Sometimes, its just the little things......

     Mr Mike Sorensen from the Deseret News wrote this article to preview the upcoming bowl game between Utah and Colorado St.   I have read Mike's articles at the Deseret News for years now and I have come to the conclusion that he is a BYU fan who hates the fact that he is often assigned to write about the Utes, but he tries his best anyway.   Some of his comments in that article are a bit silly, and I don't think anybody bothered to fact check, but I just had to get some thoughts down after reading this...........

    I spent 8 years as a kid in Texas.  I  spent each Saturday in the fall (and I'm about to gag here..........) watching the Texas Longhorns play football.  Occasionally, we would go to the church and catch the blue guys from Provo over the satellite feed.  

    One day, Dad came and turned the Longhorns game off and said that we would be watching a "real" team play that day.  For the first time, we were able to catch a University of Utah football game on ESPN!  This was 1994.  There were 4 or 5 games on TV all day, IF you had cable!  ESPN2 was a premium channel.  I didn't know anything about this red team, except that I had seen their logo on a few of Dad's shirts.

    For a game that I can barely remember, there was a play that I will never forget for as long as I live.  As Mike described, Harold Lusk picked off the Colorado St. QB and took off down the sideline.  As he ran for the game clinching touchdown, I remember Dad jumping up and down and yelling "GO! GO! GO!" and I got so excited, I jumped out of my seat and joined in!   

    That was that.  I was hooked.  We didn't go to the church on Saturdays for games anymore.  

     Ever since then, its been a lot of great memories.  I'll never forget tromping through the snow to see my first game at the Huntsman Center as Dad told me stories of Jerry Chambers, Mike Newlin, and Ticky Burden.  Or when the youth at my church got a bunch of free tickets and I saw Steve "Ice up, son!" Smith take a punt to the house.  

     Just this past year, I went to two different football games with a couple of my siblings, got soaking wet and felt like I was going to freeze over, only to see the team lose both times. Yet I can honestly say that I had a blast each game.  Last year, I took my son to his first game at the Huntsman Center and watched his face light up as he said "Dad, I like bas-et-baw!"

    And of course, I'll never forget taking my girlfriend to the football game against Louisville in 2009, and just praying for the whole three and a half hours because I was scared to death, knowing I had a ring back in my car and that was the night.  She said "yes", and five years later, I still don't know how she puts up with me!  

   I don't really know what I am trying to say here, other than this little trip down memory lane helped remind me today how lucky I am, and how much I love my family.   Sometimes, it's just the little things.