....i am optimistic...

Like many office HR departments across the country, my office HR department has been hosting Office Olympic games all week long. We've jumped, we've played corn hole, we've done typing tests, and we've played waste basket basketball. It's gimmicky. It's a little elementary. But it's been fun and we've had a good time.

Yesterday, though, things got real. It was the parking lot dash - just a good old fashioned race. I don't know how long the track was - could have been 20 yards, could have been 80 yards - who can measure yards without yard markers and orange sticks to tell give a frame of reference for 10 yards?

The official distance doesn't matter. There was a race to be raced.

Anyone who knows me, has seen me, or has listened to anything I've ever said about myself knows this one thing -  I'm a large man and very out of shape. But I wasn't always large and out of shape. Like many of us, I used to be a pretty athletic dude. I'm not going to pretend like I was Taysom Hill or anything, but I was more athletic than the average person. Now... that's not the case. But it used to be the case.

The great and wise philosopher Toby Keith said it best when a couple of girls from the bar wanted to take him home for a good time: "Girls, I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."

So, I lined up for the race. I was perfectly content to line up in the heat with the others who didn't want to race, but then a comment came from one of the other racers. "Jeff! Come get in this heat over here with me. I need to make sure I don't finish in last place."

That was all it took. I was officially engaged and officially ready to race. The countdown started and I officially locked in. After the first few steps, I was in the lead. The athletic shit-talker was shocked and started to dig deeper to get past me.

I geared up. Then I started talking shit of my own. "Fat man gonna win! Can't lose to the fat man!"

We reached the finish line neck-and-neck. I honestly don't know who won. Why? Because like the stereotypical story goes, I felt the 'pop' in a hamstring. Winning didn't matter anymore, just had to make sure I didn't let anyone know what happened. All of my energy went into the cover up and everything else was a blur.

About 30-45 minutes later, I had to come clean. I was sore and limping, but I could talk my way out of that (I can talk my way out of just about anything, folks... I'm like Han Solo). But I couldn't talk my walk out of what my body was doing.

I'm assuming it was reacting to the pain and sudden exertion of sprinter's energy for the first time in decades, but my limbs went numb and tingly, my mouth went numb and tingly, I couldn't feel my fingers and felt like my neck had a been shot with a tranquilizer gun. I was talking with someone across the lunch table when they noticed me sweating profusely and starting to black out.

It was weird. While I assumed this was embarrassingly related to the sprint, I couldn't come out of the trance I was in and the numbness never went away. The timing was weird - why such a delayed physical reaction to something that happened nearly an hour ago? So, we took the cautious approach and sent me to get checked out by medical folks.

In the end, all is well. Nothing is wrong with me. I have a gnarly hamstring injury and a severely bruised ego, but I'm fine. But for that brief moment in time, I was the fastest fat man alive - and it was wonderful.

I will have to live with the embarrassment when I go back into the office. I have no choice but to wear it. Now that everyone knows I'm alive and well, there will be mocking and jokes. Frankly, I earned it.

Not to go all General Conference and make an analogy with this story, but I've been thinking about it quite a bit.

My wife asked, "Why did you go full speed? Nobody expected you to win anyways, wouldn't it have been better to just lay low?"

It would have been, for sure. But when I was running and surprising people with how quick this fat body could move, I wasn't worried about what would happen if I pulled up lame. Now, even after the embarrassment is present again, it was still fun to look back and see how surprised everyone was.

I could have stayed on the sideline - nobody would have blamed me for that. I could have jogged through the sprint and lost - nobody would have expected anything different. But instead, I put it all on the line and ran. And I would do the same thing over again - embarrassment and all.

This brings us to today and to BYU football. Training Camp is here. (I refuse to call anything that begins in July and ends in August 'Fall' anything. It's summer. I will consider calling it Summer Camp but I'm choosing Training Camp. If that bothers you, tell a tree.)

I'm optimistic about this season. I don't think BYU is going to finish 11-1 and competing for a spot in the playoff, but I'm optimistic. I think those reasons can be supported and backed up with logical and reasonable arguments.

They can also be refuted with logical and reasonable arguments. I can also point out problems that could lead to big concerns and poor performance throughout the season.

Neither argument is wrong. Neither argument is even flawed. So, why choose to be optimistic?

The same reason I chose to run hard in the race - it was way more fun to think of what could be - unburdened by what be.... oh never mind.

I'm not worried about protecting my feelings or future embarrassment. I'm not worried about what might happen if the bad news comes. It's college football and I'm choosing to be optimistic about it. I think that's what players do. I think that's what coaches do. That doesn't mean you ignore the reality either - but the reality is that neither good news nor bad news has happened yet. Suggesting the conclusion that something will go bad is set in stone is as foolish as suggesting that something will be perfect.

So, here are the things I'm optimistic about and the reasons behind them:

1. I am optimistic that BYU has serviceable options in the quarterback room - I don't believe any of these guys are NFL quarterback and I don't believe any of these guys will throw for 4,000 yards. What I do believe is that they have guys in the room - particularly Gerry Bohanon - who will protect the football and facilitate enough in the passing game to get BYU's wide receivers involved. I'm a big believer in the wide receivers. They need a quarterback to get them the ball, but that doesn't inherently mean they need to get them ball through tight windows that are 45 yards downfield. This receiver group has enough juice to make big plays out of short passes. Doing so opens up bigger plays on bigger passes. I think BYU's quarterbacks can facilitate this.
2. I am optimistic that the offensive line turns things around - I think the world of TJ Woods the Coach. My questions about TJ Woods the recruiter (he's answering some of those on the recruiting trail already, but I had big questions about him the recruiter when he was being hired) shouldn't overshadow TJ Woods the coach. He's always produced at a high level when he has talent to work with. He's got talent to work with at BYU. There is no reason for me to believe that he won't be able to produce again. He's done it at Utah State. He's done it at Wisconsin. And he's done it at Oregon State. When he didn't have talent at Georgia Southern, he struggled. But he even found ways to produce a 1000-yard rusher with the talent he had at UNLV. The dude can coach. Questions about his recruiting success aside, that doesn't matter on the field in 2024. As a result, I'm optimistic that the offensive line takes a very big step forward.
3. I am optimistic that Jay Hill has more success in his second year - Hill had a lot of work to do when he took over for Ilaisa Tuiaki. There were a lot of problems on the defense from fundamentals from players to the overall talent in the pipeline. It was a big endeavor that Hill took on, all while simultaneously joining BYU in the midst of their P4 promotion. That's a lot. Going into Year 2, he's had an extra year of preparation time. He's addressed some roster concerns and some talent issues. He's had an extra year to fix fundamentals. I think all of those things will pay dividends this year. I'm not ignoring the potential liabilities here - the interior defensive line is iffy and the cornerback room is super young - but I'm honing in on the positive things that also exist. I don't expect this group to be a Top 10 defense... but a top 50-60? I think so.
4. I am optimistic that BYU has a pass rush this year - Look, I'm just a believer in the guys on the roster. Tyler Batty, Kini Fonohema, Sani Tuala, Ephraim Asiata, Blake Mangelson, Ace Kaufusi, AND JACK KELLY!
5. I am optimistic that BYU wins games that people think they shouldn't - Some of my optimisim is rooted in my pessimistic outlook for other teams. BYU will get Kansas State in Avery Johnson's first true road game - that's not easy! BYU will get Arizona featuring an entirely new coaching staff - that's not easy! SMU hasn't beaten a P4 team not named TCU in a decade - that won't be easy! If you think the seat is warming for Kalani Sitake, let me introduce you to Dave Aranda and the Baylor coaching staff - that won't be easy! BYU knows Jeff Grimes and his offense that he's implementing at Kansas as well as anyone else does... and they beat his offense with a terrible BYU defense in 2022 - it won't be easy for Kansas in LES! BYU almost beat Oklahoma State after the wheels had fallen off last year AND Oklahoma State had everything to play for.. in Stillwater - that game won't be easy for the Pokes! I could go on and on. I don't think this schedule proves as difficult as it seems on the surface and I think BYU is better than people believe they are.

The Big 12 is chaos every year. This year will be no different. It's going to be fun. It's going to be exciting. And I'm ready to embrace the fun and excitement. Maybe BYU pops a hammy at the end of the race and I have to live with the embarrassment of being a defeated BYU fan who was once optimistic about this year.

But that ain't stopping me from running the race. If I have to wear it at the end, so be it.