Week #3

This week I wanted to focus on loyalty and what this word encompasses. Saturday evening I went to the BYU Football game against UCLA. BYU's game against the Bruins resulted in an unfortunate 4th quarter heartbreaking loss, and led to many questions in play calling and playing time for various positions. As the game came down to its last seconds I was let down by the reactions of the students in the student section and BYU fans surrounding me. These fans began to chant against one or two of the BYU players and requested that these players find the bench, and get their second string replacements in immediately.

Although I attend BYU, I am actually a Utah Football fan (my family are avid fans). I attend BYU football games because I'm a student at BYU, I enjoy the game of football, and because I have a girlfriend that is a big time fan. In just three weeks time I have seen the enthusiasm for this year's football team diminish week-to-week. The student section had signs that read "Taysom the great has returned" and just as fast as the Taysom signs went up, they came back down and were replaced by fans requesting Tanner as his replacement.

As this has been a topic of discussion for the last couple of days, I have taken time to read into press conference interviews and opinions from professional analysts on the matter, and have seen that there isn't a clear cut answer to the quarterback discrepancy at BYU. I think its important to be loyal as fans, and as students, but i think being loyal as fellow teammates to these players is the most important loyalty. This is what I want to focus on. Tanner Mangum, the backup quarterback that is being cheered on by fans to be the saving grace for BYU football, recently shared a post that showed both Tanner and Taysom celebrating in the middle of one of the last three games. I don't know Tanner personally, I have heard both good and bad things about Tanner (it comes with being a college athlete), and this simple act speaks more than any opinion that I have read/listened to thus far.

Remaining loyal to the ones we love and surround ourselves with is vital for long-lasting relationships. Not just long-lasting, but I would go even further to say successful relationships.