Episode 11: A bit of a Christmas mess

It’s a Christmas Miracle! Adam has returned to the lineup, the DSD crew has united across three states, and the families are along for the ride. Jeris was a little crabby, the kids were a little noisy, but Adam held the madness together for another memorable DSD episode.

Listen now to hear gems like:

• Adam and Trevor’s takes on men’s fashion
• Matt Carlino’s future with the BYU Cougars
• This week in BYU Hoops
• An Armed Forces Bowl preview
• Wisdom from Jeris’ grandpa
• A special appearance from Trevor’s kid.

Episode 10 Deathstar D go to the bullpen

Episode 10.2Well guys we didn’t have Adam this week, or his music playlist, so you get the RAW version of Episode 10. Listen as middle reliever Russ Nelson shares his thoughts, wishes, and desires with Trevor and Jeris.

Bad Basketball Diaries: Volume 2

Tonight I feel like both a winner and a loser.

A winner because I feel like I grew as a person and a teammate.

A loser because we lost. And it wasn’t fun. We were up 15 at halftime and then completely crumbled.

I’m not sure what happened to us tonight. We played some great basketball in that first half, but we couldn’t close it out. Alec Baldwin would be ashamed of the way we played. In a world where closers are kings, we were relegated to the kiddie table.

Me? I felt a lot better this week. I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn’t yell at the refs, and I’m proud to say I made good on my promise. I was the zen master. Were the refs bad? Of course. But I didn’t let it bring me down.

It’s just too bad my inner peace couldn’t help us finish the game.

I’m not sure where our problems come from. We have a good team. Maybe it’s the zone defense. Maybe it’s the fact that we don’t have a true point guard. Or a true anything, for that matter. Maybe we just work ourselves into a frenzy, putting too much pressure on ourselves.

Whatever it is, we need to put an end to it and soon. In the immortal words of Nacho Libre, “I do not want to get paid to lose. I WANNA WHEEN!”

Oh yeah, I fouled out. That makes two games, two early exits. The funny thing was I had just one foul at halftime so I made the conscious decision to be more aggressive. More physical. It worked, I guess. To the tune of four fouls in about 15 minutes. But at least I had more points (6) than fouls.

Episode 9: Trashin’ on the Utes

Yeah, we trash the Utes a little bit, but that’s not all we do. Join us on the mystical journey of Death Star D as we present to you Episode 9. Here’s what you can expect from the DSD crew on this week’s episode:

• Game recaps: BYU vs. Utah and Weber State
• Utah’s awful, awful, awful basketball program
• Hartsock, Davies and Austin
• Adam’s religious encounter with Noah Hartsock
• Trevor’s obscure reference to his wife’s Uncle Stan
• Our favorite moments from the Huntsman Center on Saturday
• Looking ahead to the Baylor Bears
• The Death Star D Bowl Mania Group
• Bowl Picks. Every Bowl, every winner.
• Jeris’ new iPad 2 and the accompanying accordian app.

Enjoy it. We always do.

 

Episode 8: Moving On

Jake Heaps is gone. We made our peace with the shocking news of Heaps’ transfer in last night’s special edition. Today it’s time to move on and talk about happier things. In that spirit, we are happy to present to you the REAL Death Star D episode 8!

Press the little play button below to hear the DSD take on topics like:

• BYU’s trundling of the Hawaii Warriors
• The football test that BYU passed with flying colors
• The glorious prospect of facing an offseason without QB drama
• BYU Hoops dispatches a mid-level Pac-12 team
• The emerging stars on the BYU basketball team
• Bowl Season is almost upon us

Enjoy!

The Bad Basketball Diaries: Volume 1

Hey there guys, it’s me Adam. Aside from our weekly podcast posts, I think we can all agree the blog here at Death Star D is pretty dormant. So I’m going to try a little something. I’m going to use this space to take you on a journey with me through the elbow-throwing, gut-wrenching, gravy-sweating world of city league basketball.

I’m a big fan of the city league. For a guy like me who didn’t get to play high school sports (Drama Club), the city gym is the perfect place to live out my dreams of athletic glory. So me and some friends from the office formed a team, and the season started tonight. And starting tonight you can expect a game-by-game diary of my exploits.

Game 1: A little rusty

Let’s get one thing straight: I play about 4.5 hours of basketball every week. I’m no ginger chicken on the hardwood. So tonight I thought I’d be running up and down the court, hitting treys JT style, throwing ‘bows like Chris Miles and having my way in the paint.

Didn’t happen.

For some reason I always forget playing city ball isn’t the same as playing friendly lunchtime pick up games with my jolly co-workers. The intensity was considerably higher.

Add that to my internals, which were in a state of emergency. I don’t know what I eat during the day to make me feel like I have a brick of Velveeta Cheese working its way through my guts, but that’s exactly how I felt when the ball was put into play.

I’ll be honest: I didn’t add much to the team that first half. I was a step slow, my mind was fuzzy and the microbes in my stomach were staging a silent protest in my small intestine. But I tried to fight through, and by the end of the first half I was feeling a lot better.

Unfortunately the calls weren’t going my way. See, I forget that when you play pick up with friends fouls are pretty… ambiguous. Not so when you have an over-eager, under-trained man standing under the hoop with a whistle and some stripes. I picked up three fouls in the first half, and I resolved to play a little more careful in half number two.

Down Four at Halftime

The second half started perfectly. We ran up and down the court like a pack of caribou. We were hitting shots, and we even took an eight-point lead. We were in control.

Until that silly ref called a fourth foul on Hambone (That’s me. I’m Hambone.) with about 14 minutes left in the game. I was standing straight up, for crying out loud, and the other guy jumped right into my chest. When I heard the whistle I spiked the ball in an unbridled display of frustration. It sailed over my head a la Jake Locker, and the world slowed to a halt as the overzealous official put his hands in a “T” formation.

Technical foul. And thanks to Pleasant Groves zero tolerance policy, that meant I was done for the day.

I sat in a helpless stupor as my team lost the lead, and lost the game. I hate losing, but I especially hate it when I’m powerless to stop it. I let my team down. I was embarrassed.

But I learned a few things tonight:

• I need to eat better on game days. The next time someone in my office offers me a dessert I’m going to throw it in their face.
• I need to play loose. I play better when I’m horsing around. This isn’t the playoffs, it’s city league.
• No more whining at the refs. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.
• The refs are my enemies. They will never, ever be on my side. So I should never expect any help from them.

Game 1 is in the books. I was a little disappointed I cut myself out of the game right when I was feeling my best, but I’m just glad I had more points (four) than techs.

Special Edition: Jake is leaving!

Can it be true? Is the Jake Heaps era finished at BYU? In this special edition, Death Star D looks at the shocking news from every angle: Who will be hurt the most? Where will Jake go? What will Jeris do with all his “Heaps Peeps” T-shirts?

Jake, we hardly knew thee.