Writer realizes that missions aren't conducive to football

Elder Ben Olson: The mission thing.

The town, with only about 80 LDS members, is a hard sell. In addition to gun threats, there have been cuss-a-thons, accusations of working for the CIA, and canines. Olson removed a dog from a comp's ankle and outraced another one. "You learn to hate dogs," he says. But outrunning dogs just about does it as far as his physical activity goes. (ESPN The Magazine, Dec. 22, 2003)

The mission deal: It's mysterious, misunderstood and often maligned by outside observers.

That's why it's refreshing to see a national-caliber sports writer take time and effort and do some first-hand research when writing about LDS athletes who go on missions. This is what ESPN The Magazine did when senior writer Gene Wojciechowski met up with BYU quarterback Ben Olson in Sparwood, British Columbia, for a story in the Dec. 22 edition.

Unlike some, Wojciechowski waded through the red tape, sought permission from the LDS Church missionary committee and met with Elder Olson of Thousand Oaks, Calif., a young man once considered the top high school football player in the U.S..

What Wojciechowski found is the two-year deal really is a sacrifice, costly in terms of athletic progress and continuity — hardly a huge and imposing advantage for schools like BYU. Linemen may gain some maturity, but skill players face some deterioration and it takes a lot to come back. Muscle tissue begins to break down after only 10 days of inactivity.

"Some things you pay a price to do. You don't count the consequences," Olson said in Wojciechowski's piece. Olson quoted his favorite scripture found in the Book of Mormon in Alma, chapter 29, verse 9: "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it."

After BYU's 1984 national championship season, Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith sought and obtained permission to meet with Cougar LDS athletes in the mission field. It was the first major expos of what missions give and take away from LDS athletes. In the summer of 1985, Smith met with offensive lineman Don Busenbark in Brazil, quarterback Sean Covey in South Africa, quarterback Scott Peterson in Bolivia and offensive lineman Duane Johnson in Kentucky.

In 1988, ESPN sent a crew to Mexico City for a piece on offensive lineman Chad Moffat.

This weekend, BYU coach Gary Crowton gathered his team for an end-of-the-semester meeting and described how his staff was combing the country for additional recruits to add what's needed.