Road Trip

What is that smell? Is it west Texas? It has to be. Unfortunately it was not the smell of cattle that wafted through the car on Friday morning. That smell was excitement and the effects of sitting in a car for almost twenty hours of driving not through America’s heartland or the Badlands but through the Blandlands. My best friend Jeff and I made our biblical like sojourn from Salt Lake to Dallas to watch our favorite team, the BYU Cougars in action versus the mighty Oklahoma Sooners. Anticipation was the theme of the drive, though I will say by Albuquerque it started to shift towards a hazed sense of,” why the hell did we decide to drive this sub-vanilla stretch of highway?”, littered with ghost towns and rusted, tetanus riddled jalopies strewn about the land like children’s toys. All of our delirious anxiousness aside I realized that this is why college football is the greatest of sports, long road trips with a promised land of barbeque and high hopes that await these two weary travelers. Not too high of hopes, but the hopes of a jilted lover returning for a second round of that crazy train called… Love???

Jeff and I on our way to this game of games, must travel through sleepy towns, once populated but now left as remnants of an unforgiving sense of societal erosion, leaving behind empty fields and weathered propane tanks in its wake. The sky is endless in West Texas, the expansive firmament scattered with big, cottony clouds. I notice that a zombie sensibility has come over me, my eyes listless, and my mouth agape as if my body has succumbed to the atrophied ambience by which I am surrounded. It is a scientific fact that the earth is not flat but rather curved, and this has never been so apparent while we make our way through the ocean-like landscape that lies ahead of us, daring us to press on, leaving in our wake the pungent smell of a skunk. As I long for human populous I cannot help but to wonder what brave and lonely soul settled this windswept land of desolation.

As Jeff and I discuss the prospect of what lies ahead, determining for me what my mood will be until the next football season, I cannot help but think of the majesty that is college football. Saturday morning we tailgate with thousands of other fanatics, awaiting our royal crown or shameful walk, the air filled with plumes of smoke billowing forth from grills carrying upon them mouth watering smells of smoked meats, perfectly cooked as to fall apart in your mouth begging you to eat until you feel as if to explode.

As we arrive at the new Cowboys Stadium, affectionately known as the Death Star in Dallas, we are the minority among a sea of Crimson and Cream. The fans are gracious so far with some fun banter between us, expressing far different opinions on the outcome of the soon approaching game. As we enter the Death Star we are taken aback by the sheer monstrosity of the stadium, it is the most unbelievable sight and I am left completely dumb founded. The halls and seats are filled with Sooners fans, raucously screaming at a deafening level. My heart is racing so fast it feels as though I had just run wind sprints, the sweat coursing down my face and the enormity of the game weighing on my conscience. Wondering why I put myself through this mental and physical torture, I make my way to my seat with not a BYU fan in sight, I truly am an island. The fans are hostile towards me yelling taunts, belittling the team I so affectionately follow and of course I retort with equally cutting remarks, bolstered by the confidence of my physical stature and acute wit. Then it hits me, I ritualistically put myself through a self inflicted torture to the pain, because I love everything about college football; the fans, the food, the football, the atmosphere, the coeds, the stadiums and the game. This has truly become a part of who I am, shaping different aspects of my persona and passions. I snap back to reality, brought back by the ravenous fans, beer and spit shooting forth from their mouths as they coach and referee the game from their seats, obviously having the answer to each failed play and blown call.

The game was close the entire time in both score and overall matchups. Oklahoma was expected to pummel the mighty Cougs by an embarrassingly large point spread. 21. I never estimated our team to be as lowly as a double digit defeat but I never counted on our defensive unit to punch the Sooners in the mouth, leaving them wobbly and filled with self doubt. Seeing a team as good as Oklahoma getting outplayed by my Cougars was truly a sight to behold. My warriors had heart and a determination I had never seen before. They left everything on the field, putting forth an effort that truly defined them as football gladiators.

As I ponder the magnitude of the game from this past weekend, I am convinced that I was witness to the greatest game ever played by BYU, because of the ramifications of this win. If they continue to prepare for each opponent and desire to win each game at any cost, we could run the table and be crowned victorious at season’s end. I am a possible witness to the greatest BYU season of all time and it all started with a lonesome drive to Dallas.