Brad Rock: Rock On: BYU, Utah marriage on the skids

TRIAL SEPARATION

Ute football coach Kyle Whittingham drew ire when he recently told Yahoo! Sports that the BYU-Utah rivalry wasn't bigger than the program.

He later told Deseret News writer Dirk Facer he wasn't anti-rivalry "but with all the complications involved in scheduling it appears as though it's going to be difficult to make it work on an uninterrupted basis."

So don't think of it as the end of a great rivalry.

Think of it in terms of a bi-coastal marriage.

WINDOW SHOPPING

San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh scoffs at reports they courted Peyton Manning and says he always wanted ex-Ute Alex Smith as his quarterback.

"It's phony, even the perception we were pursuing him," Harbaugh told reporters. "We were evaluating him."

Isn't that a bit like Ron Paul saying he's just evaluating another run for office?

MAP QUEST

Kendyl Carol Bell represented Utah in the 2012 Miss USA Pageant on Sunday in Las Vegas.

Though she didn't place in the competition, it wasn't for lack of desire. She told the Sandy Journal in May: "I'm a homegrown girl. I've lived here my whole life. I want to do well and put Utah on the map."

Just in case, you know, the Olympics didn't.

SHELF LIFE

Hall of Fame infielder Cal Ripken Jr. is lending his name to a line of frozen burgers called Ripken Gourmet Burgers.

Sources say the burgers don't actually have a freshness date on the package, just a stamp that says "Best used before 2,632 games."

SPURIOUS

South Carolina coach football Steve Spurrier is proposing that athletes in revenue sports be paid $3,500-$4,000 annually in living expenses, beyond their scholarships.

To which Reggie Bush allegedly replied: "Does that count incentive bonuses?"

SENIOR MOMENTS

Jack Finarelli at sportscurmudgeon.com says 70-year-old Jerry Sloan shouldn't take an NBA job. Rather, he should become coach at TCU, just 35 miles from SMU, where 71-year-old Larry Brown is the coach.

Among Finarelli's suggestions: Have "an oversized 'Clapper' to turn the lights in the gym off and on."

GAG RULE

San Francisco Chronicle reader "Janice," responding to columnist Scott Ostler's call for ideas on new sports rules: "The baseball team with the game's highest payroll, by a mile, cannot be referred to by fans or media as being "all about heart."

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