My Endorsement of Mitt Romney for President

I believe Mitt Romney is the best candidate running for the office of President of the United States. He has the most leadership experience by far, having been governor of Massachusetts, having run several businesses successfully, and having saved the Salt Lake City Olympics from the brink of financial ruin. He understands how to work with members of both political parties, which he demonstrated as governor of Massachusetts. He understands how to eliminate waste and balance a budget, which he demonstrated in Massachusetts, in the Olympics, and in the businesses that he ran and helped turn around. No one person can be an expert on every issue, but I believe that he has the ability to put the right teams together and to lead those teams to find the best solutions for the problems this country faces.

I hope you will join with me in supporting Mitt Romney and in voting for him on election day.

Losing Interest in BYU Football

I was listening to the B.S. Report the other day and I heard Bill Simmons talk about the reasons why he doesn't follow college football. First, because he attended college at Holy Cross, and second, because college football is corrupt and ungoverned. This reminded me of the things I hate about college football and the reasons I've lost interest in BYU's football season and I decided to list those reasons and to try to figure out what has gone wrong.

Reasons I watch BYU football games, in order of importance:

1. School pride.
2. The chance to compete for a conference title.
3. The chance to beat Utah.
4. The chance to compete for a national title or a BCS bowl.
5. The chance to qualify for a bowl game.

The first reason, school pride, remains intact. I still want BYU to win every game, whether or not I'm interested enough to watch.

Not my kid. Just a picture about school pride.

The second reason, the chance to compete for a conference title, is the biggest motivation I have to watch a game. School pride makes me interested in the outcome, but competing for a title makes me watch. The fact that this is now missing is THE biggest problem for me as a fan this season. I understand the need to escape the Mountain West and get a better TV contract, but I hope that independence is just a stepping stone to another conference (Big 12, please?). The main reason I prefer conference competition above the national competition is that individual conferences do not involve such blatant corruption like we see in the BCS. Another reason is that BYU usually stays in the conference race longer than the national race.

The third reason, the chance to defeat Utah, is a strong motivation. It includes beating them head to head, but also finishing ahead of them in the conference. This rivalry is key to my motivation to watch BYU games, especially during seasons when the only remaining achievement within our reach is to finish ahead of Utah. The fact that Utah is in a different conference limits this motivation to just the one game, which is another of the problems this season.

The fourth reason, the chance to compete on the national stage (in a BCS bowl or for the national title), is a strong motivation, but there are problems with it. It is usually short-lived. Only while BYU remains in the BCS conversation does my interest remain high enough to watch the games based solely on this reason. This has happened a few times since Bronco took over, but it's always fallen apart by the end of the season. It would also be bittersweet if it were to happen, because we would be involved in a corrupt competition. Except for a few cases (Boise State, Utah), the "Basically Corrupt Series Championship" doesn't prove much beyond who has money and who doesn't.

The final reason, qualifying for a bowl game, almost didn't make the list. If BYU is struggling to qualify for a bowl game, then I've probably given up on the season already. I don't find bowl games very meaningful since there's nothing riding on the outcome.

So after going through the list, I think the main problems that distinguish this season from previous years are that BYU is not involved in a conference competition, and that Utah is not involved in the same conference competition as BYU. The other problems have been there for a while, so they probably don't factor in, except that maybe the continuing BCS corruption has alienated me from college football in general. I suppose there's always basketball and women's soccer.

The Away Goals Rule

Yes. This is my next random blog post about soccer. I know what you're thinking. What's taken so long, right? Well, I'll tell you. You see, the thing with random blog posts is you can't rush them. They just happen when they happen. It's part of their charm and appeal. So here you go.

The away goals rule is a way of breaking ties in playoffs where opposing teams play against each other twice, once on each team's home field. The rule stipulates that if the aggregate score is tied after completing both games, the team that scored more away goals wins and the other team is eliminated. If the number of away goals is a tie, then an additional 30 minutes of extra time are added to the second game, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. This approach is used in many important soccer competitions worldwide, including the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and certain qualifying matches for the UEFA Euro Cup and FIFA World Cup. There are also many other competitions that use the rule.

Now that you know what the rule is, let me get to the point. It's a dumb rule. It is redundant and unnecessary. The problem of home-field advantage has already been solved by playing a game at each team's home field. Adding the away goals rule results in a competition that values home defense and road offense above road defense and home offense, which is not very meaningful. Sure, if everyone agrees to it, then great, but I would hate to be the team that loses by that rule.

The most prominent example I can think of is the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona in 2009. The first game, played at Barcelona's stadium, ended in a 0-0 draw, which meant that Chelsea failed to score any away goals. The second game, played at Chelsea's stadium, ended in a 1-1 draw. The aggregate score was 1-1, but since Barcelona scored their goal on the road, they moved on and Chelsea was eliminated.

Based on the final scores of the two matches, Barcelona had the stronger offense on the road since they scored an away goal and Chelsea did not, but Chelsea had the stronger defense on the road since they didn't allow any goals at Barcelona's stadium while Barcelona allowed one goal at Chelsea's stadium. So the away goals rule, as stated previously, values a strong road offense above a strong road defense. It seems arbitrary. Isn't it just as impressive to stop the home team from scoring as it is to score goals on the road?

In conclusion, the away goals rule is meaningless and arbitrary. It doesn't send the better team through to the next stage. It's just a way to decide who "won" because that's a decision that has to be made.

Some might argue that there isn't really a better way to do it, so let's analyze the alternatives. I don't like penalty kicks, but I think I would prefer them over away goals. At least that way you can hang your hat on something that feels a little more real, if only a little. Extra time can be a good option, but it gives an advantage to the team that plays at home during the second leg. This could be acceptable if the advantage is given to the higher seeded team. They may already use seeding in this manner, but I'm not sure. The only other suggestion I can think of is to play a third game at a neutral site, but I don't really like adding more games.

Based on the above analysis, my final proposal is to give the higher seeded team the home field for the second leg and to eliminate the away goals rule completely. Extra time and penalties can be added as usual at the end of the second leg if necessary.

My Keys to Dieting

1. Don't buy candy in bulk.
2. Eat lots of fruit (especially apple cinnamon and strawberry Nutri-Grain bars).
3. Eat one baby carrot every other day (optional).
4. Consume only water between dinner and breakfast, unless there is a Costco chocolate cake nearby.
5. Make sure there is no Costco chocolate cake nearby.
6. On gameday, pizza of any type and in any amount and at any time of day is acceptable.
7. Chicken + George Foreman.
8. Lean Cuisine.
9. Otherwise pig out and enjoy yourself.

Dumb Sports Rules

I recently realized how dumb it is that professional tennis players get multiple chances to get a serve in. To celebrate how dumb this rule is, I thought I would compile a list of dumb things in sports. Please add comments if you think of more.

1) The service fault in tennis. In what other sport do athletes get a complete redo when they mess up?

2) NFL sudden-death overtime. I don't care what statistics say, you have to give each team an equal opportunity. I suggest two 5-minute halves so each team can receive a kickoff and both offenses and defenses are on the field. Another option would be to give the 2nd team a chance to respond if the 1st team scores on the first drive. If the 1st team doesn't score on the first drive, start sudden death when the 2nd team gains possession. This is so easy to fix. Why don't they do it? I think they made a rule change recently, but I don't know what it is and it probably isn't good enough.

3) PATs in football. I think they're pointless. They're too easy and they rarely add any excitement to a game. I propose eliminating the PAT and implementing a one-point conversion, which would be the same as a two-point conversion except you start closer to the end zone. The one-point conversion could be from 3 yards out and the two-point conversion from 6 yards out.

4) Intentional fouls at the end of close basketball games. (Thanks Hyrum for reminding me of this one.) Fouling should never be allowed to become a strategy in any sport. In this case, the problem is that referees call normal fouls when everyone knows they're intentional. The definition of intentional foul needs to be revisited so that the referees can get it right. Otherwise it might be necessary to use Hyrum's idea that all fouls are intentional with under 2 minutes left in the game.

5) Not using instant replay in baseball. Just ask Armando Galarraga if he wouldn't appreciate a little help from a video replay. It could be like football, where the booth chimes in if they think there's a need. Or give each team one challenge, which they lose if they're wrong.

6) Fighting in hockey. I like this, but it's pretty dumb, so it's on the list.

7) Baseball stadiums of different sizes. How much does this skew home run stats?

8) Spiking the ball to stop the clock. Why is this allowed? Shouldn't it be intentional grounding?

I'm sure there are many more. Hopefully this is a good start.

Views from the Washington Monument

When my parents came to visit recently, one of my favorite things that we did (other than try out a new version of speed scrabble) was the Washington Monument tour because of the amazing views. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Favorite Conference Talk

Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk in the Priesthood Session is my favorite talk from April because it answers all the questions I've ever had about priesthood blessings. I highly recommend it.