Spring Firesides

https://twitter.com/brgredd/status/722178023189942273





https://twitter.com/drewjay/status/722178376916668418



Michigan is in May. Two coaches and two players.

Disappointed.

hawkwing wrote:
Disappointed.

Agreed. I'm disappointed too.

Here's the D-News story with more details:

http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865652501/Sitake-to-continue-fireside-tradition-at-BYU-2-but-in-the-spring-not-night-before-games.html



BYU announced Monday that the team will hold firesides throughout the spring, mostly in locations where the Cougars will play in the fall. The first fireside will be held in Mesa, Arizona, this Sunday night at the Mesa Community College LDS Institute. It will be held in conjunction with a BYU FanFest event Saturday in Mesa.



Other firesides are scheduled for East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State); Montgomery, Ohio (Cincinnati); Washington, D.C. (West Virginia); Pocatello, Idaho (Boise State) and American Fork, Utah.

I have no problem with this whatsoever. Coach Sitake needs to be able to do whatever he feels is best for the program. He seems to grasp and understand the role and importance of the football program in the Church's missionary effort and if he believes he can be more effective in the off-season than he can during the season in this capacity, then good for him. Makes sense to me.

These spring firesides are nothing more than a half-assed attempt to pay lip service to the Church and it's mission. They will be completely ineffective after the initial novelty of a new coach wears off and probably will stop happening after this year or next.



Either cut them or do them, don't do it half-assed, 7 months before the game without players.

hawkwing wrote:
These spring firesides are nothing more than a half-assed attempt to pay lip service to the Church and it's mission. They will be completely ineffective after the initial novelty of a new coach wears off and probably will stop happening after this year or next.



Either cut them or do them, don't do it half-assed, 7 months before the game without players.

Time will tell. I for one hope you are wrong :)

I have the opposite view on this.



1) Can extend the influence that the BYU football program will have on missionary work, as the local wards and communities will have a spring/summer event and then a fall event (the game).



2) Spring firesides may influence fall game attendance for some who might not have attended otherwise - with plenty of advance notice. We may see more LDS members that aren't BYU-first fans attend BYU away games as BYU fans.



3) Players will be involved. I don't know where the idea that players wouldn't be involved comes from. This gets players a unique and great offseason and travel experience that you can't find anywhere else in college football. Plus, certain players may even get the opportunity to see and tour the away stadium as part of the offseason trip. That couldn't hurt.



4) Being in the offseason, recruits and their families will get to attend. They often cannot attend when the firesides are held on a Friday night during the high school football season.



5) Football team can focus on football during the season. I don't know that the firesides were always a distraction or challenge, but I do know that travel and schedule issues did arise, which absolutely did affect the football team and gameday.

hawkwing wrote:
These spring firesides are nothing more than a half-assed attempt to pay lip service to the Church and it's mission. They will be completely ineffective after the initial novelty of a new coach wears off and probably will stop happening after this year or next.



Either cut them or do them, don't do it half-assed, 7 months before the game without players.

I agree with YNot. The D-News story mentions that "several players" will be attending the first fireside in Glendale, AZ along with Sitake, Detmer, Lamb, and Tuiaki. Those who attend will see these coaches/players who are there soley for the fireside--not moonlighting before they need to get out of there and focus on game prep let alone schoolwork. I'm not sure how that is "half-assed". Change can be upsetting--but I guess fireside attendance will prove out whether this works or not.

eh, not a big deal for me.

Guys, hold off on criticism of these moves until we're into the season. There will be an outreach to fans for road games, but it won't be in the form of a fireside anymore. And FWIW, Kalani made the decision based on feedback from the players--they were done with them. Yeah, they were optional, but there was a peer pressure that most of the players didn't like.



Just hold off on deciding that ending firesides is a bad move until you see the fruits in the Fall

WE will see how it all works. When there is a fan fess, like in Mesa, there will be several players. When not I had heard two players. I like having the whole team there especially non member players for the experience for them.

I would hope they did one when it fit the schedule. Like maybe the first game when they are not in school and get to town early. The bowl game is another one that they should still do.

A "pep rally" for the fans at away games doesn't excite me.

Mars wrote:


I like it. I saw a twitter poll online where BYU fans were 97% in favor of this change.

Because those fans draw a direct causal relationship to every loss from a fireside. :roll:

Fido wrote:
https://twitter.com/BYUfootball/status/722588424516071424

I love the ideas of the fan fests, glad we're still keeping these going.

HoosierCougar wrote:

I like it. I saw a twitter poll online where BYU fans were 97% in favor of this change.

Because those fans draw a direct causal relationship to every loss from a fireside. :roll:

It does seem to me that a distraction could act as a distraction.

As someone who lives many miles from Provo these firesides under Bronco have been fantastic. People would travel from quite far to attend these firesides. The away games that I went to I made sure that the firesides were part of the plan and I enjoyed them very much. The one at KC/Independence for the Mizzou game was especially great since there were also a ton of other fan activities that day. And going a day early allowed for lots of Mormon history visits.



Unless one of these new spring firesides is held in my town I'm not going. Not going to travel a long distance or even a medium distance for a spring fireside. Having them right before the game flowed into all of the hype for the game itself.