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A distinguished class of inductees enters the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame tonight in ceremonies at LaVell Edwards Stadium's Cougar Room.
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The BYU write-up below details the biography of inductee Jay Monsen, with whom I first became acquainted as a student at BYU. I had various dealings with Jay over my years as a student journalist and later as a broadcaster with KSL, and always enjoyed our association. He was kind and knowledgeable and always helpful. Recently, I was able to call on Jay to fill on for me on a BYU Basketball broadcast, an assignment for which he was clearly over-qualified, yet a request he gladly obliged.
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Here is the official Hall of Fame biographical sketch from BYU:
"In 1992 during halftime of a BYU men's basketball game, Jay Monsen was given a special plaque in recognition and appreciation for reaching a grand total of 2,000 career sports broadcasts. Monsen has added to that total since then. From 2002 to 2010 he broadcast a total of 227 BYU women's basketball games on BYU Radio.
He received a degree in Communications from BYU in 1957. From 1972 to 1984 he worked for BYU Broadcast Services and became the "Voice of Cougar Sports" for KBYU. During his time there, he served as the KBYU Radio/TV News Director and later was promoted to Assistant Director of Broadcast Services.
His career at BYU continued when he joined the athletic department as the Electronic Media Relations Director in 1984. He remained with the Sports Information office until his retirement in 1998. That same year, he was the "Y Lighter" at the Sept. 12 home football game
Prior to arriving at BYU, Monsen was the press secretary for Utah Congressman Gunn Mckay for two years. He also worked at KSUB radio in Cedar City where he was the news and sports director and the play-by-play announcer for high school and Southern Utah University sports. In 1971 he received the Sports Magazine Service Award for developing and helping with the growth of athletics in southern Utah.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) presented Monsen with a 25 Year Award in 1999 for a quarter century of service to the sports information profession. This past March he was named to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.
Monsen has been involved in numerous community services throughout his life including the Kiwanis Club, a State GOP delegate, the American Red Cross, the Boy Scouts of America and the Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Cougar Club Board of Directors for some 20 years representing broadcasting for the board.
Jay and his wife Lauretta currently reside in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. They have been married for 53 years and have seven children, 35 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren."
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Captains for the 2010-11 BYU Basketball Cougars have been selected, with coach Dave Rose tabbing seniors Jackson Emery, Jimmer Fredette and Logan Magnusson.
As contained in the BYU press release, Rose says "All three of these guys are proven winners and will be terrific leaders for our team. They've earned the respect of their teammates and have achieved success through their hard work. I'm confident our team is in good hands with Jackson, Jimmer and Logan as our captains."
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Rose will be in our nation's capital next week, working in favor of a very personal cause.
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Don't forget to see former BYU Cougar WR Ben Cahoon go for history tonight as his Montreal Alouettes visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a game that can be see on the NFL Network, starting at 6:00pm MT.
Cahoon is five catches away from the 1,000 career reception mark, and 11 receptions away from tying the CFL's alltime career leader in catches made.
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