Temple Square

By now, unless you've been living in a cave, you've heard about the incident on Temple Square's Main Street Plaza. A male gay couple was arrested for displaying public affection, after they were apparently told to stop. The Church issued a statement yesterday defending the action of their security guards, claiming the aggressive treatment they meted out was necessary and appropriate. They claim that the couple was "...engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language and had obviously been using alcohol" and after being politely asked to stop, then they were arrested. The Church's claim about this couples behavior is hard to accept for various reasons, especially considering no eye witnesses have said anything that backs up this Church statement. There are certainly enough gay averse people at Temple Square to draw all sorts of verbal support if this actually happened. Also, the Church released this statement--which enhanced the behavior of the couple--after it initially claimed they were merely kissing passionately.

The security guard(s) involved obviously don't like gays, and they used their position of authority to do something about their dislike. Instead of defending such unnecessary behavior, the Church should apologize for the incident and fire the securit guard(s). Whether they realize it or not, their defiant stance on Prop 8, coupled with this, continues to make them look more and more bigoted. The more the Church digs in its heels, the more it hurts itself and its members. Fairly or not, people all over the world are viewing the Church more negatively than they have in a long time, and this invites unnecessary and uncomfortable interactions when people run into us--Mormons.

I have kissed my wife many times at Temple Square--at times "passionately"--and I've never seen any form of security bat an eye. This couple was obviously treated differently than a heterosexual couple would have been. This isn't like defending traditional marriage, which obviously has enormous social implications; it was simply a couple enjoying a beautiful location, and they shared the moment the way a lot of us do. Once again, the Church's response has been saddening and embarrassing; they should apologize, fire the security guard, and work to improve relations with the gay community. More and more Mormons are coming out of the closet, and the Church needs to find a better way of relating to them.

ESPN The Magazine 2024

In homes across the country, little boys begin rooting for "their" teams by the time they're old enough to sit up straight. Before they can even hold their own bottle, they are learning that their dads always know more than the coach and that referees are bad men. They become aware of the evil in this world--the rival team--and they learn what colors are acceptable in their homes. While they still drool all over themselves, they have dad intently explaining what the defense needs to do, or why the quarterback should pump fake and go long. In homes like these, the chosen team becomes a part of the family--often times, dad's favorite kid--and the little boy begins to treat the team like his favorite sibling. This story begins in 2005, when Sammy Taylor was born into a home like this, with a sibling named BYU.

When Sam was born, BYU was in the midst of a program slump. After a 20 year stretch of tremendous success under the legendary coach, LaVell Edwards, the Cougars had suffered a number of losing seasons in the new century. When Edwards retired, the Cougar faithful had already begun getting restless---Edwards last few years were unsuccessful by his standards--and they were more than ready for offensive guru Gary Crowton to take over. In Crowtons first year--2001--BYU started 12-0 and gave Cougar fans National Championship ideas. In 1984, BYU beat Michigan 17-10 to win its only National Championship, and that one Championship was enough to always give Cougar fans the hope and belief that another one was possible. Towards the end of the Cougars 12th victory in 2001, their superstar player, Luke Staley, broke his leg. Without Staley, the Cougars dropped their last 2 games to finish 12-2--another year without a title. Inspite of the poor finish, BYU fans had sky-high expectations for Crowton and the program, but following the dominant 2001 season, things went downhill. 2002 ended up being the Cougars first losing season in nearly 30 years, and a couple more losing seasons followed, sending Crowton out the door and bringing in Bronco Mendenhall. Mendenhall began rebuilding the program, but National Championship thoughts were non-existent--not just because of the lack of ability in the BYU program, but because of the BCS. This was the football environment that Sam was born into when he joined the Cougar faithful in 2005.

Even though BYU wasn't as good as it had been in its glory days of the 80's, Mendenhall had helped the Cougs back to respectability. Unfortunately, respectability, even greatness, weren't enough because of the BCS setup, which would allow the Cougars to play a perfect season and get a BCS game but no chance for a National Championship. None of this fazed Sam's dad, Steve, from brainwashing Sam to love the Cougars. As a young kid, Sam didn't exhibit a lot of toughness, so his dad always talked about having him play tennis--anything that didn't require the kinds of things football does. Sam liked watching football, he liked trying to play catch, and he had a decent arm, but none of that gave Steve the impression that Sam could be a football player.

When Sam turned 8, an enormous change took place in College football--the BCS system was changed and a 16 team playoff was created; it included the conference champions from the 10 division one conferences, and 6 at large teams. After years of trying, proponents of a playoff system had finally succeeded, in a bigger way that most had hoped for. Fast Forward 11 years, and BYU still hasn't won another National Championship. Since the format changed to a playoff in 2013, BYU has made the Playoffs 6 times, where they have a 1-5 record. In 2016, BYU got an 8 seed and knocked off Ohio State, a 9 seed. After that first round win, the Cougars faced the topped ranked Gators--they lost 56-14--and they have only been to the playoffs twice since then, losing in the first round both times.

As college football continued to improve the way it crowns a champion, Sam continued to improve as an athlete. While he may not have shown early signs of football skill, by the time he was 8, Sam was starting to excel. His first year of pee-wee football ended up being the kind of season that gets better and better everytime its retold by someone, mainly because it was so dominant. As a quarterback, Sam ran and threw for 121 touchdowns, all while throwing only two interceptions and fumbling once. He wasn't sacked the entire season, and that's not because he had a line full of Orlando Paces'. The instincts, speed, vision, and elusiveness that Sam displayed then have continued to improve and he's put up those kind of stats at every level. By the time he was a senior in high school, Sam was considered the top QB prospect in the country. He found every big-time school putting on the full court press, all trying to get him to cast aside BYU so he could win a National Championship. He admits that he briefly thought about Florida and USC--both schools have been dominant for the last 2 decades--and Urban Myers 6 National Championships, plus the weather in Florida, were really difficult to turn down. But in the end, he had to go with the team he's loved his entire life, and he chose BYU, even if that meant success would be getting past the first round of the playoffs.

After a freshman year spent learning on the sidelines, Sam earned the starting job for the Cougars this year. Midway through this season, BYU is ranked 3rd in the country, undefeated, and considered a real title contender by just about everyone. The Cougars are 6-0, with wins coming over three of those wins coming over top 15 teams--all by at least 2 touchdowns. The most impressive win was the opening game of the season, when the Cougars went to South Bend, and knocked off the 2nd ranked Fighting Irish, 34-13. In that game--the 1st start of his career--Sam had a stat line from a video game: 31-35, 427 yards, and 4 touchdowns, with no picks. Those video game numbers have continued, with Taylor compiling a staggering 6 game total: 81% completion percentage, 2,500 yards, 31 touchdown passes, 1 interception, 320 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, and no fumbles. Taylor currently leads all the early Heisman Ballots by a mile--the last and only Cougar to win the Heisman is Ty Detmer--and no one can say his stats have come against inferior competition. The MWC has 4 teams in the top 25--Utah, TCU, Boise State, and BYU--and the Cougars still haven't played their 3 ranked conference foes; if they are all still ranked when they play BYU, the Cougars will have played 6 teams inside the top 20.

All of the stats are great; possibly winning the Heisman would be nice; getting a spot in the Playoffs would be good; none of that matters to Taylor. Winning one game in the playoffs is a start, but to Sam, only winning the National Championship would be truly satisfying. He recognizes that he's downplaying a lot of significant achievements that have rarely or never happened at BYU, but he wasn't around when BYU won their only National Title. To him, the only meaningful thing he can do in his career as a Cougar is to end that drought. If he does, he just might surpass Jim McMahon, Steve Young, & Ty Detmer, and be considered the greatest Cougar QB ever. As a magazine, we don't root for any particular team, but we wouldn't mind writing a follow up story a couple of months from now, asking Sam Taylor how it feels to be a Heisman Trophy winning National Champion.

Shock

Last night, I was watching the local news when a story came on about a local Seminary Principal that had just been arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 16 year old student. When they said his name was Michael Pratt, my interest really peaked because I had a Brother Pratt when I was a sophomore. I was really hoping it wasn't the Bro. Pratt I knew, but when they showed his picture my stomach dropped.

Until my sophomore year--and after--I felt seminary was very boring. Brother Pratt changed that; he made seminary fun enough that I actually looked forward to it. He was a really exciting, dynamic teacher that bonded well with his students. We became pretty good friends; we found out that we're related through my mom's side of the family (Parley Pratt is a grandpa to both of us). He left my high school for a job at Lone Peak my junior year, so I hadn't seen or thought about him in a long time.

Message boards for all of the local news channels and newspaper are full of comments by people that loved Brother Pratt. There are also lots of people that are completely trashing the guy, and they're trashing the Church too. First of all, what Brother Pratt did was wrong, but he's not a mass murderer, or a child molester--he had a consensual relationship with someone legally too young. He took advantage of a student, he abused his position of trust and authority, and he completely betrayed his wife and kids. He also ruined his life; he's already been fired, his wife will probably leave him, and he's going to spend a good amount of time in prison. I'm sure that if he could, Bro. Pratt would give anything to go back in time and not make the same mistake. Brother Pratt isn't an evil person, and people should stop saying that he is. Whether people want to admit it or not, the bad decisions he's made don't cancel out the positive impact he had on thousands of students over the last 13 years. He helped a lot of kids; he probably helped a number of teenagers top using drugs, or avoid doing other dangerous things that could have killed themselves.

Ultimately, the whole situation is tragic. It's sad that a 16 year old girl will have to live with this for the rest of her life; it's sad that Bro. Pratt has ruined his life, and temporarily destroyed his family's as well; it's sad for all of the people that knew and loved Bro. Pratt; and it's sad for teachers in general who get scrutinized enough as it is. For those of you who think the absolute worst of Bro. Pratt, try and think about more than the over-the-top thoughts and comments being made about him. The girl was 16, not 8; that doesn't make it okay, but he's not a pedophile. He was a good man, probably in many ways still is, and that's what makes the whole situation so sad. Anyway, I'm absolutely shocked, and quite sad, by this news.

Roger's Greatness

I know that I wrote a post about Roger about 2 weeks ago, but now that he's officially passed Pete's record, I need to reiterate a few things. Even though Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, and other tennis greats have said they believe Roger is the greatest player ever, there are still a number of sports analysts that aren't willing to give Roger the GOAT title.

One of the arguments used by Roger Doubters, is that Fed has a losing record to a contemporary--Rafael Nadal. Head to Head, Nadal leads Federer 13 victories to 7. That number is somewhat inflated when we look at how those victories have come. Clay has always been a surface for specialists--meaning most players that are good on clay struggle on any other surface. There have been a few exceptions--Borg, Nadal--but for the most part, clay courters are 1 surface stars. On clay, Rafa leads Roger 9 to 2 in victories; they are tied at 2-2 on hard court, and Fed leads 2-1 on grass.

Many people believe that Rafa is the best clay court player in tennis history. There are plenty of goods reasons for that belief--he holds the record for most wins in a row on clay (81, ended by Fed), he won the first 4 French Opens he played in, and his clay court record since 2005 is 150-5, and at the French Open it is 31-1--and he's only 22. Roger has had to play the majority of his matches against Rafa on clay; if they had played 11 matches on grass, the record would certainly tilt Roger's way. By making it to the semi-finals at the French this year (which he went on to win), Federer tied a Roland Garros record with 5 consecutive semi's. So even though he has only won the title once out of those 5 tries, he's proven to be remarkably good and consistent on clay. A number of respected tennis greats believe Federer is one of the top 5 clay court players in tennis history, he just isn't good enough to consistently beat Nadal on the surface.

Federer's best surface is obviously grass--he's won 68 of his last 69 matches--so Nadal's Wimbledon victory is quite impressive. It seems like it's only proper that because Fed ended Nadal's record winning streak on clay, that Nadal returned the favor ended Fed's record streak of 65 straight wins on grass. Speaking of winning streaks by surface, Fed shattered the hard court record, by winning 56 straight matches (which wasn't ended by Nadal). The point of this, is that Nadal's head to head record doesn't do enough to Fed's legacy to legitimately dent his claim as the GOAT. Nadal is a great player--6 slams by the age of 22--and the fact that he has beaten Fed 13 times is remarkable. However, sports is very much about matchups and the Fed/Nadal matchup is nearly even, minus clay & grass, leaving hard court as the most neutral surface.

Some analysts have pointed out that although Fed has won 15 majors, guys like Laver would have won more titles without forced sabbaticals because of rules about professionals. It's true that Laver would have more than 11 titles if he had been able to play a full career; it's also true that when Laver played, 3 of the 4 slams were played on grass. If 3 of the 4 slams were played on grass today, Federer & Sampras would both have over 20 majors. Playing on grass so often would be a tremendous advantage for Roger, but that isn't the case today so other stats are needed to tell the tale.

Fed has now reached 21 consecutive semi-finals at the Slams, a monstrous record that more than doubles Ivan Lendll's second place record of 10 straight. 21 straight semi's is the most impressive record of Federers, it is the stat that towers above all others. For over 5 years, he has never missed the Final Four, he has never let minor injuries or sickness keep him down, he's never lost his focus, he's never let tight matches get to him, and he's never let an opponents best beat him. He made 10 straight Slam finals--the old record was 4--then he lost in the semi's (with mono), and now he's made 6 straight finals for the 2nd longest streak. Between the semi's streak, and the Finals streak, Fed has out distanced anyone, past or present, by a mile. In the last 6 years, Roger is 115-0 in Slams vs. anyone ranked outside the top 5. Fed has reached 15 major titles in a little over 6 years--it took Sampras 12 years to win 14. Fed had a 4 year stretch where he won 11 of the 16 Slams, something that no man or woman has ever done it tennis history. These are only some of the amazing stats that, along with 15 slams and the career slam, make Fed the greatest tennis player ever.

Comparing current players with past players is always subjective and difficult. I believe that today's athletes in every sport, are better individually. That individual improvement can be detrimental in a sport like basketball, but it makes sports like golf and tennis tougher. If the top 20 tennis players were put in a time machine and placed in a tournament--in their prime's--that would have everyone play everyone on every surface, I have little doubt that Fed would end up with the best record. Many tennis pros have said they believe he has the best all-around game they have ever seen, and I would agree. He is the most versatile player, with the greatest amount of skill to choose from when playing an opponent. No offense to Laver, but he would get worked in a tournament with guys like Fed and Sampras (Laver was 5-7, 130 pounds). A realistic analysis of the stats and records shows, conclusively, that Fed has the most impressive career resume, that he is the greatest of all-time, and that he will continue to pad his stats for at least a few more years.

Global Warming

The House of Representatives just barely passed a new energy bill, 219-212, that will set mandates for the amount of pollution the US can emit. For the bill to become law, it still needs the Senate to pass a bill, then they need to work out the differences between the two bills so that the language is identical, and then President Obama can sign it into law. The odds of this happening--anytime soon at least--are still somewhat long, but the passage of the bill in one house, and the resulting discussion has pushed global warming to the center of the political discussion. The opponents of the bill--especially the Republicans (none voted for it)--are claiming that the bill will hurt the economy. Not only that, but it will hurt the economy during a depression, all for nothing. According to Republican Representatives, global warming is a hoax; Paul Broun, a Rep from Georgia, claimed that global warming is one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated by the science community. Really? Really!!!? Massive groups of scientists are secretly plotting to trick the world because they don't like pollution, or even better, they don't like the US and they want to see our economy fail.

They (scientists) are a group of borderline stupid people anyway, considering that all of the benefits and marvels of the modern world surrounding us are here because of science, and they aren't perfect. These scientists try and trick us in various ways, with other crazy ideas like evolution, flu vaccines, AIDS prevention, birth control, and more. We all know that when we use modern medicine, it probably won't work because it's creators are merely guessing at what they think it will do. We drive our cars and fly in airplanes because we think there might be a chance that they won't malfunction (we know that claims made by scientists in these fields are ultimately full of it, hoaxing their way to big money). We've seen the scientific community try and convince us of major hoaxes before. For a decent part of the 20th century, up to the present day, we've battled them as they try and keep intelligent design out of science class. Instead, they want evolution to be the only thing taught, as though there is any truth to this. Well, we're not going to let them do that to us with global warming; they won't dictate our way of life with crazy theories. We didn't evolve, and we sure as hell aren't damaging our planet.

Maybe that caricature is a bit of hyperbole, but in a lot of ways its not. They don't state their defenses like that, but that is what people are really saying when they claim global warming is a hoax. From a common sense standpoint, it seems obvious that pumping toxic chemicals into the air and water is going to do bad things. I don't see how that type of thinking is so outrageous, and when it is backed up by massive amounts of research, it seems like it should be treated the same way we treat scientific theories about human disease. I'm not a scientist, a climatologist, an astronomer, or any other form of expert when it comes to "knowing" anything about global warming. What I am, is someone that believes in the law of probability, someone who puts stock into science, and when large portions of the scientific community say that global warming is irrefutably taking place, I believe them. I know they could be wrong, but the odds of them being right greatly outweigh the odds of their being wrong when I factor in the evidence they sight and their track record, especially their modern track record. People like to point out really old scientific theories and show how wrong they were; that's great, because science continues to add to its database of knowledge and when they are wrong now, its a much smaller degree of wrong that it was 100 years ago.

Passing legislation to start curbing how we destroy our planet seems like a necessary and urgent thing. The Republicans repeatedly talked about the future when President Obama was passing spending legislation; they said it was immoral and unfair to saddle our future generation with the problems this debt will cause (if its debt for crazy military programs that won't ever protect our troops or be used in battle, its okay to spend trillions). We're not talking about a subjective thing when we talk about the future effects of global warming; objectively, the future generation(s) will face enormous difficulties, if not impossibilities, from the problems global warming is and will continue to cause. The problems it is causing our compounding too, getting more and more severe, and even if we stopped polluting in every way today, the effects of our pollution wouldn't stop for years to come.

For those that don't have a specific, or any, religious belief, the idea of Christ coming to save the earth offers no comfort--and this is a perfectly legitimate concern. On the other hand, religious people that are certain Christ is coming to save the earth still have a vague timeline to depend on. Religions of all persuasions have seen their time lines for the 2nd coming come and go, and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of that. Not only can we not rely on Christ coming to save us in time, but we shouldn't rely on that. With a belief that Christ created this earth for us, we should strive more than ever to take care of it while we wait for his return. If our bodies are temples to the point of limiting the number and location of piercings, and tattoos of any kind, then what is the earth? Isn't it worthy of good caretaking? No matter how you look at this scenario, there is no moral or rational argument for continuing to destroy the planet. Worrying about short-term business costs is terribly superficial. For the doubters, wake up. We are destroying our planet, and the only arguments against it our made by those that our being irrational, either because they don't trust science, or because they want to protect business as usual and avoid any short-term profit loss. Those are bad, evil, reasons to continue our destructive behavior. Instead of relying on vague, 2nd hand stories of dissenting opinion in the science community about global warming, learn 1st hand that the worlds leading scientists are in complete consensus about global warming.

Fed Express

I'm not attempting to brag in this blog...okay, I am. While most of the sports world was jumping off the Federer bandwagon like it was on fire, I stayed calm. Granted, most of the sports analysts that were ripping Fed know as much about tennis as I do calculus, but they are the analysts that people see--primarily ESPN. First Take, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, Mike & Mike in the Morning, and many of the radio shows produced by ESPN; these are the sources of information for most average tennis fans. Listening to this cohort led many to believe that Fed was done--he would never get 14 majors, he wouldn't win the French, he was overrated, etc, etc, etc. Yeah, most of these "experts" had a quick fact sheet in front of them and with a difficulty understanding basic tennis stats, came to crazy conclusions.

What? Wait, I'm confused? Did Federer win his 14th at the French? This caused about half of the "experts" to jump back on the bandwagon, with a few holdouts claiming that the win at the French is tainted because it wasn't against Nadal. What? Nadal lost in the 4th round to the guy Fed beat in straight sets in the Final (he also just beat Soderling in straight sets--ironically, in the 4th round--at Wimbledon). Roger is one win away from his 21st, TWENTY FIRST!!!!!!!, straight semi-final in a major. The old record was 10 by Ivan Lendl; that means that for over 5 years, for every major, Roger has gotten no worse than the Final Four. Out of those 21 semi's, he's got 13 championships, 19 Finals, and the chance to make that 14 wins in 20 tries if things go as planned over the next few days. That is the single greatest streak in all of sports, better than Dimaggio's 56, Ripkens 2000+, or any other streak that is hallowed. Making 20 straight semi's and counting is the greatest record and most impressive aspect of Federer's career; it's the stat that when factored in with everything else makes him the GOAT, hands down. With lots of sports streaks, if a player misses a game or an event, that isn't counted against the player. Roger made one of those semi's (and one of his few losses before a final) while he had Mono. That is absolutely nuts; I've had Mono, and when I did I could hardly make it up the stairs. I'm the biggest Jordan fan on the planet, but this puts the "flu game" to shame, and at least equals Tiger's US Open win on 1 leg. No excuses, no pull outs, no injuries, no ducking, Fed has played every major for over 5 years and won over half of them, made the final in most, and never missed a semi. INSANE.

During the Federer Era, Roger had a 3 year stretch where he went 317-24 and made every major final, winning 9 of 12. That stretch alone would put him in the in the discussion for GOAT. The longest streak of consecutive finals in Tennis history used to be 4; Roger made 12 in a row, lost in a semi with the help of Mono, and now he's made 5 in a row and counting. Not a bad slump--2 majors, the second longest Finals streak in history, with 2 of the 3 finals losses coming in 5 setters to Nadal. That is why I never jumped off the bandwagon. I realized that Fed was simply coming down slightly from his non-human status. He made winning majors and for that matter, every match he played, seem easy and guaranteed. He had a stretch that warped our perceptions of tennis and that warped perception affected a lot of people. When Federer started winning a the rate of say, Pete Sampras, he was considered washed up by the "experts". Nice work ESPN, with your top notch analysts crying wolf, you managed to convince a lot of people that Roger was done. Your crazy, stupid analysis should prevent you from broadcasting the major tournaments, that should go to the tennis channel. Whether Federer wins or loses this Wimbledon doesn't matter. He's still performing at a higher level than everyone else in Tennis, and he's still playing at a higher, more consistent level than anyone has in the history of the game. Wake up and realize that he will get 15 majors--FOR SURE--whether it comes Sunday or not. He's too good and too consistent to not get a couple more majors, at least. He'll probably win 3-5 more in my--and Pete Sampras'--estimation. Anyway, for those of you who don't know much about tennis, take my word for it, Roger Federer has had the most impressive career in Tennis history. That's as far as labels can really go when we're comparing generations, but with that in mind, the greatest career garners the greatest player label--even if that part of it is subjective.

Kobe or LeBron? Who's the better Closer?

I've heard a lot of talk these playoffs about closing. Analysts and fans are highly fickle; when Kobe's Lakers were struggling through a 7 game series with the highly undermanned Rockets, they were being counted out. When LeBron's Cavs were cake-walking through the first 2 rounds without a loss, they were unbeatable. Enter the Conference Finals. Kobe helped the Lakers finish off the Nuggets tonight, sending the Lakers to the NBA Finals with a 4-2 series win. LeBron has a game 6 tomorrow--considering his buzzer shot in game 2 they are lucky to have a game 6--and he is constantly being measured up to Kobe. Is there substance to this argument? Have the analysts actually looked beyond hype? I'm going to say no, they haven't. Kobe has been given the status of closer and that means LeBron has to climb some sort of fictional ladder to get the title. Why is Kobe considered a closer?

Kobe Bryant has 3 NBA titles--all won with Shaquille O'Neal, all where Shaq was the leading scorer and Finals MVP. Kobe has been on 2 teams that have lost in the NBA Finals--in both of those series, the final loss for the Lakers came in blowout fashion. 8 Teams in NBA history have come back to win a series after trailing 3-1; the last time it happened was a few years ago when the Suns came back to beat...the Lakers. In game 7 of that series, Kobe was nowhere to be found while his team got pummelled. Let's go the present day. The Lakers struggled to knock out the Rockets--not exactly closing--but they did step it up a notch to beat the Nuggets in 6. Most would consider the 4th quarter to be a major aspect of closer/clutch status. Let's compare Kobe to LeBron for this season.

In the regular season, LeBron was significantly better than Kobe according to stats compiled by 82games.com, making LeBron the most clutch in the regular season. How about the playoffs? Because Kobe is already in the Finals, while LeBron is down 3-2, people are saying LeBron isn't as clutch as Kobe. In the Conference Finals, LeBron is averaging 41 points, 8 rebounds, & 8 assists per game--something that has never been accomplished in league history. Is he being a ball hog to get these stats? It's tough to say that when he is averaging 8 assists a game to go with his points. Anyway, let's compare Kobe & LeBron's 4th quarter stats in the Conference Finals.

Field Goal %: Kobe 51.6%, LeBron 51.2%

Points Per 4th Quarter: Kobe 10.83, LeBron 13.6

Assists per 4th Quarter: Kobe .5, LeBron 2.4

Rebounds per 4th Quarter: Kobe 1.16, LeBron 2.8

LeBron is outdoing Kobe in every way--minus the .4% difference in Field Goal %--with more responsibility. Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, & Reggie Miller said after LeBron's game 5 performance that if LeBron switched Kobe places, the Lakers would win 75-80 games--something I agree with. The Cavs have one good player besides LeBron--Mo Williams--and Mo has been playing terribly in the Conference Finals. LeBron has the weakest supporting cast of any 66 win team in NBA history. His team is completely over matched against the Magic; their match-ups are horrible, and the Cavs are still in the series. ESPN did a statistical analysis of "clutch" stats and LeBron was 1st by a long shot; Kobe came in 9th. Kobe has some memorable game winning shots--as does LeBron--and Kobe has championships on his resume, but that doesn't mean anything when the whole picture is analyzed. I can't say whether LeBron is the most clutch player in the league, but comparing Kobe and LeBron gives us a clear cut answer: LeBron plays far more impressively in the 4th quarter; he plays with way more pressure because of a weaker supporting cast; statistically, LeBron is more superior in every way. Kobe may win his first Shaqless title this year, but that doesn't say anything about him being better than LeBron. Numbers don't lie--LeBron is better, more clutch, and ultimately, his team is over performing, while Kobe's team has underperformed through most of the playoffs. For any of you who disagree, show me the stats to back it up, otherwise, deal with the fact that LeBron is more clutch and a better closer. 

I Hate Basketball

I haven't blogged in about 6 months, so my 3 or 4 readers probably won't read this, but I've decided to break my silence. Since Michael Jordan retired, NBA basketball has been less than exciting to me. LeBron James has changed that; I love watching him play. I've been banking on King James playing all the way through the Finals, giving me basketball satisfaction through mid June. My dreams were all but crushed tonight when the Cavs lost 116-114 in overtime to go down 3-1 in their series with the Magic. When the Cavs started blowing their small lead in the 4th quarter, I had to turn the TV off and go shoot hoops outside to prevent a heart attack or an aneurysm. Through 4 games, LeBron James has the most points in the history of the Conference Finals, yet his team is losing. He's shooting nearly 60% from the field but the rest of his team blows. It really is a testament to LeBrons greatness that he took a team of nobodies and won 66 games. There lack of depth is being severely exposed by Orlando, showing how average Mo Williams is compared to great side kicks like Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, James Worthy, McHale & Parrish...the list goes on, but LeBron doesn't have one. I really thought the Cavs would at least make the Finals, and if they lost, only the Lakers would be the team to do it. Oh well, maybe if the Cavs lose their series, LeBron will realize the Cavs don't have the money to build a championship team and he'll go elsewhere--preferably Chicago--possibly teaming up with Dwayne Wade in 2010. In the meantime, I have to suffer while the Magic slowly kill my dream. 

Salt Lake City Delusion

Utah fans have lost their minds. A decent regular season--plenty of close games--was followed by a solid bowl victory. That is it. Nothing more. Anyone who actually thinks Utah would beat Florida, Oklahoma, USC, or that Utah would run the table in a "real" conference is sadly losing their mind. Utah's season is exactly why a playoff is needed--they earned the right to lose on the field (they certainly would)--with Texas and USC both having some legitimate complaints. Utah's undefeated season was possible because they play in a weak conference, and because they step up in bowl games, but to really try and claim they are the "best" team in College Football is just stupid. TCU gave the Utes the game; Michigan nearly beat them and Michigan was as good as my high school team that won 1 game in 3 years; BYU was driving, down 27-24, even though Max Hall had already gifted 3 interceptions and a fumble at that point...BYU was not that good this year; New Mexico nearly beat them, and Weber State hung tough. That is not a National Championship caliber season--Alabama was overrated, something most people forgot when they played Florida tough, and beating them was impressive, but not more impressive than the way USC thumped Penn State, or the way Florida capped off it's season by holding the best offense in college football history to 14 points. 

Realistically, Utah is probably about the 10th to 15th best team in the country, and if they lined up the top 10 teams in the country and let Utah join in, Utah would be lucky to win more than 2 games; Utah beat 4 ranked teams, while Florida beat 7--all by double digits, while Utah barely won a couple of their games. The injustice is that there was no playoff, not that Utah wasn't crowned National Champs, and if Utah fans direct their anger in the direction of a playoff, they'll possibly make a difference, but whining about how they are the National Champions will legitimately fall on deaf ears. So for all of you delusional Ute fans, check out reality, and be happy that controversy around your team could be the breaking point in creating a playoff.

In Need of Lobotomy

After watching Utah beat Alabama; BYU choke down the stretch against Wake Forest; and seeing the Colts hand the Chargers another game, I have decided I want to stop liking sports. I really mean that; I want to stop caring, stop watching, stop paying attention, and put things like scrabble and poker on the top of my fun list. Big problem though--I don't have a chance in hell of giving up sports; I can try all I want, but it isn't possible. What I need is a lobotomy; I need to have part of my brain removed so that I don't remember anything about sports. I'd seriously go under the knife if there was an insurance company that would cover a lobotomy for a depressed sports fan (unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover this procedure). 

I took Sammy to the BYU/WF game, expecting the Cougs to make it 54 in a row. For most of the game, things were going as planned, and then BYU did what BYU always does--they choked. If a game is close, count on BYU to start playing worse than me in a church ball game; its guaranteed that they will do this and lose because of it. 

As for Peyton Manning, he should have a career ending injury so I can stop hoping for a Peyton - Eli Super Bowl; it won't happen, and I still don't know how Peyton won a Super Bowl when he has the luck of Job in the playoffs. 

Anyway, I hate sports and beating my head against the wall hasn't erased my memory of them, so if any of you know a good sports lobotomist, please let me know.

Christmas Break

I don't do many "personal" posts--you know, talk about my feelings, life, family--but school is out, and my brain is taking a break from things of a political nature (not really, but somewhat). Anyway, my family and I went to a cabin for a few days in Heber; the cabin was really nice--we split the cost with Stacy's family--and we had a really good time. The cabin was huge--8 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, hot tub, pool table, ping pong table, foose ball, pin ball, big screen with satellite--and with the massive snow storm, snowmobling was pretty cool. Anyway, it was a nice way to relax after finals, and it was good way to spend some of the Christmas break--minus the fact that BYU got worked and I had to watch it with my father-in-law. 

Political Hybernation

After the election, the political scene has gotten quite boring. Watching Obama assemble a Cabinet is far less exciting than listening to him debate McCain & Palin about whether he is a terrorist. Right now is like the off-season for sports--the space after the NBA Finals ends, football hasn't started, baseball is meaningless--that's where things are at right now. The financial crisis is the issue that is talked about everyday, but its not like anything has really changed. The world was going to collapse without 700 billion from the taxpayers right away, and less than half of it has been spent; does that mean that 1/3 of the world has collapsed? Besides, the government has spent over a trillion dollars in other ways, bailing out companies that were on the verge of collapse, so I'm not sure why the even bothered asking Congress for the 700 billion. I'm close to the edge, tuition is up; I wonder if I played my cards right, could I get some of the bailout money? I'm not looking for a lot--maybe 50 million. That's not much when most of the people trying to get into the piggy bank are asking for billions; I'd be quite cheap, a discount. If anyone wants to form a company with a patriotic name, and a supposedly invaluable purpose so that we can get some bailout money, let me know.

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. 

Good vs. Evil

Saturday. Good vs. Evil; Jesus vs. Satan; Obama vs. Bush; Mormons vs. Catholics; Me vs. My Pathetic Brothers on the ping pong table. Saturday brings THE showdown of the year for both teams. The game on Saturday will be the biggest, most important game in the history of the BYU-Utah rivalry. This game will determine once and for all if the Church is true. There is no way God will let his chosen University lose to the evil ones up north; meaning a Cougar loss proves the Catholic Church is true. I'm serious. Think about it. The Utes have obviously made a pact with the devil to have an undefeated season (it's the only possible explanation) and it's up to the Strippling Warriors to end this less than savory deal. More to come later, but be prepared for the 2nd War in Heaven...(Lucifer will lose again)

Sports Writer

I don't want to brag...but I've made it to the bigs! I'm gonna be a sportwriter for the Spanish Fork News! What, you're not impressed? With the Spanish Fork News? It's sort of like being the mayor of Wasilla--it may get no respect, but it can be a stepping stone...to things like the presidency...or the Daily Herald. Actually, for someone who has never written anything for the reading public outside of the blogosphere, this is a step in the right direction. I can't host Pardon The Interruption and have my own sports column for some big newspaper without working up the to tum poll. For all of my big fans--mom, wife, 3 year old son, 92 year old grandma--I'll make sure to post links so you can see my scintillating tales about Spanish Fork basketball and...brace yourself...high school wrestling!! Yeah, that's right, wrestling. I may not have let on before, but I'm obsessed with WWF. I had daydreams of marrying Hulk Hulgan, and spending the rest of my life shooting roids' and watching my man bash people with chairs. Alas, I had to forgo that dream for Stacy, but this is an awesome consolation prize. Anyway, stay tuned for mind bending stories about the unsung heros of the high school wrestling community--one legged victors, hermaphrodite champions....you get the point.

The 7 Aphorisms

Pleasant Grove has been in the national news this week due to a case pitting the city vs. a religious group. The group, Summum, asked the city to display a monument with the 7 Aphorisms on it--these were apparently on the 1st tablet Moses received from Jehovah--but the city declined. The issue deals with religious freedom, government speech, and the intermingling of the two. Pleasant Grove's Pioneer Park has a monument with the 10 Commandments on it, and it also has a stone from the original Nauvoo Temple. Pleasant Grove is claiming that because the city accepted the monument and chose to display it, the monument is government speech and therefore Pioneer Park is not a public forum. If this is the case, then the argument is that Pleasant Grove is endorsing one religion over another, violating the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. If it isn't government speech, then the park is a public forum, meaning the city can't deny Summum's 7 Aphorisms from being displayed. Pleasant Grove claims they chose to deny Summum because they display artifacts that have links to the city's history and heritage--something Summum can't claim. That defense still doesn't answer the question of whether or not the city has violated the Establishment Clause. Some would argue that it is impossible for the 10 Commandments in the park to be considered government speech, because Pleasant Grove obviously didn't make up the 10 Commandments--but this fails to absolve Pleasant Grove because once again, that makes the park a public forum. The current Supreme Court generally splits down the middle with Justice Kennedy acting as the tie-breaker, so it will come down to how he views this. I guarantee that Justices Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, and Alito will back Pleasant Grove, and that Breyer, Bader-Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens will support Summum. A decision isn't expected for at least a couple of months, but the court's behavior on issues surrounding religion is somewhat predictable--they could prove me very wrong, but this is my prediction. I believe the city should be allowed to determine what to display in the park, but I also believe they shouldn't be allowed to display such overtly religious artifacts if they want to have that right. Certainly Pleasant Grove is primarily Mormon--and Christian--but there are also members of the community that fall outside these groups. By accepting one religious faith's monument, while rejecting another, the city is creating in-groups and out-groups. They are saying that Christianity is more valid and accepted than other faiths--whether they defend it with other excuses like heritage or not--and doing so clearly violates the Establishment Clause. The citizens of Pleasant Grove could also push the city to sale the park to private donors, and those donors could then display whatever religious artifacts they choose. Such a move would likely end up in court, but it would be a possible loop-hole. They could put a referendum on the next ballot, and then have an open bidding process if the citizens approve the sale--they would just have to hope that someone in a minority group didn't outbid everyone else. Anyway, it's an interesting issue that will certainly be referred to in other cases regarding religion and government. 

Rise Against

I had the good privilege of seeing Rise Against last night at Saltair. They are really, really cool. It's the third time I've seen them at Saltair, all with my brother-in-law, Brett. Anyway, this is a video of them playing one of their new songs.

Taxes

Debating about tax policy played a large role in the Presidential election. Taxes have been a major issue in every election since our nation's founding--in fact, even before that. President Obama plans to undo President Bush's tax cut for those making more than $250,000 a year. To many conservatives, this is part of Barack's larger socialist agenda.  A little research shows that since the US instituted income taxes, the wealthy pay less now than they have at any other time in history. The wealthy paid a higher tax under President Clinton, which unsurprisingly, along with a more fiscally responsible approach to governing, led to a budget surplus of a billion dollars when Clinton left office. In the last 8 years, President Bush has doubled our national debt--from 5 trillion to 10 trillion--and taken our yearly deficit from a surplus of 1 billion when he took office to a deficit of around 500 billion this year. This is a combination of war, tax cuts, and other irresponsible spending. How do conservatives expect us to pay for the war--which they support--and to fund the bailout, which a Republican administration pushed for? How do we fund the massive costs of researching and developing alternative fuel sources? How do we improve our public school system? A small portion of wealthy individuals control an enormous portion of the wealth in this country, yet more often than not, they pay a lower tax percentage than than those in the bottom income bracket. How? With all sorts of maneuvers that exploit the tax code. In 2006--the most recent data available--those earning the most (the top 1%) paid an average income tax of 19%, while the lowest wage earners paid an average of 21%. Anyone who assumes that the wealthiest Americans are over-taxed just isn't paying attention. The tax debate comes down to 2 simple points:

1) We have millions upon millions of Americans who work hard, but they can't afford health care. We should care about the welfare of our neighbors. We should care when good, hard working people are forced into bankruptcy because of health problems. We should care when older people spend every cent they have on medications so they can try and have a decent quality of life. Many conservatives are religious. They should ask themselves what their religion teaches about helping those in need. This isn't about providing lazy people with flat-screen televisions, it is about helping them, and even moreso their children, when they need to see a doctor. This isn't a socialist viewpoint. This isn't a call for nationalizing industry, and taxing the rich at a rate of 70%. It is about doing something we are capable of doing. Every other industrialized country in the world--except South Africa--provides some form of guaranteed health care. They treat it as a service, not a business; they choose not to let people go bankrupt so they can get the help they need. We should join them in providing health care for everyone in this country. It is the morally and ethically correct thing to do, and hopefully President Obama can get this done. 

2) Many of our schools are failing. Lots of schools are overcrowded. Teachers are expected to teach too many kids without the tools to do so. Lots of schools have horrible funding and they can't provide books and computers for the students. They can't pay teachers enough to stay around. It is hurting our country and most of all, it hurts those that are already hurting. The poor, impoverished parts of our country are the ones with the worst public schools, yet the kids that attend these schools are in tremendous need of a good education. We don't want a welfare state, but we also haven't provided the tools to help the segment of our society that needs schooling the most, so they can change their lives for the better and eliminate the cycle of poverty in their families. We need to put a lot more money into the school system--especially these poor areas--by providing more money for books and computers, paying teachers much more and recruiting the best educators out there to come to these schools. We need to build more schools and upgrade old, crumbling facilities, and make sure we provide a world class education not just to kids in the beverly hills school district, but also to those in the 9th Ward in New Orleans. 

There are lots of other issues, like are old, crumbling infrastructure, and the need for improving are industrial system so it harms the environment less. We need to develop better fuel sources, ones that are renewable and that harm the environment as little as possible. These kinds of things can't be done if we don't put money in our treasury. It's amazing that we can find conservative support for 700 billion dollars when it comes to banks and Wall Street, but that kind of money could have boosted the economy in other ways. We could have put that kind of money into schools, infrastructure, health care, and alternative fuels, improving our country and creating millions of new jobs in the process. We can't rebuild the middle class, and help those most in need, by taxing the richest among us at the lowest rate in our nations history. We need to make changes to the tax code that eliminate loop holes, and simplify things so that everyone pays the tax rate assigned to them. We shouldn't tax the rich at enormously high rates, but we should tax them in a way that helps America as a whole--a utilitarian approach. Republicans have pushed for lower taxes--especially since Ronald Reagan took office. The idea is that if we let the rich keep more of their money, they will reinvest it and create more jobs, thereby bettering all Americans. Well, this theory has been turned on it's head. Since 1980, the average real income (factoring in inflation) for the bottom 60% of Americans has dropped, while the income for the highest portion of American has risen by more than 300%. We have created an income gap only equaled by Russia--where most of the country rots, while a few billionaires live it up. We have created the kind of income gap last seen in our country in the booming 1920's, right before the depression. We knew then, and we know now, that massive income gaps destroy the middle class and that the rich don't let any trickle down, they keep it amongst themselves. Our tax policies should be created with all of America in mind, doing what is best for everyone, not only the rich. I hope President Obama can help restore our financial security, rebuild the middle class, provide basic, necessary benefits to the poor, and check the extreme excesses of the ultra-wealthy on Wall Street. This isn't a call for egalitarianism, it's a call to tax in a way that allows us to pay our bills as a country. It's a call to tax in a way that allows us to provide health care for everyone, and to improve our schools. That is not socialism. It is good, decent, humanitarianism. It is the approach we should all support. It is very achievable, it just calls for a little less greed, a little more kindness, a little less ignorance, and greater thriftiness by all of us.

Day 1, A.R. = Day 1 after the Republican Party's Demise

When President Bush was reelected in 2004, he and the right-wing media, proclaimed that he had a mandate, political capital, to spend. This was following a loss in the popular vote in 2000, and a 2% win in 04. Today, right-wing pundits are quickly claiming that Obama has no mandate. Interesting. Not only did he win the popular vote by 6%, he doubled up McCain in the Electoral College, and Congress become much more blue. If a dominant victory, coupled with a large majority for Obama's party in Congress isn't a mandate, then what is? With a sitting President who has the lowest approval ratings in the history of such polling, and a clear rejection of the Republican Party across the board, I think that not only Obama, but the entire Democratic Party, has been given a mandate by the American people to change the state of our Nation. Loudly and clearly, we have declared the Republican government of the last eight years a failure, and we have let the Democratic Party know that it is their chance to change things for the better. They will have no excuse if they fail to improve things--a clear majority in Congress, a Democratic President--and if they do fail, a reserves of 2008 probably awaits in 2012. Republicans, Fox News, and other supporters of the right can spin this election anyway they want, but their method of governing has been clearly rejected. It may return, but we are at least 4 years away from that possibility and in the meantime, the Democrats can get to work cleaning up Bush's mess. 

President Barack Hussein Obama

It's official. Barack Obama is our President-Elect. Our 44th President is an African-American, raised primarily by his white grandparents, abandoned by his father when he was young, who realized the American Dream as much as it has ever been realized. He didn't just win, he won by a huge margin, mandating change. A multiracial President with a Muslim name is now going to be our President. I am an Obama fan so I'm more excited than McCain fans, but anyone who is an American should be proud of our country today. We should all be proud of how quickly we've come since the 1960's, when Blacks still weren't treated like human beings. Now, a Black man is going to be in the most powerful position in the world--one that he is fully deserving of, and fully capable of doing a remarkable job. President Obama will has a tremendous set of challenges awaiting him as soon as he takes office, and it will be impossible for him to satisfy everyone with the course of action he charts, but I believe he will lead us in the best possible direction we can go under the current circumstances. He will select a remarkable set of advisers, and unlike our current president, he will listen to all of them, develop consensus, and make smart, analytical, well thought out decisions, not gut decisions. Today really is a remarkable, historic day, for the United States of America. I feel proud to be an American today. I'm proud of the fact that I voted for the first African American President in our Nation's history. I'm proud of the fact that I convinced my wife and my mom to do the same. President Barack Obama will be a good president, and I believe he will help repair our international image, help improve our domestic quality of life, and lead us in a positive direction, away from the last 8 years. Congratulations President Obama.