It's rivarly week -- GO BYU!!!

This is a very intense week in Utah. One where people's true colors come out -- whether they bleed red or are true blue. That's right -- it's the week of the Holy War. BYU plays University of Utah Saturday in one of the biggest games of the match-up. I'm sure you know our true colors, but in case there's any doubt as to who we'll be cheering for:

Now, even though this is a huge game (Utah is undefeated and ranked 7th; BYU has one loss and is ranked 14th), it's always a fun week preparing for the Holy War. There are PAGES in the newspaper touting rivalry history, match-up predictions and anything else you can imagine. The broadcast news has all types of interviews and stories. This year's Holy War is at U of U, which gives BYU an even greater challenge. Should BYU win, there is a three-way tie in the Mountain West Conference. Should BYU lose, we take third behind Utah (first) and TCU (second).

In the past 20 years, the scores are tied (10-10). In the past 10 years the scores are tied (5-5). This is a big one, and it feels like a kid waiting for Christmas to wait until Saturday to watch! I saw a press conference with Bronco Mendenhall (BYU's awesome coach) this morning, and he mentioned that he's limiting player contact with the media, because although they try to keep things the same during practices this week, people in the state aren't the same during this week. He said his first year of coaching at BYU, he had no idea the electricity that would happen during this game. (Maybe that's the only reason we lost. ;)

During the past two years, BYU has made last-minute plays to win the games. I mean AMAZING plays! Last year we even commented that there was no way they could do it two years in a row, and then they did. Are we pushing our luck asking for three?

In any case, just do NOT call our house Saturday between 4 and 8 p.m. Mountain time. If you do, you'll get our voicemail. (Oh, and the message about us not being able to find the phone? Irrelevant on Saturday -- we're choosing not to find the phone.)

I'm slightly annoyed that the Holy War (as it's been called for decades) is recently being called the "Deseret First Duel." Yes, corporate sponsorship snuck in and re-named it. Those of us who have lived here long know it's the Holy War, and it's going to be good! Looks like Wikipedia knows what I'm talking about -- here's the Holy War entry about the rivalry: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_War_(Utah_vs._BYU)". I also just saw on Craig's list you can go in person -- only $350 per ticket!!!

By the way, isn't Paul absolutely lucky to have a wife who loves BYU football as much -- if not more -- than he does? In fact, one of the ways Paul and I became such good friends up in Washington was because Hilary and I needed a place to watch the BYU football games, and we found out that Paul's house had cable. Hilary asked me to take care of getting us there for the games, and the rest, as they say, is history ... :)

Go, Cougs!!!