05 December 2009

U-Fit




This semester, James has been involved in a service learning project with the U-Fit program. Each Friday night this semester, he has spent a couple of hours with special needs kids, swimming and playing games around the HPER at the U.
He was originally assigned to one little kid named Blake. Blake was four and autistic. Blake's mom got frustrated with the disorganization of the program and stopped coming, so then James would work with whatever kids were there that needed a buddy.

He won't admit that he enjoyed it and and he was also frustrated with the lack or organization. Plus, he didn't understand how this connected to his nursing schooling. I, on the other hand, think that it was really good for him. He got to hang around a population of people that he otherwise wouldn't have been involved with. He also got to hang out with kids!

Last night was the final activity. James is relieved that he's done. He even got a new red t-shirt out of it. I, however, still have a big question left. What does "live vicariously through yourself" mean. Hmmmmm.

29 November 2009

Cry Baby!

Disclaimer: This post is long. I ramble. It's not my best writing. I don't want to fix it. Read it if you want.

Ok. I'm not one to jump on bandwagons when it comes to my blog posts. I didn't even blog about Michael Jackson when he died, for goodness sake. I am no sports expert and I don't claim to be. Plus, it doesn't matter how many football games I have watched in my lifetime, I still don't understand all the rules and all the penalties (although I have a theory that many of the players don't either, but that's a post for another day). What I do know is a thing or two about the University of Utah and I know a thing or two about this thing called a rivalry.

How do I know this? I bleed RED! I cringe at the color blue. My grandpa played football for the University of Utah, back in the days of leather helmets and wooden pads (or something like that). Two of my uncles have played football for the University of Utah. I even have a cousin who swam for the the U for a season. My mom and dad have taken me to Runnin' Ute Basketball games since before I could walk. My dad even cried during the halftime honoring 100 years of Runnin' Utes. I can't count how many Utah v. BYU games I have attended in various sports (and even a handful of them in Provo). On top of all this sports hoopla, my parents both graduated from the great school on the hill, as did my sister and I, and soon my husband. If my count is correct, 21 of my immediate family members have graduated from or are currently attending this fine institution of higher learning, several earning degrees beyond a bachelors. That's why I am writing this . . . because I can!

So what I am writing about? Max Hall: the "classless" man of the moment.

Here are his lovely comments from last evening after . . . ahem . . . you WON the football game. Not only are you a terrible loser, Maxie, but you have proven you are also a terrible winner.

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them — I hate everything about them," said Hall.

"I hate their program. I hate their fans. I hate everything. So, it feels good to send those guys home. They didn't deserve it. It was our time, and it was our time to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight, and it felt really good to send them home and to get them out of here, so it is a game I'll always remember."

"Do you really want me to go into it? I think the whole university and their fans and organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them, and they deserve to lose."


Did Utah fans really throw beer on your family? I don't doubt it. Fans can get very rowdy and very often drunk during Utah games. Sorry. That sucks. There is no excuse for that.

But, what bothers me so much is that BYU fans are the worst! I have never seen a group of fans boo and taunt their own players and coaches like cougar fans do. It's absolutely terrible. BYU fans are the absolute worst people to watch a BYU game with. Rather than encouraging a cheering, they boo. I'll never get it.

BYU players are always some of the cheapest players, too. Do you remember Chris Miles giving Andrew Bogut a cheap shot to the back. Yeah, you go little freshman. That'll stop him. I remember Alex Jensen had to leave a Utes game and get stitches when a BYU player clocked him in a basketball game. BYU is great for recruiting bruisers like Bruiser Araujo who's only job is to take players out.

BYU fans are great at joining the bandwagon. Are they winning, "oh yeah, I'm the #1 fan." Are they losing, " BY-who?" Zoobies come out of the woodwork when teams are doing well. (Yes, you could say the same for Utah fans on that one. Why else has Rice-Eccles Stadium sold out most of their games during the last few years after years of empty seats? Ok, I can still complain abut BYU, though, because it's a RIVALRY and I don't like them, generally speaking.)

What else don't I like about BYU? Once we were at a football game and the BYU fans were throwing tortillas onto the field.

What else? I think the comment that bothered me most about Max Hall was that they "deserved" to win. Yes, Maxie, you did. You scored more point than your opponent. You deserved to win. But, anything else that is deserved stops right there. Why do you think you are so high and mighty that you had the right to win a football game before you ever stepped on the field? I don't get it. What ever happened to "It was a tough game, I'm happy for our team that we pulled it out!" You could have stopped right there. That would have shown some "class" and sportsman-like conduct.

This blog post really is just ramblings. I won't turn it in for a grade or anything.
The bottom line, though, is that it's a RIVALRY. Feelings build up, you get into the game, and you want to win. It's a rivalry because it's the team you like the least, or maybe even "hate." However, your comments to the media on television were the most classless act of the whole game. If you're really better than all the "nasty" things Utah fans do, rise above it, Maxie! Keep your mouth closed. Your kind isn't any different.