BYU vs Ole Miss Highlights

September 5, 2011 by Jim · Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Football, Highlights
Tagged: 2011, brigham, BYU, college, Football, game, highlight, Highlights, jake heaps, mississippi, ncaa, ole miss, sec, university, video, videos, young

How Successful was Media Day?

July 13, 2011 by Jim · Leave a Comment

The short answer is that it was a disappointment for anyone expecting any earth-shattering news, but a huge success on a national level. The long answer requires an explanation and a bit of background.

Since sometime in the 1970′s, most major programs have had two promotional events called “Fan Day” and “Media Day.” Fan Day is when the fans get to come out to the field, get autographs, and meet some of the players. It is a great day for fans to be reminded that they are a big part of the program. It is also a great day to sell season tickets and give away promotional items that help keep the program in the local consciousness.

Media Day, though, is a different animal. Just like Fan Day, it is meant to spread good will for the program. Unlike Fan Day, though, the recipient of the good will is the media. The result of most programs’ media day is that the state and local papers have something to write about and the program gets publicity. If a school is really lucky, the national media outlets will run a story.

Yesterday, the fans didn’t get much. From a fan standpoint, other than Bronco Mendenhall’s three-year extension, there was nothing new. Anyone expecting big news was disappointed. For a local fan, there really wasn’t anything there. From a national standpoint, though, Media Day was a huge success.

On the CBS Sports website, there are four stories on BYU right now. Every single one of them is positive. Titles are “Flying the Independent Flag,” “Honor First, Football Second at BYU,” “Mendenhall Gets Extension,” and “Cougars Deny Big East Overture.” There are three stories at ESPN, and that doesn’t even include Trevor Matich because they don’t want the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The bottom line is that you cannot buy that kind of publicity. While yesterday’s news was mostly “yesterday’s news” for us, it educated the rest of the country about the Cougars. This can only bode well. The biggest problem about sports in Utah has always been the lack of national publicity and the resulting lack of esteem for instate programs.

Whether it is John Stockton never fully getting the credit he deserved, or whether it’s BYU never having the opportunity to play in a BCS bowl, sports in Utah has always suffered from a lack of national publicity. While other teams that play on TV all the time are known quantities, BYU and all Utah teams have always been unknown quantities. In sports, that almost always results in being underrated.

We covered the move to independent status, and how it would enhance the Cougars’ chances to play in a BCS bowl and compete for another National Championship. Yesterday, though, CBS Sports covered it. ESPN covered it. And now, BYU is showing up in National media in the same sentence as “Notre Dame” and “BCS Bowl.” And people are being reminded that the Cougars did, indeed, win a National Championship in 1984.

Think of what the stories have been lately in college football. Ohio State, North Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee, and Oregon have all been fighting off various stages of NCAA investigations. USC is still getting bad publicity from their probation. Meanwhile, BYU is in the news about their independent status, their honor code, and giving their coach a three-year extension.

When you think about it, yesterday’s stories about BYU are collectively the most positive national publicity any football program has gotten all summer. The media decide who gets to play in the BCS bowls. The computers help, but it is media people who really decide who plays where, because they control the rankings. And yesterday served to put BYU’s name in the consciousness of those media people.

When media people are more aware of BYU, they will get the coverage they deserve. Between the national contract and yesterday’s Media Day, the Cougars now have a chance to be appropriately rewarded for what they do on the field. This also has an effect on recruiting.

The more positive national publicity BYU gets, the more access they will have to national recruits. If they are on TV more, get more national coverage, and are ranked higher, they will become a destination for recruits whose parents want to see their kids truly taken care of and taught how to live right during their college careers. This helps BYU and it is good for the LDS, too.

The way this is most often described is “growing the brand.” The move to independent status was the first step, but the national coverage of yesterday’s Media Day was a huge step in growing the BYU brand into a national brand that not only stands for honor and doing things right off the field, but for an elite product on the field as well.

BYU now has momentum and an upward trend. Their schedule has now been nationally acknowledged as “tough.” This erases the main objection that most writers have had to ranking the Cougars where they deserve to be ranked. Now that their schedule is seen as an elite schedule, they will no longer have to answer questions of whether or not they can compete with elite teams.

To grossly oversimplify, BYU is now seen in the same light as Notre Dame. If they win ten games with this schedule, they will get to a BCS bowl. The only possible snag is whether or not they are seen as “traveling well” to bowls or not. The enhanced publicity should keep the team in the consciousness of more national fans, and help sell tickets.

So, even though it may have been a disappointment locally, yesterday’s Media Day was a huge success on a national level. A lot of people know more about the Cougars today than they did yesterday. And the Cougars just became impossible for BCS bowls to ignore anymore.