I was able to talk to my friend whose son is a starter on the Oline today…
From what he heard from his son and what Christian Stewart said on Podcast this is what started the whole deal…
Apparently there was “info” out there that the BYU team and or coaches made some derogatory comments about the Memphis coach which some of the players were upset about it.
So after Stewart threw the interception, he was upset and pissed off about what he just did. So we just wanted to get off the field and sit on the bench. While he was going there, a Memphis player got up in his face, yelling at him (which Stewart could not understand much of what he was saying) about dissing his coach. Then #56 of BYU came up AND PUSHED the Memphis player away from Stewart. That is the scene everyone is saying started the fight. There was no push from behind on 56, he was simply getting the Memphis player away from his QB.
The player on player (BYU) that I alluded to was between Alletto and Houk… Apparently Alletto was trying to prevent Houk from coming on the field to “participate” in the fight. As he was dragging him back, Houk turned around an punched Alletto in the mouth.
Apparently there is a Podcast of Stewart talking about the fight out there on the internet… but that is what started the fight “things being heard or said about a coach” is what caused it. Now I am not sure if this was done on the field, or during the week activities or is some lame brain “Sports Talk” dude wanted to fuel a fire… But that is why Memphis was upset at BYU.
Thanks flash. I remember something being said the week before the game. I also remember that it was denied that anything was said as reported. Something was said that sounded something like that which was reported, but greatly watered down.
I hope that nobody on either team gets treated too harshlty over this. I think that many combined issues are at blame and not just the players.
It was a terrible mistake that we were not prepared to handle. It was a mistake. Let’s start the new season fresh. Let the penalty be that the key players on each side of the fight must have lunch together and have a press conference after lunch where those key players in the fight forgive each other and have praise for each other and promise a great relationship in the future. This is better than any suspensions on either side.
The guys that called that game gave a clue about this on the broadcast. Apparently what happened is that Bronco wanted to motivate his players and told them that the Memphis coach thought BYU was an easy win. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but in any case it would not have raised any eyebrows, but a BYU player who I wont name went on a national sports broadcast which I wont name and spilled the beans. That then became motivation for Memphis for lies told on national TV. Anyway that was my understanding but I have no special information, it’s just stuff I put together and could be totally wrong. I also wanted to say that I don’t know how or who started the fight but I think it’s irrelevant. Anyone that was throwing fists like that should get a 3 game suspension at the very least.
I think that all of us share a part of the blame. The fans have been screaming on the networks to put a fire under our Cougars and to make winning important to them. The HC was basically doing the same thing.
On one hand, we want our Cougars to be aggressive. On the other hand, we punish them when their aggressiveness gets out of hand.
It is not always easy to know what is expected of them in an instant of rage. Do they become aggressive or passive? How aggressive?, or how passive? Yes, I understand that we are the Church owned University and that the world is watching. I get it.
Have you ever played football?
If so, have you ever felt unsure of what the right reaction to a situation should be or not be when you only had a second to make the determination?
I for one, would like to see us use this as a learning situation. I would like for our AD to call the Memphis AD and ask for a mutual direction to go focusing on the possibility of forgiveness to those that may or may not be guilty on each team, separately or collectively, but equally without looking for blame on one team or the other. Focus on looking for the good in each team instead of the bad in each team. Let the experience result in a common friendship and respect among the two schools, even if we never play each other again.
Hopeful outcome will be respect for each team. Hopefully, it would be seen as a class act.
Let’s get on with the new Football season.
I understand your position and I find no fault with it. I just offer a different approach which may or may not be as good of a solution.
I hope that Bronco and his players learned something from this. First of all, motivate your players without stretching the truth about the other team, and second of all, realize that everything you say is probably going to get out there somehow with all the national sportscasts, etc. I’ll agree to disagree on the punishment for the brawl. I’m not normally a punitive kind of guy but I think it looks pretty bad to let a guy swinging fists like that to get off scott free. I think it would make it look like we care more about football than common decency. Some punishment has to be given out, although I agree that it shouldn’t be too excessive.
I would have like community service be the penalty for what ever the crime might have been by being so charged up to play at the highest level in a game that they could not measure up to as well as the opposing team.
We want our guys to be charged. We want them to have the spirit of winning important to them. We don’t want to back them when they can not control it. We want everything. Sometimes we want more than that which can be produced in a positive manner.
Community service for the amount of hours per day and days per week and for what ever amount of weeks are required between the day of the incident and the day the new season begins, should have been the penalty to satisfy those that require and find punishment necessary.
Punishment should not be carried over into the next season. Why punish the new players and the fans in 2015 for something done in 2014. Why must we always find reasons to shoot ourselves in the foot.
The schedule is hard enough without making it harder by keeping key players out of the game.
The fans and the coaches share the responsibility with the players for demanding so much out of them and encouraging them to have more fight in their spirt while on the grid iron. I remember the coaches stating after practice that they find some good coming out of the scuffles that they had during the practice day.
I am not shifting blame onto the fans or onto the coaches and I am not taking blame away from the players. I am only saying that we need to keep things in perspective.
Right on RU, suspensions are stupid after an explosion after a hard fought game. I agree with you Ron, No suspensions. Football is a contact sport, second only to rugby. yes, football IS more violent than hockey. The NHL has dummied down their fighting, it is like pro-wrestling or Men’s World Cup soccer, all show and very little bite.
Right on RU. To me we need to go through the process that you mentioned between BYU and Memphis and maybe even begin a home and home long term series. This could become the new rival game over BYU and the mighty YEWTS of the PAC-12. Utah does want or need BYU anymore, but Memphis and BYU could become an inter regional rivalry like some others out there.
Hard to argue with such well reasoned commentary. The rules for civilized behavior obviously need to be suspended for something as important as a football game. I recommend letting them pack heat. Lets have some real entertainment here.
I would love to see the AD’s of each said subject school meet and become friends and as a result, I would love to see the head coaches of each of the subject schools meet and become friends, and as a result have each coach get their own teams to like and respect the other team.
I can vision Memphis and BYU becoming the most healthy, role models, for a rivalry in the Nation.
I would like a tradition, coming out of this past negative experience, post game 2014, to be the most successful and positive rivalry last game of the season for the two schools, where each team, presents to the other team, before the game, a trophy of friendship and respect. Wow, if that would not hit the headlines on a National level, nothing would.
Out of every negative experience in life, an intelligent person or group or organization, can use that negative experience for something good and positive. Finding good in a person or a team, is much more rewarding than finding something bad.
Our past rivalry with the school up North became a sick type of uneducated type rivalry. This new healthy approach with Memphis would be a welcome change where it would not matter that neither University is from a P5 Conference. What would matter, is that each University was great enough to turn a negative experience into one of the greatest and most respected rivalry in the Nation.