What made you a fan

[Brian]

My dad played college football, he had always been a big fan. Every Saturday he'd take me and my brother up to the U. We'd start out checking in with his students in the Eyring building, pop over to the Field House for a some racquet ball, drop off the duffle bags in the car, then across the street to the stadium to watch the game. It was great. Time with dad, trying to beat him at racquet ball, and then the electricity of the stadium. Good times.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I became a fan of Utah pretty much in a void. Neither of my parents went to college and my dad and I were mostly in to Pro football as the father/son bonding sport. I started becoming a fan of Utah with the Tom Chambers/Vranes teams of the early 80's. I cheered for Utah football through the dark years of the early 80's, but mostly because they were my school. I do consider Jim McMahon a early childhood hero because of his guts. I also got his autograph in '83 at Pleasant Grove High school when I was at a freestyle wrestling tournament. In '84 I didn't mind that BYU beat Utah because I thought it was cool that a team from Utah had a chance to win an NC. I watched Scott Mitchell destroy my beloved Carbon High, and I started following Utah football more avidly when he went up to the U.

[TripletDaddy]

I have a couple of memories as a kid that were decisive factors in giving my allegiance to the Cougars of BYU.

First, my dad always had each of the kids (all 8 of us) and any friends who happened to be in the house fill out the Deseret News' weekly football pickem competition. It was my introduction to college football and it was how I learned what acronyms such as UCLA, SMU, and USC meant, which teams were good and which weren't. I was one of the winners once, and they sent me a BYU shirt that resembled a jersey. It had the number 83 on it (for the year) and I remember my father was very proud of me. I was in third grade.

My older sisters were at BYU at that time. One of them was a cheerleader during the national championship season and for a few years after. She always got us great tickets for football and basketball. For one reason or another, I was the one who usually attended the football games with Dad. I was the envy of all the kids in my class.

Then as basketball season started, my younger brother, or sometimes a friend and I would get dropped off at the MC, watch the game, and then get a ride home with the cheer coach, who lived not too far from my parents. Sometimes we'd get a ride down with her too. That was always cool because we had access to the locker room and tunnel before and after the game. I still have vivid memories of that year's Cougar Classic, the loss against Pepperdine stung for some reason. I also remember watching Bobby Capener and Jeff Chatman beat Notre Dame in OT. I was in fifth grade, and it was really cool to be trusted enough to attend a game by myself and sit in the student section alone. I was hooked, there was no turning back.

Big fan of Bobby Capener, are you?

[pellegrino]

Big fan of Bobby Capener, are you?

How can you not be? I met him after a game once, got his autograph. I still have it somewhere. I think he made the first three pointer I saw in college ball. I remember everyone being excited for that rule because Bobby was a good shooter. One of my sisters' friends dated him for a while, my brother and I always wanted them to break up so he'd take out our sister. Never happened. We were all big Bobby Capener fans.

[oxcoug]

My dad played college football, he had always been a big fan. Every Saturday he'd take me and my brother up to the U. We'd start out checking in with his students in the Eyring building, pop over to the Field House for a some racquet ball, drop off the duffle bags in the car, then across the street to the stadium to watch the game. It was great. Time with dad, trying to beat him at racquet ball, and then the electricity of the stadium. Good times.

Very cool. Ever beat him at racquet ball? And what of your conversion to loving Jake Heaps?

I became a fan of Utah pretty much in a void. Neither of my parents went to college and my dad and I were mostly in to Pro football as the father/son bonding sport. I started becoming a fan of Utah with the Tom Chambers/Vranes teams of the early 80's. I cheered for Utah football through the dark years of the early 80's, but mostly because they were my school. I do consider Jim McMahon a early childhood hero because of his guts. I also got his autograph in '83 at Pleasant Grove High school when I was at a freestyle wrestling tournament. In '84 I didn't mind that BYU beat Utah because I thought it was cool that a team from Utah had a chance to win an NC.

I confess to being one of the BYU fans who had no qualms pulling for the Miller-Jensen Final Four Ute teams.

[jay santos]

Ty Detmer

[Surfah]

My parents both went to BYU-HI. My old man played volleyball there. Growing up in a volleyball family I followed BYU volleyball. As an extension BYU became my football team and my basketball team. We'd go down to the Holiday Bowl when BYU was there. On Satudays we'd head to the church to watch the games on satellite. Those were good times with the chairs set up in the RS room watching the game with a few other Cougar faithful. Even though BYU wasn't my first choice, when I got there I was all in. And I ain't cashing out any time soon. I'm going to let it ride until I die.

[LA Ute]

For me it has been a progression. When I was 11 the Jerry Chambers-Merv Jackson-Lindon McKay-Jeff Ockel etc. Utah team went to the Final Four. Chambers was the MVP of the Final Four and the #1 draft choice of the Lakers (my favorite NBA team already). I was hooked on Utah hoops from that time on. That became most intense while I was in college and law school - Judkins, Matheny, Deane, Chambers and Vranes, among others. Football came in middle school when my home teaching companion (whom I really looked up to) played for Utah. Then in high school a guy whose brother I knew in high school, Marv Bateman, became an All-American kicker for Utah. I didn't really get into football until I got to the U. in college. That was during the Wayne Howard years, which were lots of fun, if nothing else. While in college I got very involved with the U's intercollegiate athletics program and have been immersed every since.

[FN Phat]

I was born with a set of balls.

[smokymountainrain]

Mom and Dad met at BYU, Dad was a huge fan - earliest memory was watching the SMU game at age 7, parents made me go to bed early and I remember being in bed for about an hour, still awake and all of a sudden my Dad starts going nuts - jumping up and down, pounding the ceiling, screaming "Clay Brown! Clay Brown!"

BYU followed those years up with Steve Young, Bosco and the National Championship and not long after that, The GOAT - Detmer. Those were also the Ainge, Timo, Durrant, Smith, Chatman years...How could a pre-teen/teen not become a fan?

[Uncle Ted]

#include <fan_threshold.h>

int
is_fan(void)
{
      return((danny_ainge + steve_young + jim_mcmahon +
                  ty_detmer + jason_buck + rob_morris + 
                  steve_sarkisian + luke_staley + robbie_bosco) >
                  FAN_THRESHOLD) ? 1 : 0);
}

[oxcoug]

For me it has been a progression. When I was 11 the Jerry Chambers-Merv Jackson-Lindon McKay-Jeff Ockel etc. Utah team went to the Final Four. Chambers was the MVP of the Final Four and the #1 draft choice of the Lakers (my favorite NBA team already). I was hooked on Utah hoops from that time on. That became most intense while I was in college and law school - Judkins, Matheny, Deane, Chambers and Vranes, among others. Football came in middle school when my home teaching companion (whom I really looked up to) played for Utah. Then in high school a guy whose brother I knew in high school, Marv Bateman, became an All-American kicker for Utah. I didn't really get into football until I got to the U. in college. That was during the Wayne Howard years, which were lots of fun, if nothing else. While in college I got very involved with the U's intercollegiate athletics program and have been immersed every since.

What makes your fan narrative unique is that it contains both the name "Merv" and the name "Marv" - but obviously your Ute fan-ship was earned, not casually adopted.

[CardiacCoug]

Miracle Bowl against SMU and Ainge going the length of the court in 1981 were two of the events that made me a huge BYU fan as a little kid.

I was obsessed, especially with BYU basketball. I would listen to every BYU basketball game on the radio and keep a "scorecard" with little 2s and 1s next to every player's name to tally the point totals. I would keep all the scorecards for the whole season and was really proud of them.

[oxcoug]

I was born with a set of balls.

Hey, congrats man.

BYU followed those years up with Steve Young, Bosco and the National Championship and not long after that, The GOAT - Detmer. Those were also the Ainge, Timo, Durrant, Smith, Chatman years...How could a pre-teen/teen not become a fan?

Word.

#include <fan_threshold.h>

int
is_fan(void)
{
      return((danny_ainge + steve_young + jim_mcmahon +
                  ty_detmer + jason_buck + rob_morris + 
                  steve_sarkisian + luke_staley + robbie_bosco) >
                  FAN_THRESHOLD) ? 1 : 0);
}

I don't write code but I get this.

[Brian]

Very cool. Ever beat him at racquet ball? And what of your conversion to loving Jake Heaps?

Well, looking back, he wasn't trying too hard when I was 9, but as I got older, the games got more challenging, and I was able to truly beat him a few times. Of course, when I was 9-10, the most fun I had was trying to hit him with the ball, and laugh at him while he rubbed the welt off the back of his leg. I always thought it was cool to tell my friends, "I played cuthroat with my dad and brother on Saturday."

Great memories. Including an echoing fart my little brother let fly during one game. We still talk about those times.
We invented a nice variation to traditional raquetball. We placed the ball can somewhere up on the front wall. If you hit the can during play with the ball, you win the game on the spot.

Sadly, no raquetball courts near where we live now. I love that game. Very physical, very mental, and a fantastic workout.


Haven't come out to the family yet. Not sure how or when. It will crush them. I might have to wait until Mom and Dad have passed on.