No links. Just a rant. And then the floor is yours, commenters.

Anything goes, but reminiscence and nostalgia related to good times at BYU are highly encouraged. 😉

But before that party gets started, let me just say …

My sense is that Brandon Davies has been offered up as a sacrificial lamb on the altar of LDS PR. Yes, that’s my read of BYU’s decision to sign off on the latest public parading of a student athlete’s failure to keep to the Honor Code.

Why now? Because it’s been a rough few months for TSCC, namely …

The Book of Mormon dancing and singing on Broadway. Family guy dinging Marriott on the small box. Pro-equality Mormon videos going viral. Warren Jeffs and his prophetic pedofilling. Hot sauce mom and her Dr. Philling. DADT repealing. White House DOMA rejecting. Mormon neo-Nazis running the Arizona senate. LDS father of The 5 Browns busted for daughter abusing. Dallin Oaks failing. Romney flailing. Huntsman hinting. Missions closing. Growth prospects fading. Informal cultural pressures mounting. Gay agenda winning. Young people yawning. Secular ranks swelling. Mormon ads tanking. BYU students opining and objecting.

When an institution sees its legitimacy slipping, what does it do?

It offers up one of its own.

Because it stands for something, dammit. And that’s why ESPN has been tasked with explaining what that might be, exactly.

For the Bloggernacle version of this open thread, see:

Nine Moons: BYU’s Honor Code Strikes Again