GO USA!!!

“It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication.”

So someone asked me if I blogged about anything else but football, so I decided to blog about another love of mine; the Olympics. The Olympics are awesome! It combines two things I'm passionate about; sports and my country. I am partial the the Summer Olympics. Swimming, gymnastics, diving, volleyball, softball, basketball, track...it's all GOOD!!! I can remember laying on my grandma's front room floor watching the 93 Olympics and thinking to myself that when the next summer Olympics happened I'd be 16. I couldn't wait. Now I'm about to turn 27. How time flies!

These olympics have gotten off to a great start. The opening ceremony was beautiful! And last night I watched Michael Phelps win his first gold medal of these games. I'm in love with Michael Phelps. He is so hot! And his body, dang! But wait back to the Olympics...When I watch the athletes I can't help but be proud and I still get goose bumps and teary eyed when the Star Spangled Banner plays as they place the gold medal around the neck of the winner. I feel like my dreams can come true and anything is possible! I can't wait to see what happens over the next two weeks! GO USA!!!

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”

A DREAM COME TRUE!

No dreamer is ever to small; no dream is ever to big.

Everyone knows that I love BYU football. It is a part of me. I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. And every year at the start of the new season I dream that I could somehow meet the players and coaches. Well last Thursday my dream came true! I went to the BYU Football Women’s Clinic. I wasn’t quite sure what it would be like, I only new that 25 dollars was a small fee to pay for anything dealing with the BYU football team. My friend and I drove from California all day Thursday and she even changed her schedule and left early so I could make it to the clinic on time. So I got to Utah, met up with my sister and mom and walked over to the stadium for the clinic. I was so excited with anticipation!

My mom, my sister, and I, along with 500 other women checked in, got our shirts and ate some food. After I ate I walked around the building we were in a realized that football players were all around us. The first one I met was Max Hall, the quarterback. Oh my gosh, I was like a giddy schoolgirl. I had him sign my shirt and took a picture with him! After I walked away from him I couldn’t help but scream! My sister and I spent the next little while finding all the football players, getting them to sign our shirts (which were ON us by the way, oh yea baby!), and taking pictures with them. Then we were asked by Coach Lamb to take a seat so they could start the presentation. My sister and I managed to find a way to the front and we sat a few feet away from the podium. We sang the fight song and then Coach Mendenhall spoke to us. He talked about “The Quest” for 2008. Taking the program from good to great! I loved listening to Coach Mendenhall. Coach Mendenhall then answered questions. Followed by the players answering questions. They were so nervous standing in front of 500 screaming woman. But they handle it well and answered the questions with a little bit humor. My favorite was when Harvey Unga introduced himself as Steve Young. (: After the Q&A we had the opportunity to meet the players and coaches again. Getting signatures and pictures of anyone we missed. Then we went to the field to do drills! Yes I said drills and I actually participated!

We then walked onto the field! Words cannot express the feelings I got as I walked onto the field. I couldn’t believe I was just walking right on to the field. We then did drills at 4 different stations. And let me just say that football drills look easy but they ARE SO NOT! I have a greater respect for anyone that has done these drills, and done them well! After the drills we came to midfield and watched a highlight film from last year on the big screen scoreboard. Before watching it Coach Lamb asked us to take a minute to realize where we were and what that meant. I immediately got the chills. I couldn’t believe I was sitting on the field Johnny Harline got the game winning touchdown against Utah in 2006, where Steve Young played, where Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer played, where the 1984 team beat Michigan and went on the be the National Champions! It was incredible. The highlight film was awesome as we relived the moments we loved from last season, especially the 49-yard reception on fourth-and-18 by Austin Collie to beat Utah. And the amazing block of UCLA field goal attempt in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Afterwards my sister and I just spent time laying on the field and taking goofy pictures! And although we had already taken pictures with Coach Mendenhall and had him sign our shirts and media guide we wanted to wait in line to get him to sign our posters. We were the last people in line so after he signed our stuff, again we walked across the field together conversing! I don’t think I could have been happier! Walking across LaVell Edwards stadium talking with the coach!!! Seriously!!

So this blog is really long and unless you like BYU you probably got bored after the first few sentences. But it was seriously the happiest, most exciting and fulfilling day of my life thus far. So many of my dreams and wishes have come true! Well at least the dreams and wishes relating to BYU football. Hopefully my dream of a perfect season will come true and one day, another National Championship. One things for sure, I will be back next year for the next clinic!