It's Been Too Long ...

Since the University of Utah men's basketball team won in Provo. 2005 to be exact. Die-hard Ute fans will be making the trip down to see if Coach Krystkowiak's new and improved crew can put a stop to this seven-year drought. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the Utes' performance last Wednesday at the Huntsman Center. They dismantled a Boise State club that earlier this season had defeated No. 11 Creighton, 83-70, on the road in Omaha. The Broncos were averaging 77.7 points per game and were out rebounding their opponents by a +4.6 clip.

The Utes took care of business and held the Broncos to 55 points and earned a 31-18 edge on the glass. Utah played with a level of toughness and defensive tenacity that I haven't seen a lot from them since moving out to Salt Lake City. And that attitude, my friends, comes from coaching. The much-maligned JHC crowd fed off the product on the floor and the atmosphere was amazing.

Traveling down south to a game is definitely a high-risk, high-reward proposition. You definitely have to take some razzing if you lose, and obviously our hoops team hasn't played well down there lately, but that is part of the fun. And it makes a victory behind enemy lines even that much sweeter!

Photo courtesy of Chandler Wride (@TransistorUte). Thanks "breh."

GO UTES!

It's Not About X's and O's. It's About Jimmy's and Joe's

Much is always made about the man or woman serving as the head coach of your favorite team because we're fanatics. We always point to this person when we're pleased or frustrated with the progress, or lack thereof, of your favorite ball club. But like my Dad, a 30-plus-year football coaching veteran, always says, "Coaching football is not about X's and O's. It's about Jimmy's and Joe's."

When it comes down to it, the players have to make the plays.

But nonetheless, as a Wisconsin football fan am gearing up for the roadie down to "Pasa-THREE-na" at the end of the month, I just had to type down some thoughts on Bret Bielema leaving his post as the head coach of my alma mater's football team, just the third B10 team to do so in the 99-history of the "Granddaddy of them all"  ..

Bielegone!

The departure of former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema brings up a lot of questions and adds even more story lines to what I think is going to turn out to be a pretty intriguing 99th Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO ...

Although the rumor mill in sports can often be misleading, especially for head coaching positions, you can usually count on the name of the person who is eventually going to be hired, will be in the mix of those thrown out for the masses to speculate about.

Most of the time there are ulterior motives that determines why a "source" will bring a name out there. And in a big and cruel twist of irony for me earlier this week, Boise State's head coach Chris Petersen, who seems to always be in the middle of the rumor mill for every big coaching vacancy, was once again mentioned for the Arkansas job. Arkansas' fan site, 'Hog Country', had been pumping up Petersen as the lead candidate for a few days so I finally texted a Boise State fan friend of mine to see if there was any truth to it. The answer was a resounding NO. My buddy told me that the Hog Country editor hated Boise State and had been going out of his way to stir rumors about 'Coach Pete' for a few years now. And then out of left field, Bret Bielema was named the head coach at Arkansas. Welp, irony can be a cruel b**** sometimes. I guess I'll stay out of other team's coaching search rumor mills form now on!

And it's very intriguing to see how two groups of people can look at one man and see completely different things:Arkansas Football: 5 Reasons Bret Bielema Is a Perfect Fit for Razorbacks (by James Brown at bleacherreport.com)

Instant Discipline: Valid / Badgers were second in the B10 in penalty yardage (33.9/game)

Simple Football Philosophy (Running game + stout defense): Valid / I agree it all starts with defense and the running game, buuuuuuut what made the 2011 team so special was one-and-done quarterback Russell Wilson and wide receiver Nick Toon (Al's son) running wild with play passes and that's precisely kept Wisco in the game against Oregon. And I haven't been impressed with Wisconsin offensive coordinator Matt Canada this season (obvious exception being the B10FCG against Nebraska), so I'm interested to see what Coach Bielema

Not Afraid to Take on the Big Dogs: Not Valid / Brown's strongest evidence for this assertion is his media jabbing with Urban Meyer over the summer during a recruiting battle. I'm not sure why this is relevant and quite frankly, Bret came off as fragile and sensitive. I heard rumblings that Coach Bielema was affected by the criticism this season in Madison. If you can't take it Madtown, I'm interested to see how affects him in Fayetteville.

Saban the Last B10 Coach to Leave for SEC: Not Valid / This is where Brown lost me. I'm not quite sure what one thing has to do with the other. Two very different guys and even though both of their respective paths to the SEC included B10 jobs, they couldn't have gotten there any differently. Bielema, of course, hand-picked by retired coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez for his first-ever head coaching job, while Saban took a more 'circuitous' route. He started at Toledo, re-energized the Michigan State program but left amid NCAA sanctions and then went to LSU. I'm not really seeing how this means instant national championships for the 'Bielemonster' in Fayetteville.

Then there's the polar opposite point of view from the Wisconsin fan base written by Ryan Glasspiegel at outkickthecoverage.com. I highlighted what I read as the top five points ...

Clock Management: Valid / Unfortunately, there were multiple situations where the Badgers' two-minute drill was not ran as crisp as possible.

Bielema Took the Money to Leave A Better Situation: Not valid / Who knows what a better situation means to Coach Bielema? There are a multitude of behind-the-scenes factors that we will never know about and speculating about those would be in poor taste as well. There may come a time in your career where you feel that your ceiling has been reached and you don't have any room to grow. If Coach Bielema feels that is the case, then it's best he moves on. I'll say this, if he is looking for a challenge, he'll certainly get one in Arkansas.

Record in Close Games: Valid / Glasspiegel cites an article by Tom Oates in the Wisconsin State Journal Wisconsin's last nine losses have come by a touchdown or less. And it's three wins were Michigan State in the inaugural B10 Championship game as well Northern Iowa and Utah State.

Wisconsin A Better Job than Arkansas: Not Valid / Again, we do not, and never will, know about all of the internal issues Coach Bielema was weighing. Although pay for assistant coaches has surfaced. It is not impossible for people to say the Wisconsin job is better or worse than Arkansas because you don't know the whole situation that Coach Bielema is in. It really comes down to individual preference.

'Good Riddance': Not valid. This phrase has been used all over the internet by my fellow Badger fans. And I will caution you with another adage: "Be careful what you wish for." Not long ago, Michigan fans were happy when Coach Lloyd Carr was let go. We all know how that went and Big Blue is finally starting to regain the form it had under Coach Carr.

As you can hopefully tell by my breakdown of each article, I hope you can tell I'm on the fence about Coach Bielema and will continue to take the middle road. I can understand why he would want to look for another opportunity (without Coach Alvarez and in a really challenging conference), but I also get why Wisconsin fans would be upset (horrible timing and his seemingly anti-SEC stance).

I may be in the minority among my fanbase, but I wish Coach Bielema the best in the future at Arkansas. But now we have that behind us and we now know we will have a 'Wisconsin Man'  as head coach on the sidelines on New Year's Day.

Explaining my Fandom

I don't have to explain anything to you!!! But just in case you were wondering, I thought I would fill you in on why I cheer for particular teams as I wait during halftime of the Badger game. 

Cheering your team on and in turn, talking smack to fans of other teams are two of the most enjoyable aspects of sports. It is tough to describe that feeling of walking into school or the office the morning after a big win! You can't really replicate that with music or sports. You never hear people at work saying "Man, Bon Jovi is going to kick Beck's butt at the Grammy's! I realize they're probably not in the same category, but just roll with me ...

vs.

Wisconsin Badgers: Born and raised in Wisco and graduated from UW-Madison so there you can take it from there ... Why can't they shoot right now BTW? Very frustrating. We cannot lose to UVa. Come on, man! ... Should be an interesting football game on Saturday for the B10 title against Nebraska ... Hopefully Borland and Abrederis will be healthy because I would love to make that 10-hour trip down to LA from SLC again for the Rose Bowl!

Utah Utes: Living in SLC, it is a natural. GO UTES!

Now this is where it gets tricky ... I'm a Wisconsin native, but love Chicago professional sports. Before you ask, "What the hell?", the town I'm from was six miles from the Illinois border and I could make the drive down to Chicago in two hours. So there ... And the most deciding factor was that my dad is a huge fan of all three of these clubs as well, and I have followed in his footsteps.

Chicago Bears: Bear Down! Going to elementary and middle school in Wisconsin was hell when the Pack was winning NFC titles and even a Super Bowl, but it made me a stronger fan in the long run.

Chicago Cubs: Misery loves company so I joined my dad as a 'Loveable Loser'. We Cub fans are an odd sort. Obviously, we're eternal optimists because who the hell would keep coming back for more disappointment season after season, but we are also the most paranoid fan base in pro sports. No one is quicker to say 'Here we go again' faster than Cub fans. I know one thing, when 'it' finally does happen (the Cubs win the World Series for non-sports people), I will be there on Clark Street tipping back a 'tall, cool Budweiser' in the name of Harry Caray.

Chicago Bulls: This organization will always hold a special place in my heart. They '90-91 team that won the NBA title was really the first team I ever got behind and was the first sign to my dad that I was understanding sports. I still remember watching Isiah Thomas and Co. leave the court before Game 4 of the ECF was finished without shaking hands with the Bulls. And one of my dad's favorite memories was of me crying my eyes out while watching a Bulls game against Portland the following year. The Bulls were down big and I thought it was over so I started balling ... but MJ and crew started hitting 3 after 3 and the Bulls came back to pull out the win and good people of Chicago decided to riot. Ahhh, the memories!

  
And like Ron Burgundy would say, "If you don't think these are the greatest teams ever, I will fight you."

- Mike

The A Gap: PUT UP OR SHUT UP

Hey y'all! Welcome to the A-Gap - (what will hopefully become) your essential stop for opinions on professional sports and whatnot! 

Thanks for stopping by (Holy smokes, I want to punch myself in the face for that lame intro.) ... It's Mike DeVine here typing live from my couch in Salt Lake City. I work a lot in a fast-pace environment and don't always get a chance to write for myself so I decided blogging would be the way to go because 140 CHARACTERS CANNOT HOLD ME! (But still go ahead and follow me on Twitter @_MikeDeVine).

Initially I envision this thing to be my own personal soundboard for opinions on professional sports, music, current events, politics, pretty much anything I see fit, but maybe one day I'll be up there with sports blogging giants like EDSBS or In the Bleachers ... SO DON'T WORRY ... I GOT THIS! 

How it began? Basically, my sister Ann just kicked me in the butt to start a blog so here we are ... I fancy myself a pretty good writer and pretty witty at times so why not start a blog. Every nerd in the world "living in their mother's basement" seems to have one, so why not me?

Inspiration of the name? The name of the blog was inspired by football terminology ... the A gap refers to the area between the right and left guards and the center on an offensive line. Success on any play on the gridiron requires success in the A gap. If your guards and centers get blown off the ball, the offense is screwed. If the guards and centers get driven back 5 yards off the line of scrimmage, the offense is going to have the upper hand. Forget the flash of a wide receiver or the flamboyance of a quarterback, the 'A Gap' truly is the first place where games are won or lost (or tied, sometimes I guess).

My hope would be that this blog becomes your first stop for opinions on sports and anything else big happening in the world, so without further ado ... IT'S TIME FOR ME TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

- Mike