Thursday, December 28, 2006
Craziness
Oi Vey! What am I getting myself into? I'm going on a date with a girl I've only met online, but we're going up to SLC to see the lights with her YSA ward. So it's like a blind date with 20+ people. And I won't have a car for my own use. Here's to hoping we totally click! It'll totallly suck if things are awkward for very long. But's not like I had plans for Saturday evening. And she is cute. This is a bigger risk than the trip to Las Vegas!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas
I hope anyone that happens upon this humble blog is having a Merry Christmas surrounded by family and friends.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Vindication
Well, that was awesome! Our seats were really bad, and we had a bunch of rowdy Duck fans nearby that were getting more inebriated by the minute, but we had good time at the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl. I was kind of nervous when the Cougs kept dropping passes in the first quarter (very uncharacteristic). But I was cautiously optimistic when we had two sacks on Oregon's first offensive series. Actually, I was quite surprised that BYU routed Oregon so handily. Harline was amazing, and ended up getting the MVP award. My brother and I went out on the field after the game with everyone else, though he almost fell to his doom in the process. The only bad part about the game was that it was the last one of the season. The team has all but exorcised its demons, the final step being a continual process of winning in the coming seasons, not letting this team be a one hit wonder. But everything else that this class of seniors had failed to do, they did this year.
1. Protect Homefield: In recent years the Cougs have not protected LES, but this year BYU were the most dominant home team in the country.
2. Field a balanced team: When one thinks of BYU, scoring lots of points comes to mind, defense does not. But the best BYU teams of the past have had good defenses to go with theirpowerful offenses. In 2003, the Cougar defenders experienced a role reversal, they were one of the best units in the country, but the offense was one of the worst. Last year it flipped back, and the defense was a liability. There were too many question marks going into this season, but most thought that the defense couldn't get any worse. Well, they were radically better, and it lead to holding opponents to just over two touchdowns a game.
3. Win a conference championship: BYU had not won a conference championship in four years, a feat the Cougs accomplished almost annually in years past. In 2006 they won the outright conference championship with one more game to go, but could they...
4. Beat Utah: I didn't start watching sports until I moved to Florida, so I didn't really know anything about the rivalry with Utah until I came to school. But then I only saw wins against 'the team up north' in my first two seasons at BYU. Since then, my loathing for the Utes has only grown. And part of this is anger at the Cougars themselves, but it seemed like Utah could always get itself psyched up to play BYU, and BYU would come out flat, and not just in football. I would have liked to have seen a blowout in Salt Lake this year, but I think it is so much sweeter that the Cougs finally...
5. Won a close game: John Beck had a reputation for not being able to win the close ones. Which is kind of unfair, since he only touches the ball for part of each offensive play, and has no influence on defensive plays. Nevertheless he had the reputation, and he only added to it in the only two losses this year. In every other game the offense and defense totally dominated opponents. He didn't get many chances to dispell the reputation, but he finally put it to bed by beating the Utes after time expired on the second to last play of the game. Fire in his belly and ice in his veins.
6. Win a bowl game: BYU went back to the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl for the second straight year, but had not won in 10 years. And they did it against a "Premier" team in the Pac-10's Oregon Ducks.
Now that is satisfaction. Keep it up Cougars!
1. Protect Homefield: In recent years the Cougs have not protected LES, but this year BYU were the most dominant home team in the country.
2. Field a balanced team: When one thinks of BYU, scoring lots of points comes to mind, defense does not. But the best BYU teams of the past have had good defenses to go with theirpowerful offenses. In 2003, the Cougar defenders experienced a role reversal, they were one of the best units in the country, but the offense was one of the worst. Last year it flipped back, and the defense was a liability. There were too many question marks going into this season, but most thought that the defense couldn't get any worse. Well, they were radically better, and it lead to holding opponents to just over two touchdowns a game.
3. Win a conference championship: BYU had not won a conference championship in four years, a feat the Cougs accomplished almost annually in years past. In 2006 they won the outright conference championship with one more game to go, but could they...
4. Beat Utah: I didn't start watching sports until I moved to Florida, so I didn't really know anything about the rivalry with Utah until I came to school. But then I only saw wins against 'the team up north' in my first two seasons at BYU. Since then, my loathing for the Utes has only grown. And part of this is anger at the Cougars themselves, but it seemed like Utah could always get itself psyched up to play BYU, and BYU would come out flat, and not just in football. I would have liked to have seen a blowout in Salt Lake this year, but I think it is so much sweeter that the Cougs finally...
5. Won a close game: John Beck had a reputation for not being able to win the close ones. Which is kind of unfair, since he only touches the ball for part of each offensive play, and has no influence on defensive plays. Nevertheless he had the reputation, and he only added to it in the only two losses this year. In every other game the offense and defense totally dominated opponents. He didn't get many chances to dispell the reputation, but he finally put it to bed by beating the Utes after time expired on the second to last play of the game. Fire in his belly and ice in his veins.
6. Win a bowl game: BYU went back to the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl for the second straight year, but had not won in 10 years. And they did it against a "Premier" team in the Pac-10's Oregon Ducks.
Now that is satisfaction. Keep it up Cougars!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Hitting the Road Fully Invested
I haven't been to an away game in years, but thanks to a (relatively) close locale and only slightly overpriced tickets, my brother and I are headed to Las Vegas. I'm not a betting man, but this trip is a bit of a gamble. I dropped a little more than two days wages on the tickets, not including travel expenses. The Cougars had better win, or this trip will really be all about Lost Wages!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Five long years
I meant to get back to this post and edit, but forgot all about it, and now I don't want to bother, so here it is in it's raw form:
Its been a long time in coming, and man it feels good. I didn't grow up loving sports. I didn't even grow up loving BYU sports. I guess that happens when you grow up in a single parent home, and the parent happens to be your mother. And you live on the other side of the country from BYU. I knew about BYU of course, both my parents went there. I even went to a couple of football games with my dad. I don't think I was there for the Miami game in '90, but I was there during the Detmer years. I remember my mom talking about the Miracle bowl though I had no idea of its signifigance. I stopped playing sports when we moved to Florida, but I took up the trumpet and lasted through four years of Marching band. I went to all those games and never really knew what was going on. Didn't help that my high school team was inept. We always claimed that the crowds came out to see us perform rather than the football team. So when I enrolled at BYU myself in '98 and joined the band, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. '98 was an ok year by BYU standards, but it was pretty exciting for me considering the only winning teams I ever witnessed were on the other sideline. BYU didn't lose at home that whole season. I liked to think that they needed the band to win. And that theory held through the Utah game. RES was pretty rowdy and the Utah fans heckled us most of the game. So it was pretty sweet when Utah drove the ball within kicking range at the end of the game to win it. Well, that wasn't sweet, but what happened next was. LaVell called the last two of BYU's timeouts to 'ice' the kicker, and it worked perfectly. Doink! It was so nice to see the worst of the Ute fans leave sulking after they thought they were going to win for sure. My theory of the band supporting to team to victory faded in the WAC championship game in Las Vegas, and then at the Liberty Bowl. I saw first hand what losing star players to Honor Code violations could do to the team. I later went on my mission and missed the whole 'bib' phase in the evolution of BYU's uniforms. I also was gone for LaVell's final season, for the most part not a tragedy, but it would have been nice to be there for the last two games. When I came back I considered rejoining the band, but financial needs ruled it out and I started watching the games as just a regular fan for the first time. What a time to come back to! I listened to nearly the entire Tulane game on KSL on the way up to Yellowstone, and I didn't know what to think of the 70-35 final score, but it was amazing. I watched and listened as the season progressed and got more and more emotionally invested. I wonder what would have been if the season hadn't been interuppted by the events of September 11th. Things would have been different, and maybe BYU would have ended undefeated and had a chance to play in a BCS game, who knows. It was a special season, but like in '98, BYU lost the last two games. One of the things to come out of that season, was that I started watching the games with my friends the Henrichsens. I got my season passes with various members of that family over the next four years. We endured a lot of bad football over that span. And they endured alot of misery for sitting with me during all the losing. I was not any fun to be around. I don't know what happened. I don't know where my school spirit came from, but somewhere on the road I picked it up and I haven't let go. In recent years I have tried to tone down my rage when the team is playing poorly, but I still get very emotionally involved in the games. Right before the season starts, if I hear the fight song, I can choke up. When BYU ended last season with a .500 record I could tell change was in the air. The new coach Bronco Mendenhall brought something that had been missing during the years the Crowton was the coach. One of the best things was reverting to a classic style for the football uniforms. Another was reconnecting the team to its past. And most important was a focus on accountability for the team. 2006 was going to be different, for alot of reasons. I had to get a job that required me to work Saturdays. All of my Henrichsen connections left Provo, or got married, or both. On days when I could see the games, I no longer had my usual group to cheer with. So of course the team starts winning. And not just winning, but winning big. This has been a season of purging. After losing two close games at the beginning of the season, the team lead the rest of the way. Blowing out teams both decent and otherwise.
Its been a long time in coming, and man it feels good. I didn't grow up loving sports. I didn't even grow up loving BYU sports. I guess that happens when you grow up in a single parent home, and the parent happens to be your mother. And you live on the other side of the country from BYU. I knew about BYU of course, both my parents went there. I even went to a couple of football games with my dad. I don't think I was there for the Miami game in '90, but I was there during the Detmer years. I remember my mom talking about the Miracle bowl though I had no idea of its signifigance. I stopped playing sports when we moved to Florida, but I took up the trumpet and lasted through four years of Marching band. I went to all those games and never really knew what was going on. Didn't help that my high school team was inept. We always claimed that the crowds came out to see us perform rather than the football team. So when I enrolled at BYU myself in '98 and joined the band, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. '98 was an ok year by BYU standards, but it was pretty exciting for me considering the only winning teams I ever witnessed were on the other sideline. BYU didn't lose at home that whole season. I liked to think that they needed the band to win. And that theory held through the Utah game. RES was pretty rowdy and the Utah fans heckled us most of the game. So it was pretty sweet when Utah drove the ball within kicking range at the end of the game to win it. Well, that wasn't sweet, but what happened next was. LaVell called the last two of BYU's timeouts to 'ice' the kicker, and it worked perfectly. Doink! It was so nice to see the worst of the Ute fans leave sulking after they thought they were going to win for sure. My theory of the band supporting to team to victory faded in the WAC championship game in Las Vegas, and then at the Liberty Bowl. I saw first hand what losing star players to Honor Code violations could do to the team. I later went on my mission and missed the whole 'bib' phase in the evolution of BYU's uniforms. I also was gone for LaVell's final season, for the most part not a tragedy, but it would have been nice to be there for the last two games. When I came back I considered rejoining the band, but financial needs ruled it out and I started watching the games as just a regular fan for the first time. What a time to come back to! I listened to nearly the entire Tulane game on KSL on the way up to Yellowstone, and I didn't know what to think of the 70-35 final score, but it was amazing. I watched and listened as the season progressed and got more and more emotionally invested. I wonder what would have been if the season hadn't been interuppted by the events of September 11th. Things would have been different, and maybe BYU would have ended undefeated and had a chance to play in a BCS game, who knows. It was a special season, but like in '98, BYU lost the last two games. One of the things to come out of that season, was that I started watching the games with my friends the Henrichsens. I got my season passes with various members of that family over the next four years. We endured a lot of bad football over that span. And they endured alot of misery for sitting with me during all the losing. I was not any fun to be around. I don't know what happened. I don't know where my school spirit came from, but somewhere on the road I picked it up and I haven't let go. In recent years I have tried to tone down my rage when the team is playing poorly, but I still get very emotionally involved in the games. Right before the season starts, if I hear the fight song, I can choke up. When BYU ended last season with a .500 record I could tell change was in the air. The new coach Bronco Mendenhall brought something that had been missing during the years the Crowton was the coach. One of the best things was reverting to a classic style for the football uniforms. Another was reconnecting the team to its past. And most important was a focus on accountability for the team. 2006 was going to be different, for alot of reasons. I had to get a job that required me to work Saturdays. All of my Henrichsen connections left Provo, or got married, or both. On days when I could see the games, I no longer had my usual group to cheer with. So of course the team starts winning. And not just winning, but winning big. This has been a season of purging. After losing two close games at the beginning of the season, the team lead the rest of the way. Blowing out teams both decent and otherwise.
Fine tuning
It's up and it looks pretty good, although the layout could use some fine tuning I think. I'd like to get the colors just right, maybe I'll have to try other templates and play around with the look of this place. Anyways, I've been tired now for a few hours and I think I should finally hit the sack.
Trying this out
I just wanted to give a shout out to all my fellow Risers and Shouters out there. I am a pretty happy Cougar fan right now, as are you all. I just wanted to try this out to see how it works. I'll share some of my thoughts on the season and the upcoming bowl game against the Ducks of Oregon later on.
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