Memoirs from the Mount: please, BYU football, come play out here in Japan

Welcome to Memoirs from the Mount, a weekly adventure through the twisting catacombs of my ever-decaying stream of consciousness. From the solitary peak of Mount Fuji to the cascading slopes of Mount Timpanogos, I'm sending a telegram of my perspective on current events surrounding BYU athletics.

Last week's Memoirs: AJ Dybantsa was the perfect ambassador for Brigham Young University

Would you look at that? Three straight weeks, and Memoirs from the Mount is suddenly a weekly column worth counting on and coming back to! I'd like to send a shout-out to my haters, my lovers, and everyone in between. To those who said I couldn't do it, you are wrong in the short term, so in your face. To those who said I could do it, I'll send your check through the mail.

But I'm not here to gloat about meeting the bare minimum requirements of my job. I'm here to send a solemn and heartfelt plea to the decision makers of BYU football, and declare in an unwavering (text-based) voice that I need you to take advantage of international opportunities. And by that, I mean you need to come to Tokyo to play football.

Yes, I hear your protests and confusion, saying "Tokyo isn't exactly the American football capital of the world" in your mind, but allow me to raise the following point: Team Japan's U20 team embarrassed the USA in the 2024 world semifinal, in a 41-20 humiliation.

So, put some respect on the name of Japanese football.

Secondly, on the heels of a new rule allowing college football teams to trip around the globe on international showcases, the University of Oregon football team has already announced their plans to put their talents on full display in the Land of the Rising Sun, which just so happens to be my current setting from where I scribble on about BYU sports every single morning.

On behalf of myself, and the community of BYU sports fans I've been fortunate to meet since moving to Japan last summer, Cougar football needs to cross the Pacific Ocean.

It's hard enough that most football games overlap with our morning church services, regardless of kickoff time or sacrament meeting hours, and the struggle only doubles when it comes to keeping up with contests that are broadcast in the wee hours of the morning (we're talking 1:00 AM kickoff levels of wee), but missing out on the in-person excitement of a football game in LaVell Edwards Stadium, the buzzing atmosphere of a basketball of the Marriott Center, but instead I've been left to my own devices. Literally. Watching from a phone, my living room TV, or (in dire cases) listening to the KSL broadcast with Greg Wrubell -- the greatest radio announcer in the game, let the record show -- and watching the ESPN gamecast as it drags behind the real-time events of BYU's butt-kicking at the spiked and sharpened feet of Texas Tech.

Yes, life could be worse, but it could be a lot better, too. College football is a gift that the entire world deserves to take a turn with, and the fact that Oregon is making the trip out to Japan is just evidence that the systems and facilities are already present for Kalani Sitake's program to make an appearance.

Yes, my motives are selfish, and yes, I understand that the world is full of incredible destinations for an international showcase, but Japan is incredible. Don't be fools.

Whether in Tokyo or elsewhere in the world, though, I am serious about BYU football taking its team international. With many impressive venues in Europe, Australia, and a sizable built-in global fanbase all over the Earth, thanks to Brigham Young University's sponsor religious organization, the opportunity to give an in-person experience to fans who otherwise would never get to experience live football is just too perfect to pass up.

So I make my plea, Kalani Sitake, Brian Santiago, Shane Reese, and the decision-making powers that be at Brigham Young University. Come to Japan. But even if not in Japan, an international showcase is the perfect fit for a program like BYU football.

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