Hello,
Yesterday was rivalry Saturday in college football. Many long-time traditional rivals played against each other. Many of the most intense rivalries were on display yesterday. Teams played for everything from pride to the possibility of playing for the National Championship. These rivalry games included Alabama-Auburn, USC-Notre Dame, the other USC-Clemson, Florida-FSU, Georgia-Georgia Tech.
However there was one rivalry game that didn't happen yesterday, because it was played earlier in the year. In this era of fracturing conferences and pure, unadulterated greed many great things are going away. One of those things is BYU-Utah playing each other in November. Having the whole season build up to that one final game was always fun to follow. Now that the teams aren't in the same conference, they no longer play in November. Having the game in September just isn't the same.
In fact this rivalry game has become so unimportant to the Utes that they decided to take a two year break. The Utes are bowing down to their Pac 12 overlords in who they schedule. There will be one more BYU-Utah game next season at Lavell Edwards Stadium and then the "rivalry" will take a break for two years. If two teams don't play every year, can it still be considered a rivalry?
Instead what did the Utes and Cougars do on rivalry day? Utah didn't even play on rivalry day, they played the day before. The Pac 12 is trying to manufacture a "rivalry" between Colorado and Utah. A concept that's so ridiculous on so many levels. The two teams hardly played each other until they were in the same conference. Also while Utah has been a good team for many years, Colorado football is a joke. They won all of one game this year and were destroyed by most teams they played. Clearly Utah didn't consider it as a rivalry as they they slept through the first 3 quarters. However Colorado is so embarrassingly bad, that Utah turned it on in the fourth quarter. Utah scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
Then with BYU being an independent, other than Utah and Utah State, BYU doesn't have anyone that really could become a rival. Certainly not NMSU, a team they crushed yesterday 50-14. BYU was so underwhelmed by their competition that they even trailed at one point. However then BYU, led by third string quarterback James Lark, rolled to the easy victory over the Aggies.
In a much more exciting thing for Cougar Nation, BYU opened their arms to Chicago high school basketball superstar Jabari Parker. He's the nation's #2 recruit and he's included BYU on the 5 schools he's still considering attending next season. Parker is a member of the LDS Church, which is the only reason he's even considering BYU. Which college he goes to isn't the only decision he's facing, he's also considering going on a LDS mission. Even if he does decide to go to school, he'll probably only play one year. Many think it's highly likely that he'll then jump to the pros. Yes, he's that good.
"Jabari Parker Style":
While I'd love to see Parker end up in Provo, even if it's only for one year, he should only do what's best for him. I'd urge Jabari and his parents to put a lot of thought and prayer into coming to a decision. Also Jabari you should go where you want to go, not where other people want you to go. Good luck on making the right choice for you.
themusicaddict
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