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IOWA -- On a recent BYUtv show, former BYU head football coach LaVell Edwards was asked what's changed the most about college sports since retiring in 2000. He said, "Now, you can have an incident happen on the football field and by the time practice is over, it's already been passed around a jillion times. And by the time it's told and retold and whatever else, it's all out of proportion."
Coach Edwards named Twitter, texting and social media as factors. He didn't name any message board by name, but he could have named several, perhaps most prominently CougarBoard. Founded in 1999, it's your 24/7/365 source of everything that just happened on the practice field and, as Coach Edwards correctly describes, you can count on what you read there to be repeated a jillion times—and to almost always be blown out of proportion.
Whether it's music, movies, politics, or of course sports, you can find online communities that are of the fans, by the fans and for the fan. On those fan sites, the basic rule of thumb is if something is worth reacting to, it's worth overreacting to. However, when you let everyone be an analyst or a comedian (or both), you'll occasionally find some really good analysis and good comedy.
Now, perhaps you're thinking, "Hey, that sounds great and I love BYU, but I don't have the time or desire to sift through a day's worth of ramblings to find out what's going on." Well, you're in luck—this weekly column will be perfect for you. I'll be adding a brief, weekly summary of the pulse of BYU fans to ksl.com. What are the fans talking about? What are they excited about? What are they worried about? And what are they overreacting to this week?
What's happening now? Most online sports fan communities aren't known for taking any loss with a great deal of patience, but after the hyped Baylor game nearly everyone was still pretty cheery. Why did BYU fans take this loss as well as any I've ever seen? Maybe the basketball team is still basking in a bit of the post-Jimmer glow and gets a grace-period from fans. Also, most fans see a young team that is not only playing hard, but showing improvement between games despite losing several players to injury. One fan summed it up: "It's sad we didn't pull it off but (it's) fun to see this TEAM compete."
The loss itself came against an insanely talented Baylor team which also happened to have their best player fight through a knee injury to make the game-clinching play. So, given all that, it seems obvious you really shouldn't be able to complain much. I've learned, however, to not underestimate anonymous Internet users' ability to find something to complain about.
This kind of reaction from the fans is more than a product of just one game. Seeing Carlino's great debut Saturday felt a bit like seeing Max Hall's first game in 2007. In that case, a new, young core of talent took over and ended up going 32-5 over the next three years. With a stable coaching staff and a loaded recruiting pipeline, BYU basketball seems similarly well positioned for long-term success.
The source of that stability and high ceiling for success is Dave Rose, and BYU fans are loving him. He has put the program in such a great place, fans were confident enough to offer pre-game congratulations to Heisman winner Robert Griffin III and classy enough to earn the praise of the Baylor team after the game. On Tuesday, a solid Buffalo team came into town and was dispatched by a balanced and entertaining team. Same thing happened Thursday night as BYU ran past UC Santa Barbara led by Carlino's 22 points.
From my far-away view, I'm left wondering how long it will be until BYU fans see The Jimmer Show was just chapter one of The Dave Rose Show.
Greg Welch, a contributor on CougarBoard.com, has followed BYU sports from six different states and currently cheers from Iowa. Professionally, he works at ad agency and can be found at @ArtDirectorBYU on Twitter.
