Blood Money

The loudest sound I ever heard blew my ears apart on November 24, 2007. The experience both felt and sounded like a bomb had exploded under my feet. Bodies collided in air. Elbows, feet, and hands bounced off each other. My glasses were knocked off my face, the lenses scratched, the frame bent.

And I couldn't have been happier.

With one injured-shoulder heave, Max Hall completed a pass to Austin Collie on fourth and eighteen, breathing life into a BYU team that one minute later would defeat the University of Utah in miraculous fashion. The pandemonium I experienced in the crowd that day is one of the most joyous celebrations in which I've participated.

I mention this because despite being in the midst of the NCAA tournament and an intense NBA Western Conference playoff race, the news that most excites my soul is the fact that BYU started football practice again last week. Cougar football remains king.

With the upcoming season boasting a great home schedule and a bevy of talented players, I once again am left to decide whether or not I should buy season tickets. For $96 I can have guaranteed spots for contests against Florida St, USU, Air Force, Colorado St, plus rematches against TCU and of course, the U of U.

(I like the idea of watching games from here)

In order to raise the needed funds I've contemplated the idea of donating my plasma. There exists only one problem: I don't like getting needled, nor having my vitals sucked out of my body. Nevertheless, the symbolism that accompanies plasma donation (the temporary removal of your red and white blood cells) is encouraging, for I've long desired to have the red removed from my blood in hopes that I'll eventually bleed blue for BYU. (Who wants the color of their lifesource to be the same as their most hated enemy's school colors?)

Sure, the metal benches are not the most comfortable. And yeah, $96 is a lot of money for a poor bloke like myself. And it's true that I live far away in Logan during the college football season.

But none of that matters.
I'll do anything to be there the next time a bomb goes off in Cougar stadium.