The triumphant return of "Five for Five"!

           Welcome back to the hardest-hitting, number-crunching, wanna-be blog on the internet!  Today, I am taking a look at Runnin' Ute basketball, BYU's situation, Utah in the Pac-12 so far, the NBA Lockout, and comment boards.

Runnin’ Utes

Hard to believe, but basketball season is here! 

For the Runnin’ Utes, it’s a new beginning; in more ways than one.  This will be the team’s first year playing “big boy” ball in the Pac-12.  It is also the first year under new head coach Larry Krystkowiak. 

For a storied program like Utah, the last several years have been very frustrating.  You probably know the history.  Legendary coach Rick Majerus steps down in ’04.  The school hires Ray Giacoletti and makes a run to the sweet 16 on the shoulders of Andrew Bogut.  Bogut leaves early for the NBA, a large chunk of his supporting cast seeks greener pastures, and the program has been teetering ever since.

Ever since the MWC title run in ’08-’09, there has been constant turnover in the program.  The team would show flashes of brilliance, only to take a step back in the next game.

Now the team is starting over again.  Fresh faces have come in to play for “Coach K” and the returning players seem to have a sparkle in their eye we haven’t seen before.

What can we expect? 

Who knows.  This is a collection of players from all over and it will take time to build chemistry and rhythm.  And since there is such a large influx of new players, it is difficult to know where the overall talent level is. 

And playing in the Pac-12 will be a step up from the MWC.  Sure, the top of the MWC was probably nearly as good as the top of the Pac-12.  But there aren’t any TCUs or Wyomings in the Pac-12 to boost your record either. 

Personally, I am looking for a few things this season.  I want to see an offense that features movement.  I want to see the chemistry grow and the team to get better as the season goes along.  I want to see the players gain confidence.  I want to see consistent rebounding.  Most importantly, I don’t want to grow to love these players, only to watch them transfer in the offseason, as I have had to do over the last few years.  If they can do those things, I don’t care how many wins they have.  I know that this program will get back on track; I just want to see movement in that direction. 

BYU to the Big 12?

If you are like me, you are tired of the constant and inconsistent rumors about conference expansion.  What will the Big-12 do?  Does the Big East really want to move all the way across the country?  Will the dominoes ever stop falling? 

In one of his talks, speaker John Bytheway referenced an interesting thought:  To find out how great a country is, open up its borders completely for a while and take note.  Do people run in, or do they run out?  For instance, if Cuba was all of a sudden completely open, how many people would drown off of its coast because they are trying to escape from Florida?

Let’s apply this conference realignment.  Let’s open the borders of the Big-12, is there a rush to get in?  Sure, from smaller teams.  But let’s stick to just AQ-teams.  If you open up the conferences, do you think anyone leaves the SEC?  How about the Pac-12?  For the life of me, I just can’t see anyone jumping ship.  The Big-12 is a completely different story…..as has been demonstrated. 

Look at what you have in the Big-12.  You have the dominant program (Texas), the second dominant program (Oklahoma).  The little brothers who just take orders and do as they are told (Oklahoma State and Texas Tech).  The moochers (Baylor and Iowa State).  And the pretty good programs who will say they are invested, but they would be gone in a second if the opportunity came (Kansas and Kansas State).  You open the borders of the Big-12, and there are teams that would leave. 

I get it.  BYU could be left out in the cold.  But this independence thing is pretty darn cool for them.  They have more flexibility.  And as long as they win, ESPN will help them out with scheduling.  In other sports, the WCC is a good place to be.  If I was BYU, I would avoid the Big-12 at all costs. 

In my opinion, the best option for the Cougars (assuming they want in) is to get on board with this Big East expansion, in football only.  That would be a nice mix of regional games and national exposure across the country.  If the Big East was able to grab Boise and BYU, along with Air Force, Navy, Houston, and SMU, that is an AQ conference in my book.

The joys of the Pac-12……

Earlier, I touched on a subject about competition in the Pac-12.  The football team at Utah has found out the hard way that things aren’t as “Rosy” as they thought they might be in their new conference. 

Every week is a new challenge.  The teams are bigger, stronger, faster, and more battle hardened than the average MWC team.  Utah has to adjust.

Clearly, Utah is not as bad of a team as they have shown so far.  Utah can and will compete in this conference.  A rash of bad luck and some program mistakes have put them where they are now. 

                There are too many factors that have been discussed to the point of beating a dead horse around the internet.  To sum it up, Utah was not ready at the QB position this year.  An average QB can get you a decent spot in the MWC if you have some other things; but it doesn’t work in the Pac-12.   

                As the years go by, I think you’ll see Utah win more than their fair share of games in their new conference, but it will take some precious time.  As with basketball, fans need to be patient and continue to support their team through thick and thin.

                NBA Lockout and the casual fan

                I should be excited to watch the NBA tip off in the next week, but instead I am fed an endless supply of “information from sources” about how close and far away the NBA and players are from reaching a deal.  

                Bottom line: these guys need to come to a deal soon.  There are people whose livelihood depends on the NBA and they are tossed to the side in this battle of egos.  I don’t have time or the interest in spelling it all out, but the players are going to have to cave sooner than the owners.  That’s just the way that the leverage works.  I don’t like either side, but the owners have more resources.                 

                Just get it done, you bozos.  If you wait too long, you risk alienating the casual fan, and they might never come back.  And you come off looking bad.  Just get it done, please.

                Online comment boards….

                If you want to find the corner of the world where the lowest forms of human life hang out, you don’t need to visit your local slum, or even your nearby state prison.  Just take a gander at your local paper and the comment boards. 

                For a sampling of what I am talking about, you should read the comments on the Deseret News website.  It is an endless battle of brain bankrupt Utah and BYU fans that battle over the most trivial things.  They are constantly trying to one up each other.  You can find more maturity at your local Daycare.

                And the funny thing is, the Deseret News claims to want to create an environment where civil dialogue occurs.  Their way of doing this is to screen and approve of every comment before it gets posted.  That’s a nice idea, not exactly the most American thing I have ever seen, but I see where they are coming from. 

                Still, they fail at it.  When I posted there, I had numerous comments “rejected” because of a breach of the rules.  I never swore, I never used inflammatory words, or anything.  And yet, I have seen numerous people get posts with curse words and posts that are meant to be inflammatory across.  Anytime you put people together where they can say things anonymously and not have any consequences, you are asking for trouble.  The fact that they pre-screen and still allow all of that junk boggles my mind. 

                Great Job Des News!  You get the “Epic Fail of the Day”!   

                If you want comment boards that really have civil dialogue, check out any of the SB Nation blogs, those are the best run blogs and message boards on the World Wide Web, and they probably have a blog dedicated to your favorite team.