Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
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"Cougar Tracks" turns two years old today.
It was August 6th, 2007 that this blog debuted, and exactly two years later, "Cougar Tracks" will will record its 2,000,000th page view. Heading into today, we have recorded 1,994,191 hits, meaning that with an "average" page view day today (based on this week's daily averages), we will surpass the two-million hit mark sometime this afternoon.
In "Cougar Tracks"' first 12-month period, it recorded 658,617 page views. In the next 12-month period, that number was 1,335,574--an increase of 103% from year one to year two. And that is thanks to you, the readers and Cougar fans!
It is truly my pleasure to provide information, opinion, and hopefully insight you can't get anywhere else. I'm not a beat writer or a columnist, but ideally you'll get content that combines both of those perspectives with that of a BYU alum and passionate Cougar supporter who also happens to serve as the team's broadcaster.
In my roles as a sportscaster for KSL Radio/TV and play-by-play announcer, I am a "talker," and those jobs occupy a great deal of my time. But I am also a "writer" at heart, and there are times I wish I had more time to write in "Cougar Tracks." To that extent, I envy the beat writers and columnists, who can dedicate all of their professional time to producing written content.
Having said that, you can rest assured that I'll be writing a ton of stuff in the months to come (617 blog entries, to this point), and that I'll continue to make "Cougar Tracks" destination reading for BYU fans around the world.
Thanks again for making "Cougar Tracks" as much fun to write as I hope it is to read, and here's to the next year of championship BYU Football and Basketball on KSL Newsradio and ksl.com!
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Another big "Thank You" to the new title sponsor of "Cougar Tracks," your Utah Carrier and Bryant Dealers. As they've been longtime on-air sponsors of BYU Sports on KSL Newsradio, it's a joy to now welcome Carrier/Bryant to ksl.com and to "Cougar Tracks." Click on their logos at the top of this page to be taken directly to their company pages.
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As was the case last summer, I'll be at every morning practice during camp and reporting on the day's activities soon after the conclusion of the morning session.
My daily reports will feature my observations, plus downloadable interviews with players and coaches. You will hear Bronco Mendenhall's post-practice comments every day on "Cougar Tracks."
I will create the daily blog entries as "works in progress," so the most pressing info and interviews will be posted as soon as possible, with updates added to that day's entry as I file them. As such, keep checking back in the early afternoon hours to see what has been added to the content already available.
Thanks ahead of time to Brett Pyne and the Athletic Media Relations staff at BYU, who will assist in providing practice photos to accent our camp coverage on "Cougar Tracks."
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BYU's Jonathan Tavernari has an exciting month ahead of him.
First of all, I think he's all but a lock to be judged one of the 12 best players in Brazil and make the final cuts for the national team that will compete in the Tournament of the Americas later this month.
In the coming weeks, he'll play in two international "tuneup" tournaments; one in Rio, starting Friday, and another in San Juan, Puerto Rico, starting August 18th. The Tournament of the Americas starts August 26th.
Then, on September 9th (9/9/09), he'll marry Kiri Redford in Salt Lake City.
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By the way, JT continues to make a strong impression as he practices with the national "A" team in Rio de Janeiro. Despite just arriving in Rio from a tourney in Argentina earlier in the day, JT was said to be the best player on the floor during Wednesday night's practice.
Press reports I read this morning said JT was an energetic presence during the nightly scrimmage, and went 5/5 from the three-point line. The reports said he was the "first to arrive, and the last to leave" the gym.
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BYU's Charles Abouo and his Cote d'Ivoire national team play their second game at the African Championships this morning in Libya. After a Wednesday loss to Nigeria, Abouo and CIV face Libya at 11:00am, MT.
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Cougar Jimmer Fredette's summer league team finished round-robin play last night in Utica, NY. He played only three games of the team's eight-game schedule, but he scored 27 points, then 40 points in his first two appearances. Last night, Jimmer scored 23 points (adding three assists, three steals and a rebound), as his "518" squad lost an 86-76 decision.
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Back to football and today's "Camp Cougar Countdown Trivia" question...
Yesterday's question:
"How many of BYU's 24 starters in 1984 (including kicker and kick returner) were either drafted or signed pro football contracts?"
Answer: 23. Only defensive lineman Steve Haymond was not drafted and did not sign to play pro ball.
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Today's question:
"In BYU's national championship-clinching win over Michigan in the 1984 Holiday Bowl, how many turnovers did the Cougars commit?"
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The answer, coming up tomorrow.
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