BYU BB

I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do enjoy watching basketball. It might have something to do with the fact that I've watched A LOT of basketball during my life, beginning with watching the mighty Minico Spartans play in the high school gym when I was growing up. They were really good back in the day we went to state several times during my high school days. I've watched my kids play and play and play on the basketball court. They all four played Junior Jazz as grade school kids and Claire went on to play through junior high, distinguishing herself with her jumping abilities and offensive skills. Jordan was tenacious on the court and could defend against just about anyone. Dave was aggressive and was a fantastic ball handler. OK, so I might be stretching it a little bit, but they used their height to their advantage and had a great time.

Then along came 6 ' 4" Andy boy. Rick and I watched that kid play a ton of ball. All through junior high, all through high school. I'm not gonna lie, some of it was painful. Especially the politics of playing on the high school level. His team was awful his senior year and that was tough to watch. But he developed into a good ball handler and we were all glad he had the experience in the end. He loves the game and I'm sure there will be some village ball and intramural ball in his future.

Rick and I have also watched a TON of BYU basketball over the years. A ton of it. Some of our first dates were to attend BYU games back in the day when they were incredibly good. Danny Ainge days. Days when they could stall and hold or bounce the ball for minutes on end to hold a lead. Short shorts days. No three-point-shot days. We've watched some pretty exciting games and yelled our guts out.

We've seen the Cougars go up and down in the win loss category through 30 plus years, but right now they are up. Really up, excitingly up. Dave Rose is doing a great job coaching them and they have some fantastic players. They are a great diversion during the winter months and it's fun to watch them. We've had season tickets on and off for many years, and this year we have them again. Pretty good seats that are easy to get to with a good view. Last night we went to watch them play UNLV in the Marriott Center. Great, great game. Rick predicted that it would be and he was right. A nail biter right down to the end. A victory for the Cougars 77-73. A great way to spend a winter night and an added bonus is that Dave was able to come down to go with us. Go Cougars! 15-1. Can't wait to see the next game. It should be a fun year.