Mark's Thoughts: The Best Sports Radio in Utah Volume II

Rating again the best sports talk radio in Utah...

Last year, I rated the best sports radio in Utah. Click here for a link to last year's rankings. There have been some substantial changes in the sports radio landscape. Yet, the basic battle still exists between the two major powerhouses of 1320 KFAN and 1280 The Zone. As far as popularity, 1320 KFAN is running away with it. Ever since David James and Patrick Kinahen jumped ship from 1280 The Zone to 1320 KFAN, 1280 The Zone's numbers have fallen steadily.

In last year's ratings I didn't include any of the national sports programs, such as: Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, and Mike and Mike in the morning. I wanted to stick strictly to sports radio in Utah. Here are head-to-head comparisons based on the shows time slot.

1320 KFAN - DJ & PK In The Morning (David James and Patrick Kinahen) 6-10AM
Vs.
1280 The Zone - The John & Hans Show(John Lund and Hans Olsen) 6-10AM

DJ & PK used to be the kings of all of sports talk radio. For many people they still are the kings; however, the best work of DJ & PK are behind them. These two mail in performances every day. It seems they have gone with the David Letterman philosophy of broadcasting. Find a bit which works, and then beat it into the ground until it just isn't funny or entertaining anymore. DJ & PK found that bit. Patrick Kinahen will say something obviously outrageous; David James will then play the straight man and try not to react to what Kinahen is saying. Kinhen will then continue to go further and further to cause some type of reaction from either James or the listening audience. They will continue this formula for the entire four hours of their show. There is nothing new, nothing good, and nothing entertaining about DJ & PK.

John and Hans on the other hand have come quite far since last year's rankings. John and Hans have excellent chemistry, and they are both hungry to bring something new and fresh to their listening audience each day. The show is entertaining no matter how long or when you tune into listen to it. John and Hans have also become better at getting good interviewees for their show. The qualities of their interviewees are still slightly behind PK & DJ; however, the actual interviews themselves are better on John and Hans. When I listen to an interview I want to know something new about the person who is being interviewed. I want someone who will bring out the personality of the interviewee. John and Hans have an ability to have better interviews with their guests, even if their guests aren’t as high profile as their competition. DJ & PK tend to just suck their interviewee into their broken worn out shtick.

I have always been a big fan of DJ & PK, but John and Hans are producing a better show than DJ & PK in the morning. It is still worth it to switch over to 1320 KFAN to catch a good DJ & PK interview, or during the commercials of John and Hans. Besides that John and Hans will keep you informed and entertained in the mornings. In fact, John and Hans might be the best sports talk show in all of Utah.

1320 KFAN - Powerhouse (Alema Harringtion and Scott Garrard)1-3PM
Vs.
1280 The Zone - Jake & Gunther(Jake Scott and Kyle Gunther) 10-2PM

It is hard to compare these two shows head-to-head, the shows only overlap for an hour. To keep the layout of the article simple, I will pair these two shows against each other.

Jake & Gunther is a newer sports talk show venture. The show is slanted to really have a University of Utah bias; however, I am actually like that part of the show. Why? They don't try to hide their bias, and they still are able to give somewhat realistic opinions in regards to BYU sports. They also have the ability to give excellent insight into the mind frame of the Salt Lake, University of Utah sports fan. If you are looking for a local program when everyone else has a national show, then try Jake & Gunther. Just don't have your expectations too high.

Powerhouse has improved since David Fox left the program. Scott Gurrard has always been a steady contributor to 1320 KFAN shows. Scott Gurrard is able to deal with Alema Harrington and keep the moving and topical. The program still has some serious problems, and is for the most part forgettable. This is definitely the weakest of the shows on 1320 KFAN.

Both Jake & Gunther and Powerhouse aren't amazing shows; however, there is potential with both shows. It will be worth tuning into both shows in the near future to see if either show could hit their stride.

1320 KFAN - Locked on Sports (David Locke and Ben Bagley) 3-6PM
Vs.
1280 The Zone - Monson & Graham (Gordan Monson and Kevin Graham) 2-6PM

I was in a long conversation on the golf course with my brother about David Locke. Locke is one of the most interesting sports personalities in Utah. He is also one of the biggest egos in all of Utah. My brother's opinion of the afternoon sports radio in Utah sums up my own view. My brother said, "I listen to Locke simply because you can't beat the information and interviews, but really beating out the other guys [Monson & Graham] is like being named the least smelly fat girl at the school dance.”

David Locke is an aggressive, pigheaded, egomaniac. He is also a stats geek, and has some real pull to bring in some big name interviewees (although it is hard to know how much you should credit Locke for the Interviewees he gets, and how much of that credit should go to his producers). Locke also will come with a new point of view every day. He will surprise people many times with a new point of view. The problem with Locke is the fact that he will constantly contradict himself trying to prove to people he is right. He refuses to admit he is wrong. If Locke had that ability of taking a small humble step back and look at himself and his opinions from a new point of view, then he would instantly improve his program. It doesn't bother me that Locke will stick to his opinion, but what does bother me is he will use simple shock techniques to try and drive his radio show and claim them as long held opinions.

For example, Locke has claimed to have a few "long held personal views" about BYU football. He has claimed that BYU has always been the flagship of the Mountain West Conference, and that they are far better than the other teams in the league. He has also claimed that BYU is the barometer of college football. BYU is always the same, "non-elite" program each year, and cannot be an elite level college football program. He has also claimed that BYU is enough of an elite program to go independent, and succeed against a tough BCS level schedule. He has also claimed BYU is not a BCS level program, and BYU could never play in a BCS conference. These are just a few examples of Locke’s long held opinions. Each of these opinions Locke presented with absolute certainty on his program, and disregarded the fact he changed his position multiple times. This is just an example with BYU football, but Locke has also done this with U of U athletic teams, and the Jazz.

Locke isn't a great host, nor is he really a great interviewer. The only interview which Locke succeeds at is the interview in which he is attacking the interviewee. Locke's interviews with Craig Thompson, Mountain West Conference Commissioner, are classics. Yet, listening to Locke host the Deron Williams show was a train wreck. Also personally attending a Utah Jazz fan event where Kevin O'Connor was answering fan questions, and having Locke try to steal the spotlight and ask his own question to Kevin O'Connor was dreadful. Kevin O'Connor finally had to take control of the event from David Locke, and fans were finally able to participate and have a good time.

The desire to be a good host is there for David Locke, and he seems to be a tremendous worker which also shows in his program. David Locke could be a lot better than he is right now, and it really wouldn't have to be major changes. For now Locke continues to be good only in small servings, otherwise he just turns annoying.

My wife couldn't stand sports when we first got married, but through hard work and patience she has become quite a sports fan. I have even got her to start listening to sports radio (She really likes John and Hans in the morning). She will actually choose to listen to sport radio even when I am not in the car with her. She will listen to about anyone in the market, except for David Locke. Her comments on Locke, "His [David Locke’s] voice is whinny and it gives me a headache when I listen to it." My wife dobbed Locke the “annoying radio guy,” and refuses to call him anything but that in conversations we have about him.

It will be interesting to see if Locke can handle both his show and the Jazz play-by-play duties, and bring in a wider Jazz audience.

David Locke's ego is only eclipsed by a single man in Utah, Gordan Monson. The problem Monson has is he just isn't as informed or entertaining as David Locke. Monson really is the ivory tower intellect of sports talk radio. He only sees things one way, and he is going to spew his wisdom down to the Utah masses like sweet flowery dew drops. All Utahns are supposed to accept his opinion as sports doctrine, rejoice in the fact that Gordon Monson even spoke his wisdom to them, and continue their pointless existences.

Pairing Kevin Graham with Gordon Monson has never been a perfect fit, even though Graham has brought some interesting segments to the program. "Susan the Truth Machine" is actually a good segment, and one which Kevin Graham engineered. Graham is about as high brow as an eighth grader in a farting contest. The only difference is the eighth grader probably has a deeper voice. This odd couple of the radio just isn't entertaining, nor is it worth tuning into listen to them.

(Side note: There is also an afternoon sports program on Kall 700 Sports - Bill and Spence (Bill Riley and Spencer Checketts). It really isn't fair to include them in the conversation about afternoon sports talk, they are really that bad.)

In the afternoon Locke is by far the best listening option in Utah. If you listen to Locked on Sports you are guaranteed to get new information, and also listen to quality interviewees. Is it the best show you could imagine? No, but is the best of what Utah currently has in the afternoon? Yes, clear winner.

1320 KFAN - Game Night (Ben Bagley) 6-7PM
Vs.
NOBODY

Ben Bagley might be the best part of Locked on Sports.Although not officially mentioned as a co-host, he is a voice of reason on Locked on Sports. He is a really good host of KFAN Game Night; a show which basically replays the best interviews and segments from the other programs on 1320 KFAN that day.Yet, Ben Bagley shows he is an excellent host, and good with opinions and insights.Ben Bagley might have the same appeal as the back-up quarterback, looks great until he is given the big job; however, right now Ben Bagley is great to listen to at night.I simply cannot see why they don’t have a show with both Ben Bagley and Scott Garrard.

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Mark's Thoughts: Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame Speech Gave Insight into What Made Jordan the Best

Jordan's hall of fame induction speech is getting a lot of negative reviews, and it seems that people didn't understand what they were hearing...

Just to let people know, I am not a Michael Jordan apologist. In fact, I hate Michael Jordan for what he did to the Utah Jazz in the NBA finals. He pushed off on Bryon Russell! The only vindication I have is every time Jordan's shot is replayed from the 1998 finals it proves he cheated. Yet, as much as it pains me to say it, by far Michael Jordan is the best player in the history of the NBA.

Jordan was unstoppable. Every time you watched Michael Jordan play you knew you were watching something very special. Jordan had the ability to raise his game to any occasion. If he needed to be a facilitator, then he was the perfect facilitator. If he needed to be a scorer, then you couldn't stop him from getting his points. Jordan had an understanding for the flow of the game. He knew when he needed to make big plays to change the momentum of the game. Jordan was also the best finisher the game has ever seen. The game was never over as long as Jordan was still on the court.

There is no questioning the greatness of Michael Jordan. Yet, after Jordan's speech at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, many writers are attacking the merit of his speech. Adrian Wojnarowski, of Yahoo Sports, a writer I have read a few times, wrote an article calling Jordan, "petty." Wojnarowski was amazed at how Jordan brought up taunts by Byron Russell and Jeff Van Gundy during his speech. Jordan also flew out Leroy Smith, the high school teammate who beat him out for the final spot on his high school varsity team when he was a Sophomore. "Worst of all," was the tag which Wojnarowski used to describe this move by Jordan. It was clear that Wojnarowski didn't approve of such a stunt by Jordan.

While Adrian Wojnarowski reported the facts of the speech quite well, I feel that he, and other sports writers criticizing Jordan's speech, missed a chance to see what made Jordan great.

I didn't watch Jordan's speech live, and I didn't intend to ever view it. I watched Stockton and Sloan's speeches and was very happy with the ceremony. I had only seen a few clips from Sportscenter from Jordan's speech and thought I had seen enough. My father though convinced me to watch Jordan's speech. He said, "If I were a coach of any sport, I would copy his speech and force my players to watch it. Jordan explained what made him great."

On this recommendation from my dad I decided to watch, and wasn't disappointed. What writers like Adrian Wojnarowski missed is what made Jordan great; it is his ability to motivate himself. While his stunts, stories, and jokes were petty, they were also incredibly revealing. Jordan was the most gifted player on the court whenever he was playing. For most players (like LeBron for example) this will lead to slacking off, and taking games off. The difference with Jordan is he found ways to stay hungry, and competitive.

Throughout his speech he went step by step and shared how he stay focused. His logic was undeniably flawed. What Jordan said made little sense to any sane person. Jordan is different from the rest of us, and he is definitely wired mentally in an unique way. For example, Jordan felt his roommate in college had slighted him because he was named North Carolina player of the year. Why? The award was given to his roommate without Jordan having a chance to play him. What appears to most people to be a silly statement by Jordan, is really what motivated him throughout college.

In the story shared about Bryan Russell, what many people missed is the long term memory of Michael Jordan. Bryan Russell at the time of the story was even more of a nobody than he is now. Most fans only remember Russell because he was the guy that Michael Jordan hit his final great game winning shot on. Russell was a young player, a second round draft pick, who was just trying to make it in the NBA. Jordan stopped by to say hello to John and Karl, and Russell talked to Jordan. Stop for a second, and think about how many times you have talked to some random friend of a friend? Do you remember him or what he said? Jordan remembered word for word a remark by a then scrub of a player, when he wasn't even playing basketball. A comment which Russell probably said without thinking. Yet, Jordan remembered it, and Stockton from his reaction to the story also remembered this conversation. This kind of recollection from Jordan was eerie, and boarded on psychotic.

Jordan joked during his speech, "What don't people know about me?" Strange enough he answered that question. He was great because he pushed himself more than any other player. Jordan would go further than what a normal person would find acceptable. He found ways to motivate himself, and trick himself into thinking he needed to improve his game to prove someone wrong. If that included waiting until his induction speech to fly out an old high school teammate, to prove to the teammate and old high school coach that he was right and they were wrong, then so be it. Michael Jordan will not be stopped by anyone but Michael Jordan.

Adrian Wojnarowski talked in his article about the great speeches of Robinson, Stockton, Sloan, and Stringer during the ceremony. All gave great and socially acceptable speeches. Robinson, Stockton, Sloan, and Stringer are all great, but they are no Michael Jordan. Just like his talent, Jordan gave a speech which only he could give. He also gave his secret to success to all those who were listening.

At the end of his speech he also used his secret to again give himself motivational fuel. Any other player mentioning the idea of playing in their fifties would be a clear joke. Jordan looked dead serious when he stated the idea of playing in his fifties. The laughter from the audience at the apparent joke will surely give Jordan more motivation to succeed at his future goals.

It is normal? No, definitely abnormal. Just like Jordan, not like the rest of us.

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Mark's Thoughts: Why I Love John Stockton's Game

Utah has a love affair with John Stockton. I give my reason's for why he is one of my basketball heroes...

John Stockton is about to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. One of the greatest point guards ever will join David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and Michael Jordan in what could be the best hall of fame class ever.

I only ever watched John Stockton as a fan. I have never meet the man, and frankly I almost would rather not. I don't know about John Stockton off the court, I only know what I saw him do on the court. His performance for the Utah Jazz is what makes him one of my sports heroes.

As I grew up watching John Stockton play, it was like getting a free lesson in how the game of basketball can be played by a master. I don't ever remember a single game in which John Stockton took a night off. Even on those rare nights that the Jazz were getting blown out, Stockton was still fired up on the bench. In the fourth quarter of blow outs you could tell he still wanted to get in the game and compete. He would stare off at the end of those blow out games with a look of shame. That look is one of the things that Stockton did, and you knew as a fan that whatever the problem with the team it would be resolved before the next game.

Stockton never liked to do interviews or be recognized for his accomplishments. When he set the record for the most career assists and the Jazz stopped the game to recognize him might have been the most awkward I saw him look. Stockton's assist record will never be touched, it is a huge accomplishment, and all Stockton wanted to do was keep playing the game. The only time that Stockton ever looked truly happy and celebrated was after he hit "the shot" in the 1997 Western Conference Finals. That celebration though was about the team.

Stockton took over that 1997 Conference Finals game. Malone may have been the work horse that the Jazz rode to set themselves up with the opportunity to go to the finals, but Stockton was always the player that put the team over the top. Stockton could not be denied in the closing minutes of the game against the Rockets. He was hitting amazing shots from strange angles, and destroying any player that would try to defend him. When Stockton got the ball at the top of the key, thanks to a "friendly pick" from Malone, Stockton was shooting to take the Jazz to the next level. After he hit the shot he wasn't running around banging his chest, or acting like he knew it was going in as soon as it left his hand. No, Stockton was jumping around happy to celebrate the moment with his team.

That was the best trait of Stockton, his game was about helping the other players on his team to be better. Looking back at the teammates that Stockton and Malone had during their run together on the Jazz is looking at a list of NBA mediocrity. Jeff Hornacek was the best player that Stockton and Malone had as a teammate. Yet, Hornacek really wasn't anything amazing. I know this is sacrilege to say, but Hornacek was really mediocre at best when he joined the Jazz. He was past his prime, and only had one good leg the entire time he was in Utah. John Stockton took these mid-level NBA talents and made them great. He would get players the ball in situations where they could get easy buckets. He was the best help defender the league has ever seen. He didn't care who he needed to help on the defensive end, Stockton had no fear, and would challenge any player.

The go to John Stockton story of former Jazz players is always the first conversation they would have with Stockton. Legend holds that Stockton would ask where they want the ball when he passes it to them, and that Stockton would hit that spot with pinpoint accuracy.

Stockton would also do the small things during a basketball game that would spring a guy for an easy layup. Many NBA players would always refer to Stockton as the dirtiest player they ever faced. This was due to the back screens that Stockton would lay on big men. This complaint always killed me. Power forwards and centers complaining about the screen of a little point guard. It was like hearing a rhino complain about a fly running into his side. The reason big men always complained about Stockton was because Stockton was the only player that would man up and set the screens.
He wasn't afraid of any big man. I still remember Stockton taking David Robinson by the jersey and body slamming him into the basket support. I also remember Stockton getting up off the court after receiving a vicious cheap shot from Chris Webber. Stockton was not going to be intimidated by any other player, ever.

The vision which Stockton possessed seemed to be magical. He could find ways of fitting passes into non-existent passing lanes. Stockton was always three or four steps ahead of the defenders. Stockton knew which way the defender would break, his own players preferences, and the right pass in each situation. He was also the master at drawing in defenders to him, and finding a way of passing the ball through traffic. His favorite target of course was Malone.
How Stockton played with Karl Malone was a thing of beauty. It was the best of both worlds. Stockton would reward teammates who worked, and nobody has a work ethic like Karl Malone. It is hard to separate the two of them in order to judge one without the other. Yet, Stockton's style and grit, matched with Malone's power and hustle was a winning combo. Also, it is not noted how Stockton was able to appease Malone's ego.

Karl it seemed would have some type of spat with management every year. It was said one year Malone was angry that the team voted for a team MVP, and Stockton won. That was the last year that the Jazz did a team MVP award, because Malone was that angry over being thought to be the second best player on the team. Stockton never challenged Malone for control of the team, he never thought of himself being overshadowed by Malone. In every interview he has done he always says how grateful he was to be paired with such a great player as Malone, and it seems they were friends on and off the court.

Another thing that people forget is how underrated Stockton's stats were when he was playing. Stockton's best statistical season was the 1989-90 season. Take a look at his numbers versus Steve Nash's first MVP year 2004-05.

Stockton(PPG 17.2 APG 14.5 SPG 2.6 FG% .514 3PT% .416)
Steve Nash(PPG 15.5 APG 11.5 SPG 1.0 FG% .502 3PT% .431)

Stockton's numbers were alway impressive, especially because he was able to sustain quality stats right up until he retired. There were too many other players who were seeking the spotlight, and deserved massive amounts of credit when Stockton was putting up his best numbers. Stockton just never received the praise he was worthy of during his playing career because he didn't seek the limelight. Utah, the media black hole, was the perfect place for Stockton to be great in peace.

It was amazing to see that Stockton could have played a score first game, and he could have increased his personal scoring every year. Yet, in increasing his own numbers and value he would have been hurting the team. Stockton was great because he was what a point guard was suppose to be, he was a leader. He humbled himself and accepted that if he took a personal hit on his stats, the Utah Jazz would win more games.

Stockton also knew when to get out of the game. He didn't go looking for a title, he didn't stay in the game too long, when it was clear that he lost a step Stockton walked away. He exited the game in the same way that he played, he simply said to reports, "I think I am done." He left his locker and called it a career. That is just the way that Stockton was when he played basketball. He played in his short "Stockton" shorts, and just because the fashion of the game changed didn't mean that Stockton would change the way he played or dressed. Stockton was one of a kind.

As Stockton goes into the Hall of Fame, he is taking with him the franchise that he helped to create in Utah. He is taking with him all the happy memories that he created in so many fans that watched him play. He is also taking with him the knowledge that he played the game the right way, and he made the game better while he was a part of it. Stockton might be overshadowed by Michael Jordan's enshrinement, but it seems that Stockton will be just fine with that. He will go about his business and let everything else play out around him.

Stockton taught a generation of Jazz fans to know what great basketball looks like, and the value of playing as a team. If my children ever want to learn how to play basketball, I will be showing them videos of Stockton leading the Jazz on the court.

I guess what I am trying to say is thanks John.

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Mark's Thoughts: What is Right About College Football

It seems that all anyone is talking about is what is wrong with college football, here are things that are right about it...

Columnists have been writing throughout the summer about what is wrong with the current landscape of college football. They have told us that the college football championship is a farce, that players are being paid under the table at major universities to play football, and coaches are throwing good college kids under the bus to further their careers. While many of these accusations are true, especially about the college football national championship game being a joke, it still doesn't hurt the game of college football. Why is that?

Other sports don't have the endurance of college football. NCAA football division I football has endured scandals of point shaving, steroids, cheating, arrests, and underhanded officiating (Both in the polls, different conference officials, and the actual officials at the games). Yet, it seems that the public is more ready to forgive the flaws in the system of college football.

Many writers have credited this forgiveness of college football to the actual major flaws in the system. Many have written that what makes the sport great is the corruption, the greed, and the flaws in the bowl system. They claim that these flaws cause people to talk about the game of college football, these flaws cause people to become passionate about the game, and these flaws shouldn't be changed or else the game of college football would fail. These "sports" writers simply do not understand the sport of college football. The game of college is football is great in spit of the flaws in the system. Changing those flaws would simply make a great sport even better.

What really makes college football great is the fact that it might be the highest level of pure sports that a person can watch. The majority of college football players will never be paid for playing football. For most players college football is the highest level of football that they will play. Every year in college football there are a handful of elite players, those players that even a casual fan see are special. Those players are going to play in the NFL, and are simply enjoying the short time they are spending in college football. The rest of the players are playing, more or less, for the love of the game of football.

Do the players get some compensation? Yes, they get a free education. Which for anyone that hasn't looked lately is quite a large chunk of money. Do all the players have a romantic view of playing football, and truly love the game? Of course not. Many players simply look at it as a business, and feel that the NCAA is using them like interchangeable parts in the big business of college football. Yet, there are far too many good players and good stories in college football, and the good outweighs the bad.

There have been stories, and players that have shown what it means to be a collegiate athlete. These are the players who play by the rules of the NCAA, they make themselves better through hard work and sacrifice. These are the coaches and staff that understand that although they might be fired for losing, they accomplished greater things if their players are living honorable productive lives after graduation.

Fans sense what is great about the sport of college football, which is why they support it even in its current flawed and corrupt state. The students see the players walk among them, and although the players are the big men on campus they still have to go to the same classes and face the same challenges of a normal student.

There are players that understand what it means to exemplify what it means to be a student athlete. Eric Weddle, former Utah players, now San Diego Charger, was one of those players. Brandon Gaskins at BYU is currently one of those players. LaVell Edwards is one of the great coaches to pass on the legacy of college football onto another generation, and Ron McBride, head coach of Weber State, is demonstrating he understands the purity of the game.

What other sport is there were every region has a team? What other sport has players which play on the team for at least four years? What other sport has given fans so many classic games, and upsets? What other sport allows all the teams to start, for the most part, equal, and allow a team to have a magical undefeated year? What other sport has produced so many local legends?

There is something special about the start of each college football season. It is important to remember the good about the sport, in order to be happy with what we see.

Sadly, the time of college football being the last alcove of pure collegiate sport is coming to a close as the greed grows in college football. College football is more likely headed towards paying players, more steroid scandals, more cheating, and even more conference elitism. All the average football fan can hope is that the sport, that we all love, can survive the stupidity of those currently at the helm of NCAA football. Let us enjoy what makes college football great, while it is still part of the game.

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Mark's Thoughts: The NBA is Broken Now What?

The NBA is in trouble, the problem is that the NBA doesn't seem to know it yet...

There is going to be a lockout in 2011. 21 of 30 NBA teams lost money this season. Arenas are empty, and advertising dollars are disappearing. There is going to be little alternative for the owners, but to force the player out and negotiate down the current economic model that exists in the NBA. The lockout is going to be ugly. The good news for the NBA is that it might not last long.

The NHL lost a season, and a TV contract to the lockout that it went through. The difference between the NHL and the NBA? Money. While the NBA generates far more revenues than the smaller NHL, the players in the NHL are more fiscally responsible in comparison to their counterparts in the NBA. Sports Illustrated wrote an interesting piece concerning the NBA players after retirement. Four out of five NBA players have gone bankrupt after retiring from the NBA. That number is shocking! Many of the players in the NBA who are making millions of dollars a year are living paycheck to paycheck. Explaining the now infamous Latrell Sprewell rant about having money to feed his family. Or Scottie Pippen running out of money after retirement and trying to come back to the NBA. The financial troubles of the NBA players will play to the favor of the owners in the NBA.

The owners can wait out the NBA players as they start to go broke due to their lack of funds. Half the battle that takes place in a labor dispute is the public perception of the dispute. Historically the side that conveys itself better to the general public is able to come out ahead of the labor disputes. With a weakening economy the public is already back lashing against the NBA. Ticket sales are down, ratings are down versus past years, and teams are bleeding money. How much of this is due to resentment of millionaires complaining about be under-payed can't be measured. Yet, if the new breaks that NBA players during the lockout are going broke, losing their homes, and can't support themselves, I don't know if there will be many public shoulders for the players to cry on. Even during the last labor dispute many players were short on cash, so the players banded together to raise so money. How? The players had a charity basketball game, yes charity money going to the downtrodden NBA player. Just as the game was terribly unpopular then, it would be an even bigger mistake for ex-millionaires to ask the public for a handout now. (Just ask any AIG employee how popular they are with their neighbors right now).

When the players are weak the owners will go in for the kill. The owners should ask for no guaranteed contracts, a hard salary cap, lower rookie salary scale, and a smaller increase in the pay scale for free agents. If the owners were smart they would use the crisis to reinvent the economic model of the NBA. They would take many tips from the NFL model, which includes a very weak players union. Sure the sport will take a hit. No fan likes to see game delay or canceled due to labor disputes. The NHL lockout almost killed the sport. Yet, the owners need to make some changes if they want to make the NBA into a profitable sports entertainment entity.

Is there anyway to avoid the lockout? Sure. In fact the players would come out way ahead if they willingly accepted some concessions to the current collective bargaining agreement. Not only would they end up with more money from the agreement, but they would also gain valuable PR points with the public. No lockout would mean the players wouldn't have to accept the bloodbath that would occur once they ran out of money and were force to cave to the owners demands. Also, if the owners were to reject the players compromises the public would side with the players, and the owners would lose all leverage of forcing all of their changes through during the lockout. Bottom line for the players, if the owners are making money then they will not make money. How much less will depend on how stubborn and stupid they are during negotiations.

In additions to the obvious economic ruin that the NBA is facing, the NBA needs to address other problems that is destroying the game.

• Poor officiating - The NBA suffers from a complete lack of constituency from their officials.  There is far too much variance from officiating crew to officiating crew, or even the same official will make different calls depending on the night, location, and players playing in the game.  The NBA still hasn't overcome the black-eye they received from the Tim Donaghy game fixing scandal.  The NBA was allowed to do a in house investigation, and the media just accepted it as a job well done.  There is no solid evidence of officials fixing games, but NBA officiating doesn't pass the smell test.  There is still something fishy about the manner that games are officiated.  
• Lack of team play - The NBA has created itself as a star-based-sport.  It is about seeing Kobe, Lebron, or D-Wade.  Yet, it makes for terrible basketball.  The Bulls-Celtics series is a great example of this problem.  How many times was a guy going one-on-four and simply crashing down the lane throwing up a garbage shot, and drawing a foul?  How many times die players jack up a terrible three point shot after dribbling out the entire 24 second shot without passing the ball?  Or How many times was the game sloppy and boring during the first three quarters of play?  The play on the court wasn't that great.  The series itself though was amazing.  Yet, a great series doesn't equal great basketball.  Bad basketball that happens to be close at the end of games does make for an interesting series to watch.  Too often the teams play down to a street type of basketball, and coaching doesn't help them become something more.  
• European Influence - Basketball is suffering from the European influence.  There is too much soccer in the sport now.  Flopping, lack of physical play, and tireless complaining.  All of this makes for a terrible product to watch.  
• ABC/ESPN has too much power - TNT is great.  If there was a way that TNT could do all the games for the NBA, then the NBA would be a better product.  ABC and ESPN forces story lines down the viewers throat.  They have terrible announcers, annoying studio crews, and awful television productions of the games.  (How many odd angles are the viewer force to see during a telecast?  I can just picture the producer in the TV truck. "I know let get a camera from the opposite corner, ankle level.  That way nobody can see what is going on in the game.")  ESPN has made sportscenter highlights more important than the actual game.  They endorse taunting, and showboating.  (It is hilarious all the times that they will show a player taunting or showboating, with some studio guy saying, "They shouldn't do stuff like this, we don't support it."  As Sportscenter then shows the clip about one to two hundred more times during the episode.  The point of a telecast is to show the actual game, and not to influence it.  Stop interviewing players before halftime, or the coaches between the breaks.  We will all be better off without those lack of insight interviews. 

There are many problems that the NBA need to fix to become a great sport again. It is frustrating to watch classic game from the 90's and 80's and see how great the game was, and then to watch the current product and see how they have nearly killed the golden goose. The NBA can be the most exciting and entertaining sport in the world, but they have to allow the game itself to take center stage.

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Mark's Thoughts: National Pride for Sports - Has the USA forgotten true national sports pride?

A change has occurred with USA fans and players, and it isn't a great thing...

I was watching the finals of the World Baseball Classic and was thinking about a lot of different things. Will this competition survive, although there is little support in the US to keep it going? Is the game of the South East Asian (small ball) better than the the game we see in the major leagues? Will Bum Ho Lee become a house hold name due to his clutch hit in the ninth inning of the WBC Finals? (Seriously, Bum Ho Lee joins my list of names that should be a FCC violation, right up there with Fukudome.) Yet, the question that kept going through my head was; how did we as US fans become so negative?

During the semi-final game between the US and Japan it was interesting to watch the US fans at Dodger stadium. It appeared that the fans had the same feelings that I did while watching the game. How in the crap is the US team losing to the Japanese? This is an embarrassment to be watching the US team come up short again. Why was I feeling this way about the US team? Frankly, because the US team is the team that is least like a team in the tournament.

Sure team USA put it together against the Puerto Rico team, and they were able to survive and continue. They dog-piled on top of David Wright and said all of the right things after the game was over about how proud they were to represent the country. Then after the game the team unity started to go away. The players with minor injuries went back to their teams and left an already shorthanded USA team in an even tougher position. It would have be great for the US team to call down another of their talented players to take the place of the injured, but most players already turned down the request to play for the national team. Why? They were afraid that they might injure themselves or that they just didn't want to give the effort to play that competitive of baseball at this time of year. Those players don't care about national pride, but really just care about themselves. That is the problem with the US teams in international play.

Seeing a US team, an all-star team, a team that really deep down just treats the tournament like another exhibition, really will never truly succeed on the international stage. Playing for your country means something to every other player on the other international squads. This emotion could be seen by the players for both Korea and Japan yesterday. The players that were willing to risk putting their full effort out there, even in the face of perhaps injuring themselves, for the honor of their country. The emotions that the Japanese players had after the victory, and the evident emotions on the faces of the Korean players as they glared from the dugout after the game proved that they were playing for their country. The biggest difference of all came after the game. Japan coming together, jumping up and down, throwing their manager into the air, and most importantly, turning down the pre-made T-shirts and hats that the US staff were trying to hand out to the players.

The Japanese players weren't playing for their own glory, they didn't want to put on the fake T-shirts and hats, and spray each other with champagne to prove how great of players they were and to bask in their own greatness. No they wanted to keep their uniforms on, because those were the uniforms that they were representing the entire tournament. Team Japan was playing for the Japanese, and not for themselves. This mentality was rewarded by the fans in the stadium, and by those thousands gathered together for both teams in their own country.

That is the mentality that is missing from both the US players and the fans of the US national team. Call is arrogance, or capitalism, or lack of patriotism, but something is missing from the US fans and players. Not all fans are like this, and I wouldn't want to put all the players from Team USA in the same category; however, there is a difference and it is making less of our fans and players to lose what the Japanese and Koreans have in bulk. Even if their fall in defeat. National Pride!

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Mark's Thoughts: The World Baseball Classic is Here Again

What is not to like about the WBC?

Three years ago baseball started a great experiment. A World Cup style format to showcase the global interest in their game. The result was a success. The tournament had better than expected ratings. The teams were well represented (not including Italy which was a joke four years ago). The players seemed to enjoy representing their countries, and the atmosphere for the games were electric in some cases in 2006. The World Baseball Classic takes everything that is great about the FIFA World Cup and makes it better. The WBC does this by playing a superior sport. If the WBC is managed correctly, then the WBC could be an international event in the coming years that the world would celebrate.

The one great argument that opponents of the WBC constantly use is the affect of playing in the WBC has on players performances for their MLB teams, especially how the WBC affects pitchers and their performances. What is the difference between the players training and playing with their MLB teams for spring training or practicing and playing for their country during the same time as spring training? The biggest difference might be that the players who train for their countries will come into the season in better shape compared to the players that went to spring training. Is there a greater chance of injury for players playing in the WBC compared to meaningless spring training games? NO! The players have the same chance of injury in either venue, and both teams have a staff of doctors that wouldn't want to risk the future of the players by overplaying them.

Early March is a great time to hold the tournament. There is a dead zone in sports at the present moment. March Madness is right around the corner, but the end of the season is dragging to a close before conference tournaments. Opening day is still a month away. Then baseball is only intense for the first month before teams settle in for the long marathon season. The intensity only returns during the latter part of the pennant race. To have intense competitive baseball played in the dog days of March is just great timing.

Baseball fans can also follow the drama of who will represent which country in the tournament. The social and political pressure used by certain countries to get their players to play. There is also the insane pressure placed on team USA to not only win the tournament, but with the tournament convincingly! If the USA enters any baseball tournament second place is a huge failure.

Could the teams be better? Sure, a lot of the bigger names in baseball decided not to play this year. Yet, the baseball that was played three years ago was pure, intense and fun. If you missed watching the WBC three years ago, then be sure to watch in this year.

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Mark's Thoughts: Five Unheralded Things That Need to Change About Sports

The start of a list of many things about sports that need to be changed, but items that aren't being talked about...

There are some major things that need to change about the world of sports.  The BCS, the Designated Hitter, NFL overtime rules, voters in the college football polls being uninformed, star treatment for NBA players, and so on.  These are major problems that do need to be addressed; however, they have all been discussed by many writers.  I would like to start to compile a list of things that need changing in sports that have yet to be addressed at any great length.  

1) There needs to be an increase of quality nicknames in the world of sports.  There is just a huge lack of good nicknames in sports.  There are a few, but the problem is the majority of them belong to Shaq.  The other nicknames are just shortening names, or using initials. For example, LeBron, CP3, Manny, A-Rod, etc. The excessive marketing that has encompassed sports might be one of the reasons that nicknames have gone away. Poor nicknames are forced down the throats of fans by announcers, ESPN, and marketing executives. No longer are nicknames able to come about naturally. It would be nice for nicknames to come about, and then for the nickname to be used by commentators and commercials.

2) Arenas need to stop selling beer at halftime. Too often people come to the game after drinking up a storm at a restaurant or bar and sit down with a beer in each hand. Then at the end of the third quarter comes the run to get another two beers for the last quarter. I don't know if the limiting of the beer sales at halftime would cut down on alcoholic incidents.

3) Leagues and conferences need to stop creating networks and placing quality games on those networks without first having a way to have those networks seen by a wide audience. The problem is not just the Mtn. or the NFL network, but every network that has been created by a league or conference to date. It seems that these networks never learned the lessons of the Internet or mortgage collapse. You can't just want something to be profitable and magically it becomes profitable. Let the people see the network, and have it be a good product.

4) The NBA is just too nice. What happened to the intensity that used to be on the court, and the anger that can be seen from players after they lose games? It just seems that too many players are just playing to collect a paycheck. The problem isn't that the players are making too much money, this same problem of people not caring about what they are doing exist at all workplaces. It is frustrating to see people mail in performances regardless of what profession that they do, but it is very frustrating when it comes from performers who are paid to come and give it their all for the entertainment of others.

5) Innovations in broadcast and improvements in sports shouldn't be stopped due to a blanket argument of "purity of the game." Hockey is a really good example of this fact. In the 1990's hockey had an argument that it was one of the top sports in America along with the NBA, MLB, and NFL. Yet, hockey really made a lot of mistakes. One of the major mistakes they did make was trying to cater their sport to fanatical base. In the nineties the NHL was trying to make changes to make hockey more watchable; however, the "hockey purists" didn't like the changes and constantly complained about it until the league altered the changes they made that improved the watch-ability. The league didn't try to attract new fans to the sports, and hockey has suffered ever since. There are things about sports that shouldn't change. There just needs to be a better reason for keeping them than because of the "purity of the game."

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Mark's Thoughts: After BYU Loss...Now What Happens?

With the bar set so high with the expectation of a perfect season, now what happens after a loss?

The Horned Frogs kicked BYU's butts. It was that simple. TCU looked faster, stronger, and more focused during last nights game. A shell shocked BYU team left the field last night with their heads down. Now the important question needs to be raised, now what? This question can be asked to all members of the football team, coaching staff, and even fans. What is left to look forward to this football season?

The goal going into this season for BYU was to make it into a BCS bowl game. To accomplish that goal, BYU knew that they needed perfection. BYU decided to schedule down, and give themselves the best chance of going undefeated during the season. The advantage to scheduling down was the ability for BYU to win every game that they played, the disadvantage was that even one mistake during the season would be devastating.

After the loss to TCU does BYU still have a chance at going to a BCS bowl game? There is always a chance, but realistically NO. BYU is going to be hurt by the computer element of the BCS rankings; however, BYU was planning on the human polls counteracting the poor computer ranking. BYU is going to fall a long ways in the human polls this week. (Even having a chance of falling completely out of the polls altogether.) BYU has a long shot scenario of making it into the BCS that would roughly included: Utah beating TCU and winning out until the BYU game, all other undefeated non-BCS teams losing, BYU winning out and beating a top ten Utah team decisively to end the season, and the Big East/ACC continuing to struggle and their champions being unranked. In that scenario BYU would have a chance of climbing into the top 15 in the BCS ahead of a BCS champion giving themselves an automatic bid. This is a possibility, but it doesn't look likely.

Plus, could BYU handle a BCS bowl bid this year? BYU's secondary was exposed. The entire season people have wondered how BYU would fare when they faced a team that could pass the ball. Last night BYU finally ran into a team with the ability to consistently pass the ball. The majority of the time BYU's secondary wasn't within ten feet of the receivers making the catch, and TCU exploited Howard attacking him all night with more talented receivers. The real problem for BYU is TCU is not a great passing team. Before last nights game TCU's Dalton had ZERO passing touchdowns, but he had two against BYU. Dalton could have had more if TCU's receivers didn't drop easy touchdown throws. If BYU was facing one of the many quality passing attacks from the Big 12 the game would be ugly.

Also the offense has struggled the last 11 quarters. What happened to BYU's offense after the bye week? BYU had one good quarter against Utah State, struggled against New Mexico, and was shut down at TCU. The play calling has been terrible! It seems that BYU forgot that the best offense player on the field is Harvey Unga. After not running early against New Mexico, BYU went away from the run against TCU. With only 14 carries, Unga averaged almost four yards a carry, but was left on the shelf for most of the game. Hall has lost his rhythm, and has tried to force many throws in the last three games. Hall has four interceptions and two fumbles in the last three games. TCU was the first team that was able to apply pressure to Hall, and Hall looked unable to respond.

With a single loss BYU no longer controls their own destiny. TCU is now in the drivers seat for the conference championship. Utah, also controls their own destiny and would be in the conference drivers seat with a win over TCU. Bronco Mendenhall has the task of keeping his team from getting down on themselves, and to motivate them to reset their goals to winning another conference championship. While all the players have been saying the right things, that the conference championship has been the real goal and they don't worry about the BCS, it is clear that was merely a talking point. Of course all players knew they had a chance to play in a BCS bowl game, or knowing that they had a shot at playing in a BCS title game. Now Bronco needs to refocus them for the rest of the season.

Coach Mendenhall said all of the right things after the game. He acknowledge his own fault in getting the team ready to play, and took the blame off of the players and other members of the coaching staff. He now needs to sell the team that they need to prove this loss was a fluke. That by winning out the remainder of their games they have a chance to not only win another conference title, but they have a chance (however long the odd may be) of getting back into the BCS.

It might be easier to sell that message to the players than the fans of the team. BYU fans have been expecting a BCS run since BYU beat UCLA in the Vegas Bowl last year. Now BYU needs help to get back to the Vegas bowl. Even if BYU wins out, the Armed Forces Bowl might be the best bowl offer they receive. The Armed Forces Bowl is a big step down from the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl. With a very bad home schedule remaining, it will be interesting to see if some fans decide to stay home instead of gutting out the cold for the remainder of the season.

BYU should be able to win every game they have left on their schedule, but it won't be easy. UNLV next weekend could prove to be a trap game for BYU if they aren't recovered from the TCU beat down. UNLV has the talent to play with any team in the conference any weekend. I think Bronco will have BYU ready to play, but if not they could have their hands full with a good Rebels team. Even getting by the Rebels, BYU still has three tough road games. They play Colorado State, Air Force, and Utah all on the road, and none of those are going to be easy wins on the road.

Yet, when all is said and done, BYU just needs to beat Utah!

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Mark's Thoughts: The Economics of College Football

Why was the Oregon State win over USC so satisfying?

I was thinking about the USC vs Oregon State game for the hundredth time this morning, and smiled again thinking about it. I have never hated USC at any point; in fact, I think Pete Carroll is a very classy coach and Steve Sarkisian (former starting QB for the 1996 BYU Cotton Bowl team) is one of my favorite players ever. Yet, there was something about the game on Thursday night that was very satisfying to watch.

One element that made this game satisfying to watch is the current economic crisis that we face in America. Law makers are making the news circuit rounds telling citizens about a $700 billion bailout program for the banking system and Wall Street. Just hearing the number 700 billion is meaningless. Virtually no American can even comprehend that amount of money. Sure cable news stations will keep telling us how many things you could buy for that amount of money. (My favorite is the fact that for that amount of money every man woman and child in the US could have 2,000 McDonald's Apple Pies. I really want to meet the person that came up with that number, because they must love McDonald's.) Even with that money taken away from us (The American tax-payer) and given to corporations to buy their bad debt, there is no guarantee that it will fix the United States economy.

(Not to get too political, but...)
I view the current crisis as if we were out at sea on a coal driven steam ship during a hurricane, and the ship just ran out of coal. There needs to be a decision made on the ship for how we want to ride out the storm: do we start breaking down pieces of the ship to fuel the fire or do we let the engines stop and hope that everything takes care of itself. Either way, there is no guarantee that the ship will survive the storm, and either way it will take damage. Also, the facts remain that the Captain should have avoided putting us in the storm, brought more coal to power the ship, or better yet provided a more modern ship, than a coal-driven ship, for us. Yet, in the middle of the storm those facts don't matter. The simple choice remains destroy part of the ship to save the whole ship or keep the ship whole and let the storm play out. I would prefer to start breaking down the ship to feed the engine and give myself a fighting chance to survive the storm. It might not work, but I trust my own hands that I can see, rather than the "invisible hands" of nature. I believe that work will be rewarded, and that there are calmer seas on the ocean to be reached.

Even with the hope of the better days to come, the anger of the present situation remains. Why do these companies, who already have the most resources, need to get all the advantages in the current economic system?

USC is that elite corporation. USC is the AIG of college football. They are four deep at every position with high school stand-outs. They have future first round draft picks everywhere on their roster. They have two or three Heisman Trophy candidates every year. They are in a conference that fiscally rewards them regardless of whether they play well or if they don't. They are the national media darlings, before the game ESPN analysts were saying USC might be the best college football team ever. They gave Oregon State no chance to win the game, and were looking ahead to JANUARY and speculating about who USC would play in the National Championship Game. (ESPN's Herbstreit kills me when he won't speculate on "BCS Busters" until they have 8 or 9 wins (although he wasn't afraid to speculate about Fresno State or East Carolina "His BCS Busters") but Herbstreit is more than willing to speculate about the National Championship game in September...hypocrite!) With all of the advantages that USC has in college football today it was good to see them go down to Oregon State.

It was great to see Jacquizz Rodgers, the 5' 7" Oregon State running back, pile up 186 yards on the ground against the supposed best defense in the country. Oregon State coach Mike Riley said, "I guess they have about five first-round picks in their front seven, but our guys blocked them OK tonight."

To witness the Oregon State's defense shutout the Trojans in the first half and only giving up 10 yards to USC's talent running back Joe McKnight was really amazing.

Seeing a sea of orange storm the field and seeing the Trojans in their white uniforms to flee the field was extremely satisfying. Seeing this scene was especially satisfying due to the "Main Street" class that Oregon State fans had when interacting with the USC players. While I can't speak for every fan, the fans that passed USC quarterback Mark Sanchez on his way off the field stopped to share their thought with him. Instead of taunting Sanchez fans would pat his shoulder pads/his back and say things like, "good game," or "keep your head up." Whether these comments were sarcastic or not, it still shows the "Main Street" values and class of those fans.

Mark Sanchez's reaction going up the tunnel after the loss was the best example of the elite mentality at USC. In disgust over the outcome of the game he threw his mouth guard against the wall. That level of frustration is very understandable considering what had just happened to the Trojans on the field. Yet, the more interesting thing was the fact that Sanchez didn't even give a look back to see where his mouth guard landed. Instead an equipment manager raced around on the ground grabbing and caring for mouth guard, which must have been as fun for that equipment manager to pick up as someone's used gum. Sanchez didn't think about the consequences of his action, because he knew that it would be taken care of for him. That is what happens when you play at USC.

The fall of USC shows just how close the non-BCS schools are to the "Mighty Elite BCS" schools. Just as the current economic crisis shows how close the average American is to the elite businesses in the US. The national media will continue to prop up their flawed BCS system. The claims will still be made that the "Elite BCS Programs" would destroy any team that the non-BCS teams could offer; however, another lesson the current economic crisis has taught is just because something looks good on paper doesn't mean it means anything in reality. There is a reason games are decided on the field by players, and not by analysts in studios.

The USC's of the college football will get second chances. If USC puts this game behind them and wins the rest of their games they still have a chance to play in a BCS bowl game or even the National Championship Game. The national media will complement how they overcame adversity or giving excuses for the loss calling it a "fluke." Yet, the non-BCS schools don't get a governmental type hand out from the national media if things go wrong. In the current college football structure if a non-BCS school drops a game regardless of circumstances the best they can do is play in a lower bowl game, and most likely drop out of the polls completely.

That is why I smile thinking about the Beaver's victory on Thursday, because they rose up by themselves and proved everyone wrong. Just as Utah did in 2004, Boise State did against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and Appalachian State did at the Big House last year; Oregon State proved they could stand up and do the unthinkable. Sure Oregon State is in the PAC-10, and they are part of the establishment that is building up the paper giants like USC; however, Oregon State is much closer to the non-BCS teams than they are to the BCS elite. In this time of crisis it is nice to smile and say, "GO BEAVERS!!!"

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Mark's Thoughts: Are the Utah State Aggies Lost for the Year?

This weekends game against Idaho might be the make or break game of the season for Utah State...

Where do the Aggies go after the 58-10 loss at the hands of the University of Utah? The Aggies are now 0-3. This outcome shouldn't come as any shock to people looking at their schedule before the season. Looking at the first five games the Aggies only had one that looked like a very winnable game. This weekend's contest against the University of Idaho. There was also a game in which they could compete for the win. That game was the home opener against UNLV. The other three games all were against ranked opponents: Oregon, Utah, and BYU. The Aggies haven't just dropped the games against Oregon and Utah, they were never in those games at any point.

With the Aggies being 0-3 it is very important for them to get a win at home against Idaho. A loss to Idaho could spell disaster for the remainder of the season. Coach Guy needs to prove that his program is heading in the right direction. It is very hard to sell that your program is heading in the right direction when you use the word "embarrassing" to describe your loss to the Utes, or saying your team is back at "ground level." If Coach Guy wants to have times to see the program turn around, then he must win this game against the Vandals.

It will be interesting to see how the Aggies play against the University of Idaho. This will show if the Aggies have raw talent that needs time to grow, or if they just don't have anything and need to blow up the current program. Attitude will be a key part of this weekends game.

While watching the Utah State game against Utah, it seemed like the Aggies weren't playing to win the game. They didn't come out with much energy and were content to take what Utah was going to give them in the game. Even when the Aggies got a lucky bounce and capitalized on great field position, they didn't use that momentum to create a sense that they could win the football game. It looked like the Aggies didn't think they had a chance, and played scared.

Against the Vandals the Aggies should be favored at home. In turn it will be interesting to see if the players come out with a swagger that this is a team that they should be able to handle. With that attitude the players will be making plays, and recovering from mistakes.

Getting a game in the win column is very important for the confidence of the team for the remainder or the season. Even though the first five games for the Aggies appear difficult, the remainder of the season doesn't get easier. After the BYU game the Aggies head out on the road to face a good San Jose State team, and Nevada. Both of those games are against opponents that Utah State should be able to compete with for a victory. Although it is always difficult to win on the road. Especially if the Aggies are still trying to win the first game of the season. Getting that first win would allow for them to play without the added pressure of a win less season.

Fresno State and Hawaii then come to Logan, both games that would be hard for the Aggies to pick up a win. Then the Aggies go on the road to face Boise State. It is hard for any team to beat the Broncos on the smurf turf. The last two games of the season for the Aggies start at Louisiana Tech, and home against the Aggies of New Mexico State. The schedule isn't favorable for the Aggies, with most of their winnable games coming on the road.

Yet, all of those winnable road wins become even more difficult if the Aggies don't pick up the first win of the season against Idaho this weekend. Realistically if the Aggies pick up a win this weekend; four wins isn't out of the question this season for the Aggies. Likewise if the Aggies drop this game against the Vandals, the Aggies might be playing New Mexico State at the end of the season in hopes of not going win less.

The time for moral victories came and went for the Aggies. There isn't a lot of positive things that have happened for the Aggies on the field this season. Yet, the time to save the season is this Saturday. The game against the Vandals is really the make or break game of the season not only for the Aggies for this season, but perhaps for the head coaching career of Coach Guy. The season can be turned around, but it must start this weekend.

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Matt's Brain Stowell'n Questions

Lots of lists to be formed in this weeks Q&A...

Well Mark another great week of college football coming up tomorrow, cats vs. dogs up in Washington, I expect a big win from the cougs. But my questions aren’t going to be focused on the cougs this week. This weeks questions will be more focused on classics. So for my first question.

1. Last week when I woke up and heard the opening theme song for college football chills ran up down my neck as a tear rolled down my cheek, and then earlier this week I was watching some classic Jazz games and heard the intro for the NBA on NBC’s theme song and thought man this brings back some good memories. There’s just something about these songs that just get ya going. So what are your top 5 theme songs for intros to shows? Here are some to chose from: NBA on NBC, NFL on FOX, Sunday Night Football on NBC, Monday Night Football, Election 08 MSNBC, NFL on CBS(Matt’s favorite), NBA on FSN, NBA on TNT, NBA on ESPN, ESPN College Football, SportsCenter old school, SportsCenter new theme, College Football on ABC, MLB on FOX, NHL on NBC, Olympics on NBC, NBC Nightly News, NHL on ESPN, and CBS College Basketball.

The five best themes that I enjoy from your list, in no particular order, would have to be:
Monday Night Football

Sunday Night Football on NBC

NBA on NBC

NBC Nightly News

ESPN SportsCenter old school


Other that aren't from the list that I enjoy, and are worth looking into include:
ESPN Baseball Tonight
ABC Wide World of Sports (classic edition)
The Colbert Report
Meet the Press
ABC Nightly News (because if this music interrupted your regularly scheduled programming you know it is a big deal)


2. What are your top 5 all time favorite sports video games?

I have actually written about this question before about the greatest sports video games. Here is a link to that story http://thebigpodcast.blogspot.com/2007/11/marks-thoughts-10-best-sports-video.html . Yet, I would like to modify the top five on that old list. Here is the new top five rankings:

5) RBI Baseball (NES) - RBI is still the best baseball game that was ever made. It kept the game simple; however, the pitching had enough variety to make the game interesting. Each player was unique, and the management of the roster was key to winning the game. RBI is just as enjoyable now as it was when it originally came out.

4) Mike Tyson's Punch Out (NES) - Another example of the advantages of keeping the controls of a game simple. Anyone can play this game and enjoy it, but the AI on the game made it extremely difficult to beat. The game also max out the sound track ability of the original NES system. Plus, being able to say that you beat Mike Tyson was a real badge of honor among closet nerds.

3) Wii Sports (Wii) - I tried to find a reason to leave this game off the list, and I just couldn't find a single reason. How many times before the Nintendo Wii did you hear of grandparents wanting to play video games? Now Wii bowling tournaments are common place in retirement communities.

2) Madden/NCAA Football (Every system) - I was going to keep these two franchises separate; however, the game play is so similar that there really is no reason. It is more of a matter of preference of whether a person enjoys college or pro. Either way these games are a must have on any system. Plus, the online play eliminates the displeasure of endlessly destroying the AI 100-0. Now you can have a challenging game anytime that you turn it on. This franchise will one day have the top spot on the list.

1)Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) - The best sports game ever made. The development of a play book, the ability to throw to more then one receiver, diving on defense, and the start of the kicking game in video games. This was the forerunner of football video games. Yet, you could still play this game now and it is just as enjoyable as when it first came out.

3. Top 5 memorial Jazz moments of all time? My favorite...



My five most memorial Jazz moments would have to be, again in no particular order:

-Frank Layden giving the halftime report about the Houston Rockets during the 1996-97 Western Conference Finals. The Jazz/Rockets rivalry had reach its high point of the 90's and it was absolute war on the court. There was nothing but pure hatred between the two teams, and Frank was showing every ounce of his Jazz pride during halftime. He went into the commentary about finding the weakness of the other team and exploiting it. The Rockets had a point guard that wore a rather large knee brace during the series, and Frank wasn't going to let that slip by. "What do we know about this guy? He's got a bum knee (as he circled the Rockets PG's brace multiple times, John Madden style on the telestrator) and we should be running him into the ground..." The best part of this commentary was that all Jazz fans felt this pure hatred for the Rockets and really wanted to beat this poor guys knee to a pulp. Classic Layden.

-I was at Jazz game with my buddy Jake (Matt's brother) the year after Stockton retired. The Jazz had surprised the entire league and was in the playoff race. The game was coming down to the wire, and the Jazz needed a bucket. All night Ostertag had played awful, and I was making my feelings known about the disgust I was feeling towards his play. With the game on the line the Jazz ran an isolation play for Tag about ten feet away from the basket. As soon as he touch the ball I lost it. I just started going off about what a terrible decision it was to run that play, and how the game was over. There was no hope of Tag doing anything with the ball ten feet away from the basket. To my surprise Tag turned and fired in a line drive sky hook at the top of the key that banked in, and he was fouled on the play setting up a three point opportunity. Everybody in my section went nuts cheering, and then turned and verbally assaulted me for losing faith in Ostertag. As if Tag was an offensive machine that never missed. I think Jake laughed for about twenty minutes over how bad I was attacked by angry Ostertag supporters.

-Hearing the "He's the enemy now speech..." from Karl Malone live on the radio. That speech from Karl was a classic.

-Being in the arena when Karl Malone reach the number two spot on the all time scoring list.

-The shot by Stockton. It still brings a grin to my face, and I think it always will.

For an added bonus the five memories I wish I could erase

-MJ's shot.
-MJ's steal on Karl before the shot.
-Finding out that Stockton retired when I was in Brasil.
-David Bennoit/B. Russ/Chris Morris/random white guy Jazz player trying to take over games by jacking up three pointers in the corner.
-Game 4 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals and the terrible officiating (Steve freakin Javie!!! I will curse that name until I reach the grave.)

4. With the Office returning here in a few weeks, what are the best Dwight moments?

I really like the Jim's Pranks on Dwight. Here is a best of video:


5. This new Forever Strong movie looks like it’s going to be pretty sweet. It’s the story of an LDS seminary teacher who became a championship Rugby coach for Utah's Highland Rugby team. He coached them to over 18 national Rugby championships. His story was published in the LDS Church News, and his extraordinary success caught the attention of a movie production company. It comes to theaters September 26th. http://www.foreverstrongmovie.com/. I like how they have Rudy in it. And speaking of Rudy what are some of your favorite classic sports movies?

After watching the preview the movie looks like it might be good; however, that sure didn't look like Highland High School in the preview, but I could be wrong. Here are some classic sports films I love:
-Rudy
-Field of Dreams
-The Natural
-Karate Kid
-Hoosiers
-The Legend of Bagger
-Rocky (Any movie in the series but V)

All classic movies.

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Mark's Thoughts: Olympic Gymnastics Judges

Judging the Judges(A happy Birthday to me edition)...

What does it take to be an Olympic Gymnastics judge? When you think crooked, lying, shifty, and self-serving; you think of politicians. Bill Clinton for example. (Another August 19th birthday, happy birthday Mr. President) Unless it is an Olympic year, in which case gymnastic judges take center stage. Think about these soulless men and women. Before them are mostly sixteen year old girls, (unless they are judging China's sub-16 or Germany's plus-33 gymnasts) who have dedicated their entire lives to competing at this level. They have been removed from normal life either voluntarily (US gymnastics) or for the betterment of the country (Chinese gymnastics). They perform amazing, other worldly performances, only to have to stand and wait for a score that is only partly based on the routine they performed.

Judges seem to base their scores on many different factors. Some judges base their scores on feelings towards the gymnasts nationality. This Explaining the Eastern-European/Eastern-Asian judges uneven scoring. There are judges that base their scores on where the competition is being held. This accounting for the major judging errors occurring in favor of the China in this year's Olympics. Then there are the judges that merely take money or have person vendettas that influence their scoring. In other words, the average gymnastic judge would say and do things that would make Simeon Cowell blush. The odd thing is the sport is built on the idea that controversy will occur, and that is one of the appeals of the sport. The soap opera like judging system keeping people watching waiting for the next disaster to take place.

This strict and unfair scoring system leads to more emotions from the gymnasts. The only thing the gymnast can do is try and perform their routine perfectly. They know that any little error in the routine, and they will be bashed to pieces by judges who are looking for opportunities to take points away. So when mistakes do happen the emotions and tears come to the surface of the gymnasts, making for great drama. Even when the gymnast perform their routine perfectly it still isn't a guarantee they will do well in the standings. The scores are based so much on the difficulty rating that gymnasts can make multiple mistakes/fall and still score better than a flawless routine at a lesser difficulty.

How can we stand for such injustice? Good thing this type of thing only happens in gymnastics every four years. Oh...wait. That's right we follow the BCS. It has all the same elements. It rewards teams with lesser records because they play "more difficult" competition. The rankings are filled with bias from coaches in the same division who are looking to inflate the difficulty of conferences to save their jobs; to sports writers that have school colored glasses on. (Dick Harmon is a great example of this) There is also the influence of ESPN over the voters, and the decision makers of the BCS. Why do they do it this way? They do it for the money. They want to build the drama during the regular season. If you have a system designed to help some and hurt others, it drives people to watch the polls more from week to week. It causes fans of the schools cheated in the BCS process to speak out. They know the system they have will cause controversy and that is why they follow it. It creates the drama that people crave in sports.

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Mark's Thoughts: What is Worse Computer Crash or Lack of Sports

My computer went down hard, but it would have been easier to bear with some sports to watch...

The blue screen of death.

Yes, everyone knows the screen that Bill Gate's designed to basically tell you that your computer is about to kick the bucket.

That blue screen of death came over my notebook computer yesterday, and instantly my computer croaked! Needless to say that I was a little upset about what occurred. Especially about the timing of the crash, right before midterms. (Yes, for all of the reader that don't know I am still in college, and I am taking a heavy load of class during the first half of the semester. This is also an explanation for the lack of consistent postings since mid May.) I would take my notebook to school, and all of my notes for all of my classes were on that machine....

What was worse about this experience was the fact that I had to make the tech support phone call. Which is somewhere between being forced to work with anyone on Top Chef this season (seriously! It is as if the producers thought, lets get the worst human beings we can find that are also chefs and have them on the show) and having to remove my own kidney. To my relief, I didn't get transferred overseas for the call. That alone cut two hours off an all ready long two and a half hour tech phone call. The good news after going over the computer with the tech guy. I might be able to save some of my files, and my computer is still under warranty(thank goodness!). The bad news, although it is possible, it will be a miracle if I am able to get any of my files off.

So Billy boy won this round, and Vista takes adds to its list of casualties. Yet, during the phone call, of which the larger duration was spent on hold, all I could think about is it would have been nice to have some sports to take my mind off the computer.

What?!? But Mark, there is the NBA Finals, isn't that the best of basketball?

Sure I admit I will be following the Finals, but the match up seems way over hyped. All the major news outlets keep saying how great it is to have Boston and LA in the Finals; however, there are holes on both teams. This isn't like the teams in the 80's with All-star talent stacking both benches. No, this is a watered down version of the rivalry. Also I am torn on who to rout for in the series. I really don't like either team. KG is awesome to watch, but Boston fans are really annoying right now(Although they do have a valid reason for being annoying). Also the help that LA received in getting to the Finals angers me. If you listen you can hear me pound the side of my head every time ABC shows the statistic of free-throw attempts per series for Kobe Bryant. (Thud! Dang I can't think about that stat, I need my brain for classes.)

I feel my early prediction of Lakers in 5, can still come true. It will depend on Jackson out coaching Doc Rivers in the second game. (I still see that happening.) Yet, with the questionable circumstances leading up to the current Finals I wouldn't be surprised to see this series be encouraged to go seven games by the league. (That is all I am saying about the conspiracy theories.)

Also, what didn't help was the Stanley Cup Finals actually being good. I watched the final overtime of game 5, which was great. Then I watched, for the first time since the strike, a complete game of hockey, game 6. WOW! It was awesome. It was up tempo, it was fun, and it had drama. It came down to a save with 3.2 seconds left to preserve the win. With the puck sliding behind the goalie in front of the net as time expires. The HD also helped me to follow the puck, and might be what hockey needs to try and make a comeback.

There is baseball. Yet, it is hard to follow the games of a single team from Utah. What else is there to watch right now...Soccer? Please, I would rather be on the phone with tech guy Mike. Until the fix, I guess I am on the school computers. I guess it could be worse. My computer could have caught fire like a Dell, and there is less than 90 days until college football.

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Mark's Thoughts: Derek Fisher a Sports Hero

How quickly Jazz fans forget what/why Fisher did what he did...


It is frustrating to hear what people (in Utah) are saying about Derek Fisher. The man went through a personal hell last year. His ten month old daughter, Tatum Fisher, was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a childhood form of eye cancer. Retinoblastoma has a 87% morality rate worldwide (although the majority of that number comes from developing countries), and 97% of survivors in the United States live with moderate to severe visual impairment (Source:http://www.retinoblastoma.net/whatisrb.html).


It wasn't only his personal life that was taking a hit. Fisher was also in the middle of a down year in Utah, with his numbers taking a dive across the board. He was playing out of position at the two guard. He was being forced to guard taller and stronger players, and his game took a hit because of that. The Jazz didn't get Fisher last year for what he brought to the court; rather, they acquired Fisher for his off-the-court leadership. He was a stabilizing influence in the locker room, and he was able to establish Williams and Boozer as leaders of the Jazz team.


Fisher took hero status for many Jazz fans during the Golden State playoff series last year. The game really did play out like a movie. Fisher had flown to New York to be with his daughter who, at the time, had an undisclosed disease. He would try to make it back in time for the game, but wasn't sure if he would be able to make it in time. Sloan decides to keep the roster spot open in case Fisher makes it to the arena in time. The game begins and Deron Williams gets into early foul trouble. Dee Brown comes in and plays well, until Okur falls on top of Brown and he is forced to leave the arena in an ambulance. Sloan turns to Andrei Kirilenko to run the point for the majority of the first half. Meanwhile, Fisher lands in Utah, and is informed by his personal assistant of the situation at the game. He asks permission of his wife to leave his daughter so he can play in the game. Gaining permission to play he is lead, by police escort, to the arena. Back in the arena Williams picks up more quick fouls in the second half, and the point guard position is back in the hands of Kirilenko (who didn't do a half bad job of running the point in the game).


Watching all of this unfold was very dramatic. Watching the cameras follow Fisher into the locker room and then onto the court built the drama. The fans in the arena started to go insane once they saw Derek Fisher approached the bench. Fisher didn't have a chance to sit down as Sloan pointed at him and told him to get into the game. The fans gave a standing ovation to Fisher as he entered. Fisher lead to a key turnover by Baron Davis in the fourth quarter, and force overtime. In overtime Fisher hit a three that sealed the victory for the Jazz.

During the post-game interview of Game 2, Fisher revealed to the public what was wrong with his daughter. He was not trying to seek the limelight, nor was he trying to raise himself up as a troubled man that needed the sympathy of a fan base. He made public, and was very open with his daughter's condition, to raise awareness for the new treatment that was available to combat Retinoblastoma. Due to Fisher's openness many other parents became aware of the new procedure that is able to save the vision of the child. Derek Fisher has made the cause of raising awareness about the disease his personal project.

Most Jazz fans know this story, and many were at the Energy Solutions Arena when it happened. Yet, it needs to be retold. Why? In the aftermath of this terrible situation the story has been distorted and presented in a terrible light.

Derek Fisher, after the season was concluded, wanted to move somewhere so that he and his family could take care of their daughter. The Jazz organization allowed Fisher out of his contract. Many Jazz fans thought that the logical step to take would be to move to New York, the location where Fisher had been flying back-and-forth to for days. Yet, it was a curve ball to many for Fisher to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Many Jazz fans started to cry foul upon hearing of this signing. One of the loudest was the owner Larry H. Miller. He on his weekly radio interview expressed displeasure over Fisher going to the Lakers, and went so far as to say he would've had second thoughts about releasing Fisher from the contract if he knew Fisher was moving to LA.

These feelings of scorn by many Jazz fans lead to the booing of Fisher when he returned for his first game in Utah since joining the Lakers. As much as Game Two against the Warroirs was one of the top moments in franchise history, the booing of Fisher upon his return was one of the lowest points in Jazz history. The fans were booing a Jazz hero.

Fisher didn't use his daughter as an excuse to get out of the contract with the Jazz. Think what kind of human being would use their sick daughter as a bargaining chip to negotiate out of a situation. Fisher isn't that type of person. Yet, many fans ask why did he go to Los Angeles instead of New York or another team back east? First, Los Angeles was always on the list of possible destinations for Fisher. The doctor in Los Angeles is an ex-colleague of the doctor who performed the surgery on Tatum. He is more than qualified to continue the treatment on her. Professionally it is a much better situation for Fisher to be in. Who in the NBA would want to willingly go to New York and be part of that train wreck? Why would Fisher want to be a Knick, when he could get the same care for his daughter and be a Laker?

Also people forget the situation that greeted Fisher in Los Angeles when he arrived. Kobe wanted out! He wanted to be traded, and there wasn't anything that the Lakers could do to keep him. It wasn't as if the Lakers were ready to be a juggernaut in the Western Conference. Fisher had no idea that they were going to steal Pau Gasol from the Grizzles, and that Bynum was going to become a low-post beast. He also took a large pay cut to join the Lakers. 6.5 million dollars isn't a small amount of money. That was a large amount that Fisher walked away from to do what was best for his family.

It is hard sometimes to disconnect the player from the game. To see beyond the uniform that the player is wearing. Yet, in the case of Derek Fisher it needs to be done. When the game starts I hope that Fisher and the Lakers fall on their faces, but before and after the game Jazz fans need to show some class and give love to Derek Fisher.

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