I have now been relocated (not that anyone here would care) for over 2 months now in the Massachusetts area and must speak of a couple of things on mind:

1. I really miss my Ute season tickets. Not only that, I miss just seeing them on TV. I am certainly glad that this won't be forever. I graduated two years ago and knew that I would always want to go to the games as I had done as a student. There really is NOTHING better than attending a game on a crisp October afternoon as the leaves change and the smell of winter is in the air. I love it. My Saturdays now exist of getting on the Internet late Saturday night and huddling close to my computer speakers to hear the call on 570. I still love it though. My wife, a Zoob I might add, does not understand this side of me. 'Look the Y is playing' she has said the last couple weeks. I don't give a rat's rear about the Y. I NEVER, EVER will.

2. One of the things I had always been told (mostly Coogs) is that there was not a national audience for the Utes outside of the state of Utah. Living in Utah my whole life I took their word for it. I had a couple of things that at least in my mind are changing my attitude and belief that is the case.

I know the Y will always have a "worldly" following. My wife will always make sure that she knows I know she in the majority. Doesn't bother me. I like being in the minority. I make no attempts to argue which following is larger because that is already determined by the Y being the church school. It will always have that following associated with it.

The first thing that happened to me was the first Sunday at church. The usual introductions with all the people. Everybody thought it was a unique match of the U-Y with me and my wife. There are many in the ward who cheer the Y. Not a surprise. What was a surprise is the numbers of children who loved the U, particularly basketball (and there are a couple of adults who graduated and root for the U). Of course this is probably mostly due to the success Majerus has brought to the program but I think it also has to do with the association with the Y and the rivalry.

The second thing that happened was my first trip to the mall. I saw not one but two kids wearing uniforms that caught my eye. The first was a Nets Keith Van Horn jersey. OK, considering the vicinity where I am and the fact that he is an NBA stud, not a surprise. The second one though did floor me. Another kid was wearing a Utah Andre Miller number jersey. I know not much could ever be made by my discoveries in a mall. I do know that 5 years ago, I never would have seen either.

Finally, when talking to a few of the sports fans around here they always bring up the Utes when they see the diploma. They know and have seen of the basketball team and Majerus is a house hold name. They are in fact quite knowledgeable about the Utes even though most of the time if they were to catch a game it would be way past my bedtime.

3. I look forward to the development of the athletic program as a whole. I think it has consistently become a more complete and well-rounded program that I proudly love to root for.

I can now exhale.

I hope Marcroft give a good call on Saturday.

Go Utes!

program. Hey, Civil what part of Mass are you in? You know I have been saying it for a while and I see you now have experienced it. The Utes (with many thanks to the Runnin version) is no mystery out here.

I have been here for 17 years and I got to see it happen. Very cool.
Mike Anderson as I pointed out in early September was getting NYC press. A change is happening. It will happen in football very, very soon.

You have no idea what it was like actually having people name Ute players and saying how they were pulling for them. These were die hard New Yorkers.

Civil..... thanks for this post. I was too far away for too long for people to take my Eastern viewpoints seriously. I will always be a Ute at heart.

I am going to state, once again, how I think the Utes (now you have two people telling you) have the clout to recruit the East Coast hotbed of talent. I got yelled at for posting this before but I really believe it.

By the way, the Utes' first home game is against Stony Brook (campus of the State University of New York). Sporting News and Lindy's rate them as the worst Division I school in the Nation. Now that is a feat.  I would love to see them in the same way it is sometimes cool to watch bad movies. I hope the Utes get to the NIT finals. I am going to have to buy red clothes.

from the Nation's capital.

I'll have to admit that I haven't seen any "Ute gear" being worn by people that don't have a Utah connection, but people definitely know who the Ute basketball team is.

I've done a good share of interviewing over the past couple of years and I listed college basketball under the "other interests" section of my resume. Several of my interviews (conducted primarily at east coast firms) have turned into a discussion about Utah basketball. Of course people know Majerus, but they also know the players. One guy I talked to knew the roster almost as well as I did - and he had no connection to either the University or state of Utah (he was a Georgetown grad and fan).

Several of my law school classmates would stay up to watch the Utes on big Monday on a regular basis (and those games start at midnight out here folks) and discuss the games with me the next day. Once, the law school dean saw me wearing a Ute sweatshirt and talked to me about how much he admired the Utes final four run and how he was really pulling for them. He also mentioned how much he admired how academics was a priority with many of the players (he mentioned Doleac and Drew Hansen specifically).

The Utes certainly have a "following" in this area. When I say following, I don't mean that these people are die hard Ute fans. In fact if Utah were ever playing a school that one of these folks had some actually loyalty to they would probably hope the Utes would get creamed. Otherwise however, they really take an interest in the Utes and actually take the time to watch them play.

At this point I can't resist making a comparison to the national following of BYU football. Of course they have the LDS fan base - and I think most of those people *are* die hard BYU fans. However, outside of the LDS church (or some other connection to BYU) I believe whatever following they have is similar to what I just explained for Utah basketball. People like to watch BYU because they have been putting the football in the air for 30 years. I'll admit I even like to watch them for this reason. But that doesn't make these casual followers "BYU fans." I am anything but a BYU fan, yet I have probably watched 90% of their televised games since moving away from Utah. I just wanted to throw that observation in because I don't think there is as much of a difference between the so-called national followings of BYU football and Utah basketball as some BYU fans might think.

I haven't seen any evidence of a national following - or even an interest - in Utah football.

Well, this has been a lot of rambling. Personally, the greatest thing about the success of Ute basketball is not that people take notice when I wear a Ute sweatshirt, but that I get to see a decent number of games on T.V.

BTW, New York, if the Utes make it to the NIT finals - I'm there.

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