Back in the Saddle

It's been a while since I've blogged. I've decided that instead of using facebook to post my ideas, I'll go back to this. I'll just start with what's going on in my little world of sports. Utah is going to the Pac-12, BYU is going independent in football and joining the WCC in all other sports. Old new by now, but just some of the happenings.

The Utah Jazz have changed quite a bit. Wesley Matthews, the stud 2 guard undrafted rookie last season, has signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver have both signed with the Chicago Bulls. In fact, so did Ronnie Brewer. They look like they have a really good team out there. The Utah Jazz have decided to replace them by resigned Raja Bell to a contract. Also, they signed Al Jefferson. A big man from Minnesota.

Both of these moves by the Jazz I really like. Bringing in Raja Bell is a good move if he is healthy. He is a spot up shooter and an amazing defender. Probably the perimeter defender in the league. Al Jefferson I think fits Jerry Sloan's system better than Carlos Boozer did. Jefferson said it best. "I like to be in the paint." Watching some of his games, I loved that he went to the basket aggressively and his moves are designed to get him to the basket. Boozer was the other way around. I think this will be good for D Will as well.

All in all, with the Jazz, I'm pretty excited about this season. I think they are built better to be a deeper playoff team.

With Utah going to the Pac-10 (12), this I am really excited about. I think Coach Wittingham is an incredible coach who has taken his program higher than we have seen in utah since the great 1981-91 BYU teams. I heard today that the Defensive Line could be on an NFL team right now. That is after Koa Misi went to the Dolphins last year, Sioni Paoha went to the Jets last year, and Paul Kruger (who's little brother's are both on this years D-line) went to the Ravens the year before. I mean, these D-line's are awesome every year! This year only has 2 senior's. This D-Line is going to be good for at least a few years down the road. Saying that, with how well they have done in the MWC not being able to see the games where a lot of these guys are from, going to the Pac-12 with a TV deal reportedly on FOX, they will have the opportunity to become even better. I think Utah is going to be known as D-Line U.

The offense just reloaded as well. David Reed, who was THE go to guy last year, was drafted by the Ravens and is seeing time on the field. He blew up a punt returner as he caught the ball and the announcer said "That is why you get guys from the University of Utah. He is a receiver and has the aggressive attitude to get after guys." I loved it. I digress, I was worried, as well as most the media here, that the WR's were not going to be any good. I mean Jereme Brooks coming back was going to be big (even though he isn't 5'7" and 170 lbs. dripping wet), and Shaky Smithson was suppose to step up this year. But the first game of the year, an unknown stepped up and ate Pitt apart. DeVonte Christopher came out and had a great game. 8 catches for 155 yards. It was awesome! And Shaky Smithson recovered from a bad game against Pitt (2 fumbles) to have a great game vs. UNLV. He returned a punt for a touchdown that was awesome! He caught the ball and moved forward about a yard and stopped. He checked out the coverage, moved right, which set up his blockers, and bolted left and turned on the jet's up the sideline. It was awesome and made ESPN's top plays that night. He also had 1 catch for 55 yards and a TD to solidify his game breaker status.

The RB's are also good. Eddie Wide took over last year for the injured Matt Asiatta and was the 2nd best back in the MWC behind only the underused Harvey Unga at BYU. Both backs are back this year and should be doing more than they are. I think it's the offense they are running this year though and I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The offense this year so far is awesome. I haven't liked the play calling this much since Urban Meyer. I don't know who is designing the offense because they have a duel Offensive Coordinator's. But with Aaron Roddick calling the plays, this offense is rolling and looks like it's only getting stronger.

With all that being said, the move from the MWC to the Pac-12 is going to be huge. The U of U could contend for the top spot this year and with Jordan Wynn being older and more experienced next year and hopefully his senior year, I think they will contend in '11 and '12. Who else is better? I know you Pac guys will scream USC, Oregon and Oregon State, and I agree. USC can't be the champs because of the sanctions and Utah is every bit as good as Oregon right now and I think they would split if they played 2 games and Utah could beat OSU 3 of 4 times. The dangerous thing for Utah is depth. Not at D-line or WR or QB or even RB, but O-line, LB's and DB's are thin. But, who knows where they will be after recruiting for 2 years with the Pac-12 in mind. They are going to be competitive and maybe knock off some teams to go to the Rose Bowl in the next 5 years! Hey, it's not called the Biased Sports Report for nothin'.

Now the BYU thing. I don't know if it will work but I feel better about it than I did a month ago. The first 2 years they will be scheduling what's left of the WAC and a few other's. How is that better than the MWC with Boise, Nevada and Fresno? After that, they will schedule bigger teams with the help of ESPN supposedly. They have a 6 year deal with Notre Dame and they have said other as well. So here is what I think they will have every year, Utah State, Hawaii, Notre Dame, Utah. There is 4 games. Maybe they could get some deal with UCLA right now because of the Norm Chow connection. So that is 5. They need 12. I would guess Navy and Army as well because of the independent thing. 7. They want to play some eastern teams to get more coverage nationwide. Private church schools would be more apt to play BYU. So I'm going to say Boston College would do something with them. That's a big get for BYU so it's a stretch. But, it takes us to 8. Now let's go middle America. Let's say Iowa State and Wisconsin, just for kicks and giggles. 10. I would than want to go into the states of Florida and Texas for recruiting. In Texas, let's stay with the idea of private church schools. Baylor works for that, SMU works better, easier game and a renewal of a great rivalry in the 80's and 90's. So in Florida, I just don't know which school works better, but they have Florida State on the schedule this year and they have a slight history with Miami. So I bet they could get those plus Southern Florida or someone like that. 12. That's a tougher schedule than anything they have seen in the last 20 years.

What about Bowl games? They don't have a deal with the BCS like ND does and needs to be in the top 8 to even be considered and aren't guaranteed a spot unless they are top 4. So they can't have the BCS or bust attitude. Which bowl games are going to sign up for a deal with BYU? Vegas? They would love that but the either the MWC or Pac-12 would have to relinquish their spot. the Pac-12 spot just got sweeter now with the #4 team still being in the top third of the conference instead of a middle of the pack team. Maybe the Holiday Bowl with BYU's great history in that game. I don't think so though. I think a lot of the continued success of the BYU program depends on being able to go into a kids house and saying that he will be playing in a post season game against a quality opponent. Let's face it, BYU recruits against Utah and the LDS kid who thinks that he wants to play in meaningful games, may chose to go north instead. BYU will still get BYU kids. The ones that grow up dreaming of chucking the ball all over the field in Provo (Jake Heaps). But if they can't get a consistent Bowl deal and playing against big programs every year, will they still get the kids who kinda sorta wanna go to BYU? Or will more and more of them go to ND, Stanford, and UCLA?