monday of the entire year (this claim is void if my wife's birthday or our anniversary is on a Monday)!! The best holiday of the year is this week, and the greatest rivalry in college football that the national chumps don't really care about is going to be played this Saturday in Provo. That makes today the beginning of rivalry week! On sports radio all you hear is former players telling great stories and ripping the other school, fans being belligerent and bold predictions that are sure to go wrong once they actually step on the field and knock heads. With that in mind lets get into what happened this weekend.

The NBA:
This weekend was a pretty good weekend to be a Jazz fan, the Jazz had a nice run of 3 straight wins, which included a win in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time in over a decade!! (Never mind the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli didn't play for the Spurs) The Jazz are looking a little bit more like a team that might be able to hold their own in the west. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they can compete with the Lakers or Nuggets, there are still a bunch of problems with this team. Paul Millsap is virtually worthless in about 4/5 games he has only played well maybe 3 times this year and sometimes the Jazz look like they were out partying until 5 in the morning and woke up just 1 hour before game time and dragged themselves down to the arena. With that said I really like what AK is doing out there and I still love the rookies, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor are playing well and contributing on a team that desperately needs them.

The NFL:
Some good football in the NFL this weekend. The Colts barely hung on in Baltimore, which is a good win, despite them not going to my boy Austin Collie very often (1 time in fact). The Saints blew the doors off the Bucs, which is no surprise. Both the Colts and Saints are 10-0. I can't believe that either team goes undefeated but just if they could, imagine the hype going into the super bowl if 2 teams faced off, both unbeaten! That would be great. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Vikings look awfully good, with the exception of not giving the ball to Adrian Peterson enough because Brett Favre is hogging all the glory. The Steelers and Bengals both suffered humiliating losses to the Chiefs and Raiders respectably. My fantasy team however continues to dominate moving to a 10-1 record with a close win this weekend.

MLS:
I know I know, everyone I have no intention of getting into soccer very often if ever, but Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup on penalty kicks last night. They were huge underdogs and beat a team that has Landon Donovan and David Beckham on it, so that is pretty cool. Good for them. (That is probably the last time we will ever mention soccer on this blog).

College Football:
There were some exciting games this past weekend, but as for the ones we care about, there were 4. TCU blew the doors off Wyoming despite playing awful. Good for the Mountain West, TCU now just needs 1 win to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth and if by chance Texas slips up a shot at the national championship. Boise St blew out Utah St, this game was tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the first half, and at half time it was 35-14 Boise St. Ridiculous outburst there, BSU looks good, but how about they play someone at least kind of good maybe. Utah slaughter-housed San Diego St, defense looked good, offense looked good, they are playing well. BYU meanwhile dominated Air Force. Max Hall looked good, Pitta looked better, bottom line here is that BYU's running backs are bigger than Air Force's defensive lineman, there is no way that a scenario like that ends well. Both teams are ranked in every poll, BYU is about 3 or 4 spots better in every poll. But throw it all our this weekend, this game will be a good one, I am not sure of the last time these two teams were more evenly matched. Should prove to provide some great fireworks this weekend. More will be coming over the coming days about the "Unholy War".

That's the View from the Upper Bowl for now.

Colts the new 49ers?

I have a very specific memory of loathing the 49ers when I was just a kid. I remember it as if it were yesterday.....trudging around in the snow during recess at Bennion Elementary School yammering to my BF Cory Jaynes about how much I hated Joe Montana and his stupid team from San Francisco wherever that was. At the time all they ever showed on TV was the Broncos and while I called myself a fan I only did it because I thought I needed a team of some kind.

Then....almost overnight....a miracle happened. Something made me love that team in red and gold and that something was Steve Young. Legendary coach Bill Walsh knew he had something in his backup QB from Brigham Young and didn't think twice about letting Montana go to Kansas City so that this run happy signal caller from the AFL could command his dynamic offense. All that hate and animosity vanished over the course of Young's first season as a starter simply because this guy was from my favorite college football team and even though I don't have any memory of him playing for the Cougars he had me wrapped around his little finger. Ever since I have always had a place in my heart for the niners even though I am a Colts fan through and through.

Now is a different day and a different era. The dominant teams have shifted somewhat and I wouldn't be shocked if there was a little boy trudging around in the snow last year complaining about how sick he is of hearing about the Indianapolis Colts. That Peyton guy is too good and when that receiver #88 catches touchdowns he never seems happy about it...just hands it to the official and acts like nothing happened. I mean crack a smile for God's sake!

Well guess what little boy? Consider yourself in the middle of a miracle cuz that receiver is gone and perhaps it's because the rookie coach Jim Caldwell knew that despite #88's gaudy numbers he was getting old and they had someone special in the midst to take his place. Son I present you with Austin Collie. You remember him right? The greatest wideout to ever play at your favorite school, BYU! You know, the one that won you over not only with his All Conference play, but with his refusal to shut up and say the right thing every time. I tell you the hate is ebbing. That Manning fellow is alright after all so long as he passes it to my boy #17. I can hear him already, "Dad will you get me that jersey for Christmas? I already cheer for one team in blue and white...what's one more? And if you draw a stem on that horseshoe and blur your vision a bit it looks much like the 'Y' I'm used to. Hell I can't remember why I disliked them in the first place."