The winners and the losers

Winner: According to a recent BYU study on Utah teenagers regarding their drinking habits and parental relationships, parents pack more influential power than peers. But it takes a balance of parents providing both supervision and affection — and not just one or the other — to help their children avoid heavy drinking habits.

Loser: It's awkward to equate chants of "We're Number One!" with being a loser. But topping the rest of the United States with the nation's highest per-gallon gasoline costs is nothing to brag about. An even bigger struggle is trying to answer the simple question of "why so high?"

Winner: By accepting an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, the University of Utah now enjoys myriad boosts to its athletics department — membership in a BCS conference, a direct route to a BCS football bowl berth and the big paydays of the conference's major television contracts.

Loser: The Utah-BYU rivalry takes a major hit, with conference standings and titles no longer affected by Ute-Cougar outcomes. First expected casualty: the 2011 football game. Both schools have their nonconference games locked in already, and neither will be too anxious to do major reshuffling or pay much to alter existing game contracts with other opponents.

Winner: Utah's uninsurable residents have reason to smile. Gov. Gary Herbert has announced the state will manage a new high-risk medical insurance pool of $40 million stemming from recent federal health care reform. Herbert says the move isn't a sign of supporting President Barack Obama's push for reform; rather, he simply thinks the state could run it better than the feds.

Winner: We'd like to call them marathon men, but that's the wrong sport. John Isner of the United States and France's Nicolas Mahut dueled in tennis' longest major match, a Wimbledon first-rounder with an NBA-like 70-68 fifth-set score. Timing out at 11 hours and five minutes, the match was postponed for darkness not one evening but two. Isner ended up winning the match and then dropping his rescheduled second-round match the next day — in a mere 75 minutes. Still the twosome will long be remembered for putting tennis in a spectacular three-day spotlight.

Winner: The scale is considerably smaller than the ongoing debacle in the Gulf of Mexico, but Chevron seems to be taking the highest road possible in meeting its pledges to not only clean up the Red Butte Creek oil spill but also help overcome related inconveniences and community concerns, such as covering much of the cost for relocated wedding receptions and bridal photo sessions. It sure beats having BP in your backyard.