Things About Sports I Will Never Understand

There are some things, that no matter long and hard I think about it, I just don't seemed to understand. Here's my brief, but very troubling, list.

1) Why do people pronounce the word Jaguars like it is spelled JAGWIRES. It bugs.

2) Charges in the NBA are a joke. Why should a player be able to run in front of me and just stand there. It's the stupidest thing ever. Can you imagine this in any other sport? Having the option to just move in front of the competition and stop there with your hands covering your groin? How about a second baseman running into the basepath, or Dale Earnhardt Jr turning around and just stopping in front of oncoming traffic?

I'll think of more later.

The Decline of Ross Apo

When Jake Heaps announced his commitment to Brigham Young University, fans of BYU were salivating over the thought of watching Jake Heaps throw the deep ball to Ross Apo as he leaps in the air to haul in a touchdown. The 6'3", 207 pound receiver was not something Cougar Nation was used to. BYU is used to white at wide receiver. He was black. BYU is used to short at receiver. He was tall. BYU was used to slow at receiver. He was fast. Not to mention he'd be teaming up with Cody Hoffman, the Cougars could have one of the best wide receiving tandems in the West.

That dream died a year ago, and my how things have changed.

The impossible dream has been replaced with a kickoff return man at quarterback throwing wide receiver screen passes to Apo. He's netting 7.4 yards per catch, down from 13.3 last year. He's found the end zone once this year. He scored nine last year. I swear, if I see Riley Nelson throws one more screen pass to Apo, I'm going to call Bronco Mendenhall and tell him to take over the offense to. How are the offensive coaches not throwing the ball up to Apo and Hoffman? It makes no sense. Apo is having to catch the ball by his toes. Let the man use his length. I understand Riley doesn't have the best arm, but that's exactly why you throw it up and let them grab it.

This is the saddest part of it all. BYU will never, and I say never, have two wide receivers who are so physically gifted - and black - at the same time. This tandem only has a handful of games left together and then we'll all be left with the "what might have been". Can you imagine how good we could be if we had Heaps with ten more games under his belt throwing to Apo and Hoffman? Man, things could have been good.

Tips for Riley Nelson

Look, I'm not a quarterback and I've never played football - unless you count BYU intramural football. If that counts, the first game I played at quarterback I threw six touchdowns and zero picks. We won. Even without that lengthy resume, I feel qualified to offer some advice to BYU's starting quarterback. I'm going to be as positive as I can, because I genuinely want the best for Riley and the program.

Here goes.

First, be a quarterback first and a running back second. It seems like you always have running the ball in the back of your mind and that leads to a lot of sacks and negative plays. In last week game at Notre Dame, you were sacked three times to end drives. That can't happen.

Second, you are two very talented receivers. Ross Apo is 6'3" 207. Cody Hoffman is 6'4" 215. Why are Apo's only receptions off of wide receiver screens? If you need to, please talk to Brandon Doman about this. BYU will never again have two wide receivers of this caliber at the same time. Throw them the ball. Have you ever played the game 500? Just throw the ball up in the air and I guarantee you they will make some plays.

Lastly, go into coaching. I'm sure many teams could use a motivator like you. It's obvious that Bronco Mendenhall loves you to death, and sadly that is why this program isn't taking it to the next level. Jake Heaps should have been the starter all last year and he should still be here. He was a quarterback. Riley, you were on the kickoff team last year. My point is, if BYU had a quarterback this year, we would be 6-2 at least.

I really appreciate all Riley has done for BYU. He's got heart, he's got enthusiasm. However, he could still have contributed these attributes to the team without having to be under center. Let's hope BYU can again return to the tradition of QB-U and find someone to provide some consistency at that position.

What is Bronco Mendenhall doing?

Let me first say, Bronco Mendenhall is doing an amazing job with the defense. They haven't allowed a TD in 15 quarters?  They have held 13 or 14 straight opponents under 300 yards of total offense. Just staggering. The defense could not be playing better.

On the flip side, the decisions that have been made on the offensive/special teams side have been atrocious. Now, who is making the decisions that I have a problem with, is it Brandon Doman or Bronco? I don't know. Let me just review a few.

1. The two-point conversion attempt at Boise State. If our center could have blocked his man, this might not be a talking point. However, based on how well his defense was doing, I don't know how he could not trust them to win. Or maybe he just had no faith in his kicking game - and why should he I guess.

2. The false starts against Utah. How many? Nine? Ten? Whatever it was, is that the coaches fault?

3. The personal fouls. Every year BYU makes so many undisciplined, bone-headed, emotionally charged stupid personal fouls. I've heard that Bronco likes them to play aggressive, and that's fine. But, is there not a way to tone down the aggression and play with some smarts?

4. The fake field goal against Utah State. Two reason I hate the call. One, just look at what happened. Two, now the field goal unit realizes you have zero confidence in them to make a 25-yard field goal. Wasn't Justin Sorensen supposed to be the kicker of all kickers. I remember hearing stories of him nailing 70-yarders in practice. Maybe he should have been practicing the 30-yarders instead.

5. Running Taysom Hill with two minutes left. The game was over, get into victory formation and end it. Instead, they kept running Hill and he injures his knee on his last running play. Now he is out for the year, rumor has it. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

Basically, if I WOULD do these things while playing Madden, it is not something a Division 1-A coach should be doing, and I've done all of these.

Bobby Valentine is gone - finally

I don't want to bash people. I don't want to project hate. So I won't. I will just say that I'm glad Bobby Valentine will have new employment next year. Every decision that he has made this year has been a horrible one. I can't imagine playing for him, I can't imagine others wanting to play for him. I can't imagine why he was ever hired.

So long Bobby. No more talking down his players. No more blaming his coaches. No more, no more. Looking forward to the next manager.

Replacement Refs and Obama