Block U: FanPosts

Utes Facility Tour

2013-05-05T05:41:17Z

I have been making some highlight videos recently, and after a twitter contest with safetys coach Morgan Scalley on which song best fits Utah football, I won by sending in my video (which is titled as Utah Football We Will Rock U if you haven't seen it and I have some others too).

I was seriously ecstatic when I found out, and I was not disappointed.

As excited as I was to see this state of the art facility, I was really looking forward to getting to talk to Scalley and Shaw.

The Facility - It was still in construction, opens in July, but holy crap! It was absolutely amazing. 150,000 sq feet. Really amazing and a huge boost for recruiting. Players lockers are separated into position in groups and each have a ipod docking station to listen to music in their locker... plus a lot of really cool stuff.

QUESTIONS

RES expansion - Shaw told me they really want it, but that after this $30 million facility that Hill wants them to relax for a second.

Mountain themed unis - Shaw said whit is the only one that knows and that he really doesn't care. I told him my concern about 90s jazz uniforms and he agreed. Also agreed that the topography is very cool, and that he thinks that is the direction they are taking.

D-Line - Shaw said this will be the biggest surprise this fall as Palepoi and others coming in will make it very strong.

Kicking game - Both scalley and Shaw agreed it was an adventure last year and so far is the same this year, but promising players are coming in this fall.

Stacking up to other programs - Shaw said this will be the best facility until Alabama decides they want another one, (quote) "Alabama will not be outdone"

Really cool seeing the facility, and how kind these coaches were. Very kind of these coaches to take the time to grab some fans and take em on a tour during their time for vacations and for recruiting.

Shaw was an absolute crack up, and made it very clear this team is ready to win.

GO UTES!

I was seriously ecstatic when I found out, and I was not disappointed.

As excited as I was to see this state of the art facility, I was really looking forward to getting to talk to Scalley and Shaw.

QUESTIONS

RES expansion - Shaw told me they really want it, but that after this $30 million facility that Hill wants them to relax for a second.

D-Line - Shaw said this will be the biggest surprise this fall as Palepoi and others coming in will make it very strong.

Kicking game - Both scalley and Shaw agreed it was an adventure last year and so far is the same this year, but promising players are coming in this fall.

Stacking up to other programs - Shaw said this will be the best facility until Alabama decides they want another one, (quote) "Alabama will not be outdone"

Shaw was an absolute crack up, and made it very clear this team is ready to win.

GO UTES!

Congrats to STAR LOTULELEI who will join the Panthers!!

2013-04-26T03:46:53Z

Congrats to Star Lotulelei who will join the panthers!! Go to twitter.com/draftpedia for cool graphics and live draft upates. The Utah alumni, was selected as the fourteenth pick. At 6 feet 2 inches and 311 pounds, Lotulelei will be a great fit for the Panthers. He was the second Defensive tackle in the draft, right after Sheldon Richardson. Download Draftpedia for more information and live updates from each round of the draft. twitter.com/draftpedia! Go to the site and enjoy!

Two Class of 2014 Prospects out of Hawaii

2013-04-23T06:16:06Z

Two recruits out of Hawaii to keep an eye on:

Drew Kell (brother Devon is DE at Oregon St.)

6'1.5 175 lbs

40: 4.5

shuttle: 4.2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUKKCIhQ2ZE Drew's Junior Season (QB)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fv2ge7ACq8 Drew's Freshman and Sophomore Years (QB, WR, DB)

Isi Holani (1st Cousin of Semisi Tokolahi)

6'2 270 lbs

40: 4.95

Bench: 285

Squat: 475

Clean: 300

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EJZxvwTEg Isi's Junior Season (DL, TE)

www.wix.com/hilohs/football

Two recruits out of Hawaii to keep an eye on:

Drew Kell (brother Devon is DE at Oregon St.)

6'1.5 175 lbs

40: 4.5

shuttle: 4.2

6'2 270 lbs

40: 4.95

Bench: 285

Squat: 475

Clean: 300

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EJZxvwTEg Isi's Junior Season (DL, TE)

www.wix.com/hilohs/football

Home Games

2013-04-05T15:20:42Z

With 7 home games on the schedule this year there are a lot of good games and interesting matchups to unfold before our eyes.

We were close in a lot of games last year while wreaking with inexperience. We will be returning not so many starters but we are returning a lot of guys that did see time last year. I personally can't wait for football. So, which contest has you all the most excited in 2013?

Poll

Which game is your "Can't Miss" contest?

Utah State (oh sweet revenge)

13 votes

Weber State (lets fine tune some stuff and light up the scoreboard)

0 votes

Oregon State (Who doesn't enjoy giving beavers a good pounding?)

6 votes

UCLA (seriously hate their fanbase, the new TDS, for me anyways. PS Thursday night Party!)

14 votes

Stanford ( They will probably try to pund the rock all game. We might be in that game)

45 votes

ASU ( We have DE, and finally get these guys late in the season)

13 votes

Colorado ( Senior day against our "rivals" There is no excuse for losing games to these guys in our house. )

1 votes

92 votes | Poll has closed

Mountain Themed Uniforms?

2013-03-28T21:32:59Z

This from a Deseret "News" (see what I did there?) article by Ryan Teeples,

"The University of Utah is redesigning its football and basketball uniforms, looking to integrate a mountain theme that will be applied to all Utah's athletic teams in coming years. The new uniforms will debut in the winter of 2013 with the men's basketball team, and football will follow shortly after."

To me this is terrible news and conjurers up images of those horrible Jazz uniforms that ruined my childhood.

via i.snag.gy

Please, Under Armour and the University of Utah, do not let this happen!

These are actually the uniforms that I like best (they were used in last years spring game)...

http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/slidegallery.csp?cid=56065289&pid=3452568

But that is just one mans opinion, so for the two or three other people who might read this post, I pose this question: What do you think?

To me this is terrible news and conjurers up images of those horrible Jazz uniforms that ruined my childhood.

via i.snag.gy

Please, Under Armour and the University of Utah, do not let this happen!

These are actually the uniforms that I like best (they were used in last years spring game)...

http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/slidegallery.csp?cid=56065289&pid=3452568

But that is just one mans opinion, so for the two or three other people who might read this post, I pose this question: What do you think?

Poll

What do you think of the "Mountain Themed Uniforms" that have been discussed?

Salt Lake City NCAA Tourney

2013-03-11T15:53:39Z

Hey everyone,

Im a Maryland fan living in Minnesota, but thats besides the point.

I came to your blog for some advice/tips. I'm going to be attending the NCAA tourney session hosted by energy solutions arena in Salt Lake City so I figured you guys would be my best bet!

-I've never been to Salt Lake City and am just looking for things to do that you locals might know about that I can find as easily online. I'm only in town for a day and a half or so, not renting a car, so looking to stay in the general area.

Are there any events going on in town on thursday or friday for the tournament? Bars/restaraunts having any special deals/pregame/tailgate parties or anything like that?

Let me know if you hear of anything, thanks a bunch and good luck in your conference tourney!

Mike

Hey everyone,

Im a Maryland fan living in Minnesota, but thats besides the point.

I came to your blog for some advice/tips. I'm going to be attending the NCAA tourney session hosted by energy solutions arena in Salt Lake City so I figured you guys would be my best bet!

Are there any events going on in town on thursday or friday for the tournament? Bars/restaraunts having any special deals/pregame/tailgate parties or anything like that?

Let me know if you hear of anything, thanks a bunch and good luck in your conference tourney!

Mike

8-4 in 2013...Really?

2013-03-04T23:31:12Z

As I have been looking at the upcoming 2013 Schedule I was thinking about the games and and guessing which ones I believe we would win and lose. And at the end Utah was 8-4. Yes, that seemed really high after last year's record, but the more I look at the games the more I think its a possibility. Here's how I got there.

Aug 29, Utah St @ Utah: Thursday night game, in The RES, Revenge Baby! Utah won't get ripped off with a PI in the endzone, won't get anybody thrown out of the game for a phantom punch, and we start the season off right 1-0!

Sep 7, Weber St @ Utah: Cooling down with Weber here is a fantastic way to reset from the USU rivalry and try to clean some stuff up from week 1. The Utes ar 2-0

Sep 14, Oregon State @ Utah: With an emotional reset and some time to fine tune some things against WSU the week before I see the overrated Beavers coming into The RES and getting beat by a well prepared Utes squad with the home crowd backing them up. In a defensive slugfest I think we'll win this one and move to 3-0.

Sep 21, Utah @ Provostan Pussy Cats: Lets face it, TDS' defense will probably take a small step back and be really inconsistent on offense like we were last year. That and the fact that we own the kitties means I think we are 4-0.

Sep 28, Bye week recover from TDS and start working on UCLA(who we only lost to on the road by 7 points last year in Wilson's first start.

Oct 3, UCLA @ Utah This is going to be a Thursday night Party and with 10 days of prep I think that we'll be able to contain Hundley and stop the Bruins on 3rd downs.This game reminds me a lot of the 2008 OSU game were we had to win on a field goal. Either way I'll take it and I think that the Utes go to 5-0.

Oct 12, Stanford @ Utah No I'm not delusional. Although I don't see a lot of teams in the country being able to run between the tackles on Utah and out muscle us in the running game. This I will chalk up to the "L" column in a hard fought game. Utah is 5-1.

Oct 19, Utah @ Arizona Marginal game in my mind as I don't see a gap in talent between the two squads but because I have already given Utah the benefit of the doubt against some other teams already, I will have to balance myself out and predict a loss here(road game too). Utah is 5-2.

Oct 26, Utah @ USC Yes, The Trojans are a trainwreck from a coaching standpoint, but we're going into the colliseum with a young QB and I'll give the Utes another Loss here because we're on the road against a really talented team. We are sadly now 5-3, but we're moving into a bye week so we can regroup.

Nov 2, BYE Week Time to get ready for the Sun Devils. Here we have DE getting us ready for Taylor Kelly and CO.

Nov 9, ASU @ UTAH A combination of The RES, A bye week, DE, and the fact we finally get ASU in the second half of the season makes me think that we finally beat these guys and move to 6-3 and are once again BOWL ELIGIBLE!

Nov 16, Utah @ Oregon Loss, that's all I have to say here. and 6-4.

Nov 23, Utah @ Wazzu I actually think we have the better talent and coaching in this matchup. Plus they quit on Utah during last years game. I think we have a mental edge over this team and Utah moves to 7-4.

Nov 30, Colorado @ Utah I don't think that Utes will blow another Colorado game in Salt City for a while, plus it will be senior day. Utes move to 8-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

So that's how I got to 8-4 and it doesn't seem that far fetched. Obviously we'll have to see where we are after spring football, but what do you all think?

Bye week after BYU game

2013-02-28T14:38:37Z

After the "hate bowl" the Utes have crashed the last two years. The loss to ASU last year was our worst in ages. The team was flat and it was our opening conference game. This year the Utes have a bye week to recover and then hopefully we never play the Y again unless they get into the PAC12 or a significant bowl game match-up. It is way too much emotion wasted on the irrelevant.

Damn, that's a terrible new logo for Block U; very disappointed.

2013-02-22T05:04:59Z

You know what would be a good logo for a site named "BlockU"?? How about some feathers and mountains??!! WTF??? Is it illegal to use a block 'U' on a site like this? Utahby5.com uses a block U. Maybe somebody should turn them in to the authorities.

Seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word word

Borrowed Insider: Closing the Tallent Gap

2013-02-20T19:59:20Z

So when I saw that Utah (TCU and Ole Miss) was featured in this year’s article, I wanted to read the article, but I don’t have that little "in" icon next to my user name for financial purposes. So I had my co-worker/friend (BYU fan, who says they never do anything nice? Oh, and keep your friends close, but your enemies closer) log into my phone so I could read it. I want to share the gist of what it said with my other poor friends...

Even though our recruiting ranking this year was 48th nationally according to ESPN, we are third in the division, behind the LA schools, in "total program recruiting" (whatever that means) over the last 5 seasons, and that that sets us up for a step forward this year. That shocked me personally and gave me a glimmer of hope that will inevitably be smashed. He also found some bizarre stat that made our D last season look good, "8 percent of opponent drives to average 10 yards per play or more, 18 best nationally." Although KW should be focusing more on the D this year and I think it will look a lot more like 2011’s D that 2012’s. He basically said that our Offense completely sucked last year being 100th or worse in "three and outs, available yards, and explosive methodical drives," and said special teams really bailed us out last year (Reggie Dunn). The last thing he said was that we should be in the Pac-12 south race (I’ll believe it when I see it) if we can improve by half a point per drive.

Your Thoughts?
And how do you make this thing make paragraphs?

One year ago Brian Fremeau from ESPN posted an article about three teams poised for breakthrough seasons based on them closing the talent gap. Those three teams were Stanford, T A&M, and UCLA. Obviously Stanford and UCLA went on to face each other in the conference championship game, and Stanford beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Texas A&M gave Alabama its only loss of the season, and produced a Heisman Trophy winner. So when I saw that Utah (TCU and Ole Miss) was featured in this year’s article, I wanted to read the article, but I don’t have that little "in" icon next to my user name for financial purposes. So I had my co-worker/friend (BYU fan, who says they never do anything nice? Oh, and keep your friends close, but your enemies closer) log into my phone so I could read it. I want to share the gist of what it said with my other poor friends... Even though our recruiting ranking this year was 48th nationally according to ESPN, we are third in the division, behind the LA schools, in "total program recruiting" (whatever that means) over the last 5 seasons, and that that sets us up for a step forward this year. That shocked me personally and gave me a glimmer of hope that will inevitably be smashed. He also found some bizarre stat that made our D last season look good, "8 percent of opponent drives to average 10 yards per play or more, 18 best nationally." Although KW should be focusing more on the D this year and I think it will look a lot more like 2011’s D that 2012’s. He basically said that our Offense completely sucked last year being 100th or worse in "three and outs, available yards, and explosive methodical drives," and said special teams really bailed us out last year (Reggie Dunn). The last thing he said was that we should be in the Pac-12 south race (I’ll believe it when I see it) if we can improve by half a point per drive. Your Thoughts? And how do you make this thing make paragraphs?

Pac-12.com not using Drum & Feather?

2013-02-19T21:42:18Z

Maybe this has already been noted and discussed, but what to make of the the PCness of our conference in using the block U (not our Block U here) instead of the drum & feather logo on their site. Did the U have to sign off on that or have any say whatsoever?

Again I find myself hoping that the University of Utah doesn't succumb to PC pressure to drop the drum & feather. What do you think?

Rick Majerus Petition

2013-02-03T01:24:37Z

I personally feel that the only way to truly honor Coach Rick is to name the basketball court after him.

Coach Majerus did an immeasurable amount of good to the University of Utah basketball program. In just 15 seasons, he accrued 323 wins to just 95 loses. He coached the Runnin' Utes to 10 NCAA tournament appearances, including 2 Sweet-16 appearances, an Elite-8 appearance, and a berth to the National Championship game. The stats, however, do not say enough about the man. Coach Rick was a caring person and a roll model for all that had any interaction with him. Hanging a banner in the John M. Huntsman Center is a great tribute, however it is simply not enough. He will forever be immortal in spirit to the University of Utah, its fans, students, and alumni. Let us honor him in the biggest way we can, and name the basketball court that he coached on after him. RIP Coach.

I've started a petition to the University to make this happen, if you feel the same way I do, click on the following link and sign up:

https://www.change.org/petitions/the-university-of-utah-name-the-court-in-the-john-m-huntsman-center-rick-majerus-court#

I personally feel that the only way to truly honor Coach Rick is to name the basketball court after him.

I've started a petition to the University to make this happen, if you feel the same way I do, click on the following link and sign up:

https://www.change.org/petitions/the-university-of-utah-name-the-court-in-the-john-m-huntsman-center-rick-majerus-court#

Recruiting Update

2013-01-22T16:53:52Z

The biggest news is that Kylie Fitts (ESPN 150, #7 Rivals DE) 4 star is visiting Utah on 2/01/2013 and will be his last visit. We could snag him for that very reason, Deon Hollins Jr.(ESPN and Rivals 4 star) who is committed to UCLA took a visit here last weekend and it "exceeded expectations." May also be a posibility. Gaius Vaenuku(ESPN and Rivals 4 star) visited and raved about Utah, he also has many teammates already committed.

Also pursuing OL Joshua Outlaw and ATH Micah Thomas.

I probably left a few out but those are the bigger fish. I'm hoping we can snag these guys and once again have the best recruiting class we've ever had. I know we have been saying that for the past 3 years but it keeps getting better each year.

Now if we can start to compete for the south we can probably get better on the recruiting front.

Also pursuing OL Joshua Outlaw and ATH Micah Thomas.

Now if we can start to compete for the south we can probably get better on the recruiting front.

Mock Draft puts Star high

2013-01-22T02:14:30Z

3. Oakland Raiders - Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

Both Richard Seymour and Desmond Bryant are unrestricted free agents, leaving Oakland with Tommy Kelly and Christo Bilukidi up front. Oakland often used Seymour along the defensive line, at end, three-technique and nose tackle. That's probably the best way to use the relentless Star Lotulelei as well. Lotulelei is a three-down lineman who should be able to play 50 snaps a game.

From SB Nation, nice to see a great Ute getting the props he deserves.

3. Oakland Raiders - Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah Both Richard Seymour and Desmond Bryant are unrestricted free agents, leaving Oakland with Tommy Kelly and Christo Bilukidi up front. Oakland often used Seymour along the defensive line, at end, three-technique and nose tackle. That's probably the best way to use the relentless Star Lotulelei as well. Lotulelei is a three-down lineman who should be able to play 50 snaps a game. From SB Nation, nice to see a great Ute getting the props he deserves.

Utes already had a replacement lined up for Roderick

2013-01-18T16:03:49Z

Buried in an Oakland newspaper article on some Baptist ministers visiting Salt Lake, which was reprinted in the DesNews, was this litttle gem:

The group was seated near current Utah Governor Gary Herbert and his wife Jeanette. When the Lusks were introduced to the Herberts, they explained that their son Henry has just been hired as the receiver coach of the University of Utah football team.

The Herberts then introduced them to their son-in-law, Ben Cahoon, who is the receiver coach for the Brigham Young University football team. The exchange was good for laughs about tight ends and wide receivers and contributed to a wonderful evening.

Henry Lusk was a star tight end at Utah, finishing his college career in 1995. He went on to play for two years in the NFL. By all accounts, he was a phenomenal player. Unfortunately, a quick Google search will show he was also forced to resign as a high school head coach in Sacramento in 2011 when a photo of him wearing a male thong surfaced on Twitter.

Was he actually offered the job, and will he now be politely turned away? Or will the staff be reshuffled to make room for him? Is he the kind of coach you hoped Utah would hire to replace Roderick (before Roderick came back, that is)?

Buried in an Oakland newspaper article on some Baptist ministers visiting Salt Lake, which was reprinted in the DesNews, was this litttle gem:

The group was seated near current Utah Governor Gary Herbert and his wife Jeanette. When the Lusks were introduced to the Herberts, they explained that their son Henry has just been hired as the receiver coach of the University of Utah football team.

The Herberts then introduced them to their son-in-law, Ben Cahoon, who is the receiver coach for the Brigham Young University football team. The exchange was good for laughs about tight ends and wide receivers and contributed to a wonderful evening.