I really hope BYU doesn't suck this year
 

I don't think they will, but this whole 'raising the bar' thing sets the team up for some nasty irony. I guess 'cautiously optimistic' doesn't lend itself well to sloganeering.

is that the new marketing ploy, 'raising the bar' ?
can't they be a little less obvious?

Why, how dare they use the term "raising the bar" as a SPORTS analogy, of all things!

it's clearly in reference to the missionary program.

Because "raising the bar" was never used prior to two years ago?

DON'T MAKE ME COME GET U!!!

I really hope they don't suck, too. And I don't think they will.

Bronco's religious approach bugs me, but I try not to let it bother me. Marketing slogans are almost always cheesy and overly optimistic. I try to ignore them.

So if BYU fans wave towels in the air, are we being plagiaristic because we're copying the Steelers, or blasphemous because we're copying the hosanna shout?

Or maybe we shouldn't allow non-members to catch touchdown passes because they would have to cross through pylons, which is what the ancients called the gates that marked the entry in to the temple, and only the worthy are supposed to go into the most sacred zones. (Actually, that last one may fire up the defense quite a bit . . . .)

Or maybe, just maybe, we need not read too much into the quasi-religious rhetoric?

It is what it is. No sense trying to explain it away. It grates a little on some BYU fans but it really pisses off LDS Ute fans. So it's worth it.

As a Ute fan, I frequently hear my Ute colleagues run smack about BYU fans being a bunch of whiners with victim complexes. But rather, could it be that Utah (the state) culture in general is composed of whiners?

For example, over the past 8 weeks I flew the friendly skies 16 times, and a total of 3 of those flights left on time. The other 13 were all between 45 minutes and 5 hours late. When I was in the Salt Lake airport Saturday night and they announced our flight would be an hour late, there was a mass groan from those seated at the gate. With my other 12 delays, people would sigh and whatnot here and there, but none of those 12 responses held a torch to the audible bitching that came from the Salt Lake crowd.

In my experience the two whiniest fan bases on earth are BYU and Utah. I have very few issues with Utenation pissing and moaning about BYU's whininess, I just scratch my head when Utes will claim that BYU dorkiness and whining is why they are Ute fans. If finding a non-dorky fanbase were trully important to Utenation, the attendance smack from dorky BYUites would be true.

As for the meat of this post, I have been outspoken on my opinions on Bronco's outspoken confidence. I don't think BYU will suck but there is no way anyone can convince me that BYU will be great this year until I see it with my own eyes. I think Insensitive Pap's post on there just flat out being too little experience is a fact. I see BYU as a solid 8-4 or 7-5 team. I just cannot fathom BYU winning 9 games this year. I have my issues with Bronco's confidence because I think it creates superflous issues with the fanbase. His comments fan the flames of expectations and I just don't think that is wise. The last thing Bronco and this program needs are jaded fans and with his rhetoric I think a higher percentage of the fanbase will be jaded if the Y goes 7-5 than if he had taken a Lavell like approach. I think Bronco does it because he believes in consistency and making it public that he will not back off his expectations for the program. It is bold and as Santos pointed out, he is putting his neck and credibility on the line. I just think it could create stress and issues that need not be created.

As far as copying LDS rhetoric. It is dorky, but it is also BYU and it makes the fanbase tied with BYU for being whiny bitches to whine. However, the LDS Church stole the adage from someone else and BYU is the LDS church owned school so why would it not use the same marketting slogans?