Good-bye Chambers. We Won’t Miss You

I turned on the radio this morning on the way to a client visit. What did I hear? The hosts of the Red and Blue Show were talking about how the BYU Football team should close down the program altogether. Their conversation was dancing around some recent news event that had occurred, but they never said what it was. What they were saying was, “Can things get any worse? Is this the end of Bronco’s reign? There is great turmoil in Provo!”

My mind was imaging all the possibilities since the hosts didn’t specify what news had come out of Provo. Did Robert Anae get fired? Had Jake Heaps decided to serve a mission? Was Bronco Mendenhall going to suit up at linebacker?

And then Jan Jorgensen, the “Blue” half of the Blue and Red Show broke the news. That’s right, he announced the event that would be the final straw, the culmination of the terrible, the beginning of the end for the BYU Football program as we know it. You ready? Drum roll please: “BYU has suspended O’Neill Chambers for the rest of the season.”

Are you kidding me? That’s wonderful news! I pulled my car over to the side of the road, jumped out, and did my version of the “Ickie  Shuffle”. (My version has less Ickie and more shuffle.) Do they realize what Chambers has contributed to this football team? For those of you who aren’t aware, I’ll tell you in the form of a play by play. (Imagine the voice of Greg  Wrubell)

“Chambers fields the kick-off and heads up field, he shakes a tackle, and he spins. OH, he takes a VICIOUS hit. THE BALL IS LOOSE, THE BALL IS LOOSE.”

Ladies and gentleman, that’s all he has done for our program. Well, actually, if you replace “fields the kick-off” with “catches the pass” and then continue reading, it’s all the same. He spins and fumbles more than any other BYU player in the history of history.

I hate to verbally abuse someone but O’Neill Chambers has been a cancer to this football team. That is not opinion; it is fact. Former players, including Jan Jorgensen have said so.  He is a head case who did nothing on the field to warrant his attitude of superiority or entitlement. This is a wonderful step for this program. The firing of Defensive Coordinator Jaime Hill and the subsequent suspension of O’Neill Chambers are signs of the football program heading in the right direction. We need to clean the inner vessel first and then worry about taking care of our opponent.

For all the doubters out there, hang tight. Take a deep breath, get out of you office chair, and do your own version of the “Ickie Shuffle”, you’ll feel a whole lot better.

– Ben

Ben is a fellow sports nut and BYU fan. He also writes for the Utah sports blog Tornbysports.com.