Warning: This post is total rumor mongering...

but I thought I would pass it along because I can scacely believe it myself...please take it for what it's worth. I have no way of verifying these claims. My source will not reveal his source.



I talked to a person close to the program this morning, and he said that a high level meeting took place earlier this week to discuss the events of saturday evening. He said that the University, and high ranking church officials are embarassed about what transpired during and after the game. Apparently the subject of discontinuing the BYU/Utah rivalry for two years was discussed at length (I don't know how this would possibly work given MWC contracts, etc).



Even worse, he said that the topic of doing away with sports at BYU altogether (ala Rick's College) was brought up, and discussed seriously. Apparently there are a few general authorities (I don't know if they're members of the 12, the 1st presidency, or what) that have been pushing for this for some time. There has been real discussion about wether major college athletics was in harmony with the mission of the university.



Please don't flame me for posting this. I'm only reporting what I've heard. I'm not a troll, I'm not trying to stir up trouble or controversy...I'm about the biggest BYU homer there is. More than anything I'm curious if anybody else has heard anything about this meeting, and if there is any turth to what my friend related to me.

I don't know anything about it, but I'll go ahead and call BS on it for two reasons:

- What happened after the game anyway? A player said a few stupid things in a press conference? Vague pictures and reports of a scuffle on the field that didn't result in any serious injury or damage? Unless the G.A.'s are listening to ute talk radio, I very much doubt any of them will take any of this as a serious embarrassment to the church, just another attempt (add it to the already long list) by critics of the church to blow something out of proportion and link it to the church.

- From what I have heard President Monson likes Bronco and what he is doing with the team. And I'm guessing other general authorities really like what Bronco is doing, too. If they do anything and that's a big IF, they'll talk to Bronco about keeping his players in line better, and hire more security for the rivalry game next year.

If BYU drops major sports, I guarantee that the BYU would be in huge danger of becoming a female dominant university. And that is just a fact. Guys want major college sports and they will go elsewhere to find them. Plus, BYU has MILLIONS invested in facilities. I do not see them walking away from that. Would be a big mistake. lastly, what happened hardly registered a blip outside the state of Utah. This has zero effect on anything to do with the church, except for the haters in teh state of Utah. And they will hate away regardless. But I will admit I am not surprised that a meeting did take place. That is no surprise.

Well, I can't confirm or deny that these meetings took place. I would not be surprised if there was some sort of upper-level discussion about the incidents that took place on Saturday. I really doubt that there will be a suspension of the series, unless BYU wants to forfeit the game for the next two years.



People should not be surprised that there is talk about shutting down the sports programs at BYU. I'm sure that it is the plan within the next 10 to 12 years. What happened at Ricks was a precursor of what is to happen at BYU and BYU-H.



I doubt this will be the immediate decision of the church, but its coming. It will be a sad day indeed.

Sports bring in millions of dollars at BYU. They didn't at Ricks. A little easier decision to do away with them there.

To "suspend the series," wouldn't BYU have to either forfeit (as previously mentioned) or withdraw from the MWC?

I can confirm that there was a "high level meeting" However, that "high level meeting" did not discuss discontinuing the rivalry (couldn’t do it - they’re in the same conference) nor did it discuss "discontinuing sports”.... it actually was to discuss the pricing of this item now on sale at the BYU bookstore.... :lol:





http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h247/ebersoles4/Poncho.jpg" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">



PS I'm not talented enough to make this up, a friend of mine just emailed it to me...

Wickchad84087 wrote:
Sports bring in millions of dollars at BYU. They didn't at Ricks. A little easier decision to do away with them there.

The way the sports department works at BYU is completely different from almost any other school in the country. It's almost a completely different entity. The university part of BYU runs independently of the sports programs. They don't get any of the money from the sports programs itself. It would actually have very little impact on BYU's bottom line if the sports department went away. In fact, it would save them money in scholarships.



Also, BYU sports generates barely enough to cover all of its programs. They get no help from the school/church in any way. It is run completely off of ticket sales (which mostly come from football, followed distantly by men's basketball), some merchandising, the TV/radio contracts, other advertisements, and donations.



As for the millions of dollars of investment in the facilities, it was all private donations. The donors might be upset, but BYU in particular, and the church as a whole, doesn't make decisions based on how upset people might be.



The biggest thing that the church gets out of BYU sports is the "missionary" work that could be done by it. Almost every broadcast the church is brought up. If the church no longer sees this as a benefit, it makes it very easy to cut the programs.



The one downside that would need to be considered is how many LDS athletes would no longer serve missions, because there would be no BYU, where missions are almost expected.

That's an awful lot for someone simply saying that they HATE and CAN'T STAND Utah.............

As much as I hate the idea, there is one scenario where this could take place is if the MWC goes through some kind of expansion and suddenly has an North and South conference.



BYu goes South division

Utah goes North division



MWC stays intact and no one forfeits.Unless a championship game, but TCU stands to be a impediment for the foreseeable future.(Given how easily they trounced the conference this year we might want to consider 3 divisions. North, South, and TCU division...)



BTW...thanks for rumormongering.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
People should not be surprised that there is talk about shutting down the sports programs at BYU. I'm sure that it is the plan within the next 10 to 12 years. What happened at Ricks was a precursor of what is to happen at BYU and BYU-H.

Yeah, I don't get people saying this. How do you figure they're going to drop sports at BYU---because they did it at Ricks? Ricks changed a lot of other things also when they did their university overhaul, many of which will likely never make it to BYU because they are so experimental and outside the norm. If they drop sports at BYU it will be for a very different set of problems than the ones they faced at Ricks.

CougarClaw wrote:
As much as I hate the idea, there is one scenario where this could take place is if the MWC goes through some kind of expansion and suddenly has an North and South conference.



BYu goes South division

Utah goes North division



MWC stays intact and no one forfeits.Unless a championship game, but TCU stands to be a impediment for the foreseeable future.(Given how easily they trounced the conference this year we might want to consider 3 divisions. North, South, and TCU division...)



BTW...thanks for rumormongering.

It's because of TCU that I wouldn't want them to divide it north and south. If the MWC brings in BSU, I'd rather play them every year than TCU. TCU can share the division with Utah and then we can play the winner in the championship game.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

People should not be surprised that there is talk about shutting down the sports programs at BYU. I'm sure that it is the plan within the next 10 to 12 years. What happened at Ricks was a precursor of what is to happen at BYU and BYU-H.

Based on what I know of how the Ricks to BYU I transition went, there is a very minor and in "MINOR" chance that the athletics program will be shut down at BYU Provo. Those two schools are simply apples and oranges.



As has been said before, the Church is doing its best to make a University that its members want to go to. And many if not most of the male members of the church want to go to a school that has anintercollegate athletic department. I guess we'll just see in the next 10 to 12 years how accurate this prediction is until then it's just guesswork.



But for my money, when the worst thing to come out of the BYU Football program recently was a 24 year old guy saying that he "hates" a group of other people on something other than they belonging to a protected class, then you're doing pretty good!

I mentioned this very thing after the "comments" were made. The players at BYU must hold themselves to a higher standard or we won't be cheering for any Provo NCAA sports.



BYU sports is one of the major faces of Brigham Young University, which in turn represents the LDS church. The GAs run the university and if they find themselves not being represented well, I'm sure they would have no problem with pulling the plug on athletics. That's just the way it is.



Having said that, I hope and pray that the GAs look at the bigger picture and realize that this is exactly what the most obnoxious ute fans, they who simply hate BYU because of the LDS affiliation, want.

declocoug wrote:
I mentioned this very thing after the "comments" were made. The players at BYU must hold themselves to a higher standard or we won't be cheering for any Provo NCAA sports.



BYU sports is one of the major faces of Brigham Young University, which in turn represents the LDS church. The GAs run the university and if they find themselves not being represented well, I'm sure they would have no problem with pulling the plug on athletics. That's just the way it is.



Having said that, I hope and pray that the GAs look at the bigger picture and realize that this is exactly what the most obnoxious ute fans, they who simply hate BYU because of the LDS affiliation, want.

I just don't see it being micromanaged to that extent. I'm sure the program is micromanaged to an extent, just not to THAT extent. If you're always one "off hand comment" away from getting the plug pulled, then you've got a group of people not looking at the volume of otherwise positives comming out of it (the program.) Again, If Max Hall's comments come anywhere near close enough to consider pulling the plug that thing would have been pulled YEARS AGO! I see this as nothing more than "the sky is falling" stuff.

ABYUFAN wrote:

I mentioned this very thing after the "comments" were made. The players at BYU must hold themselves to a higher standard or we won't be cheering for any Provo NCAA sports.



BYU sports is one of the major faces of Brigham Young University, which in turn represents the LDS church. The GAs run the university and if they find themselves not being represented well, I'm sure they would have no problem with pulling the plug on athletics. That's just the way it is.



Having said that, I hope and pray that the GAs look at the bigger picture and realize that this is exactly what the most obnoxious ute fans, they who simply hate BYU because of the LDS affiliation, want.

I just don't see it being micromanaged to that extent. I'm sure the program is micromanaged to an extent, just not to THAT extent. If you're always one "off hand comment" away from getting the plug pulled, then you've got a group of people not looking at the volume of otherwise positives comming out of it (the program.) Again, If Max Hall's comments come anywhere near close enough to consider pulling the plug that thing would have been pulled YEARS AGO! I see this as nothing more than "the sky is falling" stuff.

I agree, and hope that you are right.

I admit I am pretty torn on this issue. On the one hand I have a deep and abiding personal conviction that intercollegiate athletics are completely ridiculous. Why should someone get to go to a university for free just because they are better at running/jumping/throwing than the next kid? Especially when the running/jumping/throwing that the kid will be doing while at the university will take him/her away from his/her studies for days at a time thus necessitating tutors etc.. Serious students can hack it but serious students could do a lot better if they could focus on their studies. Not serious students focus on their sports, waste their professors/tutors time and generally glom off of the university.



For all these reasons I would love to get rid of NCAA sports at BYU.



On the other hand. I love BYU sports. My life changed when BYU beat Miami. I would seriously consider praying directly to Ty Detmer if he asked me to. BYU beating the UofU makes me happier than does christmas and only slightly less happy than when my daughter gives me a big slobbery kiss (she's 5 mos.). I have fond memories of attending all sorts of BYU sporting events growing up, football, basketball, baseball, cougar club stuff, Blue/White games, you name it.



Like I said I am a bit conflicted and at the end of the day I'm glad the decision whether or not to keep NCAA sports at BYU is not mine to make.

I hope that both the BYU and Utah administrations DO start talking about how to cool the rivalry. I think there are ways to do this without discontinuing the series. Maybe play the game at the end of September (as the conference opener) when less would be on the line. But I hope both Utah and BYU are looking at what has happened at their stadiums and what they can do to better protect the fans from further escalating the emnity.

I have no insight into this situation, but I do know from another source who worked in the athletic department that there were some high level talks and frank discussion about shutting down athletics during the Crowton years when the allegations of serious improprieties were taking place. From what I heard, there was a serious understanding that the athletic department could and would be shut down if anything like that happened again.



Of course, this situation is nothing like that.

I would be pissed to high hell if they cancelled sports at BYU.

The GA's are inspired, and they are great men... but for the most part, they are out of touch. Wiping out school sports is NOT going to be something that will bring greater strength, spirituality, or success to the schools "mission." What is it's mission anyway? Why does a university have to have some huge, epic, world-changing mission? What a load of crappola. BYU does a fine job at educating students and helping them be in an environment where their morals are valued... trying to take it any further than that is just arrogant.



Anyway, maybe I'm getting fired up over nothing if this isn't true. But how any GA or church official could think that a passionate "hate" statement and a bunch of rumors adds up to "we can't achieve our 'mission' without getting rid of BYU sports" is as nonsensical and delusional an idea as I've ever heard. Leave it to the church to hold the logic that shelling ourselves up like a bunch of hermits is how we're going to achieve our "mission," as opposed to getting out there and showing the world who we are. Yup, I'm sure that the news of BYU ending its athletics programs would convert TONS of people... it definitely wouldn't strengthen the general opinion that we are sheltered inbred s, right?



:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:



Gosh I hope that this rumor is false. I hate it when outdated opinion is used as counterfeit inspiration.