A Mediocre Mailbag

No, it's not the questions that are mediocre. In fact, you'll soon see these are some of the most well thought out questions in the history of my blog. The mediocrity comes from the answers. You see, I'm not much of an NBA guy. I follow it a little bit, mostly the Jazz and the postseason (not to be confused with the Jazz in the postseason, because that's not a real frequent occurrence), but I just don't feel as adequate to answer these questions as a lot of other people. In fact, these questions are so well thought out that I actually wondered if J Money, the reader who asked the NBA questions in this mailbag, even needs me. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that he doesn't. Just to illustrate, let me show you just how little I care about the NBA. Below is a list of my top five favorite sports to follow, meaning watch, read about, learn about, and keep up to date on. Keep in mind it would be different if it was my overall favorite sports, including sports I like to play, because basketball would certainly top that list.

Have you ever watched the Little League World Series?
It's actually a ton of fun, and the kids are really good.

1. Baseball - I mean, I even make it a point to watch as much of the Little League World Series as I can every year. This year hasn't been as kind to me in that regard, but top to bottom I love watching and going to baseball games, no matter the age and skill level.
2. Basketball - There is simply nothing more beautiful than the month of March my wife. But second to my wife is the month of March. I lose focus on everything to watch college basketball. But college is really the only level of basketball I consistently follow. Ever since John Stockton retired and Karl Malone sold out and became a Laker, the NBA just hasn't been the same for me. If it weren't for the NBA though, basketball would hands down be my favorite sport.
3. Football - I really do love football, and I definitely enjoy the NFL more than the NBA when it comes to watching professional sports. I definitely don't consider myself an expert on the NFL, but I enjoy it. Bowl Week is a beautiful thing, and with the BCS era coming to a close, the college game is going to get that much more interesting. A few things still need to change, but we're getting closer to the solution.
4. Tennis - Okay, sure. The scoring system was created by a drunk person. And people think it's boring. But as a tennis player, I just love watching these athletes compete and I appreciate the difficulty of the game. During my playing career (which admittedly was nothing special whatsoever) I followed tennis much more religiously, in fact tennis likely would have topped this list. Since the rapid decline of American tennis I have to admit I've fallen off a bit, but I still love watching the Grand Slams.
5. Soccer - I definitely don't follow Major League Soccer here in America, and barely follow the Premiere League in England, but it's an international classic, and when it comes to international competitions, I really get into it. That's especially true of Euro Cup, World Cup, and the Olympics.

But now to the Mailbag. These questions came from my good friend J Money and Prince Michael, and I appreciate the challenge they presented to me. As you will know by the time you've finished reading this, the NBA and the NFL are areas I'm not quite as knowledgeable in. I also appreciate that it gave me something to do at work. And if my boss is reading this, by work I really mean at home.

I enjoy reading your blog and I was wondering if you could look into something for me good sir. Why are you wearing an O's shirt in one picture and a Rockies shirt in another and then displaying them on your Facebook two inches away from each other? -J Money

Tulo has a great bat and a knack for the spectacular.

Simple, really. I'm a die-hard Rockies fan, and nothing can ever change that. But before the Rockies were born in 1993, the same year my family moved to Colorado, I was an Orioles fan living in Maryland. And so, while I will always cheer for the Rockies, even if they're out of the playoff race and the Orioles are still in it and they're playing against each other, like last weekend for example, I'm upset if the O's were to beat the Rox 2-1 in that series.Which they did.

I've lived a lot of places in my life, and as a result I'm actually a fan of a lot of teams. And while I'm in the mood of making lists, here's the order I place all 30 teams in baseball. The top two are completely locked, as are the bottom two, but from day to day they may be some movement in the middle, but I think it's mostly how I feel.

1. Colorado Rockies - I moved to Colorado the year they were formed, when I was three almost four. Pretty crucial time in your life to pick a team, and we went to quite a few games. Those Blake Street Bombers were fun to watch, especially pre-Humidor.
2. Baltimore Orioles - My first team. Cal Ripken Jr. Plus Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a really cool stadium.

   

   Chris Davis has been remarkable to watch for the O's.

3. Washington Nationals - My family moved back to Maryland and sent me a Nats hat. Plus I thought they were going to be really good so I started cheering for them. Kidding, but Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg are fun to watch.
4. St. Louis Cardinals - I used to play for the Cardinals back in Little League, and I really liked Ozzie Smith. I like to think of him as my uncle. We're both Smiths after all.
5. Seattle Mariners - I lived in Washington back in the days of Ken Griffey Jr. (the first time) and A-Rod (when he was cool) and Randy Johnson (who was really only uncool during his two year stint in pinstripes) and Ichiro (who is somehow still relatively cool in pinstripes). And I'm realizing Junior is the only one of those never to play for the Yankees. What a stud. I also lived there when Junior, Pay-Rod, and The Big Unit all left, Ichiro arrived and suddenly the M's were good and won 116 games.
6. Atlanta Braves - When I was a kid I loved the Braves. Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux... They were loaded.
7. Tampa Bay Rays - Something about the Rays is fun to watch. I read an article on Grantland last year that made me realize those guys are just having a blast. That's how professional athletes should be. I mean, they're getting paid to play the game they love. Have fun!
8. Los Angeles Angels - I'll admit it. They made it this high because of Angels in the Outfield. Plus, the Rally Monkey.
9. Arizona Diamondbacks - When the Diamondbacks debuted I got a hat and cheered for them. I don't know why, but I did.
10. Cincinnati Reds - Okay, Dad. I'll put your team in my top ten. I suppose the Big Red Machine was pretty cool back in the day. I'm sad I missed it.
11. Miami Marlins - Back when they were the Florida Marlins they pulled off a huge upset and beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. Consequently, I like them.
12. San Francisco Giants - I had a roommate who was the biggest Giants fan in the world. We were roommates when they won the World Series in 2010 and that was actually pretty fun.
13. Philadelphia Phillies - Likewise I had a good friend on my LDS mission who was a die-hard Phillies fan and I was around him when they won the Series in 2008. So since I like him, I'll sort of like the Phillies.
14. Kansas City Royals - I don't know why, but I've never really liked the Royals. But lately they've been growing on me. Their success this year is kind of inspiring. 
15. Chicago Cubs - I'm almost completely indifferent with the Cubs. I mean, Wrigley Field is cool and all, but I really only put them this high because I feel bad for them. I mean, when else are they going to be ranked in the top half?
16. San Diego Padres - I don't particularly like the Padres. But wasn't Tony Gwynn awesome?
17. New York Mets - They're okay I guess.
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - I don't like the Dodgers. But we had season tickets to their Single A affiliate in Washington. Until that team became the Single A affiliate of the Diamondbacks instead.
19. Oakland A's - Moneyball.
20. Houston Astros - Craig Biggio was one of my favorite players of the 1990s. But the Astros have never done anything worth cheering for. And don't even bother to mention that the Rockies haven't either. The Rockies are awesome.
21. Minnesota Twins - I like Little Big League.
22. Toronto Blue Jays - It just dawned on me yesterday how smart it is to have an indoor stadium in Canada.
23. Detroit Tigers - I've cheered for them on rare occasions, but I try not to make it a habit.
24. Pittsburgh Pirates - Sure it's cool to watch them finally have a good season. But I really don't like the Pirates. Though I have no idea why.
25. Texas Rangers - They turned A-Rod into Pay-Rod.
26. Cleveland Indians - The Rockies should have beat the Indians in the 2007 World Series. But instead the Indians had to blow a 3-0 lead against the Red Sox in the ALCS, causing the red-hot Rox to go cold as ice and get swept in their one and only chance at glory.
27. Milwaukee Brewers - Ryan Braun is really starting to tick me off.
28. Chicago White Sox - I think it stems from the big, ugly, tobacco spitting dude on the White Sox in Angels in the Outfield, but I really don't like the White Sox.
29. Boston Red Sox - I only cheer for the Red Sox 18 times a year. That's how many times they play the Yankees, right?
30. New York Yankees - If we were talking about the historic Yankees with players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle, I would have placed them significantly higher. But we're not. We're talking about the Steinbrenner Yankees. And I hate them with my whole heart.

I named my car CarGo. Seriously.

That was actually a lot harder than I thought. Ask me tomorrow and numbers 8-27 could all be different. A couple things I know for sure: I love the Rockies, I hate the Yankees, and I think the National League is cooler than the American League.

Well, now that I've spent a ton of time answering the question J Money was apparently "kidding" about, I should probably take a crack at his real questions.

All kidding aside, what are your thoughts on this: The Pistons recently traded for Josh Smith making a crowded frontcourt the most crowded frontcourt of all time with him, Andre Drummond, and Greg Monroe. Spacing is going to be terrible especially since Monroe and Smith are essentially the same player offensively (decent inside-out game [emphasis on decent] and great passers for being big men). For starters what are your thoughts on this little experiment of Joe Dumars? -J Money

If it doesn't work it will doubtless be Monroe that leaves.

If we've learned anything from the Lakers the past couple years it's that big men occasionally have a hard time co-existing. Having said that I think this experiment is fine for a couple of different reasons. First, the Pistons are really, really bad and they need to try something. Second, while Monroe and Smith are similar, Smith can stretch the floor more. He's not a great three point shooter, but he's at least a threat from deep.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out though because the Pistons will be putting a ridiculous amount of size on the floor. Smith will need to focus on his perimeter game because there will simply not be enough room for him to come inside with regularity. As all three of these guys do like to play above the rim they will need some major help from the perimeter. The three point shooters will need to step up for Detroit because if defenses can crowd the paint at all this big man experiment will fail.

Second, let's look at the scenario if it doesn't work. In a recent interview with Grantland, Dumars was excited about Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith coming to town and excited about the development of Drummond but seemed indifferent to Monroe, citing his defensive shortcomings. It can probably be assumed that if this fails then Monroe, who will be a free agent next summer, will be allowed to walk. If this is the case, how do you like him with the Wizards?

Here's why I think it would work:

1. DC for some reason beyond me is not attractive to free agents. They do have a solid core of young guys who have a shot of being as high as the six seed in the East this year (if you don't believe me tell me who is going to be better in the East). They are up and coming and will be solid, barring injuries, for at least the entire time John Wall is there. 
2. Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor are coming off the books next season. That's over 21 million available for next season. A big chunk is going to Wall but there is still some left over for another max, or near max, contract if DC entered a bidding war for Monroe. 
3. Though regarded as a defensive liability, DC I believe was ninth defensively in the league. Not great I know, but my point is he has help. Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin are defensively minded backups and working with Nene in the starting lineup will offer some added rim protection. He's no Okafor defensively but is it worth it to sacrifice Okafor's defensive production for Monroe's offensive production?
4. The organization has made it clear that they believe Brad Beal will be a major contributor in the rebuilding process. When his free agency comes up, Nene will be coming off the books so there isn't a worry of him not getting paid because Monroe is there. Also with Monroe, defenses will have to crowd the paint to deal with Monroe, Nene, and the potential of a Wall drive, thus creating tons of space for Beal and Martell Webster to get open looks on the perimeter, or the likes of Otto Porter Jr. for easy mid-range jumpers.

I think it would work, but tell me your thoughts. -J Money

Sounds good to me! See what I mean about well thought out questions?

If Emeka Okafor walks when his contract is up after the 2013-2014 season the Wizards will be in the market for a big man, and Monroe feels like a good fit for all the reasons you outlined. It might be worth it for the Wizards to let Okafor go if they can bring in Monroe, defensive liability or not. Right now there are no legitimate scoring threats in the post and Wall needs someone in the paint to dish to, and a guy like Monroe might be the best player they can attract.

John Wall and the Wizards could really use
a scoring presence in the post.

From Monroe's standpoint it would make sense to go to Washington if for no other reason than he would have more room to operate. Rather than three bigs they would have a true small forward in Otto Porter. The lane won't be as crowded, and if somehow it is you have a legitimate deep threat in Beal to kick the ball to.

Also, I agree with you, the Wizards have a shot at the playoffs if for no other reason than the East is horrendous overall. I mean, the eighth seed had a losing record and the seventh seed barely cleared .500. So the fact that the Wizards have a chance to make the playoffs ought to make Washington a relatively appealing stop for Monroe if this experiment in Detroit fails. If it's a success and the Pistons make the postseason this year, Washington will be harder to sell.

The guard line in Washington, while perhaps not yet elite, is solid. Wall and Beal should make a good combination for years to come and they certainly have the potential to become the amazing backcourt the Wizards are expecting. In order for that to happen though, they need a scoring post presence. Adding a guy like Monroe seems to make a lot of sense from the Washington perspective, and should make sense to Monroe as well.

This wasn't as intelligent an answer as I would have liked, but hopefully it at least sort of answers the questions. I'll study up on the NBA for next time.

Who's going to the Super Bowl this year? People in Denver are going nuts about the Broncos, but they lost Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller is suspended so I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. Still, no one else in the AFC is that good, are they? -Prince Michael

And on go my blue and orange goggles. Be warned, this question is answered with an extreme amount of bias.

I agree with you. With Dumervil gone, Miller out for the first six games, and Champ Bailey getting old Denver isn't going to be unbeatable. Having said that, the rest of the AFC, and the NFL for that matter, doesn't exactly look dangerous. And the offensive side of the ball looks to be pretty good with Peyton Manning now teaming up with Wes Welker.

Manning to Welker. Oh, it's going to be awesome.

Looking at those first six games that Von Miller will be suspended for I think the worst case scenario is that the Broncos make it out 4-2, best case 5-1. Sure the defense will give up some extra yardage and it may cost them, but it's a pretty weak top half of the schedule. The only two games I think Denver may drop, barring any surprise teams, are the first two against the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants. The Giants should be a solid team this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Denver drops that game. But the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens aren't looking like they'll be as good this year with the loss of Ray Lewis and a few injury concerns. The next four games are against lower tier opponents: Oakland Raider, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Jacksonville Jaguars.

I'm going to bet the Broncos finish around 12-4, give or take one game either direction. They'll win their division and probably meet either New England or Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship. While those are dangerous opponents, I'm going to give the edge to the Broncos.

I think the NFC will come down to Green Bay, Atlanta, and Seattle, and as much as I would love to see the Broncos beat the Packers or Falcons in the Super Bowl again, I think Seattle will be playing Denver on Super Bowl Sunday.

And the Denver Broncos are going to win.

Come on. You had to see that coming.

Santa's Mailbag

I read a great Mayan Apocalypse Mailbag the other day by the Sports Guy. He graciously answered "even more e-mails than usual (over 50 in all), just so you'll always remember plowing through your final Sports Guy column during those final seconds as Earth is collapsing on itself." What a thoughtful guy!

As I read that I thought to myself, "Wow! Over 50! This is going to take me forever to read!" (Seeing lots of words on the page of a sports article? Great! Seeing lots of words in my business finance text book? Yeah, it doesn't get read. Ever.)

Then my thoughts turned to my upcoming mailbag. I didn't have 50. Or even 20. Or 10. Heck, I didn't even reach five! But ya know what, I appreciate these four submissions. From three different people. And one didn't even know it was going to get used. Ah, well. I'll catch up to you one day, Bill Simmons!

It's Christmas Eve, so this mailbag will be filled with gifts (and some coal) from Santa. My wife might even read this one if I tell her it's about Christmas.

You know what you should be doing is making some huge movement to get Jabari Parker to go to BYU. -Keith S.

Clearly this is all my fault, and I'm sorry.

This was sent to me 20 December at 2:17 p.m. Many of you will recognize this as mere moments before Jabari announced his decision to go to Duke. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do at that point.

I mean, I met Jabari a couple weeks back. Great kid, went out of his way to say hello to me and ask how I was doing (as did his mother, so great family), but I didn't think to say, "Hey, man. Can I get your number so that when your on national television in a couple weeks, about to declare your decision to attend Duke, I can call you and change your mind and get you to come to BYU?"

I'm sorry Cougar Nation; this one falls completely on me. But gift number one from Santa's bag goes to Duke, getting a terrific young man and an excellent ball player. You're welcome.

Have you talked about Jabari Parker to Duke? You should. -Clayton J.

The next gift is for Jabari Parker: He's getting himself the second winningest college basketball coach of all time to help him prepare for the NBA. He's getting an education from a top 10 university, and even if he only stays there for a year that's pretty good. And he's going to get a shot at a national title. That's not a bad deal.

I've always said that if I had the luxury of a scholarship offer from any school in the country, I would go and play for Coach K. I wouldn't do it for Duke. I couldn't care less about Duke. I would want to play for the greatest coach of all time. But since John Wooden isn't around anymore, I would play for Coach K in a heart-beat. Unfortunately I wasn't good enough to have that option, but Jabari is. And as much as it pain my BYU loyalty to say it, I think he made the right decision.

Look, I would have been ecstatic if Jabari had come to Provo. I really and truly would. I was really hoping for it! But I just didn't see it happening. I saw a possibility of it happening, but we were just up against some heavy hitters. I don't know if we ever had a chance, I don't know if we ever were in the lead, and I don't think Jabari will ever reveal that to us. What I do know, is that he made a choice that will be very beneficial to his future, in all aspects of life, not just basketball. That's not something exclusive to BYU, and Coach K is someone I have the utmost respect for, and it seems that he does great things for his kids out there at Duke.

Perhaps the "safe" choice would have been BYU. Surrounded by people of his same faith in a culture he could thrive. There would be nice Mormon girls for him everywhere. He would instantly receive the Jimmer treatment. In fact he already had when he came for his official visit as BYU fans pulled out all the stops. He would have been the best player on the team, and probably the best player in the conference. Between BYU's ESPN deal and BYUtv national attention would not have been a problem. Coach Rose is a very respectable coach, BYU is a respectable program, and he would have been an instant legend.But the kid chose Duke, and I respect that. He did what he feels is best for him, and that's really what the choice is all about. I wish him nothing but the best at Duke and in the league.

Will you then please do an article on the BYU field goal kicker. Seriously - there's no way a collegiate kicker can be that bad all season. I mean, this is BYU. Sure, we're no SEC team, but we're still a football school. Shouldn't we be able to recruit a decent kicker? I vote we recruit from our own BYU women's soccer team. What's your take? -Ben H.

I'll admit, the kicking game has been awful this year. And last year. But it wasn't due to lack of recruiting efforts. BYU recruited Justin Sorensen to be the go to kicker. In high school he kicked field goals of 59, 61, and 62 yards. That's incredible. But in college he's just never materialized as a consistent and accurate kicker.

He spent his freshman year backing up Mitch Payne and went 1-3, with his two misses coming from beyond 50 yards. He was 2-2 on extra point attempts. Following his mission he had an inconsistent sophomore year, making just 60 percent of his field goal tries. He did however set a BYU record for most extra points in a season without a miss as he went 48-48 on PATs. It was later revealed that he struggled throughout the season with back injuries and he underwent off-season back surgery.

The backup kicker was senior punter, Riley Stephenson, who hadn't so much as attempted a PAT since high school. All things considered, he did a respectable job holding Sorensen's spot making 4 of 6 field goals and 16 of 19 extra points. Obviously this was not an answer, and it was certainly a sub par performance for a kicker, but considering he was actually the punter, I say he did alright. (And a great gift to him for receiving numerous second team All-American honors for his punting season!)

However, Sorensen came back from his injury and still struggled. He was clearly not fully recovered and quite rusty as he made just 50 percent of his field goals and missed the first three extra points of his career, going 27-30. Is he the answer? I'm not sure. I'm not sure he's been given enough of a chance yet. It's a shame there isn't a quality backup for him, but most football teams don't give out a ton of scholarships to kickers. It's also a shame that BYU doesn't have a coach dedicated to the kicking game, and that may be adding to Sorensen's struggles. So a lump of coal to the Cougar coaching staff for that deficiency.

Overall though, I think they played their cards appropriately, just just got hit by the injury bug. And they got hit hard. Hopefully Sorensen will recover and maybe next year he'll develop into the kicker we expected. I feel like BYU fans have been saying that a lot the last couple years. "Maybe next year..."

As for recruiting from the women's soccer team, if she can kick a football as deep and accurately as she kicked this soccer ball, I vote the football team gets Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall to take over kicking duties until we have proof that Sorensen is fully recovered. (She earned a nice gift of being number three on Sportcenter's Top 10 plays that night).

Also, an article on what the heck happened to the BYU quarterback position this year would be interesting. I'd like to know what really happened (in other words, a few decent theories). Obviously Taysom Hill go hurt on a play called by the communist North Korean coaches that infiltrated our coaching staff. But maybe aliens abducted Brandon Doman and replaced him with one of their own. And I thought Riley Nelson was supposed to be the Moses that would lead us to the promised land? And how the heck did James Lark end up as Joshua? -Ben H.

Ignoring the fact that you called for a few decent theories and then blamed communists and aliens for the quarterback troubles at BYU, I do have a few thoughts surrounding the turbulence these last three seasons. Each of the past three seasons has really been defined by quarterback controversy. You'd think that somehow that would have ended by now, that the coaching staff would have learned their lesson, but for whatever reason, it keeps happening over and over again.

If BYU never got Jake Heaps, we never would have seen one
of the greatest individual defensive performances ever in this
year's Poinsettia Bowl.

First, I hope that three years ago Brandon Doman received an excellent gift from Santa. He recruited the highly touted Jake Heaps to come to Provo. It was quite commendable to get the top quarterback recruit in the country, but that would quickly fall apart (and I'll get to that in a minute). The reason Doman gets a gift for that? Heaps brought Ross Apo with him, who admittedly hasn't quite lived up to his potential yet, but more important than that, Heaps brought KYLE VAN NOY! And BYU got one of the best defensive players in school history out of that.

Bronco Mendenhall and Brandon Doman receive a lump of coal for their handling of Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson in Heaps' freshman season. It was awful, and I believe it severely stunted Heaps' growth as a player. I believe he should have been named the starter throughout his freshman year. He finished strong and went into his sophomore year as the unquestioned starter, and I think he earned that.

Forgive me for being repetitive, and perhaps a bit lazy, but I already voiced my thoughts on Heaps' sophomore year, and I don't really want to get all worked up about it again, so I'm going to repeat what I already wrote about it a couple weeks back.

Jake Heaps, after a promising freshman season, was in a sophomore slump. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. He looked too tightly wound and seemed to be buckling under the hype we had placed on him. He beat the teams he was supposed to though, and that's all that BYU does now anyway, so I don't think it was fair to place all the blame on a young quarterback, as highly touted as he was. He struggled mightily in the game against Utah State, and Riley Nelson came in an led a miracle drive down the field for the victory.

Riley Nelson was a gritty dude but
probably not the answer for BYU.

But hold on a second. The two big plays of that drive were as follows: 1) a fluttering 40 yard pass that was not even sort of on target, and McKay Jacobson made the play of his career by running across the field, getting under the ball, and then holding on for dear life. 2) an inaccurate pass intended for JJ DiLuigi that he reached back for, drew a pass interference call, and then somehow the deflection found Marcus Mathews in the back of the end zone. Nothing about that drive said "Riley Nelson is more talented than Jake Heaps and the quarterback of the future for BYU." Nothing! But for some reason we turned on Heaps and ran him out of town. I still believe he had the ability to be that QB of the future for BYU, so I think we wasted that and threw it away. It's a shame really.

Look at what Notre Dame did this year. Starting QB Everett Golson struggled to close out a couple of games early. In comes Tommy Rees to save the day. Notre Dame wins, the media tries to ignite a quarterback controversy, but they stick with their guy, and now they're set to play for the national championship. BYU should have done exactly that. Riley saved the day against USU, but let Heaps get back to work on Monday.

The reality of it is that we were stuck with Riley Nelson, who last season beat the teams he was supposed to and lost to the rest, and this season didn't even quite look fully capable of that. In his defense he struggled with injuries, but with the QBs on the bench right behind him it's a shame we didn't put in a healthy guy in his stead, because down to our third string we had starting talent.

After a couple weeks of playing through a broken back and giving the opposing defenses points that would in turn win games, he was finally benched to heal and Taysom Hill came in and showed Cougar Nation why they should be excited about the next few years. He would have been a great quarterback to stay in for a few more games, too, if it weren't for a miscommunication that led to Hill running a play rather than lining up in victory formation and taking a knee. On that play Hill blew out his knee and finished his year with season ending knee surgery.

Instead of turning to our third string senior quarterback, who during spring and fall camps was actually pushing Nelson for the starting job, only to be demoted because Hill's style was more similar to Nelson's and to give him more experience for the future, Nelson somehow recovered from a broken back to be ready to play again. I don't disagree with the decision to move Hill up the depth charts. I think it was a smart move to get him ready to take full control (hopefully) of the starting job next year. I do, however, disagree that Nelson should have rushed back into the lineup rather than playing Lark for a week or two to allow Nelson a full recovery. I mean, we're talking about a kid who was in a battle for the starting position in the preseason. 

Was James Lark the solution all along?

And then in the last week of the regular season we really were down to our third string, Lark, and he showed us he really does have talent. Holy cow did he show us he has talent. He looked brilliant. No other BYU QB has enjoyed that kind of success in his first career start. Six touchdowns. 68 percent completion percentage. No interceptions. I don't care who you're playing, those numbers are dang good. I admit he struggled some in the bowl game when he got a second start, but the fact of the matter is, he ended his career 2-0 as a starting quarterback. An undefeated college career, and he went out on top.

So now, gifts and coal for the handling of the situation the past few years.

Brandon Doman: Gift for giving us Kyle Van Noy.
Bronco Mendenhall: Coal for using a dual quarterback system in Heaps' first year, or at least for allowing it to happen.

BYU fans: A fantastic amount of coal. We hated Nelson and wanted only Heaps when there was a dual quarterback system. Then at the first sign of struggle from Heaps and some late game heroics (as much of a fluke as it was, they were still heroics) from Nelson, we wanted Nelson back. That ended up chasing Heaps out of town to Kansas, the poor kid. Then Nelson starts to struggle and suddenly we want someone, anyone to take over for him. We got Hill. Then he got injured and we wanted Lark. It's just ridiculous. I just hope Taysom Hill can get through next year with a 100 percent completion percentage or BYU fans might just run him out of town too.

Jake Heaps: Coal for transferring instead of working hard and waiting it out. But I wish him all the best and I really do hope he succeeds.

Brandon Doman: He can keep his first gift, but he also gets some coal for his role in all the quarterback controversies, the injury to Taysom Hill, and a completely inept offense.

Riley Nelson: Gift, simply for being a gritty dude and a class act in spite of everything that happened.

BYU coaching staff in general: Coal for everything that happened. But a small gift for finally recognizing that Riley wasn't healthy enough to play in the bowl game and letting Lark take the reigns. I feel for Riley and the way his career ended, but it was the right choice.

James Lark: The biggest gift of this group. He fought through adversity. He stuck it out in the cellar of the depth chart, and he did so with class and grace. And when he got his chance he rose up and took it. Good for him.

I think Doman is the biggest problem and probably needs to go. Bronco is fine, for now, but he needs to step in and make sure some of these things don't keep happening. We'll see how the future goes, but the Cougar faithful need to stay patient and support Hill next season or we could go through this whole thing all over again.

Mailbag: Conference Shakeups... Again

I give up. I can't keep track of it, I can't remember who is going where or when it's happening, and it's just getting ridiculous. The landscape of college sports has shifted drastically the past couple years, and it's going to continue on for a couple more.

I was staying out of it, really. I'd stopped trying to remember which school belongs to which conference, and I wasn't going to start trying again until at least 2015 when things have hopefully died down and stabilized a bit.

But it was not to be, for the lone question (at least that I have much of an answer for) in my mailbag this week, was this:

What's the deal with everyone hating on the Big East? It seems like a ton of teams throughout the NCAA are switching conference left and right-- what about just having a giant restructuring meeting where all the presidents sit down and "redraw the lines?" -Ben H.

The landscape is changing: where does everyone belong?

First of all, let's make that meeting happen. Let's sit everybody down for a week long meeting. Let's get school presidents and ADs, along with the NCAA president and conference commissioners, as well as all TV network leaders to hash out broadcasting rights... Dang. I'm starting to think a week may not be long enough. Well let's make it a month long meeting, but the TV guys don't need to show up until the last week. Okay perfect, let's get this thing going so we can be over and done with conference realignment.

So we'll have the conferences all be pretty close to even numbers, and maybe get rid of some of the talent disparity - I mean, the SEC is right next door to the Sun Belt, the Pac-12 is close to the WAC, the Big Ten is near the MAC, let's even these things out!

There are currently 11 football conferences (plus four independent teams) and 124 teams. Why don't we make 12 conferences of ten teams in eight of those conferences, and 11 teams in the remaining four?

There are 32 basketball conferences and 347 schools. Why don't we make 30 conferences, with 17 conferences having 12 members and 13 conferences having 11 members?

Okay, okay, you're right. I'm getting a bit carried away and admittedly a little ridiculous. But here's my point: if we're going to have to endure all of these major conference shakeups throughout the NCAA, can we just get it over with and get it right? I'm not going to suggest that what I have listed above is right. In fact I don't think it is at all. I'm not sure that the best system is to rid the sports world of talent disparity. For example, if you do that in basketball you severely limit Cinderella stories in March. (Speaking of, shout out to Butler for taking down top-ranked Indiana today!)

I don't know what the best solution is, but I would really love to see this shuffling stop.

As for the Big East's problems in particular, I believe there are two problems: 1) They have really struggled in football in recent years and schools are trying to bolt to more respectable conferences, and 2) It's just getting a little too crowded in basketball.

The only thing certain for Coach Thompson's Hoyas right
now is that the future doesn't involve the Big East.

I get why a team would leave the Big East right now, especially these seven schools, all non-football schools. Football drives everything in college sports. It has driven this conference realignment the past few years and continues to do so. There are currently 15 schools participating in basketball in the Big East Conference, with more coming and more leaving, so who knows exactly where the count will end up. For those seven non-basketball schools, now is the perfect time to get out; conference realignment is running rampant, and DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova are some quality programs that could make a pretty decent basketball conference of their own.

And sometimes it's just nice to have some stability, and those schools will likely find it while the Big East remains in turmoil and uncertainty.

Actually, now that I've answered this, I still think I stayed vague enough that I can avoid trying to memorize new conference structures until 2015!

What is your opinion on super tall kids trying to longboard? -Heather P.

Yeah... Not really my area of expertise, but if they get a longer board and bend their knees they should be able to counteract that center of gravity issue, right?

First Ever BTS Mailbag

I've decided I need to get back to writing more consistently, so I had the idea of starting a mailbag. I mean, it works for the Sports Guy, why wouldn't it work for me?

Luckily for me I got several questions to answer, and it's only my first week!

What's the best way to get a spare when you have a 7-10 split? -Mom

Okay, not really the kind of question I was hoping for... But throw back a couple of cold ones, put on a blindfold, and go for it. It's honestly your best shot. (Actually mom, don't drink beer. It's bad).

Well, maybe there's a better question to start on.

Which horse has the best chance of being a Triple Crown winner? -Mom

Hmm... I don't think my mom has ever read my blog before. Actually after this question I'm not even sure she knows I like basketball. And football. And baseball. And soccer. And I can count on one hand the number of times I've even ridden a horse. Which is actually significantly more times than I've watched horse racing. Not really my thing.

That's okay, we'll try for another question.

What's your take on the coaching change-ups in collegiate synchronized swimming this year? -Mom

Okay, Mom, this is just getting ridiculous.

Let's see if we've got any questions from outside my family.

Why is UK always better than North Carolina? -Clayton J.

Wait... What?! Sorry, my friend. Kentucky is seriously struggling this year without any semblance of veteran leadership. Not that North Carolina has a whole lot of that either, but at least they're still ranked in both polls.

They do both need some quality wins, and fast, or their seasons could spiral out of control.

Interesting that Coach Bielema would accept a new job before the season is even over. Now he can't coach them in the bowl game. A basketball coach would never accept a new position between the conference tournament and NCAA tournament. What's your take on this? -Ben H.

In football it actually happens more than you'd think. Unfortunately, with the nature of the college game, if a big school fires a coach, they start the job hunt immediately, and if you get offered the job, they aren't going to wait around for your bowl game to finish to hear your decision. Do I agree with it? No. But it's the nature of the beast.

UConn made the 2011 Fiesta bowl by somehow winning the Big East championship. It was widely known that their coach was interviewing at other schools and everyone knew he was leaving at the end of the season. He didn't actually do what Bielema did here and accept the offer before the bowl game, but he was gone. It was pretty much a fact. But because he was still there with his team coaching them on the biggest football stage in school history, his players rallied around him and played their hearts out for him. They got slaughtered, because rarely does the Big East belong in a BCS game, but they played for him and they loved him. Why? Because for him to accept an offer from another school was a sign that he was moving up the ranks. He was going from coaching football at a basketball school to coaching football at a... well not necessarily a football school, but an ACC school which is absolutely better than UConn in the Big East. But as hard as it is to see your coach leaving, they were excited for him because it was a (perceived) step up to go to Maryland.

Now, going from Wisconsin to Arkansas? From the Big 10 to the SEC? There are going to be a lot of people upset about that one. Could you consider coaching in the SEC to be a step up? Yeah, probably. But he's going from a football school with three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances to a football school that has declined to the point it wasn't even bowl eligible this year. Maybe he just likes the challenge. So it's going to make a lot of UW and Big 10 peole upset, and it would have been real hard for his players to play for him in the Rose Bowl this year. We can sit here and say he should have waited until twelve hours after the bowl game to announce where he was going like Coach Edsall did at UConn, but the fact of the matter is he probably couldn't wait to accept the position or it would have been gone. And the way the media is now we would have found out anyway, and I don't see his players taking to it like the Huskies did in 2011.

I'm interested to see how the AD does in stepping in and coaching for him. I mean, he was their coach just seven years ago, and he's a college hall of famer, but he hasn't been coaching the team all year, so he's going to have to get a hold of it quick or Wisconsin's sixth loss of the season is going to come in blowout fashion. Which, for the record, I think it will anyway. I mean, five loss Wisconsin that was only playing in the Big 10 title game because of sanctions against the two teams who finished in front of them against sixth ranked Stanford? C'mon son.

Hallelujah we only have one more year of the BCS and it's ridiculous idea of who should play the prestigious games.

Thoughts on the Spurs sitting four of their five leading scorers against the Heat? -Ben H.

Quite frankly he has a really old team, and they need rest. They play several games a week so they have to get tired at some point. It's better to rest them mid-season once in a while than to have them completely worn down in the middle of a playoff run. I think it was a smart decision on the part of Coach Popovich.

The ridiculous thing to me is that they were fined for it. He did it several times last season with ZERO sanctions. I don't agree even a little bit with David Stern. He clearly has a vendetta against the Spurs and Pop and it is stupid. His retirement cannot come soon enough, and it's just a year and a half away, and then maybe I'll enjoy the NBA again.

Who should BYU start in their bowl game, Riley Nelson or James Lark? -Kirt

Ugh... I don't know.

Let's go back to last year for a second. Jake Heaps, after a promising freshman season, was in a sophomore slump. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. He looked too tightly wound and seemed to be buckling under the hype we had placed on him. He beat the teams he was supposed to though, and that's all that BYU does now anyway, so I don't think it was fair to place all the blame on a young quarterback, as highly touted as he was. He struggled mightily in the game against Utah State, and Riley Nelson came in an led a miracle drive down the field for the victory.

But hold on a second. The two big plays of that drive were as follows: 1) a fluttering 40 yard pass that was not even sort of on target, and McKay Jacobson made the play of his career by running across the field, getting under the ball, and then holding on for dear life. 2) an inaccurate pass intended for JJ DiLuigi that he reached back for, drew a pass interference call, and then somehow the deflection found Marcus Mathews in the back of the end zone. Nothing about that drive said "Riley Nelson is more talented than Jake Heaps and the quarterback of the future for BYU." Nothing! But for some reason we turned on Heaps and ran him out of town. I still believe he had the ability to be that QB of the future for BYU, so I think we wasted that and threw it away. It's a shame really.

Look at what Notre Dame did this year. Starting QB Everett Golson struggled to close out a couple of games early. In comes Tommy Rees to save the day. Notre Dame wins, the media tries to ignite a quarterback controversy, but they stick with their guy, and now they're set to play for the national championship. BYU should have done exactly that. Riley saved the day against USU, but let Heaps get back to work on Monday.

The reality of it is that we were stuck with Riley Nelson, who last season beat the teams he was supposed to and lost to the rest, and this season didn't even quite look fully capable of that. In his defense he struggled with injuries, and with the QBs on the bench right behind him it's a shame we didn't put in a healthy guy in his stead, because down to our third string we had starting talent.

And then in the last week of the regular season we really were down to our third string, and he showed us he really does have talent. Holy cow did he show us he has talent. He looked brilliant. No other BYU QB has enjoyed that kind of success in his first career start. Six touchdowns. 68 percent completion percentage. No interceptions. I don't care who you're playing, those numbers are dang good.

So of course, because we can't make it through a season in Provo anymore without some QB drama, everyone thinks Lark should play in the bowl game. 

I don't think that I agree.

Benching Riley in the last game of his career would be a slap in the face for him. He's put his heart and soul into this program, and for better or worse, he is this year's starting quarterback. James Lark had his shining moment, a game of near perfection that shattered all expectations anyone had for him. Let him enjoy that and bask in it. It's not like playing one more game is suddenly going to make him an NFL quarterback. Let Riley finish his career on top, let Lark enjoy his magic moment  Or we could go the suggestion of Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune: Riley plays the first quarter, Lark plays the second. Whoever plays better gets the second half.

Whatever happens, let's make it through 2013 with Taysom Hill starting, and nobody calling for Ammon Olson to replace him the first time Hill throws an incompletion.