big BYU fan will be passing on today. My wife's cousin (who is a generation older because my wife's parents married very late - but she is still closer to him than I am any of my same age cousins) will be a Covid fatality. He has been a long time CB lurker (possibly a participant, but he never told me his board name).

We have had an extended family reunion every other year for about a decade now. It seems like most of those years, the reunion fell on Labor Day weekend when BYU had a game. If the game was in Provo, Steve and some other relatives would attend the game and then make the five hour drive to get to the reunion late. If it wasn't in Provo, which seemed to happen most of the time, we'd gather around and cheer on the Cougs together. BYU has never lost a game played on that reunion weekend.

This is the guy some of you might remember me posting about who was a high school football referee for a long time. His son played football and he, of course, did not ref games his son's school played in. On the night of a big game between his son's school and their arch rival, one of the referees was unable to ref for some reason (I don't know if it was a health issue or a traffic accident or whatever, but he either wasn't there or wasn't able). They were going to have to call off the game because there weren't enough officials present. Someone suggested Steve officiate because he was in the stands and, after much discussion, Steve agreed. It was decided that his son should not play in the game.

When that agreement was communicated to the coach of the rival school, he immediately responded, "I know Steve. He's an honest man. He won't be unfair in favor of his son or their team. Let his son play."

A powerful tribute to a reputation for integrity and honesty.

If you can spare a prayer for Steve and those who will be impacted by his passing, it would be appreciated.