I am a member of C-Net. It is an email list on Yahoo! that covers BYU sports (the C stands for Cougar). I am reading an email discussion of what the value for BYU sports in general and BYU football specifically are. Some have felt paying for TV to watch BYU is not worth it, while others feel that any price is worth it. One of the emailer's story really struck a chord with me however. He wrote that his son called from the airport on his way to the mission field and shared the following: When the missionaries drove past LaVell Edwards Stadium, the missionary son became very emotional. To him, the stadium symbolized a relationship and bond that he had developed with his father while going to BYU games. As I read the email, I began to reflect on what BYU football games meant to me and my relationship with Dad.
The first game I remember attending was in 1970. Dad, Brad, and I met up with Uncle Milton and Scott and drove to Provo together. It was Homecoming and BYU was playing Utah State. USU was the better team that year and were favored to win. In a downpour, BYU upset the Aggies. I remember sitting in the stands with Uncle Paul and the rest. We had a sheet of plastic over us to protect us from the rain. I remember Brad and Scott getting out from underneath the protection and sitting in the rain getting soaked. It is a very vivid and poignant memory for me--like it just happened yesterday.
Over the next few years, if any tickets were available from Uncle Paul, I would go to games. It was quite frequent. Then before the 1974 season, Dad asked me if I wanted to have my own season tickets. I, of course, said yes. From the 1974 season through the 2004 season (outside of the two seasons I was on my mission, 1979 and 1980), I was a season ticket holder. During the 70s and the 1981 season, I sat next to Dad in the season tickets he would get from Uncle Paul. It was awesome to spend time with Dad among others at the games. I can remember the game against Utah in '74 when BYU stomped the Utes and claimed the WAC crown. I remember going to the BYU-Southern Miss game in 1976 with Sid as a 4-year old. I remember as a freshman in 1978 at BYU being excited to see my family since they were coming to a game and then learned that they had turned around at Logan because Mom was experiencing labor pains. I remember going to the BYU-Utah game in 1981. The winner would be the WAC champ. BYU stomped them! Then after the game, they had a ground-breaking ceremony for the stadium expansion. As a family, we went to the first game of the expanded stadium in 1982.
During the '82 and '83 seasons, I purchased student season tickets. In 1984, I purchased my regular season tickets that I held up through the 1997 season. In 1998, I bought my tickets from Uncle Milton and kept them through the 2004 season. Even though I no longer sat next to Dad, arrangements were made to meet with him. Usually I would go back to Salt Lake with him to be with the rest of the family for the weekend. Those memories of not only going to the games, but being with the family at Grandma Gilbert's house are cherished and very dear to my heart.
When Dad passed away, it was difficult from me as it was naturally for the rest of the family. However, having lived on my own for years before his passing, I was accustomed to the lack of communication between us because of my living in Provo/Salt Lake and Dad being at home. BYU sports helped me come to full realization of Dad's passing. In the late fall of 1992, BYU's basketball team had just beaten nationally ranked Oklahoma in the Maui Invitational. I had gone to Kristi and Mike's in Fairview to watch the game even though they were not there. After the game was over, I can remember getting into my car and thinking to myself that I needed to talk to Dad about the the thrilling Cougar win. It then struck me with a powerful force that Dad was not here to do that anymore and any discussions about BYU would have to wait until I, too, had passed through the veil.
As a new father, this reflection has caused me to look to the future also. What will I, as a father, do to bond with my daughters? Will it be through BYU sports? Will it be through some other avenue? As I was thinking of this, I came to the realization that our Heavenly Father has enlightened us through his modern-day prophets on how this is done. It is called a Personal Priesthood Interview (PPI). In relation to a father and his family, I think this is a bit of a misnomer. It conjures up images that are too formal for the setting of a father with his son/daughter or a husband with his wife in special one-on-one settings. As Angie and Lilli grow, when I have these "PPIs", I will bond with them. What these will be will yet be seen. However, following the Lord's revealed pattern will allow me to bond with my daughters as I bonded with my father and as I am bonding with my wife.
I love my family. I am so looking forward to eternity with them.
I have recently been introduced by the media to Randy Pausch. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has pancreatic cancer. As a tradition at CMU, a profressor is asked to give "the last lecture." It is a lecture that a professor were to give if it was the last one. For Dr. Pausch, it really was his last one since just prior to giving the lecture the doctors had told him his illness was terminal. Since he was "outed" by the Wall Street Journal, he has been on Oprah, ABC's PrimeTime, and featured in many magazines and journals. His story is powerful and moving--an inspiration to all. The video below is a synopsis of his lecture from the Wall Street Journal. 
