I'm so glad I'm not into BYU Football

I'm so glad I'm not into BYU Football.

BYU's my alma mater.  It was a stressful good time.  But while attending I never went to a football game, though that's all that seemed to be spoken of on campus.  Football, football, football.  (Kinda having a Brandy Bunch moment.)

I wasn't into Football in High school as well.  Only went to two games in which I worked on drawing homework at one game and got to help film for the local TV station at the other.  Turns out I really enjoy football when I have to keep the ball in frame, especially while it's soaring through the air.  Actually, that was a lot of fun.  The only BYU game I attended I didn't see, because I was volunteering at concessions helping to raise money for the Boy Scouts.

The whole BYU VS U of U game seems to be the ONLY game that maters in these parts.  I'm so out of the loop I didn't even know it was happening until I heard the radio dude last Thursday warn about evening traffic due to the game.  Avoid Provo.  Done.

The year I graduated from BYU is one of the last times BYU won against U of U.  The school was so over joyous that a group of students pantomimed the winning play during the graduation ceremony.  Everyone screamed and cheered!  I laughed as I ate a free mint chocolate brownie.  They were having fun.  That's good.

I didn't even know BYU lost to U of U these last eight years!  Last Thursday eight losses turned to nine!

30-12.  U of U won with 30 points.  A nasty thunder storm moved through the valley that night.  I wondered how the game was going, but didn't think beyond that and headed to bed.  Turns out the game was paused for an hour and finished up past midnight after the storm finished raging.

I don't know.  I don't know why I'm just not into sports.  Tried getting into soccer, but found it rather boring.  It's literally possible for no team to score a point in 90 minutes, everyone just running back and forth getting flagged or whatever.

What it comes down to is that I just want the best team to win.  If the winning team played the better, ethical game showing true talent and strategy, they deserve to win.  I can't be mad over that.  And if the team I'm suppose to cheer for rightfully loses, that's how it is.  They deserve it.  Work harder and smarter.  I do admire the strength and resilience displayed by those who play sports, but I just can't get behind a team. 

Maybe I just don't like blind loyalty.  And I don't want to be told who I must be loyal towards.

Funny enough, a few days later I'm still seeing BYU/U of U football memes on Facebook, mainly bashing BYU.  I have friends on both sides of the aisle.  Hope they enjoyed the game.  Maybe one of these years I'll actually go to one.
 

Watching the World Cup in a Hotel Room

 I just spent a week visiting California.

As I stated in an earlier post my Mom's best friend is visiting from France, and one of the things we wanted to do was take her to some of her favorite places in California: Cambria, Hearst Castle, Solvang, and Santa Barbara.

I've also mentioned in previous posts that I'm a bit of a sports dunce.  If sports could be made sentimental in anyway, I'd be more inclined to watch.  I'm always up for going to a baseball game thanks to going to Anaheim Angel games as a kid.

With my Mom's friend Patou being here I've watched a few of the semi-final games to catch up a little. A few years back I tried getting into Soccer by watching the Salt Lake Real games on television.  It didn't stick, though I made a valiant effort. I have to say the team logo and merchandise is sweet. The female team logo is totally Gryffindor meats Utah.  I wonder if I went to a live game if that would help.

Anywho . . .

Earlier in the trip I couldn't watch the Belgium vs France game since we were visiting Cambria that afternoon, but it was fun telling Patou that France was advancing to the finals.

Sunday was our head back travel day.  Drive from Solvang to Las Vegas, stay the night, then come home Monday night.  Thankfully the game was at 8 am, so it was possible to watch the game and then the awards before hotel checkout.

The game was really good.  6 goals in total.  As I've learned watching soccer, * cough* football, that's a lot of points for a game.  I heard so many variations of "Ooh La La" from Patou during the match that it was pretty amusing.  Usually I don't root for a team when watching sports, which is probably another reason I struggle watching games, but it was a lot of fun rooting for the French team.  And sure enough they won.  Patou was overjoyed.

So overjoyed was Patou that she wrote about it on a deli chalk board.

Then there was check out.  So many people must have been watching the game because everyone seemed to be leave around 11 am.

We got a late start getting back due to the deli and grabbing another pastry in Solvang.  Word to the wise: Never visit Solvang on a diet.  We drove through Baker around 11 pm.  The giant thermometer read 106, and that's at night.  Late night I-15 construction got us to the hotel after 1:00 am.  Three lanes narrowed to one.  The next day it was 108 in St. George during our stop.

Suddenly the mid-nineties doesn't feel so bad.

Stay hydrated.

What's Your Revolutionary War Experience?

I've heard my Sister-in-law talk about the "You Choose" books, the type of book where you pick your own adventure.  She loves them, admitting that when she was younger she always managed to die.  I've always been curious, but not curious enough to buy a book to try out.

Then late last week, while visiting Costco, I found a set of You Choose books featuring the American Revolution, Civil War, and two different WWII.

The books are AMAZING!  Sure, the writing level is Young Reader-ish, but the material gives you a feel of the times.  The pictures and maps are fantastic.

It's more fun to interact with history then read it through a text book.

With this being 4th of July week, I've been focusing on the Revolution book.  So far I've experienced the Boston Massacre through the eyes of John Hancock's maid, a British Soldier, and a 13 year old apprentice.  Fought on both sides of the battle of Bunker Hill, and both sides during the Revolution.

When we think of early America, we think, at least I do, that everyone must have been a Patriot.  But that's not the case at all.  There were a great many loyalist as well, and this book does a great job showing what it must have been like to live then, and why some people followed one path verses another.

For instance, I didn't know that after the war many loyalist fled to Canada and East Florida, a British colony.  When I played/read through as a loyalist, I choose East Florida, which, in a couple years was traded with Spain for the Bahama's, so I ended up living the rest of my days in the Bahamas.

These books are also really good at showing how a simple choice and action can drastically change our life.

Really interesting and fun.

In other news I'm getting over influenza!!  It suddenly attacked me Thursday, and by 10:00 pm that night I had a 104 fever!  I was feeling well enough last night to eat and watch street fireworks.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to help volunteer with the parade this year, it was a blast last year, but my Dad brought me back an American Freedom Festival Volunteer shirt, which I'm wearing now.

You want to know what else I'm doing now, besides writing this?  Watching the FIFA World Cup.  Argentina vs Belgium.  Argentina up one point!  I'm cheering them on.

Another random thought: Why do we need another Hercules movie this year?  Having to endure the first incarnation was bad enough.  (Just saw a commercial.)

Heh, and with all the randomness, none of my family warned my Grandpa what the 4th is like in Utah.  We have surrounding neighbors who love to buy the expensive aerials, and it's 2 + hours of bangs and whatnot.  Heh, so it'll be interesting to see  if he has anything to say about it! He's not in California anymore!!!

(There were a few years in Porterville where sparklers were made illegal.)

Half time is almost done!!  Back to the game :0)