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The BYU football team lost by three on Saturday. Not on the scoreboard, of course. That showed a 44-point spread -- Utah 54, BYU 10. The collateral damage was to BYU's three cardinal values, the ones that are inscribed on all its paraphernalia, its marketing material and (new this year) on the turf at LaVell Edwards Stadium: Tradition, Spirit, Honor. • Tradition: Seven turnovers is not traditional; BYU has a tradition of success. This was the worst home defeat to Utah in school history, and it was among the Cougars' worst defeats ever. Saturday witnessed the destruction of tradition, and...

In a recent letter to the editor, the author of “The right vs. the law (5/26)” compared illegal immigrants to the early leaders of the church. He observed the early church members violated the law to practice polygamy and those men were still doing what was right, therefore there are cases when it isn’t wrong to break the law. This is all true. But then he implies by this same reasoning, illegal immigrants may not be doing something wrong. This is a false analogy, because the two situations are not the same in the relevant way. What made the church...

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here) I spent some time re-reading the late Richard S. Van Wagoner’s excellent book, “Mormon Polygamy: A History.” The 19th century tales of harems and never-ending teenage-girl hunting were, of course, lies to excite Eastern U.S. readers. Polygamy was a contradictory doctrine, and extremely dysfunctional. Brigham Young once said that he wished it wasn’t a doctrine, but later also raged that those who disbelieved in polygamy — and even monogomous LDS men — were in danger of damnation. And polygamy led to divorce among LDS elite leaders in numbers...

(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.)-After receiving assistance from both the Brigham Young University and University of New Mexico athletic departments, the Mountain West Conference has completed a thorough analysis of an incident which occurred during a baseball game between the Cougars and Lobos this past weekend at Miller Park on the BYU campus. During the April 23 game, a fight broke out between the two teams and certain players on both sides attacked umpires. Thus, three-game suspensions have been handed out to the following players, for BYU: first baseman Ryan Bernal, a senior first baseman from Grand Junction, Colo., Bret Lopez, a...

A former BYU student convicted of using a stun gun to kidnap a woman was denied parole earlier this month, and will spend at least four more years in prison. Stetson Geo Hallam, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice in July. On April 13 the board of pardons and parole reviewed the case, but opted to deny Hallam the opportunity to leave prison. Spokesman Jim Hatch said Stetson will have a new hearing in 2015, at which time he could be granted release or be required to spend more time in custody. Documents related to Hallam's...

Matthew Neil deserved better. He should have been the center of attention. The talk of the town. Instead, the talk following BYU's 1-0 win over New Mexico on Saturday afternoon was about an ugly post-game brawl that erupted just before both teams were preparing for the customary post-game handshake. It was a shame the talk couldn't center on BYU's best pitching performance of the year. Neil's complete game shutout was the first time a BYU pitcher had thrown a shutout at Miller Field in three years, and it was the first complete-game shutout Neil had pitched since Little League. But...

Success in the fight against pervasive negative influences comes from three factors: assessing whether media preferences are leading toward or away from goals, assessing personal media consumption and actively using technology to serve God’s children, according to Tuesday’s devotional speaker. Derek Marquis, managing director of BYU Broadcasting, spoke on media and its impact on members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Marquis gave a brief history of media in the Church... ...Marquis encouraged those listening to use technology to further the gospel... SNIP As an object lesson, he had students with electronic communication devices — laptops, iPhones,...

This gallery depicts almost every BYU athlete we found with an honor code incident since 1993. (Certain players have been excluded to protect our sources.) The information in the gallery comes from media reports, BYU profiles, and interviews with athletes. It is by no means definitive. Many of these incidents were shrouded in secrecy. Many of the athletes could not be reached to confirm what we learned. If we have included bad data — whether due to inaccurate news stories, the faulty memories of interview subjects, or our own error — we are happy to correct it. If readers can...

Over the past month, BYU has been held up as a symbol of all that is decent in college sports for its unsparing treatment of Brandon Davies, the African-American basketball player who violated the school's honor code by reportedly having sex with his girlfriend. Davies was suspended shortly before the NCAA tournament, and a braying mainstream press lauded BYU for sticking to its principles. Sports Illustrated's website even wondered if a values-driven, "non-hypocritical" BYU was "on the verge of becoming America's team." The reality isn't so appealing. While it's impossible to know how many students disobey BYU's honor code, which...

...So that's the end of Jimmermania. Saw it for myself. Caught the closing act. Not impressed. SNIP You can take off those "Romney-Fredette in 2012" T-shirts now. Except for a stretch...Fredette was brutal. Yes, he scored 32 points, but...took 29 shots...He seemed to be wearing a blindfold from the 3-point arc -- 3-for-15...committed six turnovers and wandered aimlessly through the lane on defense like Moses in the desert. I've seen dead people play better defense. At least they occasionally trip people. SNIP "He's a little Maravich," a guy in a BYU shirt told me. No! No, he isn't! He's not...

NEW ORLEANS - Florida survived a 32-point night by BYU's Jimmer Fredette for a thrilling 83-74 overtime victory in the Southeast Regional semifinal on Thursday in New Orleans.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images It was reported yesterday that BYU starting center Brandon Davies was let go from the team for the remainder of the season for violating Brigham Young's honor code. Today, 1280 The Zone in Salt Lake City is reporting that Davies' girlfriend is pregnant with his child. The honor code does not allow sexual relationships unless you are married, among a hefty list of other rules. Davies is averaging 11.1 points per game and a team-high 6.2 rebounds, and not having him available for the NCAA tournament will be a major issue for Mr. Fredette and the Cougars....

The BYU Democrats and Republicans met to debate last week, but rather than take their usual stances, the two groups argued for issues opposite their political beliefs. Democrats took the side of laissez-faire capitalism while Republicans championed democratic socialism. While members of both clubs had to argue for ideas they didn’t necessarily believe in, they also found common ground. “Everybody has the capability to move on and be successful,” said Colleen McDermott, a member of the BYU Democrats from Las Vegas, arguing for the benefits lax government regulations in capitalist economies. McDermott cited President Obama and Democratic Senate majority leader...

If historians ever try to pinpoint the game that transformed Jimmer Fredette from player of the year candidate to bona fide basketball icon, Wednesday's 71-58 victory over previously undefeated San Diego State would be an ideal choice. The unassuming BYU star scored 43 points on 14-for-24 shooting, a mesmerizing performance that inspired a "You got Jimmered" chant from his appreciative home crowd and elevated him to a level of nationwide fame few college players ever achieve. Three different Jimmer-inspired hashtags each became national trending topics on Twitter. Highlights of his performance and a subsequent live phone interview led "SportsCenter" for...

Editor's note: For more than a year, Deseret News reporter Sara Lenz has investigated the life of Martin MacNeill. The information in this story comes from court documents, 911 calls, police reports, an autopsy report, a search warrant affidavit, psychology reports and dozens of interviews with investigators, attorneys, police officers, neighbors, victims and family members detailing why some believe MacNeill may have killed his wife, Michele.SNIP Martin worked part time at the BYU Health Center while earning a law degree. He graduated from BYU's law school in 1990... SNIP He started working part time for the BYU Health Center, but...

PROVO – Did unreported factors contribute to the demise of Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign? How did the news media cover the 1967-68 presidential campaign of his father, George Romney? Two research projects presented to an audience of more than 100 people at BYU's Mormon Media Studies Symposium recently compared the two Romneys' campaigns. BYU professors John Gee and Louis C. Midgley titled their paper, "Under the Media's Nose: Overlooked Factors Undermining the Presidential Campaign of Mitt Romney.

Senator-elect Mike Lee has tapped one of Utah’s most prominent lobbyists to lead his Washington staff and coordinate his transition from candidate to senator. Spencer Stokes doesn’t officially become a Senate staffer until Jan. 5, but he plans to bounce between Utah and Washington in the coming weeks as he tries to hire staff, set up the Senate office and ramp down his lobbying activities. “It will be an exciting time to be back in D.C.,” said Stokes, who believes American voters used November’s election to protest government overreach. He said Republicans are now positioned to make an impact on...

REXBURG - Rexburg police say they have cited three Brigham Young University-Idaho students for malicious injury to property for throwing a smoke bomb into a student apartment on campus. Capt. Randy Lewis said the device did not cause major damage, but did burn a small area on the floor of the apartment in Lamprecht Hall. The students, Jacqueline N. Matthews, 18, Terry A. Wilson, 18, and Kevin R. Kunz, 18, were each given misdemeanor citations and will have to appear in court Nov. 2. "The consequences of playing pranks that involve any type of explosives is a serious matter," said...

(PROVO)-Although vast strides have been made in alleviating slavery throughout the world, in the United States it is alive and well in various shapes and forms, Kevin Bales said in a human trafficking conference at Brigham Young University Thursday. Bales, the president of the nonprofit Free the Slaves, said in modern times, slavery occurs more in recruiters showing up in villages around the world offering jobs. Since many people are living in dire straits, despite the shady visage recruiters have, many people take a chance in order to give their families a better life. Currently, what may be the largest...

Just when the furor over the BYU-San Diego State replay mess seemed to be subsiding a little bit, a San Diego sports radio host, Chris Ello, threw fuel on the fire with his hate-filled diatribe directed at BYU. Props to Patrick Kinahan of KFAN Radio (1320 AM) in Salt Lake City for catching the remarks (made Thursday) and replaying for his audience this morning. Here's the link to Ello's diatribe, which are as disturbing as you will probably ever hear on the radio. It will be interesting to see if this guy keeps his job. Ello later apologized for his...