Friday, November 25, 2011

Media Reaction to BYU and the Big East

Now that BYU's discussions with the Big East have been reported to be over, several media reports are trying to make sense of it and to place "blame".   First of all, blame would assume that there was a desired outcome to begin with, but then should it not materialize, it would point the finger of fault at the offending unmet stipulation. 

And in this case, I have read several times that BYU's offense was in seeking to maintain TV rights to its home games.  "No other college team in a conference has been able to get this," they mock.  Well, perhaps we should point out that it has probably never previously, in any conference realignment discussions been a point of negotiation.  BYU is one of only two schools that have ever had its own TV deal.  Ever.  The other being Notre Dame.  And you can be sure that if Notre Dame were to join a conference, they would look to keep their existing TV deal at as a guaranteed minimum and to top it off with the additional TV revenue from conference road games. 

In that context, it doesn't seem unreasonable that a team would want to at least maintain its current standard of living (revenue and exposure) as it joins a conference.  In that context, it also seems rather naive to use the argument that no other team in college football has kept their home TV rights within a conference... no other team has ever been in a position to even try.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Senior Night on BYUtv

If you were not able to watch the senior night blanket ceremony after the New Mexico State game on Saturday, you need to. It can be seen here and starts at the 3:30 mark.

I have attend many senior nights in the past (final home game), and enjoyed the experience; however this year watching it on BYUtv, as it was televised for the first time, was perhaps my favorite.

The cameras were able to capture the feeling and emotion of the moment on the faces of the players (the score on the TV didn't hurt either).  I found my own memories and emotions welling up as I remembered the feeling of walking off the field for the last time.  It was a quasi Rudy moment...

Besides the emotion and facial expressions, it was great to see their relationship with Bronco reflected in that interaction.  I also enjoyed seeing their families with them--wife, kids, parents--and even a few legends (LaVell, Austin Collie, Danny Frazier, etc).

The only shame of the whole thing is that the stadium was empty.  No doubt this was a function of the mid-20 degree temps and the fact that it was taking place at around midnight--unfortunate collateral circumstances of the late ESPN start time.

Going forward, a great BYU tradition would be for all BYU fans to remain on Senior Night--for there to be a stadium full of appreciative fans saluting those who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to wear the blue and white.. whether they ever saw the field or not.  And whether you can attend in person or not, you should make it a point to catch it on TV, year in and year out.