Eulogies aren't supposed to be delivered before death. But in the case of the Western Athletic Conference, it's appropriate.
Officially the WAC lives on in name but not in character. A league composed of four Texas schools and Tulsa, Hawaii, Fresno State and San Jose State is not the WAC. The WAC of today is to the WAC of yesterday what Adam Sandler is to Sir Laurence Olivier.The WAC is BYU, Utah, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, etc. -- especially BYU.
Saturday's WAC championship game in Las Vegas between BYU and Air Force not only was the final game of the bizarre bloated WAC but a preview of the Mountain West Conference.
The destruction of the old WAC was assured four years ago when college presidents used terrible judgment and -- against the wishes of their athletic directors -- invited six weak teams to join the 10-team conference. They didn't need Dr. Kevorkian to assist them in killing the league.
The current WAC is in a coma and will have trouble surviving for more than a couple of years. Hawaii at Tulsa? San Jose State at TCU? Those interested are guaranteed a choice seat.
But this isn't a time to dwell on the upcoming funeral but on the WAC's vibrant glory years, which began when an unheralded assistant coach named LaVell Edwards took over the Brigham Young University football program in 1972. Now in his 27th season as head coach, Edwards has produced some phenomenal teams and players.
From the late '70s through the mid-'80s, BYU was the WAC. As WAC champion, BYU played in the first seven Holiday Bowls.
Will there ever be a more dramatic finish than the one in the 1980 Holiday Bowl? No. As all who bleed Cougar blue know, with less than three minutes to play BYU trailed SMU by 20 points. SMU had Eric Dickerson and Craig James, "the Pony Express." But BYU had Jim McMahon.
I resided in Ventura, Calif., then. The morning after that game I was involved in a church work project. A young man who took sports rather seriously was in a really gloomy mood.
As best I recall, the conversation went like this:
"I'm never going to watch BYU again. In the end they always disappoint you. That's it, I've had it with the Cougars." He then explained how he and three of his friends turned off the TV and left the room in disgust after SMU took a 45-25 lead with four minutes to play.
"Jack, you mean you don't know?" I queried.
"Know what?"
"That BYU won."
"Get outta here."
"Fine. Don't take my word for it, but you might want to look at these."
I had stopped by a supermarket and bought an L.A. Times and an L.A. Herald Examiner. One of them had this headline: "BYU's prayer answered," which all in all seemed rather appropriate in describing the miraculous 46-45 comeback win.
"You're not suggesting I had these papers printed up are you, Jack. Hello, Jack. Come in, Jack."
It may have been then that Jack decided to go on a mission.
McMahon was followed by Steve Young, who led the Cougars to another dramatic Holiday Bowl victory in 1983, an 11-1 record and a No. 7 ranking in the polls.
That served as a nice lead-in to 1984 when the college football world was struck by a BYU thunderbolt. That undefeated, national championhship year was simply magic -- from Robbie Bosco's late touchdown pass to beat highly ranked Pittsburgh in the season opener to Kyle Morrell's game-saving and season-saving tackle against Hawaii to Bosco's heroic performance to ensure victory over Michigan in the Holiday Bowl.
But my favorite BYU/WAC memory occurred in 1990. BYU welcomed the No. 1-ranked Miami Hurricanes to Cougar Stadium. The national media was well represented as the game not only featured a pair of offensive powerhouses but Heisman Trophy candidates Ty Detmer and Craig Erickson.
Hurricanes was an apt nickname for Miami. It described how fast their players' lips moved. Nobody talked trash better or faster than Miami. They said they were going to demolish Detmer and BYU, indicating that playing quarterback against the big, bad Hurricanes was somewhat different than against teams in the flag-football league known as the WAC. BYU was merely a bump in the road en route to another national championship.
Detmer, the slightly built Texan, let his right arm do his talking. More than 400 passing yards and a split chin later, Detmer had guided the Cougars to a stunning 28-21 victory over the suddenly very quiet Miami Calms. Detmer, of course, won the Heisman Trophy that year.
So, in passing (Shiede, Nielsen, Wilson, McMahon, Young, Bosco, Detmer, Sarkisian), thanks for the memories and may the Mountain West Conference provide ones that are just as colorful.
Deseret News editorial writer John Robinson may be reached by e-mail at jrob@desnews.com