Yet once again more byu loving dribble coming from Harmon. It's sickening, it really is. I mean you really have to go out of your way to write this kind of junk. I don't root for either byu or utah. I am actually a Utah State fan, but how about giving the readers a different perspective. Something new, instead of "Bronco is so perfect in every way, blah blah blah." Sorry Dick I'm done reading your dribble.

Homer.

Are you new to this game? Dick Harmon is a BYU beat writer. He is going to write favorable articles about BYU. Everyone (I thought) knows that going in. So, to make it simple for you: if you don't like the restaurant and you don't like the waiter, quit going there.

Harmon is the main reason i read the deseret news! he has a real understanding of college athletics!!!

My brother is a 7th grader and he is a star player on his city league football team...I am sure Bronco will be getting in touch with him before we know it..

Obviously, the two of you have no clue what a "beat" writer is. You just think the term refers to what BYU does to Utah and Utah State in football and basketball. A "beat" writer is assigned to write about the team they are asked to follow. Dirk Facer does the same thing for Utah, and if Cache county ever gets more fans than cattle, then perhaps they will get a "Beat" Writer too.

The Reason Harmon and the D news writes 3 to 1 articles about BYU is that no one really cares about Utah. I know I don't!! Thanks Dick and the D News keep the BYU articles pumping out!!

Dick is not the beat writer assigned to BYU. That assignment is given to Jeff Hall (I think). Dick is a "columnist", his job is to write articles relating to sports in general, not BYU in specific. However, as a former employee of the Provo Daily Herald, he has tremendous ties to BYU, it's administrators, coaches etc., therefore, he will and does write alot about BYU, and I for one, appreciate his articles and comments. Like someone has said, if you don't like the menu, go to another restaurant.

Way to go Utah and Wyoming, picking up some guys that other programs (BSU and ASU) didn't want any more. I'm sure they'll do great for your "programs".

To "Sickening": Thanks for not reading Harmon's articles anymore. Now, we won't have to hear from you anymore. All BYU fans thank you!

If Dickie boy is so knowledgable about college football I'm sure he is up to date on BYU's recruiting class being ranked 83rd in the country. Seems like the early recruiting of Bronco is really paying off as opposed to the Utes who waited and have the 59th rated class. The reason Dick and the D-News write more articles about BYU is they, like BYU, are affiliated with the church, and since Dick is not the beat writer it makes his biases even worse since he is supposed to be unbiased. Sorensen was a great pick up for you coug's though...that was a real weak spot last year.

To "No One Cares": You're probably right, most readers of the D-News don't care about U of U athletics.

On the other hand, the SL Tribune, which is much more even-handed in its coverage of the two schools, has far more readers than Dick Harmon and the D-News.

What does that tell you?

The number #2 kid from Colorado’s 2009 class has made a very early commitment to BYU. The number #1 kid is getting attention from the yutz, however that Swengalli/human cancer Pete Carroll has him in his sights.
From the Denver Post:

Besides Legacy's Nick Kasa (#1), the following seniors-to-be are getting the early looks for 2009:
Terry Alletto
Ponderosa, OL, 6-feet-4, 275 pounds
Probably will move from center to tackle. On their radar: Alletto has committed to BYU.
Jack Harris
Chatfield, T, 6-6 1/2, 265
On verge of drawing serious attention. On their radar: CSU and CU.
Landon Greve
Summit, QB, 6-2 1/2, 195
Transferred this school year from Oklahoma; where he once drew attention. Arm strength is bringing it back. On their radar: CSU, CU, Kansas, Wyoming.
Jeremiah Sirles
Bear Creek, T, 6-8, 280
Rehabbing nicely after knee injury in last game of regular season. Had offers as a sophomore. On their radar: CSU, most Big 12 teams, Louisville.

Has the homer ever been critical of the cougs? A la Plaisted and the track guy who assaulted a pedestrian with a mop?

Those of you who don't like what Dick Harmon writes--don't read it. I personally seek out his articles because I like the way he writes, he mostly writes positive things about BYU and I am a BYU fan.

To "Blue Goggles"...who cares what the ranking is for the recruiting classes? The only thing that is important is that the recruits turn into the players they had hoped for.

That's like pre-season rankings...totally meaningless until everyone has played 3 or 4 games.

He was hired from The Daily Harold by The Deseret News for the express purpose of writing about BYU sports. Whether beat writer or columnist, that is his job, so he will always write more about the Y than about the U. Given that situation, he won't spend a lot of time bad mouthing the Y, nor does he do a lot of bad mouthing the U. What a surprise!

The media, including Dick Harmon, give the people what they want. It's a shame that DN readers want to hear so much about Bronco's warriors, but they do. This leads to imbalanced coverage and homer writers (for whom there is no UofU counterpart) like Dick.

Also, BYU fans only want to hear good things. They have a hard time with objective opinions in football or more serious topics. It is just the way they are. Dick and the DNews know this and pander to that audience.

Utah fans also like Dick and accept him for what he is: pure unintentional comedy.

"Swengalli"? The term is "Svengali", and I'm not even sure that's a term that can be applied to Pete Carroll. How about "virtuoso"? Wait, no, that has too many letters and syllables. Can you say "wizard"?

Write what you know about, and stick to smaller words. You'll look less stupid.

Why does recruiting ranks matter? Why do teams ranked higher than either BYU or Utah beat them on a regular basis? Because higher ranked recruits have a higher chance of turning out and being great players. If it doesn't matter then why would pages like utezone or cougarnation exsist where fans have to pay to get the most in depth knowledge of the recruits how they rank and where that puts there team. You are right many great players are not highly recruited, both Weddle and Alex Smith were two star recruits, but I will bet that the majority of every recent All-American team consisted of top name recruits from previous years...thats why it matters.

IT SEEMS AS IF THE TOP FIFTY RECRUITING SCHOOLS ARE BCS SCHOOLS. ARE THEY THE ONLY ONES WHO GET THE FOUR OR FIVE STAR ATHLETES OR DO EXPERTS PICK OUT THE PLAYERS COMMITTED TO BCS SCHOOLS AND THAN RAISE THE AMOUNT OF STARS? HOW CAN AIR FORCE BEAT NOTRE DAME? HOW CAN BYU BEAT OREGON, ARIZONA, AND UCLA WITH ITS LESS STARRED PLAYERS? NEW MEXICO COULD PROBABLY HAVE BEATEN NEBRASKA.

"Weddle and Alex Smith were two star recruits"...

Weddle had heart, and Smith is still a two star recruit.

I was trying to figure out how many Utah quarterbacks had long careers, or won Heisman trophies, or superbowl rings, or how many outland trophy winners came out of Utah, and it hit me...

The only thing to come out of the U of U program is Urban Meyer, and I think his team either tied or was ranked lower than BYU last year, and BYU has a lousy conference with a lousy TV deal... Does that make Bronco a better coach than Urban?

My question is: Couldn't he just have done that and stayed at Utah? Better yet, Couldn't Kyle just aim for at least being competative with BYU in conference?

"The only thing to come out of the U of U program is Urban Meyer"

How about Steve Smith? Weddle will be a star. Jordan Gross, Jamal Anderson, Mike Anderson...several players from the U. have produced Pro-Bowl results in recent years.

As for BYU? John Beck? Oh and what about your award winning running back Staley...he was a NFL caliber star. How about your Heisman winner Detmer? He does hold an NFL record, 7 interceptions in one game. You do have Steve Young, but he's been retired for years.

Overall, I would say BYU has good players in college, but nothing much in the Leagues. Utah puts pretty solid talent in the NFL. Basketball's another story, the U. dominates there.

Wow, where to begin...yes BYU and Utah at different times in different years are able to beat high quality opponents...but look at the percentages, for every big win against a top program for either team I can name 3 losses, living in Provo I can name many times I heard of BYU loses to the likes of Stanford, USC, Notre Dame, Washington, BC, FSU, ULCA, OK St., Georgia, Baylor, Ohio St., UVA, Miami...want me to go on? The point being why do they win the majority of these games? Because their teams have superior talent, I doubt I would ever doubt the heart of many Ute and BYU teams and their desires to buck the unfair system that is college football and that along with good coaching allows them to make up some of the talent they lack, but the system not only allows BSC schools to hoard the money they hoard the talent too, because all a recruiter has to do is say you will never get a chance to play for a national championship with either the utes or the cougs, and they sign with them...sorry to burst your bubble for next year cougs.

here are some stats to back up my statement about BYU losing to teams with better recruits
BYU all-time record vs. teams in this years top 10 recruiting wise:
Alabama 0-1
Notre Dame 1-2
Florida 0-0
Miami 1-1
Oklahoma 1-0
Georgia 0-1
USC 0-2
FSU 0-2
Ohio St 0-3
Michigan 1-0
overall 4-12
Numbers don't lie, and many of these teams had down years when they lost to BYU (ex. Michigan) once agian stating my point recruiting and getting higher rated recruits matters. Ask any coach and they will tell you the most important part of winning on the college level is recruiting good talent.
Here's on more all-time record to chew on.
vs. Utah 28-49-4, and thats a modest number from your own website. Enjoy another close but no cigar season, er...bubble gum cigar, next years cougs.

More cougs in the pros
Steve Young - Retired NFL Quarterback; Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2005
John Beck - Quarterback - Miami Dolphins
Max Hall - Quarterback - BYU Cougars
Harvey Unga -Runningback - BYU Cougars

No Silence you evil fiends from the hill!

BYU has put tons of players into the pros. Utah has put many also.
Scout.com ranks BYU at 59 in recruiting and Utah at 64. Scout is the one everyone looks at and cares about.
BYU in the pros...
College Football Hall of Fame Inductees
Gifford Nielsen (QB), 1994
Marc Wilson (QB), 1996
Jim McMahon (QB), 1999
Steve Young (QB), 2001
LaVell Edwards (Head Coach), 2004
[edit]Other Notable Players

Brian Billick - Head Coach, Baltimore Ravens
Colby Bockwoldt - Linebacker, San Francisco 49ers
Robbie Bosco - Retired NFL Quarterback
Ben Cahoon - Slotback, Montreal Alouettes
Aaron Francisco - Safety, Arizona Cardinals
Kurt Gouveia - Retired NFL Linebacker
Lee Johnson - Retired NFL Punter
Chad Lewis - Retired NFL Tight End
Reno Mahe - Running Back, Philadelphia Eagles
Jim McMahon - Retired NFL Quarterback
Rob Morris - Linebacker, Indianapolis Colts
Brady Poppinga - Linebacker, Green Bay Packers
Andy Reid - Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles
Gabe Reid - Tight end, Chicago Bears
Steve Sarkisian - Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, USC Trojans
Vai Sikahema - Retired NFL Kick Returner
John Tait - Offensive Tackle, Chicago Bears
Marc Wilson - Retired NFL Quarterback

Speed wins in football and basketball. Jumping ability is important too. Those who are real sports fans know that "speed" is a code word for certain a certain type of player. BYU will never get the top players because of the Honor Code and the classroom work they would have to do. Most top schools care nothing about character and often the students have someone who does the class work for them... remember Vince Young who could only read at 6th grade level and scored only 5 or so correct answers out of 50 in the very simple NFL exam. Some would have you believe that he did his own class work at Texas. Clearly that was not possible. I remember a newspaper story about an ASU player who spent four years at the school and could not read street signs. BYU is going the right way to recruit players of character. They will loose some of the best of these, but very few. I think that being unbeaten in two consecutive conference seasons indicates that they are doing something right. The recruiting concept and focus they have now is better than anything ever seen at BYU. Go Cougars!

To Stats back it up;
I would love to have another close but no cigar year. (Whatever that means) I am still smoking the cigar that the utes gave mean in nov. That is all that matters. Beat Utah.

I'll take the number one ranking at the end of the MWC season and the #14 ranking in the final season polls over #59 in recruiting. Typical ute fan who thinks that #59 in recruiting means something.

Actually what BYU does to the Ute and Aggies is called a "beat" down in basketball and football.

Hey Stats -

Always wait til next year, right? You loaded up on those wins in the early 1900s. You should only pray that Crowton was still in Provo. Hmmmmm next year - will be a last play win or the 4th and 18 drama - I'll take either - better yet, I'll take a blowout, which could happen. Whit turning down BYU and staying in SLC was the best thing to happen to the program. Glad you got him. Thanks Kyle!

I have to admit - thanks for beating UNLV the other night. Maybe we can clinch the hoops title when we beat you guys in Provo in a couple weeks.

dick harmon is so boring to read