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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, right, attempts to take the ball from Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Friday’s result at sold-out Chase Center showed that the NBA is back on its rightful axis, readjusted to its supposed rightful course after at least two teams became the biggest early season surprises, for different reasons.After a subpar start, the defending champion Golden State Warriors are seemingly rolling again and playing like the best team in the league — at least on this night — and the Utah Jazz are suddenly looking like the rebuilding team they were supposed to be after trading away all of their top players in the offseason. “Proud of the way our guys hung in. Tough shooting night, obviously. Twenty-five percent on 44 3-point attempts (11 of 44) puts a lot of pressure on you in the game, especially in transition. That is a lot of long rebounds that they are running out with.” — Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy Steph Curry scored 33 points and Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson chipped in 20 apiece as the Warriors rolled past the never-day-die Jazz 129-118 in front of a crowd of 18,064 — the Warriors’ 440th straight sellout — on Friday night in San Francisco.“Credit to the Warriors,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy. “They came out in the first quarter and really took the game there.”Indeed they did, clicking like that team that beat the Celtics 4-2 in last year’s NBA Finals, finally. Golden State (10-10) is back to .500 and has won seven of its last 10 games. All is seemingly well again in the City by the Bay.“That’s a good sign,” said coach Steve Kerr. “We’re trending upward, and it is starting to feel more — everything is starting to feel more settled and guys are finding roles and doing a good job.”The Jazz (12-9) are heading in a different direction, after that unexpected start that had everybody calling them the most pleasant surprise in the league. It was Utah’s third-straight loss, and could be lengthened immediately as Utah plays at Phoenix on Saturday night.“They played better than us, and a big game tomorrow,” Hardy said, succinctly.But while Wednesday night’s home loss to the Detroit Pistons, 125-116, was incredibly disappointing for the Jazz, this one was not, and not just because they were trying to overcome the world champions and their hostile crowd and not an NBA also-ran.Utah showed plenty of pluck, but in the end did not shoot well enough to win, Hardy said.“Proud of the way our guys hung in. Tough shooting night, obviously,” said the first-year Jazz coach. “Twenty-five percent on 44 3-point attempts (11 of 44) puts a lot of pressure on you in the game, especially in transition. That is a lot of long rebounds that they are running out with.”Utah shot 47.4% from the floor, not quite at Golden State’s 51.5%, but not bad. The difference came from beyond the arc.With Curry going 6 of 13 from deep and Thompson 6 of 12, the Jazz had no chance with the bricks they were putting up on the other end, misfires that often exposed their poor transition defense.“Overall, I am not happy with (the transition defense),” Hardy said. “But it is tough because of how many shots we missed from 3. Golden State is one of the best teams ever playing with numbers in transition, and they do such a great job of locating their shooters.”When you have shooters like Curry, Thompson and Jordan Poole (7 of 15 for 19 points), that isn’t difficult.“They are obviously extremely talented. I mean, just the way they move the ball, and the chemistry they have as a team, is apparent,” said the Jazz’s Walker Kessler. “Yeah, it was definitely an experience.”The Jazz have been the feel-good story of the early season league-wide, but cracks are starting to widen. They have lost six of their last eight games, after getting off to that 10-3 start that had national pundits taking notice. Related 3 keys to Utah’s 129-118 loss to the defending NBA champion Warriors Bojan Bogdanovic on his return to Vivint and how he’ll always be thankful to have been a Jazz man Hardy, who looks like a 30-year-old and has the wisdom of a 50-year-old, or beyond, said it is still all about keeping perspective and not letting one or two poor performances snowball into more.“You know, how you play is more important than the individual result,” he said. “Obviously we want to win every game, but over the course of 82 games there is some variance, especially in shooting. And we are a team that shoots a lot of 3s, so there are going to be some nights where you just don’t make them, for whatever the reasons are. And so I think it is just about us as a team staying focused on the right things.”There were plenty of positive things to build on, even though the Jazz were held to fewer than 120 points for the seventh time in their last eight games.Lauri Markkanen stayed hot, going for 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting. Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Clarkson added 21 apiece. Nickeil Alexander-Walker played some outstanding defense and had six assists off the bench to go with eight points.“I thought Nickeil was unbelievable,” Hardy said. “His defense, getting over screens, using his length, being disruptive, I really think that Nickeil is the player that turned the game for us and kept us in the game. … He really did a marvelous job keeping us in the game and sort of helping us get back to what we want to do.”As Hardy rightfully pointed out, the Jazz played the champs evenly after the first quarter, in which the home team rolled out to a 37-23 lead and looked like it would cruise from there.The Jazz had other ideas.“I thought our guys re-centered themselves after the first quarter,” Hardy said. “We ended up winning quarters two, three and four, that chunk of time.”But oh, that awful first quarter. The Jazz chose to live early by the 3-point shot, but nearly died by it instead. Utah missed 13 of its first 14 3-pointers — that’s 7.1% — and looked ready to pack it up and head to Phoenix. Game over? Not really. The Jazz never went away until the fourth quarter, another positive sign for Hardy’s growing team.“Yeah, I mean shots that we usually (make) we missed tonight,” Clarkson said. “You know, I always say we still had a chance to win the game. … They did a good job of converting off missed shots, long rebounds and second-chance points.”The Warriors had 27 second-chance points, thanks to 16 offensive rebounds.“I think for the most part, especially on the offensive end, we played the way we wanted to play,” Hardy said. “But if we shoot 25% from 3, that puts a lot of pressure on you.”Especially when the other guys are named Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) drives past Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.John Hefti, Associated Press The Utah Jazz have matched their longest losing streak of the season, falling 129-118 Friday night to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors for their third-straight setback.After looking like they were going to get blown out of Chase Center early, the Jazz (12-9) scrapped back and pushed the up-and-down Warriors despite a rough first quarter. Golden State pulled away a bit in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of some poor transition defense by the Jazz, and weathered a mild Jazz rally.Golden State won its second consecutive game and evened its season mark at 10-10.Here are 3 keys to Golden State’s win over the visiting Jazz:• In a game that was looking impossible to win early in the second half, the Jazz found some steam, got a bunch of 3-pointers from Kelly Olynyk, and actually took a 71-70 lead five minutes into the third quarter. But that’s as good as it got for the visitors.Still, Utah showed some grit and toughness in a hostile venue.Klay Thompson caught fire late in the third quarter to lift the Warriors back to a double-digit advantage. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 33 and continues to play well. Jordan Poole had 19 points, while Thompson and Andrew Wiggins added 20 apiece.In the end, the Jazz played poorly in transition, leading to lots of easy dunks and open 3-point shots for the home team. The Warriors were 20 of 45 (44.4%) from deep.Golden State took that 97-86 lead after three and kept the Jazz at bay the rest of the way to take the first of three scheduled matchups this season in front of a crowd of 18,064 — Golden State’s 440th straight sellout.The Jazz will host the Warriors on Dec. 7 in Salt Lake City. Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) defends against a 3-point shot by Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 1 of 10 Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) shoots as Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney (5) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 2 of 10 Golden State Warriors forward Anthony Lamb (40) gets possession of the ball in front of Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, front right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 3 of 10 Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, center left, lays up the ball in front of Utah Jazz forward Kelly Olynyk (41) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 4 of 10 Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) reacts after hitting a 3-point shot against the Utah Jazz during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 5 of 10 Utah Jazz guard Malik Beasley (5) shoots past Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Associated Press 6 of 10 Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) drives past Golden State Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. John Hefti, Assoociated Press 7 of 10 Golden State Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo, right, passes past Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. The Warriors won 129-118. John Hefti, Associated Press 8 of 10

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) drives past Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.John Hefti, Associated Press The Utah Jazz have matched their longest losing streak of the season, falling 129-118 Friday night to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors for their third-straight setback.After looking like they were going to get blown out of Chase Center early, the Jazz (12-9) scrapped back and pushed the up-and-down Warriors despite a rough first quarter. Golden State pulled away a bit in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of some poor transition defense by the Jazz, and weathered a mild Jazz rally.Golden State won its second consecutive game and evened its season mark at 10-10.Here are 3 keys to Golden State’s win over the visiting Jazz:• In a game that was looking impossible to win early in the second half, the Jazz found some steam, got a bunch of 3-pointers from Kelly Olynyk, and actually took a 71-70 lead five minutes into the third quarter. But that’s as good as it got for the visitors.Still, Utah showed some grit and toughness in a hostile venue.Klay Thompson caught fire late in the third quarter to lift the Warriors back to a double-digit advantage. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 33 and continues to play well. Jordan Poole had 19 points, while Thompson and Andrew Wiggins added 20 apiece.In the end, the Jazz played poorly in transition, leading to lots of easy dunks and open 3-point shots for the home team. The Warriors were 20 of 45 (44.4%) from deep.Golden State took that 97-86 lead after three and kept the Jazz at bay the rest of the way to take the first of three scheduled matchups this season in front of a crowd of 18,064 — Golden State’s 440th straight sellout.The Jazz will host the Warriors on Dec. 7 in Salt Lake City.• Credit the Jazz for hanging tough when Curry was cooking in the first quarter and nothing would fall on the Utah end. The Jazz had some decent moments in the second quarter, particularly back-to-back triples by Lauri Markkanen, and got within four a couple times before the Warriors turned up the defensive pressure. Markannen led Utah with 24 points, while Olynyk and Jordan Clarkson had 21 apiece.• Aside from a 7-0 mini-run after the Warriors had jumped out to a 7-0 lead, the Jazz were never really in this one in the first quarter. Curry’s four-point play spurred a 22-7 run and the Jazz were done — almost. The superstar had a couple other highlight-reel type plays in the outburst, bringing the post-Thanksgiving crowd to its feet.Meanwhile, the Jazz chose to live early by the 3-point shot, but nearly died by it instead. Utah missed 13 of its first 14 3-pointers — that’s 7.1% — and was behind 37-23 at the end of the first quarter. Game over? Not really. The Jazz never went away until the fourth quarter, another positive sign for coach Will Hardy’s growing team.

Hokyoung Kim for the Deseret News The front page of the Daily Wildcat on May 1, 1995, covered the kinds of news stories you might find at any college newspaper. There on the University of Arizona campus, sophomores and seniors had recently protested over animal rights. The Student Union Building needed to be repaired. Alcohol abuse violations among students were up.Bryan Hance, a freshman from a small suburb in central Ohio, scanned those stories and continued to thumb through the paper until he paused, finally, on page 16. He’d never seen anything quite like it. A full-page advertisement jumbled with maps, math, portraits, words and phrases he couldn’t make sense of. The ad referred to a group called “The Orphanage.” “MAY DAY” appeared in big bold letters at the top, and toward the bottom, a small illustration of a smirking man with two dots for eyes and ears drawn like potatoes. Hance was bewildered. Maybe this was the work of a fraternity? Or cobbled together during a fever dream?  Each spring since at least the 1980s, the May Day ads have offered cryptic clues to would-be mystery solvers. A year later, again on May 1, he discovered a similar full-page ad. Among the maps and math equations was a quote from “Moby Dick,” in which Starbuck, first mate of the Pequod in the novel, says, “I will have no man in my boat who is not afraid of a whale.” The same crude drawing of a man smiled up at Hance as he scrutinized the page. Yet another year passed and Hance was now a junior and had by then joined the Wildcat’s staff as one of the paper’s first webmasters. So when the ad showed up again, on May 1, 1997, he had the resources to start digging.For two weeks, whenever he wasn’t in class, he was in the newsroom, lugging heavy bound volumes of old issues from the paper’s archives to pore over the newsprint in search of earlier May Day ads. He found one for 1994, the year he graduated high school, and 1981, when he was still in elementary. He did some quick math. For almost his whole life, it appeared that someone had paid thousands and thousands of dollars to place these ads in the Wildcat. But who? And why? Those questions would consume Hance for years. And not just him. As the internet became more prominent, more joined in the search for answers. Today, in podcasts, YouTube videos and Reddit threads, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook posts, people around the world are trying to solve what’s become known as the “May Day Mystery.” Some sleuths have been at it for a quarter of a century. Many have become obsessed. One man was arrested. In 2014, it appeared on a list of “conspiracy theories that need to be horror movies.” Later, Buzzfeed named it No. 1 among “11 super creepy modern conspiracies” sure to “make you believe.” Phoenix magazine once crowned the mystery “Arizona’s da Vinci code.”Yet unlike popular enigmas that have emerged in recent years and morphed into harmful conspiracies — QAnon comes to mind — this one hails from a far simpler, analog time. What then, can it tell us about more pernicious cryptic phenomena in 2022? More importantly, as the May Day Mystery enters its second quarter century, will anyone ever solve it?Kate Vesely grew up in Tucson, riding her bike along sun-bleached streets and learning not to touch the barbed spines of drooping cholla cacti. She stayed close to home for college, enrolling at the University of Arizona a few years after Hance. They never met, but they would have had something to talk about if they did cross paths. Like Hance, Vesely was a regular Daily Wildcat reader and she had noticed the ads that appeared in the paper every May Day. While her friends dismissed them as unhinged ravings, she was sure there was more there. “It was very clearly like a coded message,” she says.She had always loved history, and she anxiously awaited the ads, wondering what past they might tread. After she graduated she’d always return to campus to pull the May 1 edition from a metal newspaper distribution box. She enrolled at the university again in 2002 to pursue a graduate degree, and she spent her spare time exploring a website she had learned of since college: maydaymystery.org.Up popped a website that Hance had created. It included scans of every May Day Mystery ad — what Hance described as “The Texts” — since May 1, 1981, along with clues that the mystery had roots reaching back even further.  Bryan Hance has tracked the May Day mystery since his days as a University of Arizona student in the 1990s.Moriah Ratner for the Deseret News Vesely spent hours on the site, scrolling through the ads and seeing the similarities over the years, the same imagery and repeated words and, more often than not, that drawing of a smiling man, sometimes with four stick-straight lines for hair, sometimes five. When she wasn’t working on grad school assignments, she was studying the texts, searching the internet for leads or slouched in front of a microfiche machine at the library. In 2009, nearly 15 years after Hance saw his first May Day ad in the Wildcat, Vesely emailed him to see what he thought about starting a Facebook group. There, she figured, people could puzzle over the clues together. With Hance’s blessing, she created Mayday Mystery Fans and started sharing theories and asking questions to a growing community of people just as gripped by the ads as she was. Several years later, she began visiting Reddit, where there are ongoing conversations about unsolved mysteries. She hoped to draw on fresh perspectives. But while she gained new insights into different elements of the ads, she felt no closer to solving what she’d now spent more than a decade thinking about. Still, over the years she had started to develop a hypothesis. In the 1970s, she thinks, a “collective of brilliant geniuses” attending the University of Arizona formed some sort of intellectual fraternity, using the newspaper to communicate with each other about subjects that were important to them. The ads maybe started as a game and turned into a tradition.  She could imagine young, cerebral students hungry to explore and exchange ideas about science, math and philosophy. But who were these bright shiny minds she pictured meeting at Cochise dorm, a residence hall with impressive Roman columns that once only housed men? Maybe they gathered around the big stone fireplace that anchors the building’s lobby, or whispered furtively in the shared bathrooms on the third floor. This origin story is purely speculative, Vesely knows, but not far-fetched. Because she knew of one person who fit into her hypothesis almost perfectly. He had been a University of Arizona student in the late 1960s, studying philosophy, and later earned his law degree there. The ads have contained more than a dozen different languages; he reportedly spoke eight, including Latin, Hebrew, Russian and Greek. Vesely had discovered that this man, Robert Hungerford, by then well into his 60s, kept an office in downtown Tucson, not far from where Vesely worked for the Pima County criminal justice system. One hot, summer day in 2013, she summoned the courage to drive there before a meeting. She found his office address online, parked out front, and nervously walked down the stairs to the building’s basement where she found Suite 16 and a business card on the door that indicated he was retired. When she knocked, no one answered. Before retreating back outside, she left a note. “I’m a longtime follower of MDM,” she wrote, referring to the May Day Mystery. “I was in the neighborhood and wanted to say hello. If you ever keep office hours and wouldn’t mind a visit, please let me know.” She included her email and left. The next day, a message was waiting in her inbox.Back during his senior year, Bryan Hance, frustrated by his lack of progress in unlocking the puzzle, appealed to the relatively new internet. “I have unraveled the Mayday pages as far as I can, and I am far from my goal,” he posted on the site he’d built. “I need your help.” It was an online message in a bottle, but it landed on an unexpected shore.That May, after Hance hurried to campus to get a copy of the Wildcat to see that year’s ad, he opened his email and found a message signed, “The Orphanage,” the same name that had appeared in the ad that caught his attention as a freshman.  “The day you can see the door,” the email said, “you will be welcomed inside.”  The laconic missive only served to pull Hance further in. He didn’t leave Tucson after graduating. Instead he worked for the university and started a side business, writing software products. He kept researching the clues in the ads when they were published each May and posting them on his website, along with correspondence he received from “The Orphanage,” rare coins and news clippings, postcards and letters with stamps from Nairobi, Las Vegas and beyond.  Today, in podcasts, YouTube Videos and Reddit threads, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook posts, people around the world are trying to solve the May Day Mystery. Some sleuths have been at it for about a quarter of a century. Sometimes Hance would get phone calls from people who were apparently from “The Orphanage” advising him of a forthcoming ad. Other times, he heard from people like himself who were trying to solve the mystery. In the early 2000s he had been emailing with someone who insisted on meeting in person so that she could show him her research. Hance biked to one of his favorite cafes in downtown Tucson to hear what the woman had to say. He was reading at one of the restaurant’s tables when she walked in. Only it wasn’t a woman — it was a girl young enough to be accompanied by her father, who had driven his daughter nearly two hours from Phoenix to present her findings. As her dad sat to the side like a chaperone at a school dance, the girl pulled out a thick blue three-ring binder. Hance listened as the girl, whose name he can no longer remember, made her case: the person behind the May Day Mystery was the Zodiac Killer, the pseudonym of a serial murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960s. One page of her research, titled “Stamp Fixation,” compared images of envelopes the Zodiac Killer sent to newspaper editors to the envelopes Hance had received from, apparently, “The Orphanage.” Hance saw the killer’s infamous ciphers next to some of the characters that had appeared in the May 1 ads. “Look,” Hance said. “I’m going to be absolutely honest with you. I don’t think this is it.” “Well,” she said, before leaving. “I just want to let you know I’ve sent all this to the FBI.”In April 2022, I traveled from my home in Austin to Tucson, where one Sunday afternoon in April, I met Kate Vesely at El Charro Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tucson. I plied Vesely for her thoughts about the ads and the mysterious Robert Hungerford, the attorney she left a note for back in 2013. Hungerford had long been rumored to be the go-between who, every year, for decades, phoned the Daily Wildcat to place an ad in the May 1 edition. He has hinted as much — all while maintaining that he himself is not “The Orphanage,” just the lawyer hired to facilitate his secretive clients’ ad purchases.I was hoping Vesely might help me meet Hungerford. They had started up a correspondence in 2013 and continue to message each other occasionally, but she’s never seen him in person. So after lunch, Vesely and I drove past the county courthouse where she works and parked outside of Hungerford’s office like she did nearly 10 years earlier. Now the front door that she opened back in ’13 was locked, but peering through the glass, she pointed out the stairs that she had descended with trepidation, hoping to find the lawyer and maybe some answers to the mystery. Walking around the side of the building, I tugged on another door and was surprised when it opened. We ducked into the dimly lit hallway with exposed concrete floors and garbage bins at one end, looking for a way to the offices. But it was another dead end. Hungerford’s identity as “The Orphanage’s” occasional lawyer and errand-runner is not a secret. Brett Fera worked at the Wildcat as a student and later became director of Arizona Student Media at the university and he recalls talking to the courteous, professional man who called each year to inquire about advertising in the May 1 issue. He seemed to use no more words than were necessary, but wasn’t impolite — maybe just from a different era.   Hance was on staff at the Wildcat when he learned who Hungerford was. And for a while, he says, he was determined to know more. He started to try to dig into his past. He even met him in person when, he says, Hungerford hired Hance to fix his computer. Hance would try to get Hungerford to talk about the mystery but he didn’t reveal much, Hance says. As he was with Fera, Hungerford was crisp and businesslike, and not about to talk to Hance about the May Day Mystery in any substantive way. Hokyoung Kim for the Deseret News Online, however, Hungerford is playful — in his correspondence with Vesely since that first email, and in the Facebook group, where his avatar, the default white silhouette of a man, encourages the mystery’s fans without ever really showing his hand. When I sent him a message in February seeking an interview, he declined, saying everything I needed to know was already on Hance’s website. “I am of no interest to anyone, including myself,” he quipped.The faintest sketch of Hungerford’s formative years can be found in old yearbooks and newspaper clippings. Before enrolling at the University of Arizona, he was a student at Phoenix College, where he belonged to the “13” Club, described as “an honorary men’s organization composed of 13 of the most outstanding men on campus.” In his senior yearbook photo from the U. of A., dressed neatly in a jacket and tie, he doesn’t look unlike the drawing of the smiling man in the May 1 ads, with hair shorn close to his scalp, brows near horizontal across his eyes, and a sly smile.He’s given a few interviews, though they’re not exactly illuminating. But after another volley of messages with me, he relented, somewhat, and said I could ask two questions about the mystery that his clients had authorized him to answer. I asked what the motivation was for the people behind the May Day Mystery to start it and keep it going, and what will happen if and when someone solves the mystery. The motivation, Hungerford said in a Facebook message, is “total social/theological transformation, incipit: 8/30/69.” As for what will happen: “a dramatic transformation, beyond any sea change.” Hungerford said I “would need to experience it (myself) in order to report the Gestalt.” I looked up the last word. Gestalt, according to the dictionary, “is something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts.” On April 29 of this year, Hance, who’s now 46 and lives in Portland, Oregon, woke up to feed his three cats, brewed a pot of coffee and descended to the basement office he calls his “nerd station.” He moused through the three computer monitors on his desk for the next 30 minutes, checking his work email — he’s employed by a yacht company — and then turned his attention to his personal email. There it was, another spring, another familiar subject line: “May 1, 2022.”  Since the Wildcat stopped printing regularly in recent years, Hance had been receiving the May Day announcements directly. A PDF was attached but he didn’t have time to open it yet. It wasn’t until the afternoon that he posted on his website and shared a link in the Facebook group. “May Day 2022,” he said. “It’s a big one.” There were familiar symbols and characters. Images of stamps featuring Martin Luther. The pyramid on the dollar bill and the date 5/1/72. Different drawings of the smiling man. The guitar tabs for “Hotel California,” by The Eagles, and an approximate passage from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” Within two weeks, nearly 200 comments had been left on the post hypothesizing what it might all mean. Hance has now spent the majority of his life with the May Day Mystery. “It’s the longest thing I’ve done,” he says.  When we first spoke, I wondered how this cryptic phenomenon is different than newer, more pernicious conspiratorial strains like QAnon? Unlike disinformation that misleads and manipulates its audience to believe something false, Hance told me, the May Day Mystery is more like a mirror: When people look at the ads, they see what they want to — whether it’s the history of Protestantism via images of Martin Luther, or mathematics via all those tantalizing equations that appealed to a young computer science major.  May Day clues blend history, mathematics and riddles. And so over the years he’s moved boxes of old, yellowed Wildcats and other documents — like the binder of evidence to support the Zodiac Killer theory — from home to home. When he looks back at the old issues he recognizes the bylines on the sports articles; he remembers the late nights in the newsroom. They smell like the past.The day after meeting with Kate Vesely, I visited the Daily Wildcat newsroom. This isn’t the same dingy spot where Hance worked as the paper’s webmaster. That building has since been renovated and the Wildcat, and its archives, have moved up the street. I pulled heavy collections of old issues off a shelf to see the May Day ads for myself. After looking at the ones I already knew existed, I messaged Hungerford on Facebook to ask if there were any predating 1981. The mystery originated in 1969, when he was a college senior at the University of Arizona. “Very definitely,” he said. Encouraged by his quick and succinct response, I wrote again to see if they were always on May 1. “Some were, many were not,” he replied. When I told him I was looking through old issues, he said he wanted to save me from “hours and hours of fruitless digging in old dusty papers.”“The initial announcements, due to the tumultuous times, were not nearly as evident as 1981 forward,” he said. “In short, you would have to be INSIDE to recognize them. There is plenty from 1981 forward and much more forthcoming.” In 1998, Hance appealed to the relatively new internet. “I have unraveled the May Day pages as far as I can... I need your help” It was an online message in a bottle, but it landed on an unexpected shore. He encouraged me to “remember what was happening in the mid to late ’60s, especially in 1969.” When I had asked Vesely why she thought there was such apparent radio silence between that year and 1981, she speculated that the men involved got married and had children. They were busy raising babies and taking care of their families. Hungerford suggests the reason was much less mundane: the ads couldn’t be more explicit because members of “The Orphanage” would have risked arrest. This dovetails with some theories that the ads are political and linked to unrest from that era. One TikTok user popular among May Day fans has posited that “The Orphanage” is so named because it’s made up of ex-members of activist groups such as the Weathermen, which formed in 1969 in opposition to the Vietnam War. I didn’t think I could solve the mystery, but I thought I might have a shot at finding an announcement from the 1970s. I ignored Hungerford and started to slowly page through May 1 editions from that decade. By the time I started to wonder if there was a hidden meaning behind a record store’s “May Day Sale” ad, I put the archived issues back on the shelf. Federal agents never contacted Hance about the young girl’s theory that the Zodiac Killer was behind the May Day Mystery, but for years he has considered calls and emails from people who believed they had solved the clues, or at least had a theory about them. It’s performance art. It’s an alternate reality game. Robert Hungerford is “The Orphanage,” and has been placing these ads in the newspaper alone. Hungerford is acting on behalf of a group of people, as he claims. This is the work of a secret society, or someone with mental illness. Sometimes, Hance is the one being incriminated. He wasn’t just a college student who stumbled upon a decadeslong puzzle — he’s complicit in the mystery, and playing dumb. Another theory claims that Hance was connected to Hungerford by way of a company Hance formed to sell a software product he had created. Hance vigorously denies this. Others see Hance’s perceived indifference to pursuing Hungerford’s real role in all of this as a clue. It’s true that Hance is far from the most rabid May Day Mystery obsessive; one was once arrested for rummaging through Hungerford’s garbage. But Hance says he’s never wanted to solve the mystery by pulling back the curtain to see who was behind it. That felt like cheating. He wanted to figure it all out on his own.Now, though, he doesn’t think he’ll ever solve it. Neither does Vesely. But she’s comfortable never knowing what, really, the May 1 announcements are all about. She’s just happy knowing the enigma exists. “There’s this gigantic universe full of mysteries of things that we’ll probably never know, in my lifetime,” she said. “But I have my own little mystery right here at home.”   This story appears in the November issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe.

Zoë Petersen, Deseret News In America today, local school boards are fixed on school library shelves to see which books will keep their places and which will be removed. Utah’s own Shannon Hale writes in a letter signed by 41 other authors including Brandon Sanderson and Ally Condie, “As Utah authors and illustrators of books for young readers, we condemn the efforts to suppress, demonize, and ban books from our state’s schools and libraries.” Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, a sponsor of HB374 which sets a standard of acceptability for school library books based on sexual content, presents another facet to the debate. He emphasized at an editorial board meeting with the Deseret News the importance of protecting children from sexual and pornographic material when he said, “when people will take the time to look at the kind of content that we’re concerned about and working on, it’s graphic, it’s clearly harmful, offensive.” Related Shannon Hale and friends: Of all things to ban, not books Opinion: It’s not discrimination — we are protecting children from pornography The problem is that the issue is often presented (and media has some culpability in this) as an “either-or” argument where nuance is lost. Is there no common ground? Does every book deserve to be on a school library shelf? Is there not a way to give parents a supervising role in what their children read without infringing on another parent’s concern for the inclusion of diverse perspectives? While legislators decry shockingly pornographic content found in some school libraries, opposition groups protest that some books being removed largely target voices from people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. So while one side shouts about sexual material, the other side pushes back for diversity.Two perspectives can exist at the same time. Hale brings up an important concern in her letter when she calls out the targeted banning of books from diverse voices. Whether or not the books on banned lists intentionally target LGBTQ themes and perspectives of people of color, the outcry at their removal reveals an important message from parents and community members: Many parents want children to have access to diverse perspectives in schools, and many parents are worried that children aren’t getting it. As Marjorie Cortez reports in her Deseret News poll story published Oct. 4, 65% of respondents agreed that “it is important for public school libraries to have books that represent a variety of perspectives about controversial issues, even if it makes some people uncomfortable.” Related Book bans are the new front in the culture wars. What’s really going on? If there are sexually explicit books in schools that do not meet the basic requirements of the law and do not have merit for fostering empathy and understanding, then of course we should follow the law and establish procedures for review.But we should also keep in mind that while we focus attention on the content of books in school libraries, it doesn’t have to be a one-way street. If we know that community members are concerned about representation and diversity in school libraries, why don’t we put efforts toward adding new library books that share diverse voices and perspectives while also accepting a community standard against sexually explicit content?Can the conversation be about age-appropriate content for children and community standards while also focusing on diversity of thought and experience in literature? Related Perspective: They call it book banning. It’s anything but Is book banning sweeping the nation? Seattle school drops ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ over racism concerns Schools and homes are a place where children are meant to learn, and adults are meant to be their guides. In my middle school English class, we read “Tom Sawyer” like many middle school English classes do. That book contains traumatic and possibly triggering references to the n-word, racism and slavery. While that content can be troubling, we still read it because it is a valuable opportunity for our teachers to help us understand our nation’s history and the impact slavery still has today. Our teachers did not ban “Tom Sawyer” but instead helped us frame the content so that we would develop empathy and understanding about important racial issues.Just as teachers guide children through “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn,” teachers and parents can guide children through other books that may be difficult for youth to frame on their own, but that could offer new perspectives and expand empathy.So the issue then becomes one of access and education. What exactly belongs on a library shelf in a school open to all young readers, without a teacher’s or parent’s explanations? What belongs behind the counter, where there is a measure of age-appropriate control? And what belongs in the classroom, where controversial subjects can be debated and explored (and where parents can have children opt out of a discussion)? School libraries are a magical place where children and youth can read about worlds — both fictional and factual — they might never come across in their own realities. If some books are removed, other books can surely be added with intentional care so that children have a wide range of voices to read.

Fans in the student section hold up a BYU banner during a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. The Cougars host East Carolina Friday night, hoping to get back on track.Ben B. Braun, Deseret News BYU (6-5) at Stanford (3-8) Kickoff: 9 p.m. MSTVenue: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California (50,424)TV: Fox Sports 1Livestream: https://www.foxsports.com/liveRadio: 1160 AM/102.7 FMSeries: BYU and Stanford are meeting for just the third time, and first time since 2004, a 37-10 Cardinal win at Stanford. Stanford leads the series 2-0, and is the only Pac-12 team that BYU has never defeated.Weather: Partly cloudy skies with wind gusts up to 5 mph and temperatures in the high 50s at kickoff, dropping to the mid-50s later in the night. A 5% chance of rain showers. The trends For BYU: The Cougars have won two straight games to get bowl eligible and quality for postseason play for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons. BYU is 0-1 against the Pac-12 this season, after going 5-0 against the league last year. Stanford is quite likely the last Power Five team BYU will face as a college football independent.For Stanford: The Cardinal wrap up another disappointing season after going 3-9 last year. Having lost 27-20 to rival California last week, Stanford is in a “tough spot” according to coach David Shaw and is playing only for pride and for the seniors who will be playing at home for the final time.What to watch for BYU is playing well on offense and averaging 31.6 points per game for the season. The Cougars started slowly in last week’s 52-26 win over Utah Tech, but got rolling once they started huddling because they suspected Utah Tech was on to their signals. Defensively, the Cougars have struggled to stop the run this season, giving up 185 yards per game on the ground. Stanford has struggled to protect quarterback Tanner McKee throughout the season, due to a makeshift offensive line and a steady rotation of running backs. Defensively, Stanford has shown some stoutness at times but is giving up 432.5 yards per game, including 212.3 yards on the ground an outing. Key player Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee warms up before the start of their game against Utah Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Rick Bowmer, Associated Press Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford: BYU has a habit of making opposing quarterbacks play like Joe Montana and post career days against them. McKee is entirely capable of doing this, despite having had a subpar season to date. Also, the Cardinal signal-caller grew up a BYU fan, served a church mission to Brazil, and will have some added motivation to beat the Cougars and send Stanford’s seniors out on a winning note.Quotable “I just have tons of respect for David Shaw, and the coach that he is. And I have had a lot of opportunities to be around him. I can tell you he is an individual that is all class. It has been really cool to see him as a leader and looking at the things he does in our coaching meetings and things, he has such a high level of respect from everybody in the football world. I am really impressed with the things he has done as a coach and the mentoring that he has done for young men.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake“Yeah, (BYU is) a talented football team. They will take shots down the field on you now. These guys will throw it down the field, play-action pass wise. They have some variance in their offense to try to keep you off-balance. Defensively, every week they do something a little bit different — tweaking their front, going from a four down to a three down. … So good team, well-coached team, good players, good athletes. We have to be at our best to find a way to send our seniors out with a win.” — Stanford coach David ShawNext up BYU is still awaiting its bowl destination and opponent, but might not learn it until after the final College Football Playoff rankings are released next Sunday. The Cougars’ next regular-season game is Sept. 2, 2023 in Provo against Sam Houston.BYU schedule Sept. 3 — BYU 50, South Florida 21Sept. 10 — No. 25 BYU 26, No. 9 Baylor 20 (2OT)Sept. 17 — No. 25 Oregon 41, No. 12 BYU 20Sept. 24 — No. 19 BYU 38, Wyoming 24Sept. 29 — No. 19 BYU 38, Utah State 26Oct. 8 — Notre Dame 28, No. 16 BYU 20Oct. 15 — Arkansas 52, BYU 35Oct. 22 — Liberty 41, BYU 14Oct. 28 — East Carolina 27, BYU 24Nov. 5 — BYU 31, Boise State 28Nov. 12 — Open dateNov. 19 — BYU 52, Utah Tech 26Nov. 26 — BYU at Stanford, 9 p.m. MST

Assisted suicide supporters wait outside the B.C. Court of Appeal before the court overturned a lower court ruling that said Canada’s assisted suicide ban violated the charter rights of gravely ill Canadians, in Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, October 10, 2013.Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press via Associated Press It was June 2016 when euthanasia was legalized in Canada, where it is called MAiD, which stands for medical assistance in dying. Canada was not the first country to embrace euthanasia: Belgium and the Netherlands were the first to legalize the practice in 2002. Luxembourg and Colombia followed, then Canada, and in 2021 Spain and New Zealand became the latest countries to do so. That makes seven countries in total, plus several states in Australia. Ten U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., allow assisted suicide, but none allow euthanasia, death administered by a physician.As in the other countries, Canada’s turn toward euthanasia came after a high profile case that drew great sympathy, that of Gloria Taylor, who suffered from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She argued, and the court agreed, that if she was not disabled she could choose suicide, but that being extremely disabled meant she did not, practically speaking, have the same choice to commit suicide — unless she could be assisted by physicians. Somewhat ironically, Taylor died of natural causes before the need for MAiD arose. The Canadian parliament then enshrined MAiD in law.At the time many were worried where the new law would lead. Few could have foreseen how quickly problems would develop, despite a Canadian court ruling that opined “The fact that doubts have been raised is one thing, but any possible ‘slippery slope’ remains theoretical. ... There is no indication that a permissive regime in Canada with properly designed and administered safeguards cannot protect vulnerable people from abuse and error.” Oh, Canada!Consider the case of Canadian Amir Farsoud. Farsoud is 54 and suffers from debilitating back pain. He qualifies for MAiD because his condition is considered “serious,” his decline “cannot be reversed” and he experiences suffering that “cannot be relieved under conditions that you consider acceptable.” His condition is not terminal and was not required to be terminal for his application to be approved under Canadian law, though two independent practitioners (doctor or nurse practitioner) must approve the application. Not counting those who died during the application process, 93% of applications were approved last year.Straightforward? Not in the least. It turns out that Farsoud was being evicted from his rooming house because it was being put up for sale. The low level of government benefits Farsoud was receiving meant he would become homeless. He decided that he would rather die than live in a shelter. However, once a GoFundMe successfully raised $60,000 toward housing costs, Farsoud announced he did not want to die after all.Farsoud commented, “If society is concerned about people like me, and like the half million other people on (government benefits) in poverty, then bring them out of poverty. That’s the obvious solution. If they were out of poverty and if they had a roof over their head and food in their mouths, I guarantee you MAiD wouldn’t be a consideration. The whole debate would become superfluous.” Another woman openly stated, “I’ve applied for MAiD essentially ... because of abject poverty.” Related Perspective: Inside the world of Canada’s assisted suicide for ‘mature minors’ Perspective: Want to see the slippery slope of assisted suicide? Look north These are not the only troubling cases, nor the only type of troubling case.  Veteran Affairs Canada recently suggested MAiD to a serviceman suffering from PTSD. Alan Nichols, suffering from mental illness (which is not currently a qualifying condition for MAiD) and hospitalized for suicide prevention, was euthanized while “screaming uncontrollably,” according to his family. “Alan was basically put to death,” his brother Gary Nichols said. Cheryl Romaire was denied palliative care for her medical condition, but approved for MAiD. There are many more such unsettling cases.There are now intimations that the chronically overburdened Canadian health care system is even suggesting MAiD to patients as a way to save costs. One report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal “calculated that implementing assisted suicide programs would cost $1.5 million to $14.8 million but could reduce annual health care spending by between $34 million to $136.8 million.” Indeed, clinicians are urged to tell patients of the MAiD option in discussions with them about care. Consider the case of Roger Foley, as reported by The Associated Press:“Roger Foley, who has a degenerative brain disorder and is hospitalized in London, Ontario, was so alarmed by staffers mentioning euthanasia that he began secretly recording some of their conversations. In one recording obtained by the AP, the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that for him to remain in the hospital, it would cost ‘north of $1,500 a day.’ Foley replied that mentioning fees felt like coercion and asked what plan there was for his long-term care.“‘Roger, this is not my show,’ the ethicist responded. ‘My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.’ Foley said he had never previously mentioned euthanasia. The hospital says there is no prohibition on staff raising the issue.”Other forms of subtle pressure are also applied. One mother of a disabled child was told she would be “selfish” if she did not request MAiD for her daughter — and was told this in front of her daughter. It is revealing that Canadian doctors in some provinces are urged not to write death certificates listing MAiD as the cause of death, but rather only the pre-existing medical condition. One doctor, uneasy at these developments, came to a startling realization:“I distinctly recall the day when it dawned on me that those of us who refused to participate in assisted death would be regarded as physicians of questionable ethics. We might be seen as more concerned for our own personal moral hang-ups than for the welfare of the patient. Where causing death was once a vice, it was soon to be a virtue. ... Several jurisdictions in Canada became the first in the world to require effective referrals with the threat of potential disciplinary action, and California will shortly join them. Once death is deemed a form of health care, health care ‘providers’ will be expected to offer it.”Come spring of 2023, Canadians will be able to qualify for MAiD on the basis of mental illness alone. The government also plans to extend the right to MAiD for “mature minors” under 18. Furthermore, in October, the College des medecins du Quebec released a report stating that MAiD should be permissible for “babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes for which the chances of survival are virtually nil, and which will cause so much pain that a decision must be made to not allow the child to suffer. In that respect, the committee highlighted the Netherlands’ and other countries’ experience. This avenue could be explored. “Finally, the committee considered the burden of living some elderly people carry. In geriatrics, we call it failure to thrive. For these individuals, life no longer makes any sense. Among other things, the fragility of life, diminished physical capabilities and existential pain become intolerable burdens.” Let that sink in.The use of MAiD has increased exponentially since introduced in Canada. In 2016, 1,018 individuals died under MAiD. In 2021, 10,064 Canadians died through MAiD, more than 3% of all Canadian deaths.The introduction of euthanasia in Canada has become the slipperiest of all slippery slopes. Of course, the expansion of assisted suicide laws in the U.S. will produce the same troubling problems. Oh, Canada! Canadians have the right to die, but do they have the right to live in the face of medical challenges?Valerie M. Hudson is a university distinguished professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and a Deseret News contributor. Her views are her own.

Utah Utes linebacker Mohamoud Diabate (3) celebrates a quarterback sack against the Stanford Cardinal in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News BOULDER, Colorado — Despite last week’s 20-17 loss at No. 9 Oregon, No. 14 Utah could go through the backdoor to the Pac-12 championship game.But there’s only one thing that the Utes can control. They need to get through Boulder. Utah visits the hapless 1-10 Colorado Buffaloes Saturday (2 p.m., MST, Pac-12 Network) in the regular-season finale. Coach Kyle Whittingham knows that there’s a path for his team to get to Las Vegas on Dec. 2 to play for another Pac-12 championship. Utah, which is a 30-point favorite, can’t afford to be Buffaloed at Folsom Field.“It’s our last regular-season game. The old adage is you can’t let Oregon beat us twice,” Whittingham said. “You can’t have a hangover, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ve gotta pick yourself back up and get ready for the next one. It’s been a year of a lot of positives and obviously some negatives. But we’ve got a chance to win our ninth ball game. That’s where our entire focus is.” Related No. 14 Utah vs. Colorado: How to watch, listen to or stream the game Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was right all along about the Pac-12 race Utah has one last chance for a road win this season Running back Tavion Thomas announces his career at Utah is over. Here’s why Here’s the scenario that must play out for Utah, besides beating Colorado.The Utes needed No. 18 UCLA to beat Cal, which the Bruins accomplished Friday 35-28. Saturday, No. 21 Oregon State must win at home against No. 9 Oregon and No. 13 Washington must win at Washington State.If that scenario plays out, there would be a three-way tie between the Utes, the Ducks and the Huskies. Utah would win with the highest combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents between Oregon and Washington and would reach the championship game.“Mathematically, we still have a pathway to the championship,” Whittingham said. “But all we can worry about is our part of that equation. That’s where our focus lies. We have to finish the season the right way and just be concerned with ourselves and then see what else transpires.”Meanwhile, running back Tavion Thomas announced Friday via social media that his collegiate career is over as he declared for the NFL draft. The Utes will likely rely on Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Ja’Quinden Jackson for their rushing attack Friday. As Utah focuses on Colorado, what will it take for the Utes to rebound from that bitter loss to Oregon? “First of all, you put it behind you as quick as you can as coaches. Our mentality, our attitude, the way we approach things is critical. If we walk around feeling sorry for ourselves then the players read that. Your players read you every single day, everything that we do,” Whittingham said. “You have to have that mindset when you come back to put it behind you and move forward … We have a chance to cap the season with a pretty decent record if we can take care of the business at hand. We have a chance to, I don’t want to say backdoor, because it wouldn’t really be a backdoor but mathematically we could get back into that championship game.”Utah wide receiver Devaughn Vele wants to see his team finish the regular season strong after last week’s disappointing setback. “We still have a game left in the regular season and we’ve got to make sure we finish the right way,” he said. “Obviously, we want to put this behind us. It was a tough loss to take. We’ve got to move on and finish on a positive note.”Quarterback Cam Rising, who is coming off a rough outing against Oregon, is optimistic about how this season could end for his team. “Just not stop believing,” he said. “That belief has to be unwavering and we’ve just got to keep focusing on what we’ve got going and hopefully the pieces fall into place for us.”Despite Colorado’s massive struggles this season, Whittingham doesn’t think his team will overlook the Buffaloes. “We’ve got to play our best every week. We prepare the same way — focus and concentrate. Colorado has got scholarship players, just like everybody else,” he said. “They’re well-coached. This is not a team to take lightly. You don’t ever take anybody lightly. I don’t care what the circumstances (are). Hopefully, we’ve made that message ring loud and clear in our players’ minds.”Whittingham is also expecting a strong bounce-back performance by his offense, which scored just one touchdown against Oregon. “We’ve got a good offense, we’ve got a good quarterback. We have a good offensive line. We’ve got good players,” he said. “We have players throughout the system that have a lot of pride and take a lot of pride in what they’re doing. My guess is that we’ll play much better and much more efficient this week.”And if everything goes perfectly for the Utes Saturday — in Boulder, Corvallis and Pullman — they could find themselves back in the Pac-12 championship game. No. 14 Utah (8-3, 6-2) at Colorado (1-10, 1-7) Saturday, 2 p.m. MSTFolsom Field TV: Pac-12 NetworkRadio: ESPN 700

Utah Utes linebacker Mohamoud Diabate (3) celebrates a quarterback sack against the Stanford Cardinal in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News BOULDER, Colorado — Despite last week’s 20-17 loss at No. 9 Oregon, No. 14 Utah could go through the backdoor to the Pac-12 championship game.But there’s only one thing that the Utes can control. They need to get through Boulder. Utah visits the hapless 1-10 Colorado Buffaloes Saturday (2 p.m., MST, Pac-12 Network) in the regular-season finale. Coach Kyle Whittingham knows that there’s a path for his team to get to Las Vegas on Dec. 2 to play for another Pac-12 championship. Utah, which is a 30-point favorite, can’t afford to be Buffaloed at Folsom Field.“It’s our last regular-season game. The old adage is you can’t let Oregon beat us twice,” Whittingham said. “You can’t have a hangover, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ve gotta pick yourself back up and get ready for the next one. It’s been a year of a lot of positives and obviously some negatives. But we’ve got a chance to win our ninth ball game. That’s where our entire focus is.” Related No. 14 Utah vs. Colorado: How to watch, listen to or stream the game Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was right all along about the Pac-12 race Utah has one last chance for a road win this season Running back Tavion Thomas announces his career at Utah is over. Here’s why Here’s the scenario that must play out for Utah, besides beating Colorado.The Utes needed No. 18 UCLA to beat Cal, which the Bruins accomplished Friday 35-28. Saturday, No. 21 Oregon State must win at home against No. 9 Oregon and No. 13 Washington must win at Washington State.If that scenario plays out, there would be a three-way tie between the Utes, the Ducks and the Huskies. Utah would win with the highest combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents between Oregon and Washington and would reach the championship game.“Mathematically, we still have a pathway to the championship,” Whittingham said. “But all we can worry about is our part of that equation. That’s where our focus lies. We have to finish the season the right way and just be concerned with ourselves and then see what else transpires.”Meanwhile, running back Tavion Thomas announced Friday via social media that his collegiate career is over as he declared for the NFL draft. The Utes will likely rely on Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Ja’Quinden Jackson for their rushing attack Friday. As Utah focuses on Colorado, what will it take for the Utes to rebound from that bitter loss to Oregon? “First of all, you put it behind you as quick as you can as coaches. Our mentality, our attitude, the way we approach things is critical. If we walk around feeling sorry for ourselves then the players read that. Your players read you every single day, everything that we do,” Whittingham said. “You have to have that mindset when you come back to put it behind you and move forward … We have a chance to cap the season with a pretty decent record if we can take care of the business at hand. We have a chance to, I don’t want to say backdoor, because it wouldn’t really be a backdoor but mathematically we could get back into that championship game.”Utah wide receiver Devaughn Vele wants to see his team finish the regular season strong after last week’s disappointing setback. “We still have a game left in the regular season and we’ve got to make sure we finish the right way,” he said. “Obviously, we want to put this behind us. It was a tough loss to take. We’ve got to move on and finish on a positive note.”Quarterback Cam Rising, who is coming off a rough outing against Oregon, is optimistic about how this season could end for his team. “Just not stop believing,” he said. “That belief has to be unwavering and we’ve just got to keep focusing on what we’ve got going and hopefully the pieces fall into place for us.”Despite Colorado’s massive struggles this season, Whittingham doesn’t think his team will overlook the Buffaloes. “We’ve got to play our best every week. We prepare the same way — focus and concentrate. Colorado has got scholarship players, just like everybody else,” he said. “They’re well-coached. This is not a team to take lightly. You don’t ever take anybody lightly. I don’t care what the circumstances (are). Hopefully, we’ve made that message ring loud and clear in our players’ minds.”Whittingham is also expecting a strong bounce-back performance by his offense, which scored just one touchdown against Oregon. “We’ve got a good offense, we’ve got a good quarterback. We have a good offensive line. We’ve got good players,” he said. “We have players throughout the system that have a lot of pride and take a lot of pride in what they’re doing. My guess is that we’ll play much better and much more efficient this week.”And if everything goes perfectly for the Utes Saturday — in Boulder, Corvallis and Pullman — they could find themselves back in the Pac-12 championship game. No. 14 Utah (8-3, 6-2) at Colorado (1-10, 1-7) Saturday, 2 p.m. MSTFolsom Field TV: Pac-12 NetworkRadio: ESPN 700

BYU Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall (3) scores a touchdown on a keeper during the game against the Utah Tech Trailblazers at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.Spenser Heaps, Deseret News STANFORD, California — Suffice it to say Saturday night’s BYU-at-Stanford matchup won’t be the most-attended or most-watched college football game in the country this weekend.Heck, it might be one of the least-watched and attended BYU games this season, rivaling the announced attendance total of 24,012 who took in Liberty’s 41-14 victory over the Cougars in Lynchburg, Virginia. And there will probably be more BYU fans at Stanford Stadium than Cardinal fans, given how Stanford’s season is going. “I think it is just our pride as competitors. We love the sport. We love what we do, and we love to win. And we pride ourselves on being excellent. So that is what we are striving for. We are hoping that Stanford brings its ‘A’ game because we are looking to bring our ‘A’ game as well.” — BYU linebacker Pepe Tanuvasa Another factor that will likely keep attendance low: Kickoff for Stanford’s Senior Night, and the first Cougars-Cardinal football game since 2004, is at 9 p.m. MST. It will be televised by Fox Sports 1 and go head-to-head with the Apple Cup — Washington at Washington State — for viewership.However, don’t be fooled.Players and coaches on both sides have been insisting all week that this game means something, even though the Cougars (6-5) have already clinched bowl eligibility and the Cardinal (3-8) are just playing out the string and trying to avoid a second straight 3-9 campaign.“The focus that I have right now, the focus of our staff and student-athletes, through this holiday week, is to prepare our team to send our seniors out with a victory,” Stanford coach David Shaw said Tuesday.Added Stanford freshman defensive back Scotty Edwards, who prepped at Salt Lake City’s Olympus High before a church mission to South Africa: “It is a big game for us. Obviously it has been a tough season for our program, but our seniors have given so much to this program, we just want to send them off on Senior Night with a good taste in their mouths.”Edwards and three other teammates with Utah ties — senior linebackers Levani Damuni (Providence) and Spencer Jorgensen (Provo) and quarterback Tanner McKee (parents graduated from BYU) — have spent time this week prepping teammates about BYU and how important games against Pac-12 and Power Five teams are to the Cougars.“It is equally important to us,” Edwards told the Deseret News Wednesday. What about BYU? What drives and motivates the Cougars to finish their final regular-season game as an independent before they head off to the Big 12?Junior linebacker Keenan Pili, who walked last week on Senior Day at LaVell Edwards Stadium after the 52-26 win over Utah Tech, but still hasn’t decided yet whether he will turn pro or return in 2023, said it all comes down to pride and relishing every game as if it is their last.“I have said it before: I have a hard time thinking that the guys wouldn’t be motivated,” Pili said. “We have so much to prove still. We have had a tough season, and things happened that we didn’t want to happen, like that (four-game) losing streak. This is another chance to finish the season strong.”Although thousands of BYU fans who reside in the Bay Area are expected to attend, the Cougars say they need a fast start — unlike last week — as seven-point favorites to get the Cardinal thinking about the offseason. A dry, breezy, chilly night is expected, with temperature at kickoff around 52 degrees.“I think it is just our pride as competitors (that motivates BYU),” said linebacker Pepe Tanuvasa. “We love the sport. We love what we do, and we love to win. And we pride ourselves on being excellent. So that is what we are striving for. We are hoping that Stanford brings its ‘A’ game because we are looking to bring our ‘A’ game as well.”BYU offensive lineman Joe Tukuafu, who is definitely moving on, said the Cougars’ “respect for the game” has driven them this week to cast off distractions such as Thanksgiving with family and bowl game talk and focus on the task at hand.“We are just taking it like a big game, respecting it enough to respect our opponent to watch the film and practice what is needed,” Tukuafu said. “… It will be good to get Thanksgiving on this week and to get out to Palo Alto and play Stanford.”BYU is relatively healthy on offense — RBs Chris Brooks and Miles Davis returned last week — and should be able to move the ball on Stanford, which is giving up 432.5 yards and 31.9 points per game. The Cougars have won seven straight November games, and are averaging 603.5 yards per game in two games this month, wins over Boise State and Utah Tech.But offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick is wary, having faced Stanford defensive coordinator Lance Anderson several times when Roderick was on Utah’s staff.“They are a Pac-12 program that is really well-coached. It looks like they are a little beat up right now, but I have coached against those guys a long time. I know they will be ready to play,” Roderick said. “In spite of what their record is or what their roster is, we will have to go play well to have a chance to win.” Related Stanford coach David Shaw dishes on recruiting against BYU Has BYU’s offensive line delivered on high expectations? Here’s what the OC had to say With former BYU recruiting target McKee at the controls, the Cardinal is averaging 20.9 points and 360.7 yards of offense per game, modest totals. They’ve gone against some really good defenses, though, in posting a 1-8 conference mark.“We have got to be able to get that right blend of coverage and pass rush,” BYU safeties coach Ed Lamb said on his Coordinators’ Corner program. “They are not a one-dimensional team. We have got to stop Tanner, we have got to stop their receivers. Their offensive line is physical and opens up holes.“They might be struggling in the win-loss (category), but make no mistake, this is a good team that has a win over Notre Dame. Our players know all about how good Notre Dame is. It will be a good challenge for us.”One of the storylines in a week that hasn’t had many is the return to Stanford of BYU graduate-transfer fullback Houston Heimuli, a former Cardinal team captain. Heimuli has mostly been relegated to special teams in Provo, but a guy can dream, can’t he?“Oh yeah, just a touchdown would be great,” Heimuli said of his “dream scenario” for Saturday’s game. “Or even leading a touchdown. I would be fine with either. Just playing in that stadium again and contributing is what I want to do.”Even if not a lot of folks are watching.Cougars on the air BYU (6-5) at Stanford (3-8)Saturday, 9 p.m. MTStanford Stadium, Stanford, CaliforniaTV: Fox Sports 1Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM

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A man was saved by the US Coast Guard possibly 15 hours after he fell overboard on a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. CNN correspondent Nick Valencia shows footage of the helicopter rescue.

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