801 372 - 0819 <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 36, Issue 14- November 9, 2015 Click Here To Order or Renew Your Subscriptions <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> My Kids Made Me Do It I have Facebook, Instagram, Vermo, Twitter and Snapchat Accounts My kids told me years ago that if I wanted to stay connected and send money to them I needed to have all kinds of social media apps. They set them up for me. My wife told me when we first married that if I wanted to stay married to her, I would need to set up a bank account and later an app and make sure there was always money in it. It's the best app I have because I'm still married. I don't balance my bank account and I seldom do anything more on all the other social media accounts other than click an occasional like or heart. Now that Facebook is coming up with a dislike button, I might actually be a more willing participant in social media circles. I am intrigued by an emoji, however. I hope one of my children will name me a grandchild by that name. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. I just like how Emoji Arnett sounds. Just think of the nickname possibilities: Emo, JiJi, Moji, Mojo, Moboy or Mogirl. I also like how BYU 17 San Jose State 16 sounds. It sounds like a win to me. Nothing else matters as the Cougars now go to 7-2 on the year with Missouri up next (maybe, but more on that later) in Kansas City. In the spirit of faithful Facebook users everywhere, here are my Likes and Dislikes about the game. Like: This game reminded me of the outing against Hawaii in Honolulu 31 years ago during BYU's undefeated and national championship season. A BYU safety had to make a spectacular play at the goal line to get the win. Kyle Morrell did it against Raphael Cherry then and Mike Wadsworth did the saving last Saturday night in San Jose. Dislike: Despite an outstanding and game saving performance by the BYU defense, Bronco and his defensive play calling got caught with their pants down at least three times when a made defensive play could have put the game away a lot earlier. Like: BYU played well offensively on their first two drives. They looked cool, clean and crisp. Dislike: How the offensive line struggled from that point on during the rest of the game. Poor run blocking and poor protection of Mangum. Like: Phantom of the Opera. Thought it was a great musical. Dislike: The Phantom pass interference calls by the somewhat suspect officiating crew. Like: How BYU has been able to run the ball in their last several games. Dislike: How BYU couldn't run the ball against one of the worst run defenses in the country. Like: How Tanner Mangum has performed this season as a true freshman. He truly has been amazing. Dislike: How Tanner Mangum played when he had a few burps and hiccups including a free six points to SJSU with the pick six that changed the game. That said, if this was his hiccup game and still a win, the future and present is still extremely bright. Like: How well the offensive line plays.when healthy. Dislike: How poorly they play when the second unit guys are in. In case you are wondering, here is a list of offensive linemen that BYU tried to see if they could run the ball and protect Mangum: Brad Wilcox, Jeterrius Gulley, Parker Dawe, Tuni Kanuch, Austin Hoyt, Ryker Matthews, JJ Nwigwe and Jacob Jimenez. Like: Really like how Tejan Koroma plays when starting 22 straight games. Dislike: The fact that Koroma didn't dress for the SJSU game for non-injury issues. No idea why he was suspended by Bronco, but I am looking for an app that will update me on all suspensions and reasons for suspensions. Couldn't find one so I might start my own and call it Need to Nose. Remember, I told you a preemptive get out of jail one game Wagner suspension would come in handy someday. Like: How Robert Anae has improved over the last two years in his play calling. Dislike: How Anae reverted back to his old ways of run, run, and run some more after Mangum threw the pick six. Like: The fact that the win over the Spartans counts just as much as the win over Wagner, Boise State, et al. Dislike: The late start. It messes with my Metamucil schedule and personal hygienic apps. Like: How well Bronson Kaufusi, Fred Warner, Travis Tuiloma and Mike Wadsworth played. Also pleased to see Jordan Preator show his promising future. On offense, I thought Devon Blackmon had a very good game. Dislike: The grim reality of just how thin and ordinary the offensive line still is. They are the engine that runs this offensive machine and it still needs some serious recruiting tune ups if the Cougars aspire to be one of the big boys. Like: The fact that Missouri is having a seriously down year. BYU will face off against the Tigers next Saturday night in KC. Kickoff is set for 5:30 pm MST. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network. Locally, you can see the game on Comcast Xfinity: channel 286 and 765 HD; Direct TV: channel 611 or 611-1 and on Dish: channel 408 or 404. Dislike: Even though Missouri lost at home in Columbia Thursday night 31-13 to Mississippi State, and even though they are only 4-5 and sixth in the SEC East, they still have athletes and plenty of them. Especially on defense. It will take a much better offensive effort and the return of key offensive linemen for BYU to sneak out of town with a win in this game. Now throw in the fact that players and coaches are threatening to not play the game unless the President of the university resigns or is ousted and a whole new dynamic is added to this circus and scenario. Hate to be a cynic, but if Missouri was 8-1 and still battling for a chance at the SEC East title, this would not be a football issue. Like: If this thing works for Missouri football players, then I am hoping a caffeine free Coke boycott at BYU concession stands will somehow get Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew on campus and in the stadium and basketball arena. Dislike: The fact that this whole deal reminds me of Lloyd Eaton and Wyoming football some 40 plus years ago. It didn't turn out well and neither will this. Eaton is no longer coaching or even alive, for that matter. For those too young to remember Eaton, google his name and Wyoming football for some interesting reading. Boycotts with BYU next up on the schedule is not a new thing. BYU 77 Alaska-Fairbanks 64 Derivations and Deviations aside, BYU Wins Final Exhibition According to the Alaska-Fairbanks admissions website, the school's mascot is Nanook, which is a derivation of the Inupiaq Eskimo word for polar bear "nanuq." According to Dave Rose, BYU's head basketball game, the Cougars' 77-64 win over the Nanooks was a deviation from the way his team practices and the way he wants them to play. Click here <http://byucougars.com/video/m-basketball/mens-basketball-rose-post-alaska-f airbanks> to hear and see Rose's practice vs. play predicament. Click here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI> to hear and see Alan Iverson's practice vs. play predicament. There were no Iverson's on the court for BYU Saturday night against Alaska, but there were plenty of shots from distance hoisted a la Iverson. BYU shot 31 three's and hit just 10. Just a guess, but you would only need one hand to count the post touches by BYU bigs. Granted, BYU's potential bigs were all sidelined with injuries, but even with the nice play inside of true freshman Braiden Shaw, there were not enough post touches and post moves. This game was not exactly Church Ball <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_VNm8VHPIk> , but without post touches which were woefully lacking last year, this season will be more church basketball than WCC championship basketball. Hopefully this will all change when the "less active" post players for Rose; Kyle Davis, Corbin Kaufusi and Jamal Aytes hopefully all return to action play from their recent spate of injuries in time for the real season opener this Friday at home against Utah Valley. Until then, I'm not too perplexed by what I have seen in "practice" games and am still looking for an Iverson incline in BYU's play once the real games get started. Women Win Fourth Consecutive WCC Crown in Soccer Thanks to a little help from Portland, the BYU women's soccer team clinched their fourth straight WCC championship this past weekend with a 4-1 win over Saint Mary's. Even happier news is that the game marked the return to action of BYU's best player on the pitch, Ashley Hatch. She had missed all other WCC games this year due to injury. With the championship in tow, BYU gets the automatic WCC league bid to the NCAA tournament and will find out where and against whom they will open play when seedings and selections are announced today at 2:30 pm. Alternative Lifestyles and Conference Affiliations Based on what I have seen and heard over the last few days about boycotts in different leagues and the Facebook firestorm over the latest LDS Church addendum to its Book 1 handbook, when it comes to BYU athletics and their stated objective to get into a P5 conference, it is my opinion that goal just became more difficult. All it is going to take is some kind of public protest or outcry about BYU and its religious policies to make P5 administrators more leery of looking at BYU as a potential expansion candidate. Independence in football and league membership in the WCC works for me. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for football because of the financial disparity in payouts that the P5 leagues get to divide with their members and what BYU gets. If the Cougars are going to compete against the big boys, they need to find a way to get paid like the big boys. So here's the deal. I'm sure nobody is going to call me to suggest this idea, but here it is anyway. The LDS Church is never going to directly subsidize BYU Athletics. That would make Facebook also blow up. The Church however, can and does subsidize BYUtv and their budget. I don't know the logistics of that support, but BYUtv is very, very, important to the Church in getting their message out. Again, my opinion only, but the Church could easily subsidize BYU athletics by funneling money into the BYUtv budget and then let BYUtv pay BYU athletics for its inventory of sports events and games. I don't have any empirical data to back this up, but again my opinion is that it is highly likely that BYU sports draws the biggest audiences and ratings for BYUtv. If it was costing $800,000 for each episode of Granite Flats to be produced, $20 million per annum for BYU sports is not unreasonable. The Church needs to showcase the "good in the world" that stories like those of Taysom Hill, Tyler Haws, Bronson Kaufusi, and now Tanner Mangum represent. Those stories are only good to showcase when BYU is winning and competing on a national level so that the contrast between national teams and their rosters can be made between BYU's rosters and returned missionaries. Just a thought. My personal opinion is that BYU's chances of ever being invited as a full or affiliate member of a P5 conference just dropped dramatically. So has their cash flow in athletics without the P5 money. The Church needs and wants BYUtv based on the investment the Church has in it. BYUtv needs BYU sports for programing. Programming cost money and needs to be budgeted. Somebody needs to figure out a way that the Church, BYUtv and BYU sports can be budgeted in a way that LDS Utah fans don't go bonkers and the Church can still say that they don't subsidize BYU athletics. Speaking of Utah fans and sports programs. I found these two recent articles very, very interesting and even a bit of support for my ideas above. <https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.sltrib.com/home/306333 5-155/us-enrollment-mostly-flat-as-fewer&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTMzU3ODM3NzgzMzg5Mz A0ODE2MTIaOGJjZDQ2YThkZjdkNThlZjpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNENAa5DQIZBzE5qRILXg7 VkpOOpGA> U.'s enrollment mostly flat as fewer Mormon missionaries return than expected Salt Lake Tribune <http://www.deseretnews.com/top/3444/0/53-female-Utah-college-athletes-who-h ave-served-or-are-serving-LDS-missions.html> 55 female Utah college athletes who have served or are serving LDS missions Television Timetable BYU vs. Utah Valley Friday, November 13 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Missouri Saturday, November 14 at Kansas City Kickoff: 5:30 pm MST TV: SEC Network (Locally on Comcast Xfinity: channel 286 and 765 HD; Direct TV: channel 611 or 611-1 and on Dish: channel 408 or 404.