NCAA Football BYU

With the Big Ten fledgling network still involved in a public spat with Comcast, comparisons to the Mountain West's less than spectacular first year with "The mtn." sports channel are inevitable. In the first year of operation, the mtn. has made it to a whopping 1.2 million homes.

It appears to be a flop. Utah and BYU took the lead and got the rest of the Mountain West members to help foot the bill in hiring an attorney to explore options with their TV deal.

In its annual meeting Tuesday, the MWC Board of Directors voted unanimously to retain Kelly Crabb, the lawyer originally hired and retained last week by BYU and Utah, in efforts to clarify the nature of the TV contract and delineate distribution strategies of The mtn. network.

Crabb will work with Commissioner Craig Thompson and an ad hoc committee made up of three Board members - BYU President Cecil Samuelson, Texas Christian University Chancellor Victor Boschini and Colorado State University President Larry Edward Penley. The conference presidents spearheaded the TV deal that the MWC settled on a year ago with the network co-owned by Comcast Cable and CBS' College Sports Television.

However, there is widespread displeasure because of the troubles in getting The mtn., distributed.

This has fueled speculation that the Mountain West may try to find a way to get out of its deal, and pull the plug on the mtn. The mtn. has not been picked up by either satellite provider, and very few sizable cable operators in the markets (PDF) where the schools operate (Comcast in Utah and Cox in Las Vegas and San Diego are the largest carriers that have it).

In a rather over-the-top and ultimately costly macho display, two BYU football players have found themselves suspended for the rest of spring practices and the Blue-White game after being arrested over the weekend.

Players Terrance Deshawn Hooks and Vitale TaAaga Magauli So'oto were arrested and cited for burglary. BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall suspended the players Sunday. A news release from BYU athletics said that sophomore inside linebacker Hooks and sophomore tight end So'oto were suspended from the team "for violation of team rules."

It seems the girlfriend of Hooks was leaving a dance when some guys on the third floor of a nearby apartment building were tossing water balloons off of their balcony into the parking lot. One of the balloons hit the girlfriend of Hooks on the leg. She yelled at them, they yelled back, and she left for her boyfriend, who brought So'oto with him as back-up.

More yelling from the parking lot to the balcony before Hooks and So'oto headed into the apartment to find the water balloon tossers to, um, talk.

Naturally the players got turned around and confused -- not even sure which was the right apartment they wanted. That didn't stop them from choosing a door.

When no one answered immediately, Edwards said Hooks kicked the door in. The group in the "wrong apartment" called security, who happened to be an off-duty Orem police officer. The officer told them he was on his way over and to call the police.

When Hooks, Dew and So'oto actually found the apartment they were looking for, they kicked that door in and proceeded to the back room where, Edwards said, the balloon throwers had retreated. Before they got to them, the security officer and police arrived in the apartment.

Hooks, Dew and So'oto were taken into custody for burglary, in that they entered or remained unlawfully on a premise with the intent to commit an assault.

Police cited the balloon throwers with criminal mischief for their part in the incident.

Considering that the players went to the trouble to kick-in two doors to find them, the balloon tossers probably weren't too upset over a minor misdemeanor versus what would have happened if security and police hadn't arrived sooner.