Comments about ‘BYU doesn't have a corner on avoiding Sabbath play’

With all things being even...why would the Big12 go with quirky? They don't need the hassle when you have a Florida St or Clemson in the wings.

Sorry, but "quirky" get's you into the WAC..errr, I mean independent.

hedgehog, all things are never even. That's why they may go with quirky.

How did I know even before I opened the comments that Brother Hog was going to be the first to post?

The NFL would prefer college games to be played on Saturday.

The issue with BYU and Sunday play isn't necessarily an issue in Football, its the other sports that cause this to be an issue. Particularly sports like baseball, softball, track and field. The restriction puts scheduling constraints on the conference they don't want to deal with. If BYU is willing to be a Football only member of a conference there will be openings down the line for them in a reduced level Big East, for example. Whether they can land in a better situation remains to be seen.

Yes, but are there any other FBS football teams that have a policy against playing games on a certain day? As far as I'm aware, BYU is the only one. Are there any such schools in FCS or other sports? If not, then BYU does have a corner on the market. Not that that's bad, but it does make BYU unique.

This is going to drive the BYU haters crazy, but I'm going to take a sentence from the article and change a couple words that also accurately describes the situation:

"If scheduling were a big problem, no one would have ever talked to BYU in the first place."

Make that into:

"If the quality of the sports program was a big problem, no one would have ever talked to BYU in the first place."

Haters love to claim that the thing stopping BYU from joining BCS conferences is that BYU has too bad of a program. They claim nobody wants BYU. If so, why are they talking to BYU in the first place? It doesn't add up.

I used to work with a guy (a Ute of course) who nearly every day would say some disparaging remark about BYU to me. I usually ignored him but he was persistent in his expressions of hatred for anything BYU. One day I decided to try to have a rational conversation with him to determine the source of his hatred. I asked him why he didn’t like BYU. “They are so self righteous” was his response. “What does that mean”, I asked. “Can a person at the U. of Utah be self-righteous”, I asked him? “What if a person associated with any other university isn’t perfect, can they be self-righteous or can only people from BYU be self-righteous”? He never bothered me again! What did I learn from all this? People associated with BYU are held to a higher standard than anyone from any other University! If a BYU person falters, (real or imagined) then everyone at BYU is hypocritical, phony or self righteous! If anyone at any other University does anything wrong, no problem, what did you expect?

BYU isn't in a conference because they want to retain the TV rights to their games not shown with the conference TV contract. Not because of sunday play.

From here on out it does not matter when they play. Look at what is going on right now. Talk of a 4+1 is back on the table for the national title. That means all that matters is the champions of the Big 12, Pac 12, Big 10, the SEC and one other team. That's not going to include BYU everyone. The four major conferences are pulling there strings now. Look for schools to leave the ACC. I see Florida St and Miami joining the Big 12. And the Big East will become irrelevant as a football conference even with Boise St.We might end up with super conferences after all.
Where BYU plays into that is anyone's guess. As the deck reshuffles watch more schools that signed to play BYU back out of those commitments.

Riverton Cougar

Haters love to claim that the thing stopping BYU from joining BCS conferences is that BYU has too bad of a program. They claim nobody wants BYU. If so, why are they talking to BYU in the first place? It doesn't add up.

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How can anyone claim they want BYU? All I have heard for 40 plus years are rumors and alleged invites to power conferences. I'm tired of fellow BYU fans making up excuses.

It is funny how people are trying to make sense of what has become NCAA football.

It is one of the most corrupt institutions in America. Three conferences get to decide the fate of who is going to be the national champion. Not players on the field through a playoff, money mongering, self preserving, corrupt conferences.

On one hand you got the Utes who should have played for the NC in one of the years slathering themselves to get into the corruption, and then once in, act just like as stupidly as those who thumbed their noses at them in 2004, 2008. Classy.

On the other hand BYU decides to take a different route of independence.

The funniest thing is to hear U fans extoll the virtues of being in the BCS, and watching the BCS implode around them.

"We're in a BCS conference!"

Wow, good for you Ronald Miller, you sold your soul to be popular.

Still rather be a Y fan playing our schedule than ever be a ute.

Riverton Cougar feels the Cougars have been disparaged on "Quality". It goes both ways.

The Big12 considered BYU when looking to stabilize the conference. Tom Holmoe said the talks didn't get far. BYU was excited about independence, and concerned with the "quality" of the Big12 (rightly so). The BigEast also looked to BYU for stability. BYU expressed no interest, concerned with conference "quality". Now the B12 is stable, and BYU fans would snub a BigEast invite in hopes of a B12 invite.

The B12 is looking to expand, but not considering BYU. Why? Stability has them reaching for teams of higher "quality". I appreciate you are a BYU fan and think your team is great, but you have to admit that Notre Dame, FSU, Clemson, Miami, etc add more benefit to the B12.

BYU was about the same "quality" level as Utah, and almost as good as TCU and Boise State. BYU would compete well in the BigEast, not so well in the Big12 and Pac12. Why? Recruiting. The "quality" of BYU recruiting is constant regardless of WAC, MWC, or Indy affiliation. They wouldn't see a recruiting boost if they joined a "quality" conference.

This is what I don't understand about "no Sunday play:" If it is wrong for BYU athletes to play on Sunday, why is it okay for LDS professional athletes to play on Sunday? I really want to know, because while I commend BYU for sticking to its principles, I don't understand why LDS professional athletes are not only given a pass, but are praised for their Sunday play. And before someone responds about the fact that it is their occupation, please remember that sports is an entertainment profession. Its not like a police officer or doctor who, at times, must work on Sunday. Also many LDS members have to sacrifice their careers in order to live by their beliefs. I think few LDS members would praise an LDS actress who appeared in a rated R movie the way they praise professional LDS athletes who play on Sunday.

Rock's writing this because he's striking out because he asked one of the most ridiculous questions ever and got scolded for it, "Does BYU's National Championship in Rugby really matter?" Nice Rock. We all know it's Sunday play that drives conferences crazy. They've said so themselves.

Wolf: You really don't know the answer to your question? Seriously?

BYU, the institution, is controlled by the LDS church. Individual members are not. The LDS church has exercised its agency and allows individual members to do the same.

What do you think the church could do? Excommunicate members who play professional sports on Sunday? Seriously, what do you think they should do?

You also claim that these athletes are "praised for their Sunday play." Really? I've never heard any of them mentioned in General Conference. In fact, I recently heard a General Conference talk about a professional Rugby player who was praised because he would not play on Sunday. In what way do you think the church praises these athletes? Individual members might adore them but individual members do not speak for the church in toto.

I get tired of this complaint because it is so ridden with logical holes and flaws.

So, all you BYU haters. Why don't your schools have class on Sunday? Why do your schools close almost everything on Sunday? You people just don't get it. Even when it is explained to you so well like Counter Intelligence and joe5 did above.

Also it is a well known fact that BYU WAS the "cash cow" for the old WAC and MWC. That's right ute fans, say what you want, but the fact remains. Just ask the people at the Mountain TV station. The could handle the U leaving, but things fell to pieces when BYU said they were leaving. Also just look at all the National Championships BYU has won in ALL sports. I know it is difficult to go into hibernation for 8 months out of the year and only be able to pull your head out for 4 months.

Brad, you just argued against your premise; and you're looking at a high school situation to bolster your argument? Sunday play is a huge deal, because nobody but BYU cares about it. No league wants to deal with it, so they avoid BYU. It is a big deal. Go to court to solve it? not hardly. Personally, I love BYU's independence, and would loathe the idea of them joining the Big Least; bad move Holmoe, bad move.

Obviously, Brad you did not write the headline as there is not a single reference in your article about another college program restricting Sunday play. There may be some, but the article does not cite any. So, the headline would correlate more with story saying, BYU has a corner on not playing on Sunday.

"The 2003 men's basketball team was accidentally scheduled for a Thursday-Sunday bracket that fed into a Friday-Sunday schedule. The Cougars were quickly moved so they could play Thursday-Saturday throughout."

If this is the same year I'm thinking of, the NCAA did NOT move the Cougars to a different spot. They said, "we'll take care of it IF BYU advances that far." If my memory is correct, BYU and Utah St. held the same seed. It would have been rather easy to swap the two, but the NCAA refused to take any action unless it was absolutely necessary.

Again, I could be wrong on this, but that's how I remember it. Unless it happened more than once.