This past weekend, I went to the BYU vs. Boise State football game hosted at the Lavell Edwards Stadium right here in Provo. LET'S HEAR US ROAR!
And now, the overly long recap nobody was asking for!
DISCLAIMER: I totally didn't keep a good record of what the score was as I was doing these tangential things, so forgive me if my play-by-play of the game itself is a little off.
I have a habit of being fashionably late to things, and the game offered no exceptions. When I finally left my apartment (literally a five minute walk from the stadium), my phone was telling me that BYU was up by 7. Woot, I thought.
I came into sight of the field about five minutes into the first quarter. It didn't take me long to realize that, while I was fashionably late, I was also unfashionably dressed; I was wearing a bright blue shirt, and it was Whiteout Day. I felt a little like an idiot purposefully trying to draw attention to himself for no good reason.
Not only did I not know it was Whiteout Day, I wasn't entirely sure where the student section was. I kept calling the friends I was supposed to meet up with, hoping they would pick up, but they didn't. It was as I was seeking to hide my shame and find my friends that I ran into a solution for both. A couple of my excellent RA friends were chilling at the 50-yard mark, and they happened to have an extra white shirt for me. We parted ways shortly thereafter, but I had another goal in mind ...
I really wanted a CougarTail, aka A Big Ol' Honking Maple Bar, to share with the friends I was supposed to be meeting. Of course, I was beginning to doubt I would find them, so I decided to seek out the friends who gave me the white shirt, instead.
It was about the second quarter at this point, and I saw the Marching Band gearing up to rumble. I was in a marching band once upon a time, so I excitedly snapped this shot.
I was pulling out my phone to call my benefactors when I accidentally ran into them again on the other 50-yard line. They denied my offer to share my Big Ol' Honking Maple Bar, but they certainly didn't mind posing for the most excellent of selfies.
I'd actually purchased the BOHMP from another former coworker of mine, and realized I'd forgotten to properly record the encounter (this was a recurring theme of the night). So I went back to prove to all of our other former coworkers that we were the fir rill dill. At this point, I believe I'd circled the entire stadium at least three times.
It was about 10-7 at halftime at this point. I had given up on meeting up with my original group of friends, and I still had a couple of other individuals I wanted to meet as well.
Of course, then the marching band came on, and I had to seek a better view near the top.
That was when I discovered that these stairs are the worst. My massive feet wouldn't fit on the shrunken middle steps, meaning I had to stride extra powerfully to avoid stumbling or tripping. Why would anyone build these non-euclidean steps? I thought angrily. Then, I realized that people with bigger feet generally have longer legs, which the architect probably anticipated. I thought that was clever, but also rather discriminatory. Maybe I didn't want to use my impressive pace to avoid half of the proffered stairs, eh?
I ran into a whole bunch of friends during halftime, but had too many distractions to remember to properly record them all. Sorry, guys! Either way, now that the third quarter had begun, I vowed to pay more attention. After all, I'd spent most of the first half running laps through the stadium between plays so security didn't bust me for loitering. So, I moved toward my ROTC friends over by the cannon.
I'd told them I would say hello, but when I neared the sideline, I realized they were standing a good distance from the stands. Not only that, but they were wearing earplugs. I yelled their names a couple of times, but I got no response. Finally, I sent them this text.
Then I sent them this picture.
I stayed there for a while, hiding from security behind a lost Boise fan, before getting antsy and moving down the stands again.
Of course, Mangum's propensity to throw crazy long bombs down the field gave us another touchdown. We were definitely behind at that point, but you could feel the morale in the stadium pump up.
I'd finally worn down my restless nature enough to want to sit down at this point, and who should I run into but my roommate's girlfriend! She was kind enough to loan me a ticket with a specific seat number, which I didn't have because of my student status.
I ended up sitting next to three children who had apparently participated in over three football games that day. I was impressed with their devotion to the sport. After about five minutes, I got bored just sitting down and struck out back near the field. Around that point, the fourth quarter began, and for those of you who know how the game went, things started to get seriously intense.
I decided to work my way back over to my ROTC friends. Right around when I met back up with that lost Boise fan, BYU scored another touchdown, inching its way toward matching Boise's own collection of points. I wanted to get a video of the cannon going off, but I fumbled and ended up just getting a picture of the smoke.
Boise had the ball, but our defense was slamming on them. It didn't take long for possession to turn over to us. Then, all of a sudden, on the fourth down ...
MY CAMERA IS NO GOOD. I don't know what happens to the reel right when the catch is made, but I somehow managed to time that perfectly. That was the game-winning TD right there, but we weren't even done yet.
It's hard to tell, but the fans started to light the stadium with their cellulars at this point.
The ROTC were getting ready to do their 28 push-ups for the 28 points the team had scored at that point. I actually took a video of them doing those 28 push-ups, but then, Boise threw an interception, and we got another touchdown. It was ridiculous. So, the ROTC had to go again, and I took another video.
Of course, the fans were ecstatic at this point. A whole heap of them rushed the field, fireworks started going off, and many tears were shed.
I chilled in the stadium for a while before finally hiking home. For the rest of the night, I heard shouts and cheers, and would occasionally join in the revelry by opening my door, conveniently facing the street, and joining in. My ROTC roommate eventually came home, tired but as thrilled as I.
It was quite the night, my friends, quite the adventure indeed. If you were there or watching, be sure to let me know what your favorite part of the night was!
Pray over your fields, my friends, and I'll see you tomorrow.
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