I know what most of the prognosticators are saying:
- The Cardinals have never been to the Super Bowl,
- The Steelers are going for their 6th Super Bowl win,
- Arizona limped into the playoffs with a weak 9-7 record,
- Pittsburgh has the toughest defense in the league, all of which leads to
- The oddsmakers picking the Pittsburgh Steelers by a 10-point margin over the Arizona Cardinals.
I know, I know, I know! 
NEVERTHELESS . . . I still think it’s gonna be a closely fought, and therefore a great, game, with the final score something in the range of 30-28.
But although I feel the game will be super, I’m confident that most of the ads running during tomorrow’s game will actually be pretty weak.
For my take on what to look for in the game within the game (the game where advertisers are spending $3 million for each 30-second window of commercial air time), check out “Five Emotions to Watch for in this Year’s Super Bowl Ads” on TheBettyFactor.com.
And let me know what you think.
For more than 10 years (1994 - 2004), I wrote a self-syndicated column called “Utah Tech Watch” that began as a biweekly column and six months later moved to a weekly schedule.
Over time this column was published by three papers — the Deseret News (now the Deseret Morning News), The Daily Herald (in Provo, Utah) and The Enterprise (Utah’s weekly business paper) — as well as being distributed for free via email to several thousand subscribers.
Each year, one of my most fun and yet difficult self-directed assignments was to identify the top 10 stories of the year.
I plan to resurrect “Utah Tech Watch” as an online media property in 2008, and when I do, I’ll also resurrect its annual Top 10 stories piece. But for now, let me transpose this idea to this SOAR Communications blog with what I propose are the Top 10 Global SOAR Stories of 2007.
Continue Reading »
Rivalry week is over, and what a fun week it was.
The Brigham Young University Cougars defeated the University of Utah Runnin’ Utes 17-10 on a last-minute, come-from-behind, touchdown-scoring drive late in the fourth quarter of what had primarily been a defensive struggle.
Much has been written about the game itself, so as I write this post Sunday afternoon (11/25/07) I will not elaborate here about the ins and outs of the contest. (Those interested in additional info should check out the sports sections in the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News or the Provo, Utah-based Daily Herald.)
The win elevates BYU to a season record of 9-2, with eight straight wins and a likely move upward within the national polls of two to four spots from their current consensus ranking of 23 in the nation in both the USA Today and Associated Press polls.
While driving back home to Sandy from Provo and listening to “the most interactive and uncensored post-game BYU talk show” 1280 the Zone, I was shocked by some of the comments from Cougar fans who felt that BYU wasn’t getting the national respect or attention it deserved. Some felt that BYU and the rest of the teams in the Mountain West Conference were being unfairly slighted. Continue Reading »
I’m a huge fan of college football! But there’s no week I love better than the week of Thanksgiving. It’s when almost every college football team plays their own rivals.
In Utah, it’s no different. The rivalry game between No. 23 BYU and Utah has come to be known as “The Holy War” for the connection BYU has with the LDS Church (Mormon). With the schools located only 40 miles apart, pranks from each school have heated up the rivalry to fever pitch for years. Last year’s late-game heroics by now-NFL quarterback John Beck has only added fuel to the fire. There’s been nothing but trash talk between SLC and Provo for almost 12 full months now.
Here’s the clip that fueled the fire:
This year’s game should be even better. Each team is riding a seven-game win streak, with BYU looking to secure the top spot in the Mountain West Conference with a win, and the Utes looking to share a piece of the top spot with a win and a BYU loss at San Diego State.
If this year’s game is anything like last year’s, it will be awesome! Go Cougs!
(This game will be televised live on CSTV at noon MT.)
Alta High School (Sandy, Utah) capped off its 2007 football season with a 19-7 win over the Layton Lancers at Rice Ecceles Stadium this past Friday afternoon (11/16/07) in the 5-A championship game.
The win capped off a 13-1 season for the Hawks, whose only loss of the 2007 campaign (20-23) came in the second game of the season against the Bingham Miners, the 2006 5-A champs.
Nearly 20,000 fans watched Layton score on the opening kickoff with a 97-yard runback. But Alta’s stellar defense shut down the Lancers’ vaunted run attack, leaving Layton with -9 yards rushing (an all-time 5-A Championship Game record).
Alta graduates 43 seniors, but has 55 juniors slated to return for the 2008 season.
Oh, and did I mention that this same group of juniors was undefeated this year as a Junior Varsity squad and last year as the Sophomore team?
Congrats, Hawks — 2007 5-A Football Champions!
I went to the BYU-Colorado State football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, on Saturday. My dad brought my my 5-year-old nephew to the game. He loves sports and, just like any kid his age, gets excited to be at a game. He’s been to a few games in the past, and during those games, he’s loved to go see the players up close. Saturday was no different. BYU had the game in hand, so my dad asked my nephew if he wanted to go see the Colorado State players head into their locker room. Of course, my nephew jumped at the opportunity. So they headed off.
What happened while they were standing at the locker room entrance is a testament to the classiness of long-time head coach Sonny Lubick. My dad reported that nearly 80 percent of the players gave high fives to the fans even though they lost. He said one player walked along the line and slapped everyone’s hands. When he came to my nephew, he slapped his hand, and then (almost turning around) he stopped, looked down at my nephew and asked, “Do you want these?” as he pulled off his wrist bands. It goes without saying that my nephew was elated.
Today’s sports world is filled with classless individuals, with A-Rod and Scott Boras leading the charge. They have their millions, yet they demand more, not only in monetary compensation, but in the attention they want from the world. They are the epitome of the “gimme-gimme” syndrome.
Yet, this young CSU football player, who may or may not be on a scholarship and who most likely won’t end up going professional in football, took the opportunity to reach out to an impressionable young boy, even after losing the game. His coach has taught him how to show sportsmanship regardless of the outcome.
Sadly, Coach Lubick will probably be fired at the end of the year because he’s had a bad season after a successful 15-year stint at CSU. But in my eyes, and in the eyes of my family (all staunch BYU fans), he’s a hall of famer in our book. Not just any sports hall of fame, but in the Class Act Hall of Fame.
When one of the top 5-A football teams in the state (Jordan H.S.) loses 22-6 to a 3-7 team (Hunter H.S.), you know it’s got to be playoff time in Utah.
Yup, the 5-A football playoffs are here once again. And having a son on the Alta H.S. Hawks squad makes this season even sweeter and more exciting.
In spite of a lackadaisical start to the game that saw the first quarter end in a 0-0 tie, the now 10-1 Hawks took control the rest of the way en route to a 56-10 dismantling of the Kearns Cougars (now 5-6) in the first round of the 5-A playoffs.
Led by its senior offensive trio of RB Sausan Shakerin (seven carries for 110 yards and three TDs, two on the ground and one by air), QB Ryan Rosenvall (9-9 passing for 192 yards and four TD passes), and TE Brady Hunt (four catches for 121 yards and two TDs) and anchored by Alta’s stunning defense, the Hawks easily handled the Cougars. In fact, Kearns’ only touchdown came late in the game with the bulk of the Hawk defenders coming from its Junior Varsity squad.
Next up for the Hawks, the 6-4 Timpanogos Timberwolves, with start time slated for 7 p.m. this coming Friday, 11/2/07 at Alta’s home field in Sandy.
Here’s Oklahoma State’s Coach Mike Gundy ripping into a reporter from the Oklahoman for an article about one of his players. Read the article here and then watch the clip and see if you think the coach was out of line in his response.
Is this the last time we’ll see Lloyd Carr on the University of Michigan’s sidelines? If it is it doesn’t seem like the fans will be too upset. At this rate Michigan should get comfortable out behind the wood shed! First Appalachian state thumps ‘em and then Oregon takes them to town, will the Irish prevail to make it a hat trick at Michigan’s expense?
I don’t think the issue here is losing. Lots of good teams and coaches lose, it happens week in and week out! (My alma mater, BYU, lost earlier today.) I think what makes Michigan’s losses significant is the margin of defeat coupled with the hype around the Big Blue and the poor level of play. Execution is key, and although blame falls on the players’ shoulders, the coaches are there to instill discipline and teach and practice execution.
The commentators on ABC today remarked that the defensive coordinator threatened his defense that if they didn’t perform they’d find themselves on the bench — well, after today it would seem that most of the defense should be sitting on the bench, think the coach will follow through?
As with all money making ventures, key stakeholders (boosters, alum and university officials) want to see results, Carr certainly isn’t making a case for himself with these two recent debacles, it’ll be interesting how things shake out in Ann Arbor. Is it too late to schedule a local high school team for a win?
With all that said, maybe the real question here deals with rankings. Last year’s national champion Gators put a hurtin’ on Ohio State, did the final score and outcome reflect an accurate prediction based on the rankings going in? So with that I add yet another item for the NCAA to come up with, along with a better championship structure, find a way to more accurately rank teams.
Las Vegas during Labor Day weekend is about the last place on earth you could expect to find me, but there I was the past couple of days nonetheless.
It’s hot as Hades (103-105 degrees Fahrenheit), the city seems to be a magnet for every smoker on the planet, and the gambling mecca that says “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” does just about everything it can to make sure that what definitely stays in Vegas is one’s hard, earned cash.
But Alta High School’s football team decided it was gonna play an “endowment” pre-season game against one of the top teams in California (East Clovis High out of the Fresno area) over Labor Day weekend. So Poppa P, Momma P and our youngest daughter headed off to Sin City to watch our son Jonathan play.
As it was, Jonathan’s Junior Varsity squad ended up playing Saturday morning (9/1) against the JV team from Las Vegas’ own Bishop Gorman High at the practice field on the UNLV campus. And it was not pretty as the Alta Hawks crushed the Gaels 54-0.
That evening, the Hawks varsity took on the Silverwolves at Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of town. I won’t attempt to give a play-by-play rundown of the except to say it was an exciting back-and-forth battle that wasn’t put away until late in the 4th quarter when Kaden Carli picked off a pass and ran it back for a touchdown to put Alta ahead 28-12.
For a nice write-up, check out this article in the Sunday edition of the Fresno Bee.
The Hawks are now 2-1, are ranked 2nd in Utah in the 5A standings, having only lost another heartbreaker to the Bingham Miners, last year’s 5A State Champs and holders of an 18-game winning streak.
All in all, a successful trip to the desert for the Hawks and the Politis clan, withering heat notwithstanding.
