Laramie-bound with a Gator

Greetings from somewhere along I-80 in Wyoming.

Dick and I are traveling in a rental car through Wyoming for tomorrow’s game in Laramie with a Gator from China.

Let me explain. Chen Wang, a Deseret News photographer who is doing an internship with the paper, is a native of China and is currently a student at the University of Florida (Gators). He’s living in Utah for four months for his internship. Dick and I had never met him until today, but he’s a great guy. In fact, he’s serving as the driver for this stretch of I-80 while Dick and I get some work done. Much appreciated.

While filing some stories for tomorrow’s paper, I had some quotes from coach Bronco Mendenhall that I’ll pass along. He made these comments after practice on Wednesday and I understand that the sports talk radio stations have been talking about them.

Mendenhall was asked if he can sense how his team will play before a game.

“I am wrong most of the time. I never know. I sit in the locker room and I look, and I have no idea,” Mendenhall said. “I can usually tell from practice, if they are prepared or not, and really, interesting enough the games I have been the most confident in, really haven’t gone the way I thought. So to say that I know what is going to happen, I never know. I don’t know if we are going to win big, or lose big, or anything in between. I don’t know.”

Mendenhall said he usually is optimistic about the outcome because of his team’s preparation. But he’s been wrong before. After the TCU game, he said he thought his team had one of its best weeks of practice since he’s been at BYU.

Mendenhall was also asked about motivating his team during a game.

“I think that once the game starts that we can make schematic changes, but I don’t think I can change the motivation, I don’t think I can change how hard they play. Nor do I think I can inspire them to be something they are not prepared to be. They prepare well, and all I try to do, and what my goal is that I don’t have to say anything and can just watch the game because they are prepared in that manner. I don’t think I can change the players’ motivation or desire level on that day.”

What do you think about Mendenhall’s motivational tactics, or lack thereof?