Manase Tonga, one of BYU's most experienced running backs, has been suspended from the University for academic reasons. He can re-apply for admission in October which means he won't be eligible to play in this upcoming season. Sounds like he is going redshirt.
How does that happen? How, going into your senior year, do you end up academically ineligible? I'm not going to blame the coaching staff. This guy is an adult and the blame should fall squarely on his shoulders. He is going into his senior season, on probably the best team BYU has had in over a decade, in what is turning into the most anticipated season by fans and players alike, and he gets suspended. Come on dude, college isn't that hard and if it is you have a million resources available to you to help you get through.
So what does the loss of Tonga mean? I have heard and hope the reports are true that BYU is loaded at the running back position. Bronco is confident that he has guys that will step in and take this opportunity and make the most of it. Despite the depth at the position, I still think that the Cougs will be losing some much needed senior leadership along with the great blocking ability that Tonga brought to the backfield.
I don't believe Tonga is a make-or-break loss that will determine the outcome of the season. I think he will be missed, but the team will move on without him and I believe will still be dang good. It's a shame though for him that he won't be able to play this season. At least it happened plenty early so the cougs can prepare through fall camp without him.
Side Notes:
-Pirate Motor Sports went 1-1 tonight. I had more errors than I did good plays. My last two at bats were fouls caught by the third baseman. It pretty much sucked. I don't remember being this frustrated playing softball dating back to the days of playing Co-ed softball up at USU. Back then it was a different kind of frustration, but frustration none the less.
I'm reminded of the game when Dustin dropped the ball out in the outfield and instead of picking it up he through his glove down and unleashed a verbal sequence of 4-letter words towards the ball that to this day has never been rivaled nor probably ever will be. All this while the guy rounded the bases and scored giving them the win. I still remember how shocked Heidi Merrill was. She couldn't believe that Big D, having a mouth like that, had actually served a mission with her brother. She didn't appreciate Dustin's profane poetry like we all did.
Or, how about losing to Shaw's co-ed team every time we played them? It wasn't so bad losing to Shaw, but having to put up with the smack talk from Jimmy was more than frustrating. He was the worst player on the team including the girls but was still the most vocal. As hard as we tried Warf Rat could never get the win to shut him up.
-Kobe says he is going to play in game #5 even with the back pain. I'm sure he'll still do his thing. I hope we don't end up with another story like the time MJ pulled himself out of the grave to score 40+ against the Jazz in the finals while suffering from the flu. If we're lucky a crippled Kobe will continue to take a lot of shots and shoot his team right out of the game.
6 comments:
You would have won if you had Schmidt there. But then again, I'm biased.
Schmidty should have got better grades then he wouldn't be academically ineligible. He brings a leadership to this team that is going to be missed. Luckily we have some real depth at the pitcher position. Travis and Worm have stepped in and done a great job.
Not to mention the stellar play of Tikes at Shortstop. So what if I can't throw it to Butters? I still made the play and we threw him out at 2nd.
Throwing is overrated anyways.
At least you made the play. I never fielded one cleanly to even have the chance of throwing someone out.
We're going to meet down at the fields this Saturday at 9:00am if you and your brothers are interested in throwing the ball around.
Tonga just wants to be here for Beck's senior season. Thats when the real magic is going to happen. Just kidding.
I must not have been present for Dustin's verbal explosion on the Softball field although I've probably seen and heard things from Dustin that rival it. Like him "kicking his own ass" and then proceeding to fall flat on his back while drinking a beverage of choice straight above his head and losing his balance.
The only reason Shaw's team would beat us is because he had that Curtis girl and a few others that could actually play. When you're trying to field a team with the Vargy girls and the like you can't expect to win many games. Speaking of Shaw we need to get that kid on this page. Later!!!
I've tried to get Shaw on here. Maybe he'll grace us with his presence one of these days.
It had to been the girls that made the difference. We all know that we were ten times the players that Shaw, Wolfley and Jimmy were. (I'll take the opportunity to talk some smack since Shaw isn't here to defend himself)
Kevin's not the only athlete in the Curtis family. Carolee was one heck of a softball player, even better than most the guys on the team. How come no one ever asked her out?
You were there for Dustin's rant. It must have been more memorable for me. I'm sure Brett remembers it. Between kicking his own @#$ and clapping his %^&&* (trying to keep it family friendly) Dustin kept us pretty entertained.
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