AF_PumaGetbackI'd like to thank all my fellow Cougar Bluers for helping to pull me out the big, deep dark hole I've been in since the Cougars lost to Utah. In all my years of being a Cougar Fan I've never been so distraught. It was worse then after the 1979 game when BYU lost to Indiana in the Holiday Bowl on Brent Johnson's flubbed field goal thus ending their perfect season and keeping them from going undefeated. My best friend and I drove to Cougar Stadium and sat there in the snow in his truck for an hour completely over come with grief.
It still hurts. I have no idea how some of you can bounce back after a lose like what we had to Utah. To me it was devastating, and has made it almost impossible to feel anything but numb about the Vegas Bowl. But after reading the CB for an hour, I've realized that their are others out there who are 1) bigger BYU fanatics then I am, and 2) should not be left alone on this board by themselves.
So I'll be throwing myself back in the fray by watching the game tomorrow, and trying to cheer and maybe even commenting on the game after wards.
I understand what you're saying. This is the first time I've faced a season as a CB correspondent and what I really dislike is that I have to pay attention even when they are really messing up (San Diego St.). In the past I'd turn off the game and go do something else and completely remove myself from the game. If I didn't it affected my mood and I'd kick the cat or something and I don't even have a cat. Suddenly I couldn't do that any more and I had to watch the game to the end and then write about it. That was really tough for me becasue I tend to get emotionally caught up in these games. I gained a better appreciation for the Cougar beat writers (except for Gordon Monson whose style and manner of writing about BYU I still dislike) who have to keep immersed in game after game even when the team is pathetic. I can't imagine having covered BYU BB through that one win season. I'm very grateful for even a 6-5 season.
Isn't that a true statement, Jim. You get used to it, though. I sometimes wonder if being a sports reporter or working in the sports media business lessens your emotions as a fan. I consider myself as rabid a fan as anybody, not just for BYU but for the other teams I passionately follow (Red Sox, Blazers, 49ers -- weird combo, I know). But when my teams lose, I'm able to put it away and look forward to the next game (maybe that's because all my teams stink right now, except for the Red Sox, bless their heart, screw you Johnny Damon, so I've just become accustomed to losing). I think that having to cover games, whether it's covering a Jazz-Blazers game, or a BYU game, and train myself not to cheer and not to care about the outcome until after my work is done, has dulled my senses a little bit. I get over losses really fast now. I remember last season, my friend Brandon and I were watching the Boise State game at the office (that's where I watch most of the BYU games now because I do all the design for the sports section) and when Payne missed that field goal, my reaction was, 'typical,' and that's about it. But Brandon, who is by far the craziest BYU fan I've ever known, just dropped to the floor in agony and lay there in a depressed fog for at least five minutes. I wondered, 'Man, when did I stop caring like he does?' So, it's hard being a fan and being in the sports media business. But then I remember that when I go to work, I spend my 40+ hours a week watching sports, analyzing sports, designing section covers about sports, etc., etc. And I realize that having one of the best jobs in the world is a good trade-off.
Jared Cowley
