In today’s press conference, Whitt didn’t discuss anyone specifically but said many of the guys who missed the Florida game are day to day. He said he hopes to have at least a few of them back for Baylor.
It seems Reid might have suffered a concussion. Whitt said there are 4 steps to clearing the protocol and returning to the field. He said a week is more than enough time to recover; under the best of circumstances, players can clear the protocol in 3 to 4 days. Thus, sounds like Reid could be back for Saturday but Whitt didn’t say how far along Reid is in the protocol.
Welcome to the board, and thanks for stopping by. We all hope you enjoy your visit to SLC and to Rice Eccles. We are thrilled to be hosting the Gators and look forward to a great game.
I’ll leave the stadium questions to my esteemed colleagues; I haven’t lived in Utah for several years and haven’t been to the stadium in quite a long time. As for bars, someone mentioned Whiskey Street and I wholeheartedly agree; good vibe there and solid food too (try the meatloaf if it’s on the menu).
What I can help you with is golf. Utah is a great golf state if you know where to go. It’s also super affordable; no Sawgrass or Copperhead rates to be found anywhere (though to be fair you won’t find that level of quality either).
As others have said, the best courses by far in Utah are either private or they are public but down in the extreme south of the state (two perennial top 100 public courses down there, on opposite sides of the state, and I believe a third will soon be added to that list). But there is still good stuff up north. I’ll break up recommendations by general area which hopefully will make it easy for you:
Salt Lake City proper:
Honestly, nothing great or even good. A few okay courses that are especially easy on the wallet but they won’t wow you. Stick to either Glendale or Bonneville if you play in this area. Both are in pretty good shape, especially given the rates, but overall a bit boring.
South Salt Lake Valley (South Jordan, Riverton, and Draper area):
River Oaks is the best course here, but also probably the hardest. Definitely worthy of consideration. Riverbend is also pretty good, with the back being significantly more interesting than the front. I would say if you can only play one course and you want to stay in the Salt Lake valley, go to River Oaks. You might also check out South Mountain in Draper, with one HUGE caveat: when it is in good shape, South Mountain is good. When it is in bad shape, it’s miserable. The last few times I’ve played there, it was in bad shape. It’s really gone down hill and that’s a shame. Maybe it’s better now, not sure. Others who still live in Utah will have more recent info than me.
North of SLC (Bountiful, Farmington, and Layton area):
Valley View is by far the best course in the area, and probably the second best public course in all of Northern Utah. Definitely worth the 45 minutes or so to get there from Rice Eccles. Consider that one heavily. Bountiful Ridge in Bountiful is also good. Eaglewood in Bountiful is good too but used to be a lot better before all of the residential development around it, which makes the back really depressing in my opinion. Mountain and valley views on the front; views of trampolines and swing sets on the back. Sigh.
Park City and Heber area:
Some have mentioned Mountain Dell and Wasatch, both of which are good. However, if you are going to drive all the way up here, you might as well take a bit of extra time (10 minutes from Wasatch; probably 30 from Mountain Dell) and go to Soldier Hollow. There are two courses there: gold and silver. The Silver is great; the Gold is fantastic and I think easily the best public course in Northern Utah. If you can only play one round and you want to know what Utah golf is all about, go to the gold course.
Utah County (Lehi, Orem, Springville areas):
Thanksgiving Point is great, well maintained, and long as hell from the tips. It’s also about as expensive as public golf gets in Utah, but I wouldn’t say that it is overpriced. It’s definitely worth your time and money. Cedar Hills is also very solid, with a super cool first tee box (probably 80-100 feet above the fairway). It’s not the best course around by any means but it’s a blast to play. You’ll have fun at Cedar Hills. Sleepy Ridge is good and usually in great shape, and can be quite challenging if you are getting any wind off the lake. Finally, if you are willing to drive a little ways, both Hobble Creek in Springville canyon and Gladstan in Payson are VERY worth your time. Hobble might be the prettiest course in the northern part of the state because of its setting. Gladstan’s front has valley views and then the back goes up the mountain. Gladstan’s back I think is the most underrated 9 holes in the state.
All in all, if I had to give you a top 5: Soldier Hollow Gold, Valley View, Hobble Creek, Thanksgiving Point, and River Oaks. Gladstan as well if you don’t mind the hour plus drive from SLC.
Have fun and hit ‘em straight!
I am also not familiar with the contracts but I don’t think that is what is preventing the B1G and SEC from doing what you are suggesting. Contracts can be breached. The only question is what would be owed to the non-breaching parties (i.e. the schools given the boot). Even if those sums were significant, presumably these mega conferences could negotiate ways to mitigate the pain of paying them (for example, not permitting the new schools to receive full payouts until the old schools were paid what was owed to them under the old deal; would Utah, for example, take $0.25 on the dollar for the first ten years (until, say, Rutgers was paid off) in order to be in the “new and improved” B1G? I’m betting they would in a heartbeat).
I think the bigger issue, and what is really preventing this, is that these conferences know that they don’t have to have EVERY top 25 football program between the two of them in order to dominate the sport and the ratings. In fact, the heaviest hitters in each conference probably don’t want their schedules to get any harder. You can’t have an absolute murderers row of a schedule; you need a few “cupcake” games to balance things out.
Imagine, for example, you are Alabama, and someone says: “Hey, what if we got Vandy and Mizzou off your schedule every year and we replaced them with Clemson and Florida State?”
As football fans we would love having two more marquee matchups to watch every year, and undoubtedly TV execs would salivate, but for the ADs, coaches, and players that’s kind of a nightmare. Hence why it isn’t happening. The schools are the ones who would need to initiate that, and the schools likely recognize that there is a law of diminishing returns at play here.
I guess in sum I would say that the B1G and SEC don’t have to do what you suggest because their legitimacy as the cream of the crop conferences is unassailable. Why go through the headache?
The ACC and the Big XII could think about this though. If there are 4 legit super conferences (B1G, SEC, and the ACC and Big XII having been bolstered by the remnants of the PAC), then the conference championship games become de facto national quarter finals. Conference champs meet in the semis, and so forth. Historic playoff problem effectively solved.
Just out of curiosity: if the above held true, and the 4 power conference champions made the national semis, would you rather the Utes be in the current Big XII plus the 4 corner schools or the B1G with the four schools you mentioned dropped but with UW, UO, UA, and Utah added in? Utah would consistently compete for the Big XII title but would NEVER win that B1G conference and would thus be perennially shut out of the playoffs. Week to week in the B1G would be more fun though.
That would be a blast; what a fun idea!
Very cool Tony, and great photo! Any favorite memories of Bandon you don’t mind sharing?
Thanks as well for the link to your blog; I’ll definitely check that out!
And yes, I too thought it would be fun to talk about something other than Cam or our complete and utter laundry list of injuries for just a bit.
Nice Jim! Never been to Bandon but it is very, very high on my list. Which of the 4 was your favorite? And which one did you skip?
When I played Bethpage, one of the guys I was paired up with was wearing a Pacific Dunes sweatshirt so I asked him about Bandon; he also had played 4 of 5 (skipped Old Mac). Definitely had very cool things to say about the whole place; made me want to get out there even more!
I always thought pro sports would be the best job ever, and then I read Andre Agassi’s book. He hated tennis but had ridiculous natural ability and it was all he knew from an early age. The lifestyle of a pro tennis player, apart from the money, sounds awful. You’re never home, never consistently around anyone other than your training staff and other tennis players, and if you’re ever doing anything other than playing a match or prepping for a match, it’s probably either media related or sitting in an airport. 24/7, 365.
I appreciate your perspective, but I don’t really understand why many fans still seem to appreciate Gobert but hate on Mitchell. Especially if the justification is loyalty.
Rudy did say over and over that he wanted to win a title with Utah, but that was during the critical period when it was paramount for him to remain with the Jazz in order to be eligible for the coveted super max contract – which he promptly demanded as soon as he was eligible for it. Everyone knew Rudy was not worth anywhere near it, but he put the Jazz in the delicate spot of either paying him what he wanted or letting a guy who has been saying for years “I want to win a ring here” walk for nothing, angering the fan base.
You want to bring the NBA’s smallest market its first ring, but you also want 30% of its cap space wrapped up in your personal salary? Unless you are LeBron or KD, that won’t work. Even if you are LeBron or KD, it probably won’t work. Rudy never backed up his “I want to win here” with any behavior that sacrificed personal satisfaction for team success.
That is to say nothing of the fact that Rudy clearly is a locker room problem. He wanted more of a role offensively but he is a complete liability on that end. I also think he had a HUGE ego problem as soon as the Utah fan base fell in love with Mitchell; I don’t think he could handle sharing what he thought was his team. As soon as Rudy leaves? Reports out that D-Lo can’t stand him. D-Lo gets traded because Gobert is untradeable. What’s next? The punch with Kyle Anderson. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if within the next year something happens between Rudy and either KAT or Ant. Especially as Ant’s extension looms.
Not saying Mitchell is blameless but during his first few years he arguably backed up the “I want to be here/win here” talk a lot more than Gobert. Attended a lot of public and private events in the community. Showed up to fans’ summer barbecues. Went to college games. Actively recruited other NBA stars to come to Utah while Mitchell was still on his rookie deal so the team could at least theoretically afford it. When did Rudy do any of this? What did Rudy do other than stick around long enough to be eligible for super max money, and then demand it, crippling the franchise? And then cry about not making the all star team?
It reminds me of Kirilenko. Standout defensive player; limited offensively. Was “loyal” and the Jazz subsequently overpaid to keep him. Contract became an albatross almost immediately and was a major reason the Jazz could never add that last missing piece to truly contend.
As for seeing both Rudy and Mitchell out of the playoffs early (again), it is unsurprising. Rudy isn’t a one man defense as has frequently been said. He is only if you play the kind of drop defense in which he excels. He can be neutralized if the other team can force Rudy into a different defensive scheme, which is exactly what happens in the playoffs when coaches have two weeks to exploit weaknesses.
As for Don, he is occasionally spectacular but far more frequently a woefully inefficient chucker on offense and refuses to play defense for long stretches. Basically, a very poor man’s Houston-version of James Harden. And even the actual Houston version of James Harden frequently flamed out in the postseason because inefficiency plus no defense doesn’t usually win playoff games.
I may eventually be proven incredibly wrong, but at least right now, it seems Utah won both those trades by a substantial margin. No regrets on my end.
I think our ceiling in that version of the B1G would be about like Iowa.
Tough, physical, bring-your-lunch-pail -type team that everyone respects as a difficult test. Often featured in the top 20, spends a few weeks every few seasons in the top 10, wins the division once every three or four years, but never wins the conference.
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