By Jeremy Twitchell
The Cougar defense hadn''t had a sack all night, but when it mattered most, Manaya Brown blew open Colorado State''s offensive line and dove at the feet of Colorado State quarterback Justin Holland, bringing him down at the CSU three-yard line.
After the Rams'' fourth down pass sailed high, Cougar running back Faho Tahi strolled up the middle for a three-yard touchdown that put BYU up by 10 with 2:25 remaining.
Does something seem wrong here? I mean, the playing and the score left little to be desired for Cougar fans, but what''s this Manaya and Faho stuff?
If you''re the announcer for Colorado State, they''re the given names for two of BYU''s key players in the Cougars'' 31-21 victory Saturday over the Rams.
But Brown and Tahi weren''t the only ones making plays while their names were subjected to a merciless butchering. There was linebacker Bradley Poppingo, who had three tackles, and cornerback Joe Burbridge, who had four tackles of his own.
And who could forget the major contribution of punt returner Bruce Mahuika, whose contribution kept the Cougars in favorable field position all night?
All five players played great games Saturday, but none was great enough to earn a solid, consistent pronunciation of his name. The only thing more varied than the offensive packages BYU used was the constantly changing pronunciation of Tahi''s name, which changed with every carry but never quite got there.
Unfortunately, the CSU announcer and all those tongue-twisted men who bravely preceded him don''t have a background in Polynesian Pronunciation 101, and it''s hard to get the names of most BYU players right without one.
And while traditional names like Brady and John would seem to be a welcome break in the midst of such challenges, the lurking knowledge that the next play could involve Jason Kukahiko or Justin Luettgerodt is enough to keep any seasoned pro off his game.
You think having Brown, a 315-pound freight train disguised as a man, bearing down on you at full speed would be scary? Try pronouncing his name right on the spur of the moment in front of 30,000 people. Now that''s intimidation.
In his defense, the announcer nailed most of the other mono- and bisyllabic gimmies, like John Beck (238 passing yards), Curtis Brown (93 rushing yards, two touchdowns) and Micah Alba (game-saving interception worthy of SportsCenter). And he did get Mahuika''s last name (Mo-EE-kuh) right, a feat most of Provo has yet to master.
Of course, announcers are provided with a pronunciation guide for the trickier names. But who has time to figure out one of those tricky phonetically-spelled names when a stadium full of hungry fans is screaming to know who had that three-yard run and who made the tackle?
But inexperienced announcers aren''t the only ones who violate player names. Even BYU''s fans are guilty of misspelling Cougar names in letters to the editor as well as mispronouncing them in weekly impromptu roundtable discussions entitled 'What I think BYU''s problem is.'
While the Cougars were still far from perfection, they took another huge step in that direction and a win is a welcome addition, no matter how you misspell it.
Just ask Gary Crouton.