Woah. I didn’t realize how bad things really were until now.
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Woah. I didn’t realize how bad things really were until now.
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https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-programs.html
Long Deseret News article today about the "decline of BYUs marquee sports programs".
I'm sure I read through crimson-colored lenses, but there is a lot of sour grapes in there about Utah in the PAC and BYU not in a conference.
σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ Ἑλλὰς πάντα.
-- Flavius Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 1.35.2.
This is my favorite part:
Ann Richards is a saint and a hero! She kept them out of the Pac-12 and Big 12The Cougars also failed to get an invite to the Pac-10 when Utah and Colorado were invited to join that league in 2011, but to really understand what happened you need to go back to 1997. BYU had just completed a 14-1 season in which it won the Cotton Bowl and finished No. 5 in the final polls. Fehlberg, who was athletic director at the time, approached Pac-10 officials to solicit an invitation for BYU to join the league. During meetings with Pac-10 athletic directors, Fehlberg says they all told him the same thing — it was a no-brainer; BYU put more fans in seats on the road than any other school, even most of their rivals.
“I spent a lot of time working under cover of darkness to get us in the Pac-10,” Fehlberg says. “It was a done deal, but it didn’t happen.”
Former BYU athletic director Rondo Fehlberg. | Malcolm Brenner, Gallup Independent
The Pac-10 told Fehlberg that BYU would need a travel partner. Fehlberg suggested Utah, but the idea was dismissed immediately — BYU already brought the Utah TV market to the league. Fehlberg approached Colorado, which immediately liked the idea of joining the league. But, as Fehlberg tells it, Colorado later reneged. He says CU officials told him that Texas governor Ann Richards threatened to sue if Colorado left the Big 12, which included many Texas schools.
That left BYU without a travel partner. According to Fehlberg, BYU’s move to the Pac-10 was put on hold. In the following years, two events occurred: Utah had two extraordinary, undefeated years in football and Proposition 8 went on the California ballot.
“The entire equation changed,” says Fehlberg.
Last edited by Mormon Red Death; 11-22-2017 at 10:50 AM.
"Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum
"And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla
Wait another great part....
BYU also made a serious bid to join the Big 12 when Utah joined the Pac-12. Fehlberg was no longer athletic director but he was invited to a reception at BYU for Big 12 ADs and coaches. “They were blown away by our facilities and BYUtv,” says Fehlberg
"Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum
"And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla
The best paragraph is the one in which BYU is heaped with international praise for suspending Brandon Davies because he had premarital relations. I think we know which part Dick Harmon contributed to.
Yes, if you believe any of Fehlberg's crap. I seriously doubt BYU was ever all that close to getting into the P10.
That said, this story is also interesting because a ton of delusional BYU fans claim that BYU and Utah had a deal to never go to a conference without the other. Some even claim that BYU would have joined the B12 but for this deal. Of course this is absurd, but in any event the Fehlberg story destroys that narrative because, at least according to him, BYU was trying to get into the P12 with Colorado and not Utah.
I’d never heard that until now, thanks to Rhondo. Very interesting, and yes, it destroys that narrative. Back then BYU had absolutely no interest in doing anything that would help Utah’s rise as an athletic power. They never have had any such interest, but their ability to pretend otherwise is now gone.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
in the 70's/80's wasn't BYU spending three times what every other WAC school was?
I don't believe it. Fehlberg may have been trying to get the Y in, but everything i have ever read for 20 years was that the Pac 10 (and Tom Hansen especially) had no desire to expand; the conference did not consider it until they got rid of Hansen and replaced him with Scott because they had to expand to keep up with the Big 10 etc. moneywise.
BYU was never a Pac 10 candidate. It was never invited by the Big 12. Anything that says so is a lie. The litmus test for lying is claiming the Pac 10 wanted BYU. BYU gives the Pac 10 the heebee geebees and it always has felt that way about BYU.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
The other big hole in Rondo's story is that his alleged feedback is coming from the ADs, who really aren't in control of the decision making in this process. It's possible that those ADs really did tell him those things, but if so it's like when you were a kid and you and your friend would make plans for a slumber party and you agreed it was a great idea, but then you had to go ask your mom and dad.....
I love this faith promoting story and the fact that it grows with each passing year. "BYU would have won a national championship if not for their honor and integrity...." Yeah, Davies got the girl pregnant, that was going to blow up soon either way. They just did proactive damage control (BYU always stays winning at managing PR).
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Also, BYU down by 11 with a few minutes until half time.
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Last edited by Dwight Schr-Ute; 11-25-2017 at 01:14 PM.
And another thing. You can't say on one hand that your greatness should get you in to the party, and on the other say that the programs aren't winning. Which is it, are your teams good or not?
I would posit that nothing has really changed over the whole time. I don't remember the record exactly, but doesn't BYU have a terrible bowl record, and other than a few well-known victories over a few name schools, isn't the record against name schools, even in their heyday, mostly mediocre? I mean, what has changed other than fan and media perceptions of status. It has always been this way, it was just hidden by BYU's ability to beat up on WAC teams for two decades.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Just wanted to announce how happy I am that Fred Warner collected his senior day blanket in front of an empty stadium after losing to UMass.
Ty Freaking Detmer was just fired by BYU. Does Aaron Roderick get the gig?
Edit: Sorry. Just relieved of his OC duties. Not fired. Not sure what else he was doing. QB coach?!
Last edited by Dwight Schr-Ute; 11-27-2017 at 11:04 AM.
“Children and dogs are as necessary to the welfare of the country as Wall Street and the railroads.” -- Harry S. Truman
"You never soar so high as when you stoop down to help a child or an animal." -- Jewish Proverb
"Three-time Pro Bowler Eric Weddle the most versatile, and maybe most intelligent, safety in the game." -- SI, 9/7/15, p. 107.
It is nice to see that Sitake has brought the tradition of firing OC's to BYU.