that hard to be honest):

Commissioner Yormark:

First, let me say how much fun being a BYU fan is as we participate in Big XII athletics. The marquee sports are phenomenal. And, as you know, BYU fans have enjoyed seeing the women's soccer team reach the College Cup last year and Men's and Women's cross country teams win national championships on Saturday, among other enjoyable moments.

This football season has been a wild and unexpected ride for us. As a fan, I have serious concerns about the way end of game situations have been handled in two of BYU's last three games. You are, no doubt, familiar with what happened in each game. Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan being on the field during a live play and then going well over the line in post game comments was very surprising. Not to mention Coach Kyle Whittingham's comments that brushed right up against the line, followed by him channeling the late Bobby Knight and throwing a chair on his way out of the press conference. All of which happened before either man had actually seen replays with the angle the game officials saw.

Of course, on Saturday, you saw that Arizona State fans rushed the field with one second remaining in the game. Any attempts at security were barely more than cosmetic. An Arizona State fan was on the field, taunting WR Chase Roberts from a distance of two feet away before the ASU defender had even allowed him a chance to get up off the ground. Thankfully, those security personnel that were present did what they could. Including arresting at least one ASU fan that attempted to assault BYU players and staff.

It was embarrassing to see Coach Kenny Dillingham losing his mind within several feet of officials attempting to look at a replay. Again before he had seen any replay himself. But it wasn't just Coach Dillingham. It was a mob of ASU fans all within literal striking distance of the game officials, screaming at the top of their lungs. I'm not saying that cost BYU the game. It didn't. ASU won the game. They outplayed BYU. And, congratulations to them.

That said, there are two issues I believe the Big XII should take very seriously. If fans, coaches and administrators are allowed to continue bullying game officials as seen at the end of the BYU vs. Utah and BYU vs. ASU games, the integrity of the sport will be compromised. Officials fearing for their personal safety won't make the right call at the end of a close game if it will go against the home team. When fans have reason to believe the refs are afraid to call what they see, interest in the game will wane.

The second and more important issue is an issue of safety. Given how little effort ASU put into keeping fans off the field and keeping BYU players and coaches safe, it isn't at all hard to imagine a player, staff, or even a fan suffering a serious injury. Add in Coach Dillingham's comments encouraging future field rushes and you have the perfect storm for a personal injury attorney to rack up an astronomical award in a lawsuit. Whenever the injury ultimately does occur it will have been very foreseeable and there will be plenty of evidence that not much was done to meet the duty of care to prevent the injury.