Flag Friday - Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) is a fun little island in the strait separating Michigan's upper peninsula from its lower peninsula. No cars are allowed on the island, the Grand Hotel has the world's longest covered porch and the little island is very popular with the tourist crowd. If I remember correctly, they've got some pretty good ice cream as well.

Flag Friday - Final Four

Yeah, back in the 90's the Utes were pretty good. They even made the final four once and easily beat North Caroline in the first game. They played Kentucky for the championship and had a 10 point lead at halftime before choking. Maybe Boylen can take them back to where they belong.

Go Utes!

Utah Utes:

• 5-1 all time against TCU, with the only loss coming in overtime
• 7-0 all time in games where both they and their opponent are ranked in the AP top 25
• Win the big games: 13-10 last year against TCU and 34-17 against Alabama last year. Beat Louisville this year.
• 2 Undefeated seasons in the last 6 years.
• Won 29 of the last 31 games
• 16-20 point underdogs in this game
  
• Have more than 600 wins in their football history, with an overall winning percentage of .586 (placing them 36th all time)
• Only school in the BCS era to have two undefeated seasons
• One of 5 schools to have two BCS game wins in the last 5 years
• One of seven school to have two top 5 finishes in the last 5 years
  
• Their "Superfan of the game" a few weeks ago:

Pros of the Utes winning:

• Opens up a three-way race for the conference title between Utah, TCU and BYU, with Utah in the driver's seat.
• Probably allows Utah to move up into the top 12 of the BCS standings, making them eligible for an at-large bid to the BCS (although we know that won't happen)
• The Utes continue their winning tradition and domination of the conference
• Keeps Texas as one of the most fertile recruiting areas for the Utes

Pros of the Utes losing:

• Virtually guarantees TCU a spot in a BCS game.
• The Mountain West Conference gets a $13 million payout, with each team in the conference getting around $1.3-1.5 million.
• The Mountain West proves that one of its teams belongs in the top 5 and that the conference should have an automatic bid every season.
• Keeps TCU ranked ahead of all other hopeful BCS Busters
• Keeps TCU in the national championship picture if the right teams lose.

Some of the better (i.e. more interesting) signs from College Game Day on the Quad in front of Amon G. Carter Stadium:

• Utah Utes - Mormon Fruits
• What's the difference between the Utes and Cheerios? Cheerios belong in a bowl
• Lee Corso sits down to pee
• We pity Salt Lake City
• Toadally going to Crush the Utes
• Fear the Murtleneck
• Top Coached University
• Jerry Hughes is my facebook friend
• Hughes your Daddy
• Utalk the talk we Walk the Walk
  

Hoping for the best, expecting the worst. I hope Desmond, Kirk and Corso are wrong, Go Utes!

Now, if only I could get CBS College Sports in HD on Comcast...

Flag Friday - Salt Lake 2002

Yeah, I wasn't around for the Olympics, but I'm still getting excited for Vancouver 2010. I'll get the chance to go someday.

Flag Friday - Western Conference Champions

Back in the day when the Jazz were good, they won the conference a couple of times. Even with an $82 million+ payroll this year, they started out 1-3 and will have a difficult road of winning the conference. Basketball must not be so much like baseball where championships can be purchased...