Craig Thompson

Last Saturday BYU defeated the University of New Mexico in football, and in the process, garnered enough victories this season to win the conference championship outright.

I couldn't have been more proud.

Following the game, the Mountain West Conference Commissioner, Craig Thompson, was on hand to present the team with the championship trophy. And how, you may ask, did many of the good fans of BYU who were in attendance represent the "Lord's Team" to this guest of the school?

Despicably.

They lustily booed him. They unmercifully humiliated him.

I couldn't have been more ashamed.

Apparently these folks believed that they were justified because they are currently not able to watch certain sporting events on TV, and they believe Mr. Thompson is to blame.

Oh, yes, that is quite important. Go right ahead then, abuse this child of God.

But, is that what Jesus would do? Is that choosing the right? I don't think so. Some things are more important than sports or TV. I am sad that too many of our people don't get it.

Maybe the Lord will intervene and let BYU return to its recent losing-ways in order to humble us fans. Apparently, we need it.

Bronco Mendenhall

I had the opportunity to meet Bronco Mendenhall several years ago when he was a graduate assistant at Oregon State. I was immediately impressed. I have been a believer in him ever since.

From his hiring as the head football coach at BYU, I have patiently endured the punditry of lesser men in the media as they have ridiculed everything from his motivational techniques to his communication style. All along I have consistently defended him whenever I had the opportunity, knowing that he would eventually have success.

Now, it is fun to hear these lesser men fall all over themselves in praising his team. The coach and the fine young men he leads have proven themselves on the field and on the score board. No one has given them anything, they are simply taking what is rightfully their own.

They are finally getting some of the recognition they deserve, but those of us who truly love them should not be deceived by all these "kind words." Eventually, difficulty and set-backs will come, and just as surely, the "boo birds" in the peanut gallery will re-emerge.

In that day, we must be prepared to stand with them, to defend the sound and noble approach coach Mendenhall has charted. He was right and his critics were wrong at the beginning, and that pattern will continue to play itself out well into the future. But, he will need us to stand by him in the days to come, stable and steady.

My call, therefore, is for each of us who believe to stay on the bandwagon, true blue, through and through. Otherwise, we will receive our just deserts of failure and futility.