1 BYU dominated in the sports world starting with Pope’s leaving and Kevin Young hired.
2 Landing the #1 recruit, AJ Dybansa. People are just starting to realize what this means. We were all peaved that the Alamo bowl broadcast team talked non stop about Neon Deon, he son, #1 QB Shedeor and Hunter , the Heisman. 8 million eyeballs on the game all while BYU was taking colo to the woodshed! That PR will be happening during every game as witnessed by the crew at the ASU-BYU game. When something like this," Saunders for another 3, boom, imagine this team next year with Dybansa, Hall , Saunders etc…
…now add that Richie was the recipient of dozens of NBA scouts to see Egor and Catchings, that will be MAGNEFIED by 10 fold when AJ gets to BYU…
…now add to that the players that will sign, just to be on the team along with AJ. Then the picture becomes laser clear. FREE PR for Everyone.
3 BYU Football wins 9 straight and a #6 ranking Nationally. leading the Big 12 for weeks, the annelation of Colo in front of the nation (We had that day to ourselves vs. all the CFP games played on Jan 1) There is still a buzz about BYU being left out of the CFP
Admit it, We all said before the season, “Please don’t embarrass us”. Not a soul could predict what Sitake and Co. would end up Doing…as Tom always says, “Jay Hill for President”!
The highly rated recruits are pouring in. Former Utah defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa goes to rival BYU
4 the cross country Natty, well done, we always win, can anyone name a single runner?
Can’t think of another school in the country that has had this kind of buzz. People I guide throughout the country have called in to say, “Hey, Watched BYU destroy Colo” What are you guys drinking over there.
Lots of good BYU sports performances …. Women’s soccer was down a little but they are perennial top 15 finishers. The lone disappointment this fall was the women’s volleyball where they just seemed to struggle as a program and suffered the biggest upset of the NCAA tourney. A first round thumping by Loyola Chicago. Maybe next year for them. But over all a great year for BYU. If the men’s BB team can finish top 3 in the Big12 we will have a great season this year and next year!
They have set such a standard for themselves that just making the tournament makes for a disappointing season…I wish other sports were so consistently disappointing…
Harold - I agree that the women’s vb program has set a high standard for many years. Here are a few points: women’s soccer was built by J Rockwood. She has built a program than has a bad year if they don’t finish top 20. She has shown the ability to reload and rebuild and finish higher after a year of just so so performance. The track and X country programs are top 10 almost every year and when they fall a little bit they come back the next year with a top 5 performance or higher. Standards of excellence for sure.
I don’t really want to bag on the womens volleyball program but a number of cougar club members are a little worried about that programs leadership. The Olmstead brother built that program into a power house and then he left to take the men’s program over. His sister took over the women and slowly and gradually the program is trending downhill. In that space there are growing concerns that the head coach is making decisions based on political friendships and favorites and that the program is losing good LDS athletes who aren’t recruited by BYU yet are playing for other more highly ranked programs. This year BYU finished the season ranked out of the top 25 for the first time in more than 15 years. Because of BYU’s success in both men and women’s vb there are many LDS coaches around the country and most are concerned that Heather Olmstead is losing her way by either consciously choosing players with friendship connections or she simply can’t judge talent …. Or both. I am not an expert in vb but a couple of cougar club members are and they raised the warning to Holmoe to watch the program over the next couple of years. When the best LDS athletes play at Creighton, Texas, Pitt, USU, Louisville, Wisc, USC and others …: and would have played at BYU if offered …. It is concerning. The Bower family in Idaho are bad examples of BYU vb and don’t do us any favors in those circles. But they hold a lot of sway by controlling the Idaho market for BYU. There is a lot of concern focused on them and their kids and many people who live in Idaho have complained about the Bowers choosing the best teams and leaving off certain girls who are better than Bower girls. One of the Bower girls was mad this year that she didn’t start at BYU and she quit the team after playing sparingly at the beginning of the year. She hit the transfer portal a few weeks ago. Might be a sign that things are not well in BYU/Bower land. Some things were said about future Bower kids not attending BYU and other club players from the Bower club not being recommended to BYU if this Bower girl wasn’t the starter. Kind of a bad situation because another Bower sister was handed the starting setter position at BYU and a more talented girl was pushed out of the program. UCLA has a starter who transferred from BYU and she has been very vocal about how disliked Heather Olmstead is when it comes to favoritism. She was a Neb recruit and still came to BYU. But another Bower girl was handed the starting job over her. So all is not well in that program. That is all I have to say on that matter at this point. But it the issues have made their way up the chain.
I am guesing the head coach isn’t happy about it and probably doesn’t want to see what is happening. If her brother built the program she probably talks to him a lot about how to handle different situations and at this point probably feels like she is losing control, particularly when it comes to this Bower situation. I honestly have NO idea so this is all just conjecture.
I hope they can get things figured out. I watched some games this past season and I saw a few of the girls that played significant minutes that I didn’t feel were the same level of player as the ones who were the better players, while it seemed that some of those better players weren’t on the floor as much, so what you are saying makes some sense.
Nothing worse than a family that tries to control a team. I saw it on my sons high school basketball team with a complicit coach who played favorites, particularly when it came to this family’s boys, and it ruined the program after a couple of years. The coach lasted three seasons (my kid wouldn’t play his senior season, which was the coach’s second year) as that is all it took for him to ruin things. They brought in someone different and it took a couple years to get it back to being competitive and the kids that played having a good time.
Here is why I will never bag on Cougarfan guys like THawk and Tom…they have insider news that I can’t get from my connections. I will never say things like:
Get a clue
calling names or getting personal is the lowest form of hanging fruit. Bullying in cyberspace while treating people respectfully in real life is morally wrong, probably need counseling
you are an evil fan because you are critical of a coach or player
I will NEVER argue with certain posters because they have coached and understand the game
I may disagree so some of their views, and I will post my views but I will NEVER call them names or be disrespectful. I will always allow them “Wiggle ROOM” to clarify their point of view, but I will never go all Trump on them because once I do that, they will shut down and that is never good for a person who thirsts for knowledge.
This is not a new years resolution, it is the way I live my life.
as an example:
Most of us would agree that Jimmy Carter was one of the worst presidents in my lifetime. The damage of high interest rates, the hostages and Iran will forever be linked to Carter. Certainly interest rates of 18% home mortgages damaged the nation immensely.
But 3 things that stand out to me that Carter did AFTER his presidency:
Most have family members who are same sex attracted. In our family we also have this. We love our family and include those with this in family events. At the same time, we don’t apologize the scriptures of the apostles and prophets of ancient days and modern days that have been quite clear about acting on wrong behaviors. Being honest with them has helped keeping them involved with family and for some, Church. It’s definitely a balancing act.
You replied to me with this long post. Was it actually intended for me or for everyone on cougarfan? I hope it was to everyone because if it was to me, I’m not sure what I wrote that elicited the reply. Just a little confused is all. I think, for the most part, I am pretty non judgemental (excpet for the Hopper, haha) about things that are posted here and the opinions of others. Anyhow, just looking for a little clarification.
