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Speaker 1: Ben Kretel, and it's time for the Cougar Beat getting

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the dish from the local reporters that cover Cougar athletics.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back Ruger Sports one of three nine ninety eight

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point three ESPN the fan. I've been titter broadcasting from

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our Vanderwelth Studios Vanderwealth dot com. Get on a free

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q and a no obligation to invest q anda where

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their tax more wealth advisors certify financial planners.

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Speaker 1: It is time for little Cougar.

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Speaker 2: Beat going to get into the minds the Here from

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the voicers that have been covering the BYU Cougar football team,

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basketball teams and doing profiles on them. It's going to

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All right, let's get out to the hotline. Welcome in

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tad walch of the Desrat News Tat, How the heck

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are you?

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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us.

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Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Ben, How are you doing great?

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Speaker 1: Man?

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Speaker 2: All is well in Cougar Country for me. Man, it's

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a great football season. It's becoming a great basketball season.

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It's the holiday season. I got an attitude of gratitude,

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feeling blessed today.

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Speaker 1: Man, How that are you? How's the fan?

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Speaker 3: That's awesome. It's great where our sons live in Colorado

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and we're going out there for Christmas next week. So

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things are well.

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Speaker 2: Boom shaka laka. I'm glad all is well in your world.

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Well you've been you know, Dad, you cover a number

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of things. You covered news and for the Church of

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Jesus Christ, Lattery Saints. I think you've filed many news

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stories over the years for the on the Olympics, NBA Finals,

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the Vatican. And you also cover a number of stores

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coming out of BYU as it relates to athletics and sports.

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And look I caught up with you at the Kilani

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Stake press conference, and I thought the article you wrote

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was tremendous.

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Speaker 1: Mission over Money.

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Speaker 2: It's entitled the inside story of Why Klonie Satake chose

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b Why you over penn State. What was your thesis

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here and what did you delve into in this particular

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piece hat.

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Speaker 3: Oh great, great, Yeah, that was a really great opportunity

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to talk to Kilani, and uh, the idea was just

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to show uh that while Kilani wanted was looking for

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you know, uh, some some increase in pay, the real

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the real thing he was that he is motivated by

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his boy's mission. And so the story talks about, uh,

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the importance of the school's mission and religious mission to

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him and why he wanted to stay. And my favorite

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quote in the whole story was when he said football's

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cool when the gospel's in it.

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Speaker 1: Love that. Yeah, it's uh.

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Speaker 2: I feel like Shane Rees's comments, you know, via Keith Vokey,

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the VP of Advancement, were quite telling. And I've talked

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about this a lot. I used to call Lavelle Edwards

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the thirteenth Apostle. You know, he spoke at the devotional

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spoke at general conference. He's kind of this extension of

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the church. He's the ambassador of b YU and Klane

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in many ways. Is that too, Shane Reese, I think

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stated that in many ways Colone is the face of BYU,

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and that's an academic institution, a spiritual, moral, ethical institution,

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as well as an athletic institution. And I thought that

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was interesting.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was I thought that was an extremely telling

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set of comments from the president. You know, when he

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calls Klannie someone who you couldn't ask for a better

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exemplar of the christ centered values for which BAU stands,

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that is that is really how church leaders see him,

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how university administrators see him, and I think it's how

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people see him also in the football world. You know,

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he's this great ambassador who can be out. You know

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that ESPN loves to show dancing in the end zone

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before games for the fans, and who coaches regularly say

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after games on broadcasts and in press conferences, in radio appearances,

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in media availabilities leading up to games that he's someone

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who's genuine and that they have deep respect for. And

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I think that kind of ambassadorship is is pretty invaluable

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for both the church and the university.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what what is it that you wonder.

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Speaker 2: I think we've talked about this before, like you know,

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the mission of the church, the mission of bu Yu,

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and the mission of BYU athletics and how they all

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interweave in ALIGNE give me your your your perspective on

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that and what role maybe Killani's playing in those missions

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to create alignment between the university and the church.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, great question we have. I remember we've talked about that.

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We talked about sports being the front porch of a university,

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and in this case, Uh, that leads to a window

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also to the church. So the church clearly wants people

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to understand what its beliefs are, that it stands for

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believing in Jesus Christ, believing in kindness, in peacemaking, cooperation,

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and Kilane embodies all of those those values and characteristics

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and they and you know by U's mission is to

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mix faith and reason in every thing that is studied.

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As Brigham Young he told UH Carl Carl G. Maser

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when he asked him to start the school, you shouldn't

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study anything without faith in it. And so to mix

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those missions in the classroom would require an athletic program

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that mixes those missions on the field and on the court,

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and you know BYU now is known for that. I

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think especially in the last few years where you had

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Jake Retzlaf, a Jewish quarterback and now Bart Bachmeyer a

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Catholic quarterback, and the and they say that their faith

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has been enhanced while they've been able to attend classes

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and play for the Cougars. And that's what Kilani says

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is he wants to bring people here who have faith

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and help them build on that faith even more while

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they're here, whatever that faith may be.

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Speaker 2: Tad Waltz des red News here on ESPN the Fan.

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I remember Bronco tried to do something similar, but I

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don't think he got as much much traction, you know,

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and I wonder what changed. I don't know if you

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ever covered Bronco men at all, but he called the

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student athletes the flag bearers of the university, right, they

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were the ones going out and really flag bearing, you know,

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the university and has an extensor to that, maybe the

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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He started

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firesides where it was centered on discipleship.

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Speaker 1: I spoke at many of them. We're sang armies of Heliman.

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Speaker 2: He got a lot of criticism for from maybe the

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more secular side of the media, and I don't know

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how much traction really got with the board of trustees.

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What do you think has changed over the years in

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that regard.

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Speaker 3: You know, that's such an interesting question because I kind

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of raised that with Kilani a little bit and he

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pushed back on me because he feels like Lavelle instigated

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instituted this really faith based culture in the BA football program,

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and Kilani believes it's been unabated since then. Now, Yeah,

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I think the Bronco thing is very interesting. I have

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interviewed him a few times, covered him a little bit,

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and I find him to be a fascinating character and

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I you know, I've read his book and I think

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he's genuine. But there was something about some members of

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the media here in Provo, and I think nationally who

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who struggled with the way that he presented the messages.

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I think others were fine with it. I think players

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from some a lot of players embraced it. I think

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a lot of UH fans did uh.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: The firesides were incredibly well attended and UH powerful. So

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it was just an interesting character study almost in the

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way that he related to the media and and they

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to him, and that created some of these these interesting narratives.

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Some of the ways that he just praised things, I

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think for some people were struggle uh uh. I don't

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know that I can nail down exactly why. But with

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Kilane there's something about his uh humility, the way he

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presents himself. I think that seems to make people feel

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at ease. Now, he can be a tough guy, but

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when when needed, as could level, but he he does

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have just this humility and and to have someone like

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Deon Sanders talked about him as as genuine and a

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close friend, to have you know, the similar feelings from

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the Texas Tech coach and and others Joey McGuire and

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post game, Yeah, it's really fascinating because he has that

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same kind of level of respect across the coaching community

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that Lavell had, uh, you know, from from fairly early

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in his career, at least by the time the National

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Championship had happened, and then thereafter he was in big

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positions in the Coaches Association and just well loved. And

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I think Kilani's clearly in that same space today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I would totally agree with him.

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Speaker 2: I think, you know, it's something that I've talked about

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on the show before, and I don't know if we've

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ever discussed it, but I think one thing that Lavelle

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changed within the program that had temporal and spiritual benefits

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nineteen seventy.

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Speaker 1: Two when he took over.

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Speaker 2: Up to that point, most of the coaches advised the

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student athletes to not go on missions and to just

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play sport. Lavelle actively forcefully encouraged go serve a mission

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and look look at the temporal and spiritual blessings that

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came forth from it.

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Speaker 1: All I'm saying is it came to.

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Speaker 2: Pass, baby, and it came to pass just a lot

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of greatness. And I don't know the Gary croten era

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all that well, right, I know some of the things

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that occurred, some greatness and some some some down down years.

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But I do think, uh, you know, Bronco did a

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great job. And I do, to your point, believe that

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Kilate as he just articulates the message of discipleships, he

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does it in such a way that it connects with

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us emotionally, mentally, spiritually in a different way than others

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have tried to do it. When he talks discipleship and

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in in a way and talks about the Church's Christ,

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the Lattery Saints, and he bears testimony of the impact

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of athletics uh on, Like you know, the university and

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the surrounding people that come in contact with it. There's

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so many positive fruits that come from and he just

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he does a really really, really effective job of of

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rallying people around that messaging.

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Speaker 1: He's just unique in that way.

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Speaker 3: He really is. He just has this incredible personality that

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is so genuine about family. You know, when he has

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his dad there with him on the sideline at all times.

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I mean, you just can't get away from how important

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family is to him. Talks about his wife regularly, his kids.

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He's family oriented. When he talks about his assistant coaches

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and the things that they have, their time commitments and

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things like that. He's so so real about his faith.

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I mean, his devotional that he gave at BYU in

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the spring was a remarkable moment. And through this process

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of whether he would stay or go, you know, having

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covered that devotional and written about it, I thought I

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thought he would stay because the message, the messages that

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he has shared with me since I first met him

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when he was a freshman in nineteen ninety three through

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to that devotional now and beyond his love for this

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university and that combination of faith in football here in

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Probo is something that you know, it's just in his blood.

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And if BYU could make it what he needed it

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to be in terms of feeling uh loved and appreciated

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and appropriately paid, not at the top of the scale,

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but but where it's a good, reasonable place, then then

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this is where he's gonna be. He just you know,

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I love I love when he talks about the story

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about how his dad would drive them up to the

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stadium when he was a little boy and they didn't

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have money even to get tickets then when they were

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much cheaper, and they would sit outside the stadium and

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listen to the radio and listen to the roar of

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the crowd to know what was happening. And he's that

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kind of a b YU fan. So it's pretty remarkable.

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Speaker 1: He no, he is, He's very remarkable.

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Speaker 2: Tad Walsh uh des Red News here on ESPN The Fan.

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You've also recently dropped an article that that focused on LJ.

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Speaker 1: Martin, Right, LJ.

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Speaker 2: Martin blasting his way towards the top of the list

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of BYU workhorse legends. Were you able to sit down

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with LJ. What makes him so unique and singular on

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and off the football field?

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Speaker 3: Would you say, Okay, so this is a great Yeah,

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this is a great little story. So I was set

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up to talk to LJ the night of the announcement

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that Klannie was staying, and the media availability was canceled

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that night because of the press conference for Kilanie, and

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you know, they had Chase Roberts speak at that and

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Tanner Wall. But I didn't get to talk to LJ

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for that story. But in that so I asked, you

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want to know, I asked for some help to find

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a former running back, and Curtis Brown was willing to

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talk to me about what it's like to be a

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running back at this level. And it was really interesting

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to me because he brought this perspective that the Big

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twelve is a much more bruising experience than the Mountain

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West Conference was for him as a running back. And

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Curtis was one of the workhorses back in the day

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when he was playing, and he says he talked about

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getting beat up, but he said, I'm just amazed by

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what Lj's doing because he says, first of all, LJ

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is much bigger and stronger and you know, a higher

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level recruit and better athlete than I was. But he

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but he's also taking a bigger beating because of the

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level of competition be what he plays now week in

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and week out. And that was really interesting to listen to.

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The thing that I wanted to talk to LJ about

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was what it's like to get pushed around in those

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piles because again, those big bodies, that wasn't a thing

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that was done as much when Curtis Brown was playing, right,

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and now to have you know, nine hundred twelve hundred

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and fifteen hundred pound of the people pushing you and

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falling on top of you at the end of plays,

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that's got to take take a toll as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about. LJ is a unique player, man.

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Speaker 2: He's a big, big, extremely like just fleet of foot

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and just great body control, running back, runs behind his

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pads and has great vision and he's a great he's

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a great human off the field too, like we caught

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up with him yesterday on our show and just a

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great human, just raised well and his story to BYU

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was very unique. So Tad what else you got cooking

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for us at the Desertight News. What are you going

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to be working on? What are you going to be

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publishing here shortly in the days to come. I know

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you're going to be taking some vak, which is well deserved.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, great question. So I have also done a little

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bit of basketball. I wrote a big profile of AJ

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debantsa a couple of weeks ago, went out and covered

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the game in Boston and went back to the the academy,

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the school that he went to kind of junior high

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early high school year, and that really helped me tell

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a story that's kind of focused through his parents a

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little bit, Ace and Chelsea. So that's something that I

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hope people will still want to go back and read.

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And in the coming days, I've got a story coming

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about what I'm going to call the AJ Effect, and

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that is how how immediately after he committed to BYU,

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Chris Burgess and you know the rest of the staff

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there in the basketball program in the athletic department started

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talking with ESPN and others about the schedule that they

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would play this year and how you know, AJ affected

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that schedule and allowed So you know, to me, there's

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two two premises.

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Speaker 1: One is.

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Speaker 3: AJ allowed b Yu to schedule bigger competition, better competition,

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and two, b Yu had an obligation to AJ to

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do that when he decided to come here. And so

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those are the things I'm going to explore.

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Speaker 1: And that's love that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate these profiles. And look, I have debates

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sometimes with individuals about whether or not byo Athletics is

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an ambassadorial tool for good to introduce people to the

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fruits of the faith.

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Speaker 1: What would you be your conclusion on that?

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Speaker 2: Right when you're interacting with these not LDS players, but

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then also as they go out and represent and bring

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them you on university, what would you be your conclusion

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or conversation about that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's an interesting question. So yeah, I did recently

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publish a story too about BYU's ice cream diplomacy where

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they hand out the ice creams to the opposing fans

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at the end of the first quarter of football games,

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and how that is literally one in the same program

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as the food drive tailgate parties that they do at

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away games and the way they try and tie into

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some of the good that's being done in those areas.

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And to me, that's a way that helps create an

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even more clear message about what it is that that

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BA football players are supposed to represent and to become

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while they're at school and playing for the university, but

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also then in the community in the future. And that

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was one reason why it was fun to talk to

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Curtis Brown, because here's a guy who's living in Fresno,

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California and coaching sixth grade kids in football and working

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in the pharmaceutical sales industry and is a good representative

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of the things that BYU values and wants to feed

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the world with. And so I think all of those

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things do combine to help provide ways for the church

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to show what its mission is, display it in real

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lives and in real impacts, and I think it I

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think people are seeing that, especially as Boy's profile is

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raised in the Big twelve and in these big seasons,

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that football and basketball are.

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Speaker 2: Having tad best way to support you What you do,

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how you do it?

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Speaker 3: For all of our listeners, Yeah, come to desert at

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dot com, download the app, sign up for my weekly

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newsletter about called Church Beat, about the Church of Jesus

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Christ and the Latter day Saints and what's happened that week.

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I always have an interesting, hopefully take on something that's

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been going on in the news around the church. And

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I would love to see you in all those avenues.

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Speaker 1: Love it, Tad. We appreciate you.

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Speaker 2: Love talking with you about these topics, from sports to

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spirituality and the mission of the church. I love that

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I can chat with you about this not all I

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like to discuss those things with me.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate that you do.

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Speaker 3: Hey, I sure do.

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Speaker 2: Ben.

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Speaker 3: I look forward to seeing you again and talking with

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you again.

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Speaker 1: Thanks.

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Speaker 2: You have happy holidays, Mary Christ missus Joytim with your

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family out there in Colorado. We'll chat with you against soon.

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That's Tad Elch ladies and gentlemen. That cougar beet was

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Speaker 1: Today, Let's go to break, Don't go one to wear

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another

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Speaker 2: Faux segment coming up next, Josh for long KSL dot

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Com Utah B writer, I want to discuss the new

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athletic department and the key players, the key components of

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this deal that we need to know that up next,

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this is Cougar Sports on one O three nine ninety

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eight point three ESP