Borrowing words from that great guitar-strumming football fan, Jimmy Buffett, around these parts, there have been changes in football latitudes, changes in football attitudes.
I used to laugh at certain BYU fans who were over-the-top crazy regarding how good their football team was. They were devoted to the Cougars, to their cause, absolutely tethered to the success of their team, connecting their self-worth and identity to the outcomes of games played by 20-year-old athlete-heroes.
It still exists in some BYU corners, but those corners have shrunk in recent seasons as the Cougars have struggled to maintain their excellence and relevance in a college football world that has been rough on them, that at some levels has rejected them and treated them with less respect than the program generally deserves.