Mark Brown
Arlington,Va.
Hearing that BYU was leaving the WAC was a breath of fresh air for this Cougar fan. When the “new” WAC was formed a couple of years ago, I cringed at the thought of playing Tulsa and Rice.
Both schools were the derelicts of the other conferences, and neither was known for their athletic prowess.
This is the same for a couple of the other “new” WAC inductees — San Jose State and Southern Methodist University.
SMU left its indelible mark in BYU’s sports history by blowing a huge lead in the now infamous Miracle Bowl in 1980, not by having great athletics programs.
Now BYU will get back to playing the teams it was meant to play.
Sure, it would be nice for the Cougars to be in a more competitive conference (such as the PAC-10), where TV revenue could really be what President Bateman is looking for, but maintaining rivalries will suffice.
For any BYU sports fan, not playing Wyoming and the Air Force Academy on a yearly basis was a shock to our systems.
No longer could we count on being scared to death by a team running the option as well as the Falcons do.
Of course, we will miss our bi-annual trips to Hawaii.
Who can forget the Byron Rex finger incident and the player/fans fights in the stands?
At least the University of Hawaii won’t be able to complain anymore that it is losing its best players to a team in their own conference.
Mark Brown is a former sports editor for The Universe.
