Favorites

So, it's the time of year when professional and collegiate sports abound and everyone can follow their favorite teams.  I've recently been thinking about what my favorite teams are in each of the sports I follow... and conversely, which teams are my least favorite.  Here are a few lists of my top 5 favorite and most despised teams in each of the 4 sports leagues I enjoy watching most.

NCAA Football
Favorite
1. BYU Cougars
2. Whoever's playing SpUtah
3. Oregon State Beavers
4. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
5. Air Force Falcons

Least Favorite
1. SpUtah SpUtes
2. Another Ohio State Buckeyes
3. University of Spoiled Children (USC) Trojans
4. Texas (not so) Christian Horned Frogs
5. Florida Gators

Major League Baseball
Favorite
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Houston Astros
4. Texas Rangers
5. Toronto Blue Jays

Least Favorite
1. Arizona D-bags
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
1. San Francisco Giants
4. Atlanta Braves
5. New York Yankees
5. Boston Red Sox

NFL Football
Favorite
1. Denver Broncos
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Houston Texans
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. Arizona Cardinals

Least Favorite
1. Oakland Raiders
2. New England Patriots
3. Green Bay (Fudge) Packers
4. Kansas City Chefs    (Yes, I misspelled that on purpose)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers

NHL Hockey
Favorite
1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Winnipeg Jets
5. New York Rangers

Least Favorite
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Vancouver Canucks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Calgary Flames
5. Minnesota Wild

Some of these have interesting stories behind them, but I'm not going to go into detail.  If you're curious about any of my selections, I'll be glad to reveal my reasoning.  It's also noteworthy that there are a couple of cities with which I have a very ambivalent sports relationship, namely LA and Atlanta.

Independence Day

As most anyone with connections to BYU will know, BYU's football team is going independent in Division I-A football, with many other sports affiliating with the West Coast Conference. As you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about BYU football going independent and playing various opponents from all across the country. I'm also pretty stoked that BYU is coming to Corvallis in the fall to play Oregon State at Reser Stadium. I bought two tickets in the visitors' section of that game and I will be wearing virtually all blue with absolutely zero orange. I'm also contemplating making a sign that says, "OSU Grad Student" and below that, "(Guess where I did my undergrad)" with an arrow pointing down toward me. It would be legit. Anywho, there are some other things that I will enjoy about BYU going independent in football:

• Dusting my feet off on "The Mtn." TV network. Bad cameras, camera angles, and cameramen, are compounded by the terrible commentary.
• Getting rid of Mountain West officials. Through the years watching BYU and Mountain West football, I've seen terrible call after terrible call. As we liked to chant at LaVell Edwards Stadium, "I'm blind! I'm deaf! I'm a Mountain West ref!"
• BYU on ESPN. My Alma Mater has seven games on the ESPN networks for the upcoming season, most likely with more to come. People all over the country and the world will get to see Jake Heaps and the BYU offense steamroll "power conference" opponents.
• Referring to the Pac-12 as SpUtah's pimp. "It's unfortunate that SpUtah couldn't get permission from its pimp to have the Holy War game at the end of the season."
• Something that resembles a student section at LES. While I was at BYU, the athletic department always scattered the students about in order to optimize revenue. With BYU on ESPN, this is not an option and there will actually be a student section. [Scratch that, bad info]
  
• Leverage and options for conference bids. With conferences courting schools all over the place, BYU will have the power to negotiate with big six conferences like the Pac-12 and the Big XII if they would even want to entertain such offers.
• Independence. As with most other forms of independence, being independent in football will allow BYU to do whatever they want with their money and efforts without a conference commissioner lording over them.

This year, Independence Day comes a few days early, on July 1st. I will be sporting my various BYU gear in celebration and it will be a day of rejoicing in Provo and the BYU faithful all around the world.

Go Cougars!

Annie Very Sorry

Today marks the second anniversary of the creation of this blag. As luck would have it, it's also the 100th post I've made to it. Here's a recap of things that have happened in the last 2 years and 100 blag posts in approximately chronological order.

• I bought a handgun.
• I decided to get a business minor.
• I read 'The Five Love Languages' by Gary Chapman. It changed my life.
• I saw then BYU tight end Andrew George catch a walk-off touchdown pass from Max Hall to beat SpUtah in OT.
  
• I applied for over 300 full-time civil engineering jobs.
• I got 3 interviews and no formal job offers.
  
• I took and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.
• I moved into an apartment with guys who I actually liked beforehand.
  
• I went to the Utah Summer Games Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Cedar City and accidentally attended a Single Adult dance. (Notice the lack of 'Young' at the front.)
• I went longboarding down Provo Canyon with Scott Manning and still have the scars to prove it. I pledged that I would never ride/drive anything that didn't have brakes after that.
  
• I bought and have been learning to play the bass guitar.
• I appeared in 'The Food Nanny' TV program on BYUtv.
• I graduated from BYU with a BS.
• I applied to 7 institutions of higher learning to pursue a master's degree in civil engineering.
• I was accepted by 6 of those institutions.
• I found out that I would receive funding from Oregon State University and, without hesitation, decided that I would matriculate.

As we can see, it's been a great time. I'm totally looking forward to next two years worth of Unfortunate Dudefests. :D

Heritage of the URL

Seeing as I have successfully acquired this URL, I feel that it is my duty to add the anthem of this site. A parody of University of Utah's fight song which I have entitled "Today's Utah Man."

Today's Utah Man,
by William White

Verse:
I am a Utah man, sir, I'm barfing up my spleen,
Our kegstands are the most intense that ever will be seen.
Our women are the hottest, and each a dirty ho, Their flatulence you'll hear it through the valley yo, fo sho!

Chorus:

Who am I, sir,
A Utah man today,
A Utah man sir,
I swear that I’m not gay!
Yippy-ki-yay!
We use the snuff, we only bluff, we're game for any cuss,
No other gang of college men can match our endless lust.
So fill your lungs with Cannabis, 'cause times have changed these days,
We'll eat, we'll drink, we'll be merry, for crime, it always pays!

Verse:

I remember the night of prom, I took six skanky hoes,

It’s okay, when you’re a Utah Man, that’s just how it goes.

No matter if a pot smoker, or in just roller skates,

The people all admit we are the queerest gang in state.

Chorus

Verse:

We may not live forever on this jolly good ol’ sphere,

But while we do we’ll live a life of merriment and cheer.

And when our probation’s o’er and night is drawing nigh,

We’ll say before the bar of God, “A Utah Man Am I!”

Ki-Yi!

I wrote this during an off hour that I had on BYU campus a couple days before the 2007 BYU-Utah Football game, only days before I witnessed the 49-yard pass from Max Hall to Austin Collie on 4th and 18... and subsequently charged the field. And yeah, I know... it's awesome.