Happiest Anniversary

-- Click here for drawings from 1996

25 years ago I watched the first BYU game of my life. It just so happened to be one of the greatest in Cougar history.

 

I will never, ever, ever, watch that pass from Steve to KO and not get goosebumps. Even Brent Musburger's call is perfection. My dad watched this on tape delay -- a ward campout of all things postponed his live viewing -- and I joined him because I simply had to see that game again. I've always wondered if he was mad at the giddiness I displayed all game, even when BYU was down or messed up, for I was a walking spoiler alert.

I don't question why the sports gods blessed me with a baptism this meaningful -- I just happily accept the path they placed me on. For 25 years it's been a blast. And I mean, yes, like any marriage, there have been downs (2017, I'm looking at you). But the highs ... oh the highs. The 1996 Cotton Bowl, 2008 UCLA, 2009 Oklahoma, 2011 Ole Miss, 2012 USU, 2013 Texas, 2015 Nebraska, 2015 Boise State, 2018 Wisconsin, 2019 USC ... and every single win against Utah, '96, '98, '00, '01, '06, '07, '09. 

Especially '07. 

There's nothing like it. I've thrown a sofa in rage. I've sprinted through the streets in joy. I owe it all to KO and Steve and Dye and Chad and Jenkins -- they captured my heart. They're the reason I poo blue too. Every time I took to the backyard to throw passes to myself I became these heroes. Every sacrament meeting for an entire fall was spent doodling their finest moments. You can see while never impressive with the pencil, I was starting to get a little better by the time I got to KO's deep ball catch. 

How do you say thanks to people you've never met for performing so well in their job that it becomes the defining love of your life? Chad Lewis is on twitter but to use a direct messaging system meant primarily for horny lads to slide into the view of madams seems an incongruent means for expressing how indebted I am to this squad. Purchasing season tickets moves us in a better direction but it certainly isn't unique. Maybe the best way is to just keep this blog going for as long as I fan. What I write may not be worthy of Grantland, but if writing 10,000 words about BYU's running back pantheon isn't a love letter; if spending three months recapping a fantasy draft spanning 1980 to 2020 isn't a declaration of appreciation; if maintaining a freaking blog for 12 years beyond when they went out of style, the likes of which includes at least 150 posts about BYU football doesn't say thank you, I'm not sure what will. 

So I'll keep on writing. 

Not like I needed an excuse :)