Excited for Independence?

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KSL won't allow comments on this article so I was wondering what reasons BYU fans have to be excited for going independent. I thought the only real drawback is not having conference championships to contend for. Other than that, I would much rather watch games on ESPN than on the MTN, the extra revenue should definitely help the program (plus it will be nice not having to share money with crap teams like NM and UNLV), and playing in a variety of locations other than Laramie and Albuquerque seems like a good deal. Are these not valid reasons to be excited to get out of the MWC? How valid are the author of this article's reasons to not be excited?

wow, so not only do the :utard: trolls spend their time commenting on our articles, but they've gone so far as to start writing about BYU sports on their own page! It's sad really...





as far as the contents of the article go, I'm just exciting for a change. I'm excited to play some new teams and to watch the games on a quality sports channel.



Despite what that guy says, there will be much greater exposure. The more people watch the games, the more money ESPN will make, so of course their going to start giving us more exposure (they're already advertising BYU football during MNF)

I love the guy's premise. "Gee, give me a reason why BYU fans are excited? Oh, and before you do, you can't use the two biggest and most obvious reasons. And you could any reasons that are based off of these main reasons either."



Umm... well, since you won't let me make any argument, I guess you win and I have no reason to be excited. Gosh, I hate being a BYU fan.

The guys bases his exposure argument on the grounds that everyone that wants to watch the game already can. He's forgetting that unlike utah, BYU has fans EVERYWHERE in the USA and beyond. Exposure will likely go through the roof. And I'd love to see what happens to recruiting when 40 million chinese are watching the games and decide that football is a sport they want to play (that might take a while ;)



- another argument- The MWC has had a lot of ranked teams. So why is Utah leaving smartypants? It's because they know the MWC is a dead end street. BYU and utah have goals bigger than the MWC can provide. Utah could simply drift into mediocrity so moving to the pac10 isn't a sure bet in my book.



Recruiting?- BYU will get the kids that have wanted to go to BYU. This won't be a problem at all, especially after BYU is touring the country playing teams outside the "MWC footprint". If anything recruiting will be better when kids see that they will be playing against some of the more storied programs.



anyway, that's as far as I want to dissect this guys "arguments". Independence won't be golden brick road, but for this fan it will be nice to be able to turn on ESPN (Cable/satellite or internet) or BYUtv (again same sources) and be able to see the game every week. Something that utah will not be getting.

You can't make the exposure argument.



And the one thing everyone who comments on BYU independence is that BYU isn't making the move for the reasons everyone wants to believe they are.



This move is about control, freedom and agency. BYU now has control and freedom to run their program how they want. This isn't about pretending to be someone we're not (we're not Notre Dame, nor claiming to be). This is about doing what we want, how we want and when we want. THAT'S why it's exciting.

kitic77 wrote:
You can't make the exposure argument.

I may have missed something but why can't the exposure argument be made? In Seminaries and Institutes and as is evident by the Church's marketing campaign with 'normal mormons' on their commercials, there is no question that exposure is their #1 reason to go independent. I certainly agree that the other reasons are valid too. But didn't Holmoe and the ESPN guy at the press conference say something like, 'more people watched BYU beat OU than watched all other 11 games that season COMBINED?'



Exposure is the #1 key.



Go Cougs!!!



J. Child

Ammon, ID

Because the WAC can drop teams I would have liked BYU, Utah, TCU, and Air Force to have joined the WAC and have The WAC drop everyone but Boise State, FResno, and Nevada. Pick up two more good teams (Best of the rest or someone like Houston) bringing the total to nine. That would leave each team four OOC games to travel the country with and get exposure. I believe the conference could get a good ESPN deal and BYU could broadcast it's games like it plans to now for exposure. It would have been hard to bar this conference from the BCS.

I like your idea but NCAA says you have to have 5 teams from a conference in order to keep the rights of the conference. I think in this case it would lose the autobid for bball for a couple of years and not sure what else is bad. The big 12 was looking at this when it was falling apart.

AmmonCougar1 wrote:

You can't make the exposure argument.

I may have missed something but why can't the exposure argument be made? In Seminaries and Institutes and as is evident by the Church's marketing campaign with 'normal mormons' on their commercials, there is no question that exposure is their #1 reason to go independent. I certainly agree that the other reasons are valid too. But didn't Holmoe and the ESPN guy at the press conference say something like, 'more people watched BYU beat OU than watched all other 11 games that season COMBINED?'



Exposure is the #1 key.



Go Cougs!!!



J. Child

Ammon, ID

You can't use the argument because in the Ute fan's article on KSL in the OP, he said he wanted reasons why BYU fans are/should be excited for independence but said we couldn't use exposure as one of the reasons.



It's a poor article with a poor premise. It's like writing an article on Urban Meyer and asking for reasons why he's a good coach, but you can't use Xs and Os or his W/L record or in-game adjustments or his recruiting abilities as reasons.

I guess he should first ask himself "why are Utah fans so excited to join the PAC 12" he can use neither money nor exposure...oh and he can't use recruting either, for, like he said, good teams recruit well and bad teams don't. He says stuff like Wyoming being better than Pepperdine but doesn't (and cant) support that proposition..so in his terms..Wyoming is better than WSU. Using this guys logic Utah was stupid to go to the PAC 12. money is no object (and BTW HE IS STUPID to dismiss it - it's not like someone's getting rich with the more money. the more money is helping more students which is something we care about!)



So I'll agree with him when he concedes it was folly for Utah to leave.



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Can anyone speak to visibility of our road games on TV - our deal with ESPN only involves our home games. Are we at the mercy of the team we are playing to watch the game on random tv stations on obscure satelite tv packages? I'm excited about independence but right now I can watch every game home or away, even if it is on the crappy mtn channel. What about the away games, will I still be able to watch all of BYU's games from here in washington?

MJCOUGAR wrote:
Can anyone speak to visibility of our road games on TV - our deal with ESPN only involves our home games. Are we at the mercy of the team we are playing to watch the game on random tv stations on obscure satelite tv packages? I'm excited about independence but right now I can watch every game home or away, even if it is on the crappy mtn channel. What about the away games, will I still be able to watch all of BYU's games from here in washington?

It is always the home team that gets distribution rights. So, if TCU ever changes their mind and we play them again while they are still in the MWC their home games will be played on the MTN or Versus. Like wise, Pac12 games will end up on whichever television partner they have, fox sports, espn, however they work it out.

Aside from exposure and money?



How about not having to go to Laramie and Albuquerque every other year?



How about not getting jacked over by the conference on everything from officiating to scheduling (TCU, Utah, and AFA on the road in the same year, not to mention the early conference game being AF)?



Now if you give me the two big reasons, money and exposure, and everything else that comes with those things, how can I, as a fan, not be excited?



I am concerned about not being able to see some of the road games, but I'm sure after scheduling is worked out, that will be the next item of business. I'm just thinking out loud, but I think that shiny new HD production truck has wheels, right? Could BYUTV pick up some of the away games too?



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declocoug wrote:
The guys bases his exposure argument on the grounds that everyone that wants to watch the game already can. He's forgetting that unlike utah, BYU has fans EVERYWHERE in the USA and beyond. Exposure will likely go through the roof. And I'd love to see what happens to recruiting when 40 million chinese are watching the games and decide that football is a sport they want to play (that might take a while ;)

So, my dad (a HUGE cougar fan and member of this board) lives in Oregon and subscribes to COMCAST. He CANNOT get the Mtn, so he has missed BYU's games against SDSU and Nevada. Note that he was able to watch the Utah St. game....on ESPN. There are HUGE numbers of BYU alumni and fans that live in California, Oregon, and Washington who CANNOT watch the majority of BYU games on television. That FACT is a large reason why BYU is saying its goodbyes to the conference....

YNot wrote:

The guys bases his exposure argument on the grounds that everyone that wants to watch the game already can. He's forgetting that unlike utah, BYU has fans EVERYWHERE in the USA and beyond. Exposure will likely go through the roof. And I'd love to see what happens to recruiting when 40 million chinese are watching the games and decide that football is a sport they want to play (that might take a while ;)

So, my dad (a HUGE cougar fan and member of this board) lives in Oregon and subscribes to COMCAST. He CANNOT get the Mtn, so he has missed BYU's games against SDSU and Nevada. Note that he was able to watch the Utah St. game....on ESPN. There are HUGE numbers of BYU alumni and fans that live in California, Oregon, and Washington who CANNOT watch the majority of BYU games on television. That FACT is a large reason why BYU is saying its goodbyes to the conference....

So Pac-10 country is full of Y fans. They travel and represent very well and spend $. What idiots wouldn't want BYU? Oh...ya...



Anyways, I've been wondering for a long time how well BYU basketball will represent on the road since basketball venues are much smaller. Can we get enough fans in to still be able to hear them on radio and tv?