You Goin' Football Game, Too?

We have taken Josh to BYU football games ever since he was in utero, so I shouldn't be shocked by his level of fanship, but I am. He was only 18 months old when we took him to the last home game last year, so surely there was no way he would really remember, right?


Well, two months later I was wearing a BYU t-shirt to bed, and he pointed to it and said, "football." Not too much later, he started pointing to the letter Y in random places (like the word "SONY" on our radio) and saying, "football." Fast forward to last month when we went to the BYU vs. UCLA game as a family. He nearly hyperventilated with excitement when he saw the huge Y on the stadium. I was still thinking there was no way he really knew what the whole football game thing meant. Then Gary said, "Hey, Josh, we're going to the football game. Do you want to come?" Did he ever! While I got things ready with Noah, Josh ran around the parking lot yelling, "Goooo, Cougars!" and "I go football game. Sit, watch football game!" It was very cute, but we already had plans in place for when he just couldn't sit anymore . . . but it never happened. He was excited to watch the WHOLE GAME. Such a feat earned him lots of popcorn and candy from older people around us.

Josh has been talking about "go cougars football game" ever since. We had the chance to go to another game this weekend, and his level of excitement has not waned. Every time the band played he'd stand up and dance, whenever the crowd would stomp on the stadium floor to make noise Josh would kick his little feet furiously (even though they were a few feet from making it to the ground), and whenever the fight song was sung he would rise and shout with the best of them. He'd say the words he knew, "Out", "You", "Strong", "Y-U!" He's especially enthusiastic about the rah, rah, go cougars part, and luckily for me I brought a camera this time. Here he is clapping along to the fight song. What he'd been waiting for weeks to do - "Goooooo, cougars!" (Josh and Gary)My family was at the game, too. My dad is at all of them actually. I swear we have not spent time coaching Josh to be a BYU fan, he just loves it. I think it goes to show that there is a gene for fanship, and I could probably make bank by isolating it and publishing my findings. Anyway, we all have fun with it, and here we all are (Sarah, Josh, me, Kristen, Kayla, Hannah, Dad, Katie, and Noah - photography by Gary). My dad took us to eat beforehand (thank you!!), and Josh was asking everyone, "You e-cited football game?" and "You goin' football game, too?"Finally, this is Josh's reaction to my request that he smile for the camera while he was trying to watch the game. Oh, and Gary and I also were present and talked and laughed and had a good time, in case I've left anyone in suspense.

p.s. Don't hate my child if you're a Ute or an Aggie or a Seasider or whatever. Genetics is genetics, he's just a boy.