Men Will Be Boys

The most perplexing thing to me about athletes that attend BYU is that they feel they are exempt from adhering to the honor code and following other guidelines laid out. I attest this to the cushy lifestyle they have acquired since being an athlete in high school. All the athletes in my high school were babied and simply had to show up to get a good grade while others actually studied. I'm sure my experience wasn't far from everybody else's, and I don' t think that college is any different. BYU football Coach Bronco Mendenhall announced yesterday that lineman Matangi Tonga has been indefinitely suspended from the team for violating team rules. The reasons were undisclosed, which I feel is just fine. Just a little over a month ago, BYU basketball Coach Dave Rose suspended Rashaun Broadus for an alleged DUI. These are just a couple of instances in the recent. We all have heard the "Boys will be boys" saying. Well, apparently men will be boys too, and BYU won't tolerate it. If you want to be a boy, just go to the U where you can do anything and just get a few hours of community service thrown at you with no suspension (refer to sexual harassment charges against QB Brett Ratliff). More so than his value to the team, Matangi Tonga also has a fun name to say, which is highly important in sports. So Matangi Tonga, get your act together so you can continue to play with Manase Tonga, Fui Vakapuna, Temana Paongo, Kalama Kaluhiokalani, and Russell Tialevea. Talk about an exercise in Polynesian phonetics.

Reversal of Roles for Father and Son

When Austin stepped onto the court at The Marriott Center on the campus of BYU he found himself playing under the shadow of a great. The retired jersey of Danny Ainge lurks in the rafters above everybody that plays there. But, to Austin, Danny Ainge is more than a great player that changed the face of BYU basketball, Danny Ainge is his father. Austin Ainge has had his critics while playing at BYU, “He’s definitely not Danny,” has been muttered more than once. However, right now, the tides are changing. Danny Ainge, the Executive Director of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, is making history. The Celtics have lost a franchise record 14 straight games. In the days of Larry Bird, and Danny Ainge, the longest losing streak the Celtics ever had was 4 games. Austin Ainge, the starting point guard at BYU, is making a little history of his own. BYU has been dominant during their current winning streak, having picked up road wins at The Pit in New Mexico and at Utah, which BYU hasn’t done in over 20 years. In addition, BYU has defeated Air Force and UNLV, #10 and #13 rpi, at home by a combined 36 points. Those two wins added to BYUs current home winning streak, 28 games, the second longest in the nation. All while doing this, Austin has contributed significantly with his pin point passing, sharp shooting, and ability to control the tempo of the game. For just this little moment in time, in seems that Austin may be the one lurking over his father.

Carlos Boozer is an All-Star

Carlos Boozer was selected by assistant coaches in the Western Conference on Thursday to be a reserve in this year's All-Star Game. It's a shame that Boozer got injured, because what he has accomplished this season. The All-Star Game is in 2 weeks, but Boozer has not ruled out the possibility of playing. Boozer was extremely optimistic about his injury healing faster than the estimated 4-6 weeks that doctor's gave him. If in any circumstance that Boozer cannot recover in time, Commissioner David Stern will choose a replacement. Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, who was voted in as a starter, will not make the game with a foot injury. Yao Ming's replacement has not been named yet. The Western Conference is full of deserving players to replace Yao and Boozer. There are many controversies surrounding the players that got snubbed. One is of Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, leading scorer in the NBA, and NOT on the All-Star team, most likely because of his role in the "Midget Melee in MSG." Should Boozer not make the team, there is also controversy over the Jazz, the 4th best team in the NBA, not having an All-Star on the team. Mehmet Okur (averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds per game)and Deron Williams (averaging 17 points and 9 assists per game) are both have outstanding years and are both deserving of some recognition. Just as a side note, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs was selected as a Western Conference reserve ahead of Deron Williams in spite of the fact that Williams averages double the assists of Parker. Interesting, isn't a point guard suppossed to dish the ball first?
Boozer is just the ninth player in Utah Jazz franchise history to make the All-Star Game. The other Jazz All-Stars are Adrian Dantley (1980-82, ‘84-86), Mark Eaton (1989), Rickey Green (1984), Andrei Kirilenko (2004), Karl Malone (1988-02), Pete Maravich (1977-79), Len Robinson (1978) and John Stockton (1989-97, ‘00). That's quite the list of names, Boozer is definitely in good company.

Jazz "Money" in "Tough" Win

The Utah Jazz improved to 30-17 with a 97-93 win over the San Antonio Spurs. It was a great win after hearing that Carlos Boozer will be out 4-6 weeks. The Jazz are the most up and down team, the only consistent thing about them is being inconsistent. In the last 3 games, they have suffered 3 losses to teams that are a combined 22 games under .500, and now they come back and beat the Spurs. Saturday will further validate my point if they beat the Phoenix Suns, who they have already beaten twice this year. Just as a side note and to clarify the title, listen in the next game to how many times Jazz announcer Craig Bolerjack says the words, "money," and "tough." Every shot Mehmet Okur puts up is "money," and every shot anybody puts up is almost always labeled a "tough shot." And to think that I got sick of Hot Rod Hundley always saying, "hippity hop," and "a gentle push with a mild arc and that cowhide globe hits home."

BYU Puts an End to Their 14 Year Drought!

It's kind of hard to believe that the BYU basketball team has not won in Salt Lake City since 1994. Granted, there was the time in the mid to late 90s when the Utes were consistently in the top 25. However; BYU also had some great teams in 2002 and 2003, last year's squad wasn't that bad either. But 14 years? That's a long time. What Bronco did with the football team, Dave Rose is doing with the basketball team. As Bronco would say after every goal the team accomplished, "It's just one more step." The BYU basketball team has been making a lot of steps this year. They lost their starting point guard Rashaun Broadus and freshman Jonathon Tavernari and senior Austin Ainge have more than filled in. They beat New Mexico for the second straight year at "The Pit," almost without effort. They beat a 13th ranked Air Force and they beat Utah in Salt Lake City. All of these are important steps for the team. Coming up this weekend, BYU faces a tough UNLV team that is currently #25 in the nation. Not only is their 27-game winning streak at home on the line, but so is 1st place in the Mountain West. Winning on Saturday will be just one more huge step for BYU. There's plenty more steps to go, and Dave Rose has the team going in the right direction. Right now BYU has a 35 rpi, which puts them in position to get into the NCAA tournament this year. It's about time that football and basketball at BYU returned to the winning tradition. Kudos to Coach Mendenhall and Coach Rose.