Armageddon Approaches

We're nearly there. 40 hours from the BYU-Utah game that has more at stake than any of the other holy wars that have preceded it. BCS. MWC Champion. Top 10 Ranking. State bragging rights. The rights to all of the future superstar state athletes. The supremacy of the color Blue or Red. My sanity. The sanctity of marriage. The end of global warming. The reawakening of the financial system....wait, I've wandered off the reservation just a bit. There isn't quite as much as I would like on the line. There is, however, more on the table than there has ever been in any previous match up. The sad aspect of this game with enormous implications is that Utah is favored. The odds makers currently have Utah favored by 7. The supposedly wise men at ESPN are predicting a Utah victory. Lots of lame Utah fans are guaranteeing a win (not that they matter now, or ever). I'm worried for various reasons. This game, like every year, goes a long way towards making or breaking BYU's season. Add to it the possible BCS birth and a conference championship for the Utes if they win, and a BYU loss is potentially suicidal.  This isn't like 2005 when Utah had all of the same rewards awaiting them if they beat BYU; BYU was bad, Utah was ridiculous, and minus the death of Alex Smith, nothing was going to stop Utah. This year is different. Take away one horrific half of football at TCU, and BYU is ranked higher and probably favored to beat Utah. Take away one bad half of football at TCU, and BYU is a dark horse to sneak into the National Championship game. Erase 30 minutes of hell and BYU fans are confident of a victory on Saturday. You have fans that drink blue kool-aid, wear blue goggles, smoke blue doobies, and then you have fans like me--we always lean a litte towards the side of pessimism. We always see the worst case scenario as a possibility. So when we lean that way, we can't forget 30 minutes of vomiting on a field in Texas. We can't forget 30 minutes of what-the-hell-is-Max-Hall-a-girl. It puts me in a position of handling my grief after BYU loses, and putting me in a state of dangerously high euphoria if they win, but it creates a dark mood preceding the game. I ultimately think BYU will lose, and I don't know if that's my distorted pessimism, or accurate football perception. I would rather be wrong and have BYU win, than right and have my prediction vindicated. Either way, I'm attempting the most accurate, evenly weighted prediction I can proffer. Utah wins 38-28. The good that comes from this tragedy is the large pot of cash the BCS bowl provides to all MWC teams, and the sight of Utah being demolished by a superior team. The hurt will fade when BYU beats a bad PAC-10 team and Utah loses badly, and in spite of the loss, they give BYU a fat wad of cash.