True Blue

This will not be the so-called substantial blog that I have long promised.  No, that post is still stewing in my brain.  It will likely require some more stewing before I can make sense of it and share it with you all.  Also, I haven't had time for serious writing.  I've been somewhat busy.

Friday afternoon my former roommate Jeff spoke with me about the possibility of camping out for the BYU-Utah basketball game.  People had first started camping out as early as Tuesday this past week, and getting decent seats for the game Saturday was a concern for both of us.  I had planned on just arriving early Saturday morning, possibly creating a rotating shift system with Jeff, Whitney, and Paige, as well as whoever else would want to watch the game with us, but it became apparent to us that just showing up on Saturday might make getting good seats difficult.  Jeff told me that he was going to head over Friday afternoon and set up a tent, and he invited me to join him.  Since I really didn't have anything else to do, I accepted Jeff's invitation.

Jeff ended up pitching his tent near the southwest corner of the Marriot Center.  Tents stretched from the northwest doors, which would be the first opened Saturday afternoon, all the way across the bridge and around to where we found ourselves.  By the end of the night, tents would nearly extend to the southeast doors.  It was astounding and awesome.

I arrived at 8:30 with my gear and some foodstuffs to tide us over; I would have arrived earlier (I did bring Jeff some Arbys for his troubles earlier that evening), but I was forced to do my job for cleaning checks so I wouldn't have to wake up early and go home to clean Saturday morning.  It was definitely a cold night, colder than most that week, but I was just fine with a couple layers of clothing.  Jeff and I sat around and talked for awhile; we were joined by his wife Amy and later by our friend Whitney.  Jeff, Whitney, and I ended up watching the hilariously terrible film Troll 2, and, all in all, it was an enjoyable evening.  

After the movie, around 1 a.m., Jeff and I both felt it was time to try and get some sleep.  I climbed into my sleeping bag, pulled a couple blankets on top of me, and did my best to fall asleep amidst our noisy neighbors.  There was something like a dance party going on not too far from us; then in one tent next to us someone was playing NCAA football on an XBox with the volume up too loud, and then in the tent on the opposite side of us they were watchingArrested Development, one of my favorite episodes even.  People were being loud all around.  I'm not sure exactly when, but I fell asleep at some point.  Then I was awoken by someone who didn't care how loudly he was speaking.  I guess I got a couple hours of sleep, but I can't say how many.  I was warm and stayed in my sleeping bag for a little while, but eventually Jeff and I both got up.

Then all we had to do was wait.  We snacked on the food I had brought, packed up our stuff, and took down the tent.  Whitney rejoined us, and I was able to head to my apartment where I took a shower and tried to recruit others to watch the game with us.  I failed.  I grabbed two pizzas from Little Caesars and rejoined my compadres in line.  All the while more and more people were arriving and getting in the line which had nearly circled the entire Marriot Center.  Something about camping out for the game had increased my excitement for the game.  Not only that, but it was the first BYU-Utah basketball game I could remember in a long time that had such implications regarding the conference championship and postseason play.  

They opened the doors at 1:30, and the Cougar faithful filed into the Marriot Center.  It didn't take long for the student section to fill up.  We ended up with seats about two-thirds up the lower bowl, right at mid court.  We had a perfect view of the court, and I was pleased with our seats.  All that was left was for BYU to overcome the Utes; then all would be well.

For those who don't follow BYU basketball, it was a close, hard fought game.  BYU shot poorly in the first half, but was only down by two points at half.  The second half, however, was a different beast.  Our defense completely shut down the Utes' offense.  Luke "Beaker" Neville finished with just 9 points and got completely outplayed.  Lee Cummard's block of Neville just might be the play of the year; it was insane.  Jimmer Fredette continued his domination and finished with 25 points.  In the end, BYU beat Utah 63-50.  At the end of the game, I felt like I do after an intense football game.  My throat was hoarse from too much yelling, but I was elated with the victory and ready to camp out all over again.  For a BYU sports lover like myself, it was all I could ask for.  I've read numerous news articles about the game, and every time the raucous crowd is mentioned, I am proud to have been played a part.  I credit the crowd with causing at least one Ute turnover, when Neville held on to the ball too long and got hit with a shot-clock violation because he couldn't hear anything and had no idea how much time he had.  I couldn't even hear the ref's whistle; people just stopped playing and I had to catch the ref signaling the violation to know what was going on.  It was very, very loud in there all game long.

Oh yeah, Jeff flashing the Ute hand sign thing to a couple Ute fans as we drove away was priceless.

Jeff standing in front of the tent.

The line of tents behind us.

Just some of the tents ahead of us.