With the decade drawing to a close and the proliferation of the "2009 vs 2019" memes I thought it would be fun to look back on the decade.

Our athletic department has been grown in just about every metric I can think of. We are in a better conference and holding our own. Our facilities have been upgraded, our budget has grown, as has our fan base.

A decade ago the football team was dreadful. In 2009 we won 4 games. 2019 we won 7 in the regular season against a much tougher schedule. We've played 8 bowl games. Since 1947 we have only played in 13 bowls. One of the highlights for me was beating Utah in 2012. That was incredible.

Basketball hasn't been quite as good. We said goodbye to Stew, suffered through the dark days of Duryea, and now are in a period of renewal with Coach Smith. Winning the Mountain West last year was huge. One of my highlights was the Nevada game last year. That is when I knew without a doubt that Spectrum Magic(tm) was back.

Olympic teams seem to be doing well. I know tennis has wont he Mountain West a few times, cross country has done well in recent years.

I don't know about the women's sports. If anyone knows much about that, feel free to fill us in.

I think most importantly is that we seem to be running a clean program that performs well in the classroom as well. I recall seeing several posts on social media commenting on that we've been near the top of the Mountain West in the classroom.

No trip down memory lane is complete without talking about the people we made that journey with.

Gary Anderson certainly deserves a lot of credit and has been my favorite coach of the decade. Though his first stint with us was short, he got us out of the dark ages and changed the way we see ourselves completely.

My favorite football player from the decade would have to be Chuckie. Incredibly fun to watch. Its a shame he was hurt the way he was. Honorable mentions to Love, Scarver, Woody, and Wagner.

My favorite basketball player from the decade is easily Sam Merril. He is a really smart player and shows what hard work will do for us. Tai Wesley is another favorite of mine.

My favorite athlete from the Olympic sports is Dillon Maggard. He was our best cross country/track runner last year. He went pro last year. The reason he's my favorite is because he represents, in my book, the best of sports. He has self-described himself as a "troubled teen" and found himself looking to sports to turn his life around. He ended up on the track team. He worked his mile time from 5:20 to 4:19 over two years and got only one offer to run in college- USU. There he went from being a nobody to an all-american and was recruited to represent Brooks Beast. Last week he placed 3rd at the USATF club cross country nationals.

https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.ph ... _id=510440

Anyway, what are some of your favorite memories, events, and people of the decade?

I think my favorite from the past decade was beating byu-provo in 2010 in Logan. It'd been a long while and was a big monkey were got off our backs.

Favorite players: Turbin, BWags, The Vigil bros and Fackrell.