MW Player of The Week, did BSU get RypedOff?
Every single Monday morning of the sports calendar there is an announcement released by the Mountain West Conference office regarding their selections for Mountain West Players of the Week. Most of the time these selections go unnoticed by the masses, but during football season these decisions rarely go unnoticed, and even more rarely go uncriticized.
This week was no different. The Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week was announced, and to the surprise of many it was San Diego State running back Donnell Pumphrey and not Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien.
Pumphrey helped lead San Diego State to a crucial conference road win over Colorado State. Pumphrey ended the game with 121 yards rushing on 20 carries including two touchdowns on the ground and one receiving. All in just three quarters of action.
On the other hand Boise State’s Brett Rypien had what some would say was an even more spectacular stat line, finishing with 469 yards passing on 35 of 52 passing, and for good measure added a receiving touchdown from wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck. In the process of all his stats Rypien also set or tied four separate school or Mountain West conference records.
With both of the student-athletes having a spectacular performances, the questions loom large. How do these decisions get made? Who makes them? And what is their criteria in the final outcome?
We decided to go to the source of the decision, the Mountain West Conference office, to see what answers they could provide.
I spoke with one of the Associate Commissioners for Communications Javen Hedlund about the process of selecting a MW Player of the Week. It's not as simple as some might assume.
The first step in the process is the teams themselves must nominate a player to the conference to be considered for the award. After that, a six to eight person panel made up of communication staff and MW network staff go over all the nominees. Every panel is different for each sport, but some voters do vote on multiple sports.
The voting is handled much like a jury verdict. Each person says who they are voting for, they talley the votes and see where they stand. Hedlund says if the vote is close, people will start to make their case to the others on the panel, and they will eventually go with who gets the most votes.
Hedlund did say this week's decision was a particularly hard one however. “It was a very difficult decision, we had many worthy nominees. Rypien had a tremendous outing for Boise, and so did many others, but Pumphrey was who ended up on top.”
Hedlund denied my request for how the voting was split saying that they don't release individual voting in that manner, but he did list some of the criteria the panel goes over when making a decision. “Their individual impact on the game or match they participated in, outstanding individual performances; such as individual, school, or conference records set or broken, the strength of the opponent played, and if the athlete went above and beyond their normal statistical output.”
Many of these criteria would seem to suggest that perhaps Rypien was the more worthy nominee, but Hedlund was quick to point out Pumphrey’s play was also quite spectacular, saying it was his “overall impact on the game” that separated him from the rest. “Pumphrey had a fourth down conversion in the first quarter that led to a score, his second touchdown was a key reception, and his third touchdown was a 64 yard run that really broke the game open.”
Hedlund went on to say that Rypien had a “tremendous, tremendous outing for Boise State”, but that no matter how the voting went, someone was going to to be upset. “We had many worthy nominees this week, and the decision was difficult, but someone is going to be upset if their guy didn't win. People wouldn't be wrong to say Rypien was deserving, but Pumphrey ended up on top this week.”
When asked if one weeks voting would affect another weeks voting Hedlund said “no, each week is handled individually.” He continued saying “We go over each nominee each week, and decided on who we think is the most deserving that week, if it happens to be a Boise State player for 18 straight weeks, then it's a Boise State player for 18 straight weeks. We don't let one week affect another.”
One thing is for sure. No matter who the Mountain West office decides to give the award to, the slighted fan bases will always be quick to voice their displeasure. Fan is short for fanatical after all.
Rypien didn't win this week, but it does seem like he is going to have many more chances to get his hands on a MW Player of the Week award. Patience is a virtue I suppose.
Every single Monday morning of the sports calendar there is an announcement released by the Mountain West Conference office regarding their selections for Mountain West Players of the Week. Most of the time these selections go unnoticed by the masses, but during football season these decisions rarely go unnoticed, and even more rarely go uncriticized.
This week was no different. The Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week was announced, and to the surprise of many it was San Diego State running back Donnell Pumphrey and not Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien.
Pumphrey helped lead San Diego State to a crucial conference road win over Colorado State. Pumphrey ended the game with 121 yards rushing on 20 carries including two touchdowns on the ground and one receiving. All in just three quarters of action.
On the other hand Boise State’s Brett Rypien had what some would say was an even more spectacular stat line, finishing with 469 yards passing on 35 of 52 passing, and for good measure added a receiving touchdown from wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck. In the process of all his stats Rypien also set or tied four separate school or Mountain West conference records.
With both of the student-athletes having a spectacular performances, the questions loom large. How do these decisions get made? Who makes them? And what is their criteria in the final outcome?
We decided to go to the source of the decision, the Mountain West Conference office, to see what answers they could provide.
I spoke with one of the Associate Commissioners for Communications Javen Hedlund about the process of selecting a MW Player of the Week. It's not as simple as some might assume.
The first step in the process is the teams themselves must nominate a player to the conference to be considered for the award. After that, a six to eight person panel made up of communication staff and MW network staff go over all the nominees. Every panel is different for each sport, but some voters do vote on multiple sports.
The voting is handled much like a jury verdict. Each person says who they are voting for, they talley the votes and see where they stand. Hedlund says if the vote is close, people will start to make their case to the others on the panel, and they will eventually go with who gets the most votes.
Hedlund did say this week's decision was a particularly hard one however. “It was a very difficult decision, we had many worthy nominees. Rypien had a tremendous outing for Boise, and so did many others, but Pumphrey was who ended up on top.”
Hedlund denied my request for how the voting was split saying that they don't release individual voting in that manner, but he did list some of the criteria the panel goes over when making a decision. “Their individual impact on the game or match they participated in, outstanding individual performances; such as individual, school, or conference records set or broken, the strength of the opponent played, and if the athlete went above and beyond their normal statistical output.”
Many of these criteria would seem to suggest that perhaps Rypien was the more worthy nominee, but Hedlund was quick to point out Pumphrey’s play was also quite spectacular, saying it was his “overall impact on the game” that separated him from the rest. “Pumphrey had a fourth down conversion in the first quarter that led to a score, his second touchdown was a key reception, and his third touchdown was a 64 yard run that really broke the game open.”
Hedlund went on to say that Rypien had a “tremendous, tremendous outing for Boise State”, but that no matter how the voting went, someone was going to to be upset. “We had many worthy nominees this week, and the decision was difficult, but someone is going to be upset if their guy didn't win. People wouldn't be wrong to say Rypien was deserving, but Pumphrey ended up on top this week.”
When asked if one weeks voting would affect another weeks voting Hedlund said “no, each week is handled individually.” He continued saying “We go over each nominee each week, and decided on who we think is the most deserving that week, if it happens to be a Boise State player for 18 straight weeks, then it's a Boise State player for 18 straight weeks. We don't let one week affect another.”
One thing is for sure. No matter who the Mountain West office decides to give the award to, the slighted fan bases will always be quick to voice their displeasure. Fan is short for fanatical after all.
Rypien didn't win this week, but it does seem like he is going to have many more chances to get his hands on a MW Player of the Week award. Patience is a virtue I suppose.
