I thought I would bring up a few more interesting tid-bits.

It was because of my great-great* uncle that BYU adopted the colors of Blue and White as the official school colors. They are also the colors of our family crest.

BYU, then BYA (Brigham Young Academy), was not officially a part of the church until my uncle convinced the church to publicly sponsor the school, otherwise it very likely would have had to close down as it was bankrupt.

He also instituted the first sports program at BYU.

In my own lifetime, my mother was friends with the wife of a DB (who had throat cancer) and I was able to get inside the locker-room with him after games, where I got autographs from Ty Detmer, LaVell and others. I also have Earl Kauffman's jersey, given to me by him, hanging in my office.

nuk13 wrote:

Runbyu1, you know Ed Parker of Parker's Kenpo fame was from Hawaii. He is credited with having the first karate studio in the mainland and is still spoken of in the publications. He was LDS and a BYU alum. He'd have made a heqq of a linebacker. He'd have destroyed anyone in a cage and probably have been able to rip the cage out. He was in some movies and associated with Elvis P.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this is a fun thread for me. Thanks Ammoncougar.

nuk, Thanks for the info, I actually didn't know any of that surprisingly enough.

Well, this will probably give me away, especially to my friends that frequent this board. Attend Rick's College 1998-1999. Served mission in Rio de Janeiro Brazil from 1999-2001. Attended Y from 2001 to 2004 and got a B.A. in History and Broadcast Journalism. Stuck around and got MPA (2004-06). Work as Performance/IT auditor for Colorado's Office of the State Auditor. I have been with OSA since May 2006.

Married for about 5 years, two boys with another baby on the way.

Originally from Denver metro area. Returned after mission and schooling.

runbyu1 wrote:

I'm a former BYU athlete and Orem High Alumn. Went to school with a lot of guys on the football teams recently: Johnny Harline (His sister and my sis were very good friends), Jason Kukahiko (was in my ward), Chad Barney, Spencer White, Chris Hale, Adam Nelson, Rod Wilkerson, etc. I've been out here in Laie, Hawaii for the last couple of years livin' it up and having a great time. I'm an outdoorsman and a singer-songwriter and interestingly enough I was a Junior Black Belt and Adult Brown Belt in Kenpo. I love all cougar sports, but football is my favorite to watch and follow.

I am a singer/guitar player. I bought a Gibson Hummingbird when I was at Byu and student teaching in SLC and hardly had a dime. It was sort of a miracle. What do you play and what is the nature of your songs? I'm also an outdoors man, I crosscountry ski and hike.

Who is/was your instructor? Does he trace back to Parker?

I guess I'll play too. I am an elementary teacher in SW Washington. Always been a big Cougar fan. Went there right after the mission, got married and moved closer to wife's family. Ended up graduating from WSU so I am technically a Cougar. My claim to fame is that I was unofficially recruited by Norm Chow at the Subway in Burley, ID. My wife and I were stopped there on a trip back to Provo. I recognized him right away. In the sandwich line he saw the BYU sticker in the car window, asked if I was a student and if I was interested in playing football. I am pretty big and did play varsity ball in HS. So, I can honestly say I was recruited by Norm Chow, even if it was extremely unofficial.

Fun thread, ammoncougar. karma~

My cougar breeding goes way back; my paternal great-great grandfather was a student and teacher at BYA (and succeeded Karl Maser as head of the Church Education Dpt). My mom's brothers all taught/teach at BYU and my dad's brothers all wish they played for BYU. It was from them that I got the cougar football bug. My parents met at BYU as did my wife and I. Applied only to the Y out of high school in 94, served in Spain, and graduated in 2001 in econ and international development (double major). Did my Masters at Harvard--hence my handle--then worked in DC for a bit at the World Bank. Currently a PhD candidate and researcher at RAND.

My wife's family is even more fanatical than mine about BYU football. They've all been giving me a rough time because I'll be teaching at UCLA this Fall. (It'd be fun to invite all my students up to my mom's place in Provo to watch their Bruins get crushed. )

We have two boys well on their way to being raised in cougar truth and right. And last night as my wife and I were playing a board game where I was winning I caught myself humming the tune 'rise and shout the cougars are out...'

And my youngest sister says she dated Harvey Unga in Jr. High.