I like you. We've been through a lot together. There have been good times, there have been bad times, but mostly the times were good. I like to think that I know how things work around here. I've been around the block before and I just had a birthday last month.
You see, I've been in the MUSS since the 2004 season. I skipped the first year of the MUSS, because I was easily able to sit on the 15th row of every game without having to pay the extra $25 for the special t-shirt, that would prove I was there, that I heard of you first. I've been in the MUSS every season since. I reveled through the undefeated Fiesta Bowl season and the magical (and also undefeated) Sugar Bowl Season. I watched you win a record number of consecutive bowl games and I was with you when we welcomed the PAC-12 into town.
So, this is my 9th year in the MUSS (Is there some sort of award for this?) and I'm feeling the pressure to set ya'll straight. Back when we were in the lowly Mountain West Conference, when you were lucky to find our games on TV, the Utes were the up-and-coming original BCS Busters. It was hard work moving from the mediocrity of the '80s (where they averaged 5.4 wins/year) to the enlightenment of the 90's (where they averaged 7.2 wins/year) to the awesomeness of the 00's (pronounced aughts, where they averaged 8.6 wins/year). Now, the Utes have arrived. They are in one of the top three conferences in the country and they have proven that they can play with the big boys.
While the MUSS is undoubtedly one of the best student sections in the country, they have a potentially fatal flaw that must be corrected before the pain and suffering becomes overwhelming. And we die. I've been critical of your habits in rushing the field in the past (see this post from the Oregon State game in 2008, I think that season we (the MUSS) took the blessed opportunity to rush the field 3 times! Granted, we had a good team. Remember how they smashed Alabama in the mouth in the Sugar Bowl?). You see, after that post I felt bad for being so critical of the MUSS rushing the field so I softened my stance. But that was before we were officially a part of the big boys.
Now we need to set a few ground rules. Rushing the field is ok (as long as security isn't trying to taze you or the chain-link fence that you are holding onto), but we need to save rushing the field for those special occasions. I was embarrassed that the MUSS gave TDS (can you believe that my initials are the same as Team Down South?), the respect that is implied when we rush the field. Yes, they were ranked (how that mistake happened is a topic for another post), and yes the ending was absolutely thrilling (made more so by the asinine mistakes made by the MUSS), but the only thing riding on this game was in-state respect.
I propose new rules, regulations and requirements regarding the rushing of the field (at least one of these must apply):
1. The team you beat must be in the top 5.
2. The win must clinch a conference championship.
3. The win must clinch a berth in a BCS bowl or equal.
4. Any home win over our true rival, the mighty Colorado Buffaloes, is excluded from these requirements.
Ute fans, let us not forget that we play with the big boys now. Go Utes!
7 comments:
Dear Tyler,
Did you really just write this???? What happened to my level headed, reasonable friend? I must believe someone has hijacked your blog. Are you truly advocating your team to rush the field after you beat a team that lost to an FCS SCHOOL! That is your "true rival?" Wow. I can only hope that the rose colored glasses fall off sooner rather than later. Enjoy battling for the bottom of the Pac 12. :) oh by the way, the Utes are welcome in Logan anytime. ;) Go Aggies!
sincerely,
a concerned for the utes welfare Aggie fan!
Dear MUSS: I haven't been a fan since I was forced to join you one year and witnessed a member strip down buck naked and then help his friends attempt to beat up the officers who were trying to remove them. Also, your struggle to come up with an identity (we're the Mighty Utah Student Section. No, we're just the Muss. No wait, we are the Mighty Utah Student Section) was pretty ridiculous. But thank you for softening Saturday's blow by making complete arses of yourselves. The end. :)
Dear reader of this comment,
I'm gonna have to agree with sdande and question the condoning of rushing the field when you finish the season this year with a blowout win over a winless team. (Is the Colorado game in SLC this year? I have no idea.)
In general, I agree with the basic premise of the post, which is that rushing the field happens too often. Each program needs to define its own standards such that rushing the field happens, I'd say, on average of once every other year at the most. If I were a student attending games for 4 years and never got to rush the field, that would be a depressing 4 years. However, if you're rushing the field 2 and 3 time a season, then you are devaluing the field rush. Go find a bell to ring after wins or something.
For some programs, simply beating a ranked team would qualify. (Neither of our alma maters should be at that level.) Each program should find their own level. I see the MUSS as having a difficulty adjusting to their more recent levels of success. The phrase that comes to mind is "act like you've been there before".
Now for a few words about rivalries. I find it humorous when athletic conferences or university presidents try to tell fans who it is that they are most invested in beating. I find it equally humorous to hear many, many (but not all) Utah fans insist that they have moved on to better things and are no longer interested in playing the TDS, but at the same time are there to rush the field (as many times as necessary!) at the end of the game. Their actions do not match their rhetoric. If the Buffs are your rival, I want to see facebook loaded with Colorado jokes for 2 solid weeks at the end of the year, and I want to see your fans on the field at the end of the game.
Sincerely,
The writer of this comment
Utah fans, Please ignore this post. Some of us enjoy watching you muss yourselves over and over.
As a BYU fan I'd love to say otherwise, but I'm pretty sure that Tyler was joking about the whole Colorado thing. He is one of the more intelligent Ute fans. ;)
That being said, can you really trust that many drunk people to follow all those regulations?
Forget Tysqui or Sea Bass. I am calling Tyler TDS from now on.
BTW - The Cougs struggle with FGs not TDs.
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