Interesting CB post from 2003

[myboynoah]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

[jay santos]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

Interesting point. You can build a superpower at a non-name school like UNLV, Utah, Memphis, whatever with a supercoach with national recognition pulling talent from anywhere. I wouldn't say it kills a program, but it's unlikely to be sustainable for very long.

Utah can be very good in spurts with lucky coaching hires like UM and Majerus. They can build a strong program that's sustainable by doing it the hard way within the school's natural recruiting base, like Whittingham's doing in football. That's a long fix. The kind of coaches Utah hires usually aren't patient enough to try to do that.

PS. My south Utah county accent came through in that first sentence of the last paragraph, didn't it?

[BoylenOver]

I wonder how many of these posts have been made about the football program over at CB. Pick anything between Jan. 1st 2005 and today. Probably in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Also, gotta love the CB mullahs that can't spell Utah's name properly. So little brother.

[CJF]

I wonder how many of these posts have been made about the football program over at CB. Pick anything between Jan. 1st 2005 and today. Probably in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Also, gotta love the CB mullahs that can't spell Utah's name properly. So little brother.

Makes me laugh. Also makes me laugh reading all the people still using "TDS" on UF.net.

[Top Ute]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

What on god's green earth prompted you to look at posts from eight years ago over there?

Sticking to the topic at hand, it's amazing how far Utah hoops has fallen (and how far football has risen) in eight years. If there is a major program in the country that has made the 180 in the major sports that Utah has, I'd like to know about it.

Off-hand, had Louisville kept Petrino (and not hired Pitino), it might have given Utah company in that regard. Kansas State was probably like that in the first run with Bill Snyder, but that process took a lot longer time. But that's about it.

[Goatnapper'96]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

He really nailed some of the trends with Majerus. I remember those days and while the recruiting appeared to be really good, I think the DMC kids were freshman that year and Hawkins and Bogut were signed for the future, the attrition cycle was in high gear. I think the most obvious crack in Majerus happened when Marc Jackson quit. That was the kiss of death. A lifetime Ute local kid who was also a great hoops player left a chance to go to back to back second weekends with one of the greatest hoops coaches of all time. If Majerus would not have self-destructed and the U got Bogut into school for that year, Utah would have likely had a damn good 3 year run and perhaps returned to the Final 4. Honestly, could you imagine Majerus coaching a core of DMC, Jackson, Bogut, Frost and Hawkins for 2-3 straight years? But Majerus did self-destruct and our beloved SoCalPat was a wee bit off in the standing the mighty U of U Hoops HC position held in the eyes of great head coaches. Of course that was back in the day that Chris Hill er uh Utah was making great coaches and not hiring them.

[MartyFunkhouser]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

Maybe it is interesting but it is completely inaccurate. Majerus didn't run the program into the ground. The program was in decent shape when he was run out. Jim Boylen, Ray Giacoletti, and Chris Hill ran the program into the ground.

[Goatnapper'96]

Maybe it is interesting but it is completely inaccurate. Majerus didn't run the program into the ground. The program was in decent shape when he was run out. Jim Boylen, Ray Giacoletti, and Chris Hill ran the program into the ground.

It was a sharp point with a rotting shaft. Majerus had his issues and those issues negatively impacted Utah. However, I think that the Hill and Giac tandem did more damage. I think Boylen is actually better than he gets credit. I view Boylen in the same light I do Crowton. While not a good coach, better than he gets credit but his tenure was also full a great deal of unfortunate luck.

[Top Ute]

He really nailed some of the trends with Majerus. I remember those days and while the recruiting appeared to be really good, I think the DMC kids were freshman that year and Hawkins and Bogut were signed for the future, the attrition cycle was in high gear. I think the most obvious crack in Majerus happened when Marc Jackson quit. That was the kiss of death. A lifetime Ute local kid who was also a great hoops player left a chance to go to back to back second weekends with one of the greatest hoops coaches of all time. If Majerus would not have self-destructed and the U got Bogut into school for that year, Utah would have likely had a damn good 3 year run and perhaps returned to the Final 4. Honestly, could you imagine Majerus coaching a core of DMC, Jackson, Bogut, Frost and Hawkins for 2-3 straight years? But Majerus did self-destruct and our beloved SoCalPat was a wee bit off in the standing the mighty U of U Hoops HC position held in the eyes of great head coaches. Of course that was back in the day that Chris Hill er uh Utah was making great coaches and not hiring them.

I don't think anyone had a clue as to how Hill would react to both probation and the coach responsible for putting us there. Anyone who read Jimmy's contract can see the exact spots where Hill tightens up at the memory of Majerus' tenure at Utah.

At one point, Utah fans (myself included and waving that flag) figured hoops would be in great shape with Chris Hill being the point man on big decisions. Now, it's quite possible Utah hoops will never be good/great again as long as Hill is just that. Which falls in line with the 180 the program has done. If Larry fails, Hill should resign. He'll never be trusted to make any big decision that affects the athletic program again.

[LA Ute]

This was linked over on CB. Some of our finer luminaries offered up their responses.

TexUte, whoever that is, made an interesting reference to Mark Jackson coming home from an LDS mission early, infering BYU Fans look down upon that. Wow, times have really changed.

This response was especially brilliant. The guy is spot-on.

[CJF]

This response was especially brilliant. The guy is spot-on.

I see you preach that all the time to Utah fans regarding BYU. That was especially true during the Crowton years. Right?

[LA Ute]

I see you preach that all the time to Utah fans regarding BYU. That was especially true during the Crowton years. Right?

Sounds like you have a handful of links ready for shaming me with prior inconsistencies. But don't you agree that a rivalry is more fun when both sides have strong programs?

[Flystripper]

Sounds like you have a handful of links ready for shaming me with prior inconsistencies. But don't you agree that a rivalry is more fun when both sides have strong programs?

The season is more fun when both teams are good. The off-season is kinda dull though.

[BoylenOver]

I see you preach that all the time to Utah fans regarding BYU. That was especially true during the Crowton years. Right?

I can't tell you how many hours I spent during the 2004 season hoping BYU would hire a great replacement for Crowton so both programs would be good at the same time.

(sorry LA, love ya man, but I don't hope BYU has a strong program. I respect them, and it's fun to beat them when they're good, but I'd rather see them miss the postseason)

[LA Ute]

I can't tell you how many hours I spent during the 2004 season hoping BYU would hire a great replacement for Crowton so both programs would be good at the same time.

(sorry LA, love ya man, but I don't hope BYU has a strong program. I respect them, and it's fun to beat them when they're good, but I'd rather see them miss the postseason)

It's complex. I don't wish BYU success, and I enjoy the schadenfreude when it comes, but I don't want BYU to sink into permanent mediocrity either. Occasional down cycles, sure. I think lots of fans on both sides are like this. Now that we are in different conferences that may change and each side may care less about the other.