I’m giddy. I woke up this morning a full hour before my alarm went off. It feels like Christmas. The countdown clock is winding down. 0 weeks, 0 days, 10 hours, 12 minutes, 34 seconds until kick off.
Fight Broncos, celebrate the orange and blue
Boise will stand up and cheer for BSU!
Fight for distinction and our Alma Mater
Bravely defending BSU!
Fight on courageously for Boise State
Success and honor make her great!
Boise’s proud tradition
Heads-up competition
Glory to BSU!
Go Orange, Go Big Blue, Fight! Fight! BSU!
I’ve often wondered if when you get to heaven you will get statistics on your life. How many miles you walked, what meal you had the most often, etc. etc. In that vein, I’ve wondered what song I’ve heard the most times in my life. More than likely for most people it would be something boring and mundane like ‘Happy Birthday’, or if they’re big sports fans, maybe the Star Spangled Banner. I can guarantee what my song will be. It’s the BSU Fight Song. Doing some rough math, I haven’t missed a home football game in 14 years, so say 6 per year is 84 games. I usually am able to catch at least one road game so we’ll call that an even 100. Before that, I went to a bunch of games as a kid, say another 50. 150 Boise State football games, the song had to have been played by the band at least 20 times a game, which is probably a conservative number. That’s 3000 times. Not to mention the hundreds of BSU Basketball games, the parades, the on campus events, hell, even the NCAA College Football video game plays the song (my team is obviously Boise State) on an endless loop. Given all that, I have to figure I’ve easily topped 10,000 times I’ve heard that tune. Probably more. And I’m only 32. In fact, I’ve listened to it another dozen times since I’ve been writing this. If I’m lucky, by the time I finally kick off, I may have heard the song 50,000? 70,000? Who knows. Just put me in an orange and blue coffin and call it a day.
All this week, I have been wearing a different orange shirt to get ramped up. How many people in my office noticed? Zero. But dammit, I didn’t do this for others. I did it for me, and my team. Boise State football is my only true love in life. Other fans may have multiple teams that they love. One in each sport. But growing up in Idaho, isolated from all other pro and college sports, there was one game in town. I have ‘sports monogamy’ to the nth degree. I love sports, but simply do not have a favorite team in each one to root for. I might need a ruling on if that makes me less of a sports fan or not. I just say I’m a product of my environment. For me, the world stops when Boise State is playing.
This year is different. I’m moving on in life and that includes my gameday experience. See, the ex-laws always did a big tailgate, that grew exponentially when I was there. The first year was low key, but by the time last year rolled around, it was a serious deal. For me, those 6 days a year WERE better than Christmas. We would spend all day in the parking lot tailgating. We would get there at 9am for a 6pm kickoff. I love the atmosphere. The friends. The food. The beer. Capped off by the game (plus the fact that we are 45-2 at home since 1999) then more beer and food postgame… just an unbelieveable experience.
But, now I’m on my own to figure out how to get the most of the gameday. I’m disappointed the be on the outs now, but goddamnit, I’m not going to let it ruin Boise State Football for me. So, maybe now I’ll get to see a few more national games on TV. Maybe I’ll find some other friends to tailgate with. Who knows. But I do know one thing. I love Boise State football more than anything else. Bottom line.
And for me, that makes today VERY special.
Go Broncos.