I know that no one really cares, but for the sake of my posterity, I am going to spell out my experience last night at the Kennel. Let me first preface this by saying that I am not doing this for show like I did before the game in Provo. That was a joke that made me look like a traitor which I am not. I know that no one will believe me, but my heart is definitely still with BYU, and last night was full living proof of this.

There were many things that got in my way of not going to the game including cutting in line last Sunday and pretty much getting caught. Thankfully my BYU friend had a situation that was able to distract the line people at Gonzaga, and we both ended up getting our tickets to the student section (miracle #1). I also felt bad leaving my wife at home with the three kids since I am working a ton and going to Las Vegas this week and next, and yesterday was really the only day I had to spend with my kids for basically two weeks. But I had a feeling that this game was going to at least be competitive, and thankfully my HCBW supports my fandom 100% (miracle #2).

We arrived to the game an hour early and went down to court level to watch players warm up. Of course there were tons of Gonzaga students dressed as missionaries with bike helmets. A couple of them had copies of the Book of Mormon, and a couple of them had big pictures of Joseph Smith. There were the obvious polygamy signs, too. All in good fun. Warm ups were fun to watch. Since I don't go to very many games, it is difficult to gauge how our team looks in warms ups. I'm sure that yesterday wasn't any different than any other game, but the team definitely looked extremely focused and determined in warmups.

When the game started we went up to the student section, and because it was full we had to stand in one of the aisles on about the 10th row in the middle of all the Zag fans. I was wearing my BYU hat with BYU shirt covered with Gonzaga track jacket (because you all care what I wear ). I am actually really glad I had something Gonzaga on because there were some very rowdy fans around me. I am usually the kind to cheer loud and cause people to get riled up (surprise, I know!), but I knew that standing in the middle of the Kennel SS, I was just asking for it if I was too loud. BYU started off the game great, and I didn't really cheer except for a few times I clapped my hands when BYU did something good. This definitely got the attention of students around me. By halftime I had a handful of students mocking my hat, and three girls that passed me were telling me to take my hat off in an angry voice. I just smiled.

The second half was the best half of basketball that I have seen BYU play this year. BYU had every reason to fold and lose by 8-10 points, but we hung on tight. Multiple times throughout the second half students were throwing out every word in the book left and right. It was priceless. It made me laugh to the point that when BYU did something good it was always the ref's fault. When the final half court shot was missed, I finally let out my first yell. Probably not the smartest idea. I got many scowls, but thankfully not much more than that.

Right after the teams shook hands, Gonzaga teamed up and the three seniors gave some speeches. It was interesting because Dave Rose was being interviewed right in front of the student section, and the seniors were directing their words to the student section. The seniors sounded completely depleted (rightfully so), and they gave a couple of comments like "This loss will just fire us up" and "The season is far from over" This riled up the crowd a little, but it was crazy to hear the wind taken out of the crowd.

The dude standing in front of me followed me over to the BYU section to try and pick a fight with me because as the crowd was yelling "Thank you seniors, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!" I was yelling "You just lost, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!" Definitely not the smartest thing for me to do and definitely not one of my best moments in life, but it was the whole game all piled up and spit out in one moment of glory of a die-hard BYU fan. Thankfully as the dude was following me to the BYU section I kind of made my way into the 30-40 BYU fans, and eventually the dude left. He was definitely ready to pick a fight.

All in all, Zag fans are very classy and good people. I was definitely asking for it in my BYU gear in the SS, but it was all fun. I am so glad that I got to experience one of the best BYU victories in my lifetime. I kept telling myself the whole game that BYU is gonna lose, and honestly I was doing this to lower my expectations to not let my emotions get the best of me.

After the game I saw Tyler Haws' parents. His Dad looked happy, and his Mom looked like she just left a funeral. I sat five feet away from Greg Wrubell and listened to him in the post-game show with Kyle Collinsworth and Dave Rose, and then left. It was a great memory that I will always have. I am not sure that I will ever see a much more significant win in my life outside of the Marriott Center. Wins like this just don't happen very often, and I was lucky enough to be present to watch this team come to life.

I will be in Las Vegas to watch all the games next week wearing my BYU blue. Go Cougs!