State of WAC

States of the former WAC

I woke up yesterday morning and like usual turned on ESPN while eating breakfast. Low and behold, some of the best sports news I had seen all summer, BYU was to join the Western Athletic Conference for all sports but football. The Cougars would have to come to Logan every year and play basketball against the Aggies in the Spectrum. It seemed as if this summers conference shake-up was going to be a good thing for everyone including, a Boise State-less, Western Athletic Conference.

That was until the Mountain West poached Fresno State and Nevada, two of the premier WAC football teams, yesterday afternoon! Leaving the WAC with the following six schools, Utah State, Idaho, San Jose State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, and New Mexico State. Six teams spread across six states, with no natural rivalries and limited historic rivalries. This is a very bad situation. Only two of the state are even neighbors!

I was opposed to the idea of super conferences (Texas & Oklahoma going to the PAC-10) this summer because of the ruining of rivalries and the large geographic distances that would separate the institutions, but in reality those conferences could survive that. The WAC with six teams, can not. And I am not willing to pay another increase in student fees so that Utah State's athletic teams can travel to Ruston, LA and Honolulu, HI because ESPN and its TV money do not want to support a conference with just six teams.

Honestly, I don't know what can be done and I have absolutely no power to do anything about it. So in theory, this blog is more of a rant than a solution, but if I were in charge of the WAC, this is what I would try and do; entice Montana to move up from the Big Sky and Wyoming to move back from the Mountain West, all the while still getting BYU's sports for everything besides football.

Montana could be looking to make the jump from the FCS Division and into the Bowl Divison. They have done just about everything in the FCS and they could see this move as their chance to make it on the national scene. Boise State made the jump less than 20 years ago and look where they are now! The WAC is a depleted conference football wise and the Grizzlies could quite possibly have a winning record in their first season. They would restore a rivalry with University of Idaho by doing this too. Wyoming would make the move for similar reasons; a chance to play in an easier conference, keep its long standing ties with BYU for all other sports, and create new rivalries with schools such as Montana and Utah State.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the WAC, the 6th oldest conference in the Bowl Division, hopefully it will still be around by the year 2011.

Red Numbers

I'm not really into tooting my own horn but yesterday I had a pretty good day, no, a really good day on the golf course.

I've been playing golf seriously since I was 13 and had had some pretty good days out on the course. I probably was probably the most talented the summer after my senior year of high school. There are so many shots and rounds from that summer that I will always remember, a four-under-par 30 on the back nine at Twin Falls Muni, a 155 yard 7-iron over trees and within feet for a win at the Pressbox. But for as much skill as I thought I had, my mental game was not quite good enough to allow me to do what I did yesterday.

Yesterday, for the first time in my life I shot under par on 18 holes. It was a one-under 71 at my home course with nothing more than a few dollars and pride was on the line. Playing with a guy I had always looked up to on the golf course as he was an elite high school player and I lowly freshman, Mike, my best friend, Derek, and one of Pocatello's new up and coming high school golfers, Ryker, it was the perfect afternoon.

I had shot 74 a couple times this summer but it had been a couple weeks since I had played golf well. Now I can't wait to get back on the course! I have one more golf goal this summer and that is to shoot in the 60's. I think I'm close...

p.s. One of my best friends, Benji Bosen, a kid that has always had the upper hand on me on the golf course gets home from his mission in less than a week! Can't wait to play a round with this kid, its been over two years!