I was raised by a crazed BYU fan. That upbringing made me a BYU fan. To tell the truth, I still route for "the Y". I know. It's terrible. I am also a U of U alumnus. The only way I can explain it is that I don't think you should have an emotional attachment to the school where you do your learning. Pretty weak.

Over the years I've learned to enjoy Ute football and basketball. While attending as a full-time student I ran into a group of guys that made sure they had front row seats to Utah basketball games. They always provided a ticket for me. It was early in the Majerus era. The basketball was fun, the atmosphere was exciting and the Utes won a bunch of games. So over the years I've mellowed in my support of BYU and gained a greater appreciation for the Utes.

My Dad was a big influence on me. My earliest memory of BYU sports was going to a game in the Smith Field House. The floor was raised 6 or so feet above the main walk. I was little and the players were amazingly tall. This was the 1960s prior to the arrival of Kresimir Cosic.

My next memory is going to BYU Football games on Saturday afternoons. My parents had season tickets. They dropped me off at the knot hole club. It was in the north end zone. All grass, no bleachers and I think it cost a quarter to enter. That's were I saw BYU lose a lot of games. Arizona and Arizona State were still in the WAC. BYU would get early leads and would almost always give up a few quick scores in the fourth quarter. Still, I loved to go. We were definitely not fair weather fans.

Tonight I was visiting with my Dad. I asked what he thought about the BYU win yesterday. He gave me some lame shoulder shrug. I asked what was going on. He said that he's lost interest in BYU sports. When the Cougar Club sends him solicitations, he's just tossing them in the garbage.

This is not the man who raised me.

Last year he had Jazz season tickets. A few years ago he had BYU football season tickets. But right now he's not the fan he once was. And it's not that he's mad. That would make more sense. He just doesn't care. I asked him what factors account for his disinterest.

Dad isn't too bugged about the new rules against bringing food and drink into the stadium. But he did make fun of the concession manager who he quoted liberally. "We are going to sell the food so cheap you won't want to bring food in. I'm selling hamburgers for $4. How do they expect me to make it. It's crazy, but that's what they want." He was smiling but it's not usually his style to be so sarcastic.

He recalled the days when he lived in New Mexico and had to drive to the tallest hill, sit in his car and get a weak KSL signal. He's one of the last people I know to not have cable or a dish. But he doesn't and so he laments that back before ESPN he could get every game on local TV. Now he's back to the New Mexico days, with a stronger signal.

He also misses Paul James. The way he tells it to Mom is, PJ might be a bad announcer, but he was our bad announcer.

I've been talking to some of the younger BYU fans. One of them told me that the Y is trying to get rid of the "cheap" fans. Perhaps. But they are also getting rid of some of the older, die hard fans, like my Dad.

Hey, it's no skin off my nose. Dad and I have more than enough options for spending our recreational dollars. But if you can alienate my Dad, one of the truly dedicated, all-time great BYU fans, then I think you have a problem. And it's not just BYU, its all sports.

And remember, we aren't mad. We just don't care.........
9:10:27 PM    comment []