Utah Man Am I

When I was younger my feminist side was rather pissed off that the Utah Ute fight song didn't use the gender neutral term of "person" rather than "man." I got over it. The song is catchy and it is part of my childhood inner jukebox. The season tickets was a tradition my paternal side of the family embraced. Grandpa would sit there in the stadium with his "special juice" and radio. I never did understand why he brought the radio as it echoed the live crowd and calling of the plays, but now I understand he was just needing the commentary.

In college I attended most of the games after "pre-partying" at one of the local fraternities. Because the family season tickets were near the student section Mom was often worried she'd see me passed down while crowd-surfing. For the record, that only happened once. Well, only once at a Utah football game. One other time at a concert in Reno, but that is another story.

The passion for the Utes and their recent switch to a the more politically correct hawk named Swoop, still runs in my veins. I do miss the guy riding the horse dressed as a Ute Indian riding around the stadium with a bit U flag, but I understand why they changed. As I've moved around the Nation I've tried to watch various games on television which is difficult when Utah is not a Big 10 school.

In 1998 I watched the NCAA tournament where Utah's basketball team seemed unstoppable. There I was in my tiny cement dorm room screaming at my tiny television set for the Utes much to the dismay of my other roommates. My boyfriend at the time thought it was amusing that I actually yelled and cheered.

Coming off of a Sugar Bowl upset and triumph last year, I was determined to find the Utes football season on our cable selection here in Milwaukee. That's when I discovered we actually had the BYU cable TV channel. Are you freaking kidding me? BYU? This tells me exactly what our community is comprised of...enough Mormons to command BYU television to be a staple on our cable selection.

I was raised in a family who cheered on the Utes and anyone who played BYU. It wasn't a far stretch for me to move to Boston and adopt a similar stance about cheering for the Red Sox and anyone who played the Yankees. In Boston there was a substantial Mormon community in Belmont, seriously just the next town over from us. The Temple rose along route 2 like it does along the Washington DC beltway: a shining imitation silhouette of Sleeping Beauty's castle. However, we never got BYU cable TV in Boston.

When I searched the official Utah athletic web page I noted that most of the games were being broadcast on some Mountain West cable channel and gave subsequent directions about how you too could call your cable company who would be happy to supply access for a modest fee. I decided it wasn't worth it. Besides, I'm the only one in the family who enjoys football. Somehow I married a guy who is not sports oriented. He understands the rules, but if given a choice of watching sports or doing something else, he'd take the latter. The only reason why he will watch sports is to be amused how much I engage and yell at the television.

Last night was another clear example of why I love this man of mine. He searched out the broadcast of the Utes playing San Jose State and set the DVR for me. There we sat with our ice cream: me yelling through most of the first quarter, J laughing at me, and Edgar cowering at his mother now turned wild screaming woman at the light box. I realize I have quite the potty mouth when it comes to my team and bad plays.

And then, there it was, a shining moment of connection with my family flashing across the screen: the Utah Pig Bus. One of my brother's fraternity buds created this tailgating icon that was even honored in the victory parade after the Sugar Bowl win. This is the same fraternity brother who convinced my own flesh and blood how it was a *good idea* to do a skit and jump into the San Francisco Bay from an oversize Styrofoam toilet (supposed to look like a helicopter) called "Snowy, the Hellaskier," for Red Bull. The same Utah Pig Bus where my parents trekked out to hang with the guys and meet their future daughter-in-law. The same Utah Pig Bus that I now see Facebook photos of children of the guys I used to pre-party with. Just seeing the Pig Bus on ESPN U made me miss my crazy brother.

On a sad note my other Alma Mater, Tulane, was absolutely humiliated by BYU yesterday, but at least the Utes remain undefeated even if they didn't bring their best game forward. How do I know it wasn't their best game? My sore vocal chords prove it.