Just a Game

The Kanab Cowboys and Parowan Rams have been playing against each other since the beginning of time, it seems.  There is something that is very unique about this so called "rivalry", and it is definitely worth noting.  It has been nearly 70 years since the Rams have outscored the Cowboys in a gridiron grind-out.  Yes, nearly 70 years since the Rams have beaten the Cowboys.  But, there is something stirring in the water this football season that just might become an even more interesting situation.  The new Parowan Football Head Coach, Carter Miller, played college football with Kanab Football Head Coach, Bucky Orton.  Bucky reportedly texted Carter upon hearing about his new job in Parowan with an explicit version of, "Oh, shoot!"  With the implication that the near 70 year streak Kanab has over the Rams may be in jeopardy, especially when it is taken into account that some of the best talent around was part of that Miller-package for the Rams. Things will alw

Much can be said about small-town spirit, and even more can be said about small-town pride.   These two things were key components in bringing some seriously needed talent to Parowan, UT. Carter Miller, former offensive coordinator for the Canyon View High School Falcons football team, has recently been hired to be the head coach and Physical Education teacher at Parowan High School.   The unspoken dilemma surrounding the new coach was not what offense to run, who to have help, who should play quarterback or anything related to any decision that he, himself, needed to make.   The biggest decision that was going to be made was where his two sons, Porter and Hutch, were going to attend school. Porter Miller was a running back and linebacker for the Falcons last year. He ended the season in 2 nd place for total tackles in all of Utah High School Football, and led 3AA in tackles by a large margin, and was a key ingredient to the Falcons’ success in the upcoming season. Hutch Mil

Walking into Parowan High School's gym, you will see what seems to be about a million different lines in all sorts of widths and colors. There are a couple lines that I became very  well acquainted with during my time playing under the reign of Coach Lance Stubbs -- a firm believer in the fact that physical conditioning breeds mental toughness, as well as physical stamina.  At the end of each practice, the whole team would see a small glimmer in his eye and the whistle slowly raise to his lips as the time for sprints was upon us.  With a voice that needed no added effort to resonate through the nearly-empty gym, he piped the word, "baseline".  A few suppressed sighs later, the entire team was line up on the baseline, ready to hear what Coach Stubbs had in mind.  He would either say "sprint" or "ladder".  With one of the team managers on the clock to make sure every teammate was finished in the allotted time, away we went on the blow of the whistle.  Re

While playing for a public-school team may be relatively easy, since all that is needed is to attend the school and try out for the team; playing for a club team is a little different.  First of all, it is generally more expensive.  The travel fees, tournament fees, food, coaching staff and refereeing is all payed for by those who belong to the club and/or sponsors. The costs of these organizations are seen as an investment since the college coaches are  coaching  during the regular high school season and are much more likely to be able to watch a player in action during the off-season, or club-ball season. One of the most popular institutions in the “club ball” world is the Amateur Athletic Union. There is a lot of debate when it comes to AAU sports between professional athletes and coaches.   Former NBA star, Kobe Bryant, who is an open critic of AAU sports, said, “I hate it because it doesn't teach our players how to play the right way.  It's just a showcase.” Many othe

Without a doubt, some of the most popular names in baseball have been tossed around in some form of steroid debate.  Major League Baseball is famous for athletes using performance-enhancing drugs to boost their numbers and effectiveness on the field.  But the question circling in the minds of many is: Should these players should be allowed into the Hall of Fame? There is a quote that goes something like this: "Take any baseball player and put him in any other sport and they will compete. Take any other athlete and throw him a 95 MPH fastball and they won't touch it." The point being that hitting a flying ball of string at 95 MPH is nearly impossible.  Do it day after day, year after year, with injury, with a crowd watching, with a chance of it hitting you in the face --  That is outright amazing! Whether or not these guys broke these records using steroids, they still broke the records against the best players in the world.  I still think it is amazing. The debate sti

The question that seems to be injected into every single sports debate following the 2017 NBA Finals is whether or not the “super-team” trend is hurting or helping the NBA.  From what used to be a funny trick to play on your friends while playing video games has become a reality in that there are teams who are STACKED with talent . This year, Kevin Durant and Andre Igoudala joined Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymon Greene and the rest of the Golden State Warriors with the result of an NBA Title.  A few years back, Lebron James left Cleveland to join Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen on the Miami Heat.  That team also won a pair of titles. More and more often there are superstars joining superstars, going “title-chasing”, and that is where it hits the fan.  Is this good? Is this bad?  What if a team doesn’t have money to afford to pay these players, should they just pack up and go home?  Is this just a fad? Or is this going to be the new norm? There are a few things that I

High school can be some of the best, and some of the worst times in a person’s life.   Sometimes it is both!   But one thing that ought to come to everybody’s mind when they hear about high school is opportunity .   All too often there are people who miss this, who overlook it, who take it for granted and who mistake it for a burden.   Not often enough, however, is this great stage of opportunity capitalized upon, and turned into a spring-board to catapult one into something bigger and better than themselves.   That is exactly what Southern Utah University Volleyball player, Rylee Rogers, has done for herself. When asked what motivated her to go from being a high school athlete to a college athlete, she claimed that it was the motivation and inspiration given by her mother.   “She always taught me to be a team player.   She taught me to make sure that the team looks good before you make yourself look good.   I feel like that might be lost these days, especially when you are tryi

Have you ever bought what looked like a big box of candy (my preference would be something like Milk Duds or Skittles) and walked out of the store with your mouth watering only to find that this “big” box just holds a little tiny bag of that favorite candy you just paid for?   Disappointment, frustration, anger, even a loss of appetite. This is how I feel when I clear an evening to watch the NBA All-Star Game. There are a few things that are fundamentally wrong with this game and the advertisement that is surrounding it.   There is something even more wrong with the people who pay so much to go and worship a group of athletes who half-try in a competition against the “best in the world”.   But, if you were one of the players in this game, and there was next to nothing to gain for winning, and everything to lose if you get hurt, who could blame you for not playing hard and putting on a good display of effort and skill.   And how many players have fallen off the wagon completely a

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- After scoring a monster 86 points in the first half on Friday, June 9th, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to defeat the Golden State Warriors in game 4 of the NBA Finals by a final score of 137-116. The Cav's point guard Kyrie Irving put up a walloping 40 points as he and LeBron James led the way to victory.  An important note to make is that the Cavs had three of the top five leading scorers in this game four matchup with Kyrie, LeBron and Kevin Love all scoring more than 20 points and combining for 94 points altogether. The usually handle-savvy Warriors turned the ball over 12 times and recorded only 5 steals while giving up 11 offensive rebounds.  When basketball is considered a game of possessions, it is hard to overlook these statistics and not attribute them to a key factor in this loss for the Warriors. A major statistic that may boggle some minds is that the Cavaliers recorded 24 three-pointers, while the Warriors recorded only 11.  Normally those

At the beginning of each summer there is a youth baseball tournament held in Beaver, Utah.  To my knowledge, it started not more than 5 years ago, and so I was never able to play in this tournament when I was of age!  Nevertheless, I was able to live vicariously through my little brother, Max Topham. Teams from Southern Utah and Eastern Nevada were competing in the 2017 tournament, which ended on Saturday, June 10th. The Moapa Valley Pirates were able to take the 14 and under championship, leaving my hometown Parowan Rams with nothing but a sunburn and a 2-2 record.  Despite the losses, I still was filled with the sweet feeling of when I used to play in baseball tournaments.   There are a few things that I deem necessary when playing or attending these events, and the most important one to me is a bag of sunflower seeds.  I am not sure what started this tradition among the players and fans of baseball, but I am grateful for the innovation!  There is something that is utterly

Because this blog will be mostly coming from a fantastical basis, and the prompt was not contrived by myself, I will take the liberty of making the most of this day dream (or dream day) by changing some things about the athletic department here at Southern Utah University. If you have read any of my earlier posts, it would be clear that I grew up playing baseball.  In fact, it is my favorite sport.  My grandfather and I would show up nice and early on the crisp Saturday mornings at SUU's baseball field in Cedar City, Utah.  Watching both teams go through their warm-up routine was exhilarating and filled my whole body with a desire to one day play on that very same field, wearing that very same black and red Thunderbirds jersey. Sipping a Pepsi and eating sunflower seeds, we would sit behind the guy with the radar gun who was keeping track of how fast each pitch was coming in.  Every time that radar gun registered a pitch that was over 90 mph I would turn and grin and m

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Parowan High School Rams defeat Snow Canyon High School Warriors in Utah Summer Games Boys Basketball, 56-54.  Though the final score was close and the game threatened to go into overtime, the Warriors had to battled back from an early 15-0 deficit. Riding on the upperclassmen leadership of Porter Miller and Porter Wood, the Rams hung onto their lead with the support of a slew of underclassmen.  The Junior and Senior, Wood and Miller, combined for a total of 32 of the teams 56 points.  While the Warriors received more help from a larger variety of their players, with Ryan Choate collecting 17 of the total 54 points, they were not able to top off their comeback. Porter Miller, the Rams senior forward, made mention of how the Warriors efforts increased as the game proceeded, "We came out really hot and played great defense, but towards the end of the first half, their offense really started to click." The Warriors leading scorer, Ryan Choate, also ment

One thing that I have always loved about sports is the great life lessons that can be learned while engaging myself in them.  It is my personal opinion that this is the reason why people should take sports seriously.  Not for the winning itself, but for the mental and emotional resilience gained through battling against adversity in the sporting environment.  Setting sports aside, there are many ways to come to know how to deal with lives predicaments and still “keep your head in the game”. Tim Tebow is one who seems to have this game of life figured out.  He has managed to not only keep his family tradition of spirituality alive in his own life, but has made it one of his most conspicuous characteristics in the mosaic of his personality.  From motivational and key note speaking, to writing books, to traveling around the world performing service projects in third world countries— Tim Tebow undoubtedly has his eyes set on the big picture. Tim Tebow uses sports to support hi

When I turned fourteen my mother took me to the local Hill Sports sporting goods store.  She told me that I could pick out whatever baseball mitt I wanted, and my eyes immediately shot to the top shelf where all of the most expensive baseball mitts were on display.  I had been researching the best leathers, styles, and sizes of mitts for a few weeks and I knew the exact one I wanted the moment my gaze landed on it. The Nokona AMG 1150, a.k.a. " The  American Glove".  Not daring to take any of the tags off for a few weeks, I began to break in the mitt exactly how I wanted it to work.  I drilled a hole into an old baseball and stuck the longest screwdriver my dad had right into it so that I could start pounding and softening the leather.  I had the nicest glove leather conditioner I could find and spread the sweet smelling ointment over ever bit of the surface of the glove.  Next, I would place two baseballs in a specific spot and let it sit all night.  In the morning I would w

Amber Lee once posted on Bleacherreport.com : "There are more women holding prominent positions in the sports media today than ever before. Some have already found unprecedented success, while many others are stars on the rise who are just getting started." If anyone is up to date on current sports writing or reporting, then they will surely be able to recall hearing from a woman in these venues.  The reason is that it is no longer 1977 .  I feel like the issue of women sports reporters not being treated as equals has been pounded into the ground so deeply, and fertilized by evidence so well that it is finally a flourishing tree.  The first fruit is beginning to ripen and fall.  I disagree with this article that was written by A. Big Country , in which was claimed that the sexism battle for women sports reporters was far from over.  Every case that this guest blogger was referring to didn't happen even after 1990!  Those were old problems.  The main concern amongs

When dealing with legislation, rules, regulations, policies, laws, bylaws, treaties, agreements, terms, etc. It is easy to get burned out, throw hands in the air, and give up.  It is easy to just go ahead and let someone else who is smarter and better qualified deal with the problem. Many sports fans today feel this way when it comes to athletes and mainstream media's use of social media and the policies surround this vast jungle. Ohio State and Clemson Universities met in the NCAA college football playoffs in December of '16.  There was many factors that caused the great buzz regarding this game, and one factor was the social media battle  that persisted between the two teams before and after the game.  Things were said that many argue should never have been said.  Things that cannot be undone, and that are adding to the already complex lives of those student athletes and their respective teams.  One thing that may have helped in the events leading up to th

Among the most popular people on social media are today's star athletes.  For instance, world famous soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has over 51 million Twitter followers .  That's similar to the entire country of South Korea following him on Twitter!  Needless to say, if Ronaldo wants to get a piece of information to his fans, he can do so with a few strokes of the fingers and he has the world's attention. But what about athletes who do not use social media? Why do they not use it, and how does it effect their personal and professional lives? The truth is, I am not aware of any professional athletes that do not participate in social media.  This is an aspect that has permeated our lives, and for very good reason.  There are very many cases where athletes have ruined their image and/or their teams reputation through the usage of various social media platforms. Here are just a few reasons that professional athletes need to have a (well-monitored) social medi

The question that one may ask while reading or viewing the tabloids on the recent scandal involving a famous athlete or coach is the same one that this post is titled after.  What is so interesting about the lives, or perhaps the seemingly hidden lives of those that we see running, jumping, and swimming on the biggest stages in their respective realms? For those who study communication, it is common knowledge that social interaction is one of mankind's basic needs .  This is how we develop our own perception of self, especially when we are exposed to what the media and "insiders" of the game portray as perfect.  This is called framing.  When just a piece of an artifact is isolated and magnified to alter the image.  Framing can go both ways, and so can our reasoning for paying attention to the blunders of athletic wonders. Individuals enjoy sifting through the many stories of the decisions and consequences that their favorite athletes.  People like seeing othe

The image of a "fan", which is simply an abbreviation of the word "fanatic" , used to look like this picture above.  Becoming more prevalent each year in the world of sports is the mode of fandom termed "Fantasy Leagues".  Any sports fan will know what this is, and maybe even what the new fantasy fan may look like! The truth is that this is what the sports fan is turning into.  But it may come with a cost! That is one reason why so many states are now considering how appropriate it is for fantasy sports team owners to bet on their fantasy teams, or for leagues to require a fee upon entering into a draft.  There are four commonly acknowledged types of fantasy fans that have been identified. Statistical enthusiasts, fan-first, homers, and social players. These will not be described in detail, but it will suffice to say that these are all based on satisfying an individuals various needs through fantasy sports league play. I would

The best way to to handle mistakes, in my opinion, is to take full responsibility.  As with many things in life there will be exceptions.  But when it comes to sports, there is a lot of money involved.  Baylor University Athletics earns  over $67 ,  and recently there has been a whole revelation of news and reports revealing multiple sexual assaults committed by Baylor football players.   This has hurt the current image of this university. I have become familiar with William Benoit's  5 strategies to repairing or improving an image.  Personally, as I stated earlier, I think that it is most effective to fess up and take responsibility for whatever it was that was done. But, this will bring in the full load of consequences and many people may still have very hard feelings. This strategy is called "mortification" .   The head coach of the Baylor football team is named Art Briles, and was fired after the information came out concerning his players charges.  The vid

Today, SGB Media  released an article stating that the NSGA (National Sporting Goods Administration) joined the PCA (Positive Coaching Alliance) in promoting team sports for youth. This partnership was made for the intent to show the "NSGA's interest in increasing team sports participation and keeping youth participants active" (sgbonline.com).  The PCA is an association of coaches that promote what is called positive coaching . This coaching style is a theory-based approach to building a successful team while maintaining a high level of player-confidence.  It is quite different from the traditional "chew 'em out" approach to coaching. Instead of imposing pressure and punishments, positive coaching builds the players from the inside-out with confidence and positive communication.  Phil Jackson coaching Michael Jordan (top) and Kobe Bryant (bottom). Positive coaching is not only useful in coaching youth. Phil Jackson (one of the most succes

Many families are famous because of the sports they have been involved in. One family has been talked about a lot  recently, and that is the Ball family from Chino Hills, California.  With three boys who are close in age and in talent, there is a lot of hype surrounding them.  What really gets me excited to watch them in the future is how they are all very different.  I believe their father has fostered this element of individuality by promoting autonomy with all of his sons, allowing them to become the types of players that they want.  It is obvious that their father has influenced them, and they have adopted a similar attitude, but they have not let this consume them and turn them into bad sports. I believe they truly play the game because they love it and enjoy the challenge.  This video gives a little inside look to the Ball family. All too often, parents are pressuring their kids to conform to their ideals and dreams.  I don't see this in the Ball Family. You see a fa

February is commonly known as "Black History Month". In that vein, I would like to base the thoughts of this week's post.  The Undefeated 44 is a website that is dedicated to 44 of the most influential Black Americans in history, many of which are athletes.  In a time where there is an increasing amount of discussion on the topic of crimes committed due to race, it is no surprise to me that this is in the forefront of most American's minds.  With websites and months being dedicated to the "differences" or "diversity" of our nation, it does not surprise me that the stereotypes and mindsets are lingering.  It seems as though, in the efforts to destroy the segregated mindset, we are establishing it.  I have learned of a theory that allows the media to determine what we think about.   Even though we may not agree with whatever article we are reading, it is still bringing the issue to our minds to be debated on a later occasion in which our opinion may

Young fan is revitalized by the Seahawks: http://www.king5.com/sports/nfl/seahawks/12th-man-flag-flying-high-for-hospitalized-hawks-fan/385359114 After watching this video and reading up a little bit more on the story, it is nearly impossible to miss the fact that this young man would say that one major character trait he possesses is a love for the Seattle Seahawks.  What is even more impressive and shocking is the fact that the team he adores saved the day with just a simple gesture!  For those of you who don't know, "the 12th man" is a trademarked term for the Seattle Seahawks home crowd.  When they are playing at home, it is said that the crowd is so loud, it is like there is an extra (or twelfth) player on the field for the Seahawks.  Seahawk fans know this and that just feeds the beast, giving them all the more reason to be louder. The reason for this post, and what I find inspiring and motivating, is that the young man who was wounded last month was saved by

Hey readers, I am Jake Topham, friends call me Jakey-T (sometimes). I hail from the small town of Paragonah, Utah, and I am not ashamed to admit that there are more dogs than people in my hometown. I attended Parowan High School which was about 5 miles away from home, and I was a student-athlete. I was an all-state football and baseball player, drummer, and yo-yoer.  After high school I left home for 2 years and went to Montana to serve my church (LDS) and since returning in August of 2016 I have been married, and began attending Southern Utah University. I am in a Sports Communication class that is going to teach me many different theories and concepts relating to communication in sports. That is what I intend to post a lot about in this blog. I really love sports, and they have changed my life for many different reasons, now I get to learn why they did! Come back each Thursday for weekly post where I will tell you about what I learned and apply it to a major sports story. Thank you