Good to be a Utah Fan

| Tuesday, November 25, 2008
It sure is a good time to be a Utah fan. I got a few more pictures from a coworker and thought they were pretty funny. Hope you enjoy them.








Just so you know, I am not a BYU hater. I enjoy watching them play, but I have to admit that the "Quest for Perfection" at the beginning of the season was pretty pathetic. These pictures are great for that.

And yes, that is the motab singing!

A Smart BYU Fan

| Thursday, November 20, 2008

There really are smart BYU fans out there. However, a large majority have gone overboard this year I think. I am referring to mainly younger fans. The older fans are a little more conservative in their cheering. Anyways, I got this e-mail from a friend. His brother wrote it.

I am a huge BYU fan. I have been a BYU fan all of my life and truly love to see them do well. I have defended them for years when my Utah friends and wife put them down. More difficult is defending the BYU fans when they do stupid things. They seem to be dumber this year than ever. It was bad enough to start the year with the quest for perfection shirts, however, we were not selling them to other schools or pushing them elsewhere. It was just for us. The fact that I have heard of so many BYU fans still arguing that we could go to a BCS game if we beat Utah is getting out of hand however, and encouraging everyone to realize BYU fans are dumb. We are starting to sound ridiculous. There is no way we are going to a BCS game.

I have followed this season closely, watching BYU and most of the other conferences big games. I think I have a pretty good grasp of the teams. The following is a best case scenario for the Y. This means the people who the Y needs to lose, lose a plausible game. I do not think that Florida will lose to the Citadel or Ohio State lose to MI. Here are the numbers.

1 Tech B12 Champ
2 Florida SEC Champ
3 / 11-1 Texas
4 / 11-1 USC
5 / 9-2 Ohio State (will not lose to MI)
6 / 11 -2 Bama (L-Florida)
7 / 10-2 Oklahoma (L-TTech)
8 / 10-2 Penn State (L-MichState)
9 / 11-1 Boise State (L-FresnoState)
10 / 11-1 BYU (W-Utah)
11 / 11-1 Utah (L-BYU)
12/ 9-3 Georgia (L-Georgia Tech)
13/ 9-3 OkState (L-Oklahoma)
14/ 9-2 MO (L-Kansas)


Champ Florida v T-Tech
Orange N-Carolina v. Cincinnati
Sugar Texas v. USC
Rose OregState v. Michigan State
Fiesta
Ohio State
Bama
Boise State
BYU

Penn State & Oklahoma would not go because the Big 10 and Big 12 would already be twice represented.

There is no reason to think that BYU would leapfrog Utah even if we beat them. Nor would Boise state losing ensure that we leapfroged them. There is a 5 rank difference between us and Boise State and we would both only have one loss. However, in the unlikely event that we somehow leapfrog both Boise State and Utah it is still difficult to see us beating out Bama or O-State when we did not even win our own conference outright.

I guess that really puts it in perspective. If Utah loses, they are going to a BCS game. You think I'm crazy now don't you. Well, that is what all the BYU fans sound like that say that BYU is making the BCS this year. If you want to make a BCS game then you better have an undefeated team (see the 2004 Utes as a good example).

GO UTES!!!!

Do you feel it?

| Monday, November 17, 2008
Have you walked outside today? If so you have probably felt that feeling in the air, the breeze on your face, and the excitement that BYU and Utah are playing this week. The biggest game ever in the rivalries history. This week is already too long. To get things started off though, one of my coworkers passed this picture along to me. I thought it deserved to be put up.


This year is huge, but Utah will win if there offense comes to play. Defense has not been an issue in basically any game. The issue has always been whether not the Ute offense shows up. I wasn't around in 2004 when the team went undefeated (I was in Russia on my mission), so going undefeated would be like a first for me. Let's go Utah! Make this feeling even better!

Proposition Opposition

|
***Update***
I wanted to make sure that people understand that I am not trying to condemn anyone with the below post. I wrote a sentence about being disappointed, and it was not the correct word. I think I am saddened by this issue more than anything. It has caused me to do a lot of thinking about myself and where I stand. Please take a moment to read the comments that have been left as well. I do believe that this issue is a sign of tough times to come and that we must really begin to decide and know what we stand for. Once again, I don't mean to demean anyone by this post and say that I am better than you. I simply wanted to make my opinion known (the whole point of my blog). Thanks to Derek for bringing this to my attention that he found this post offensive.
***End of Update***

It is crazy how worked up people are getting over the passing of Proposition 8. I understand people have their rights to their opinions and I don't think that should be taken away at any point. However, there is one thing that has bothered me more than anything regarding the opposition to the passing of Proposition 8. The thing that has bothered me the most is members of the church who are against Proposition 8.
Proposition 8

Regardless of the issue (meaning gay marriage here) and the fact that I disagree with it morally and do not think that it should be legal, this is not the reason that these people bother me so much. The thing that really bothers me has more to do with a scripture and these people's testimonies. Before I get into that though, I just want to say that I don't think people should be surprised by the stance of the church on this issue (See the Proclamation). I think what has surprised members the most is the focus the church put on Proposition 8 which many consider to be a state issue. Regardless of your thoughts on this, lets look at the scripture:

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
-D&C 1:38

The church's support in this issue has come from the prophet, which has come from the Lord. Thus, by going against Proposition 8, these members are going against the Lord and are ultimately rejecting their own testimonies. It is quite sad that people would reject the spirit and the testimony that they have. However, there were times in earlier church history when people rejected the church and it's beliefs and stances even though they had testimonies. I think that this is another reminder that we must have our testimonies centered in Jesus Christ and in his Atonement. It must be centered on the fact that the Lord is directing us through a living prophet. The Lord knows what He is doing, and He will continue to lead the church.

With all of the above being said, I want to make one thing clear, and that is that I have no hard feelings towards those who wish to live their lifestyle in this way. I disagree with it, but I care for people and I have someone very close to me that leads such a lifestyle. No matter your opinion or belief on the matter there is no need for bigotrous comments. My post is simply to state that I am disappointed in members of the church going against their testimonies.

A resource for the church's involvement and stance is here.

Funny Picture

| Sunday, November 9, 2008
I posted this over on my journal blog but I thought it was a great picture so I am putting it up here as well.

I found this great picture. I think the date was November 8 or something on it. I know it looks gross, but Elder Kirk and I made way too much dinner. We threw it out in the toilet. He had ketchup on his and I had mayonnaise...




This is a classic Russian bathroom. Good times. November 8, 2004.