Yesterday Lance and I had the rare privilege of attending a BYU football game. It's been a few years since I last attended one, but during my 5 years at BYU, the ONLY home game I missed was the one that conflicted with my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. (I listened to that game, though, with my Uncle Jim. He took a radio to the party.) I love BYU football and have been a big-time fan since I was a high-school student.
Yesterday's match-up was between the BYU Cougars and the University of Washington Huskies in Seattle. Our neighbors, who are season-ticket holders to the Huskies games, gave us their tickets for yesterday's game. (We love our neighbors, and not just because they were generous with their football tickets.) It was a beautiful day for football! The temperature was perfect (after the initial mugginess and cloud-cover wore off), and we were shaded by the stadium over-hang throughout the game.
We attended the BYU Alumni Association-sponsored tailgate party and pre-game barbecue and "hung out" with fellow Cougar fans. Then we headed into the stadium to find our seats. We knew we would be seated in "enemy territory." Most of the "enemies" were quite friendly except for one or two guys seated a few rows back from us that occasionally yelled insults like, "Your religion sucks!" Lance and I were as "low key" as possible, so these insults were hurled at the Cougar fans and team in general. When our seat mates arrived, we apologized that we would be rooting for the opposing team. They were nice and even chatted with us throughout the game.
Well, suffice it to say that the game was a nail-biter. The Cougars scored first followed by two Husky touchdowns. The game was tied at 21 until BYU scored in the last 3 or so minutes of the game bringing the score to 28-21. Our Husky seat mates thought they had lost the game, but I assured them that they could still score. I should have kept my mouth shut, because with less than 10 seconds in the game, the Huskies scored a touchdown. A 15-yard "unsportsmanlike conduct" penalty was then given to the Husky quarterback (who scored the touchdown) for tossing the ball "high" into the air in celebration. The crowd erupted in voicing their displeasure, but to no avail. The Huskies had to settle for kicking a PAT instead of attempting a 2-point conversion. (Notice how well-versed I am in football lingo!) The Cougar defensive line blocked the kick, and won the game by 1 point. It was a wild ending to a game that had many injuries (most of them Husky players), penalties (most called against BYU) and dropped/missed passes (by a certain Cougar wide-receiver who I will not name in the off chance he reads this blog).
We left the stadium happy our team had won, but sad for the Huskies that the game for them came down to a final "controversial" call. We didn't gloat in our victory because it just didn't seem like the right thing to do and, besides, what if the obnoxious Husky fan seated a few rows behind us (or one with his same sentiments) was walking right behind us on our way out of the stands?
GO, COUGARS!!!
4 comments:
I'm so glad you got to go! Phil was texting me every few minutes letting me know the score--he was in heaven. I had no idea you were such a football fan Natalie! Happy Belated birthday by the way!
Tim went to this game too, except he was seated in the student section. He says he was scared for his life walking out of the stadium, Husky fans were so irate!
From Susan: While watching the game in Utah (we were there for Scott's wedding), we wondered if you were there. It was exciting to watch, and Daniel says it's cool that you got to be there in person.
Well versed in football lingo is right! Who has ever heard of "excessive celebration?" Lame.
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