You may soon be able to see BYU sports on TV again
Jay Posner over at the San Diego Union Tribune broke the news today:
The network devoted to the Mountain West Conference has not been available on any satellite service since its inception in September 2006. But Jeff Schemmel, San Diego State director of athletics, said today DirecTV will offer The Mtn. beginning Aug. 1.
Rock. On.
Seriously, it has been a hard few years for BYU sports fans not living in Utah. There has been basically no way to see most BYU sports teams on TV for a lot of us. And of course this unintended TV blackout started just as BYU football and men’s basketball had both begun returning to national prominence. If the reports are accurate, that TV blackout for most of us will be changing for BYU fans all around the globe soon (assuming we sign up for DirecTV of course).
BTW, Rhiannon Potkey — whose blog is the single best source for BYU sports news in the world — posted that the MWC people are a bit irked that the cat was let out of the bag early on this. I personally think good news like this is welcome no matter how we get it.
BYU Men’s Hoops update
Turning to men’s basketball this season… They started the year with some very impressive wins and found themselves ranked in the top 20. Then came a few ugly losses including a loss to Michigan State in Utah, a loss at Boise State, and blowout losses at UNLV and Wake Forest. It was starting to look to me like this was a talented but leaderless team. But over the last nine games junior guard/swingman Lee Cummard has begun to assert himself as the leader and go-to-guy on the team. The result has been a 9 game win streak and a strong bid by Cummard for player of the year in the MWC.
BYU has already won 21 games and there is a pretty good chance they will have 25-26 wins and another MWC championship by the time the regular season ends in March. With that kind of resume a decent seed at the Big Dance could be around the corner. A decent seed in the NCAA tourney could mean finally getting past the first round…
(The team insists on taking it one game at a time but that doesn’t mean we fans must do the same right?)
Sound off BYU fans. What is your take on the season so far or on the reported deal with DirecTV?
Doh! I signed an 18 month contract with Dish Network 6 months ago.
Comment by Mike L. — February 22, 2008 @ 5:14 am
Dish is better than DirectTV although there are rumors they may merge (although I suspect the SEC might not let them). If DirectTV has it I suspect Dish will have it soon.
Comment by Clark — February 22, 2008 @ 11:41 am
Good. Now I’ve got an alternative to cable if need be.
Comment by Adam Greenwood — February 22, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
I work all day every Saturday, and we have satellite service here. It will be so nice to be able to watch the games (I’m employed right down the street from the Stadium and we are really slow on home game days).
I absolutely agree about Lee Cummard’s leadership taking off. He is the type of well-rounded player that we are fortunate to have for next season as well. But how about Jimmer Fredette’s performance the last couple of games?
Comment by BJH — February 23, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
Indeed BJH — Jimmer has been very impressive as of late. My understanding is that BYU will have him for four straight years as well. That bodes well for the Cougs.
Comment by Geoff J — February 23, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
I’m listening to the SDSU game right now. It is clear to me that the idea I used to have that Plaisted would become the star and the go-to guy on BYU was ridiculous. Plaisted shows up some games and then totally disappears at other times (like tonight). It is killing BYU that our big man can’t hit a layup. Very annoying. I don’t know who is more unreliable and streaky — Plaisted or Tavernari.
Comment by Geoff J — February 23, 2008 @ 10:54 pm