So BYU basketball has been on a tear of late. And I wanted a piece of the action. They had a marquee match-up slated with then #4 San Diego State University at the Marriott Center. BYU entered the game ranked 9th. In order to even get into the game, I had to go with a group of MBA students on TUESDAY at 12 noon to get a wristband for a game that didn't even start until 8pm on Wednesday. Let's just say BYU came away with several "lessons learned" after the whole 2 day ordeal!
Finally, game day came and no one could concentrate in their classes, we were so pumped for the game. I went to the grocery store during a break from classes and bought some posterboards and markers to let our voices be heard. BTW, I got the 116th wristband given out to students. Pretty proud of myself.
Below you can see some of the signage we made, "Fredette About It", "Jimmer's in range when he gets off the bus", "Jackson makes it Emery time".
So on game day, we had to show up at the Marriott Center at 4pm for a 8pm start time - don't ask me why. Everyone had to line up according to the number on their wristband. As you can see below, these were some of the last of the 5000 students to line up. They are wrapped all the way around the Marriott Center and it's only 6pm!!
Here's everyone lining up behind the KSL newsanchor before he went on the air to talk about the game.
Here we are with our primetime seats. We were on the 5th row of the Marriott Center! Best seat I've ever had there. And might I say, it was a HARD ticket to come by, especially if you were a church General Authority. I counted or saw the following GAs at the game: Elder Neil Anderson (of the 12), D. Todd Christofferson (of the 12), Jay E. Jensen (Pres of 70), Ronald Rasband (Pres of 70), Garrett Gong (70), Richard C. Edgley (Pres Bishopric), Craig Zwick (70), Cecil Samuelson (70). This was the most I've ever seen at one game.
The bright light below was from the TV announcers pregame session. Game was on some obscure network called CBS College Sports. Apparently, only 15 people in the US get the channel. Hallelujah for ESPN next year!
A shot looking up at the student section. We 5000 strong were packed in like sardines well over 2 hours before tipoff and we were already getting loud!
This is a picture of yours truly on the floor. That's right, the student section rushed the floor after the Big W!!
If you look closely at the lower left hand corner of the screen, you'll see a white-haired man's head in between 2 college students. That is Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the 12.
Me with some of my MBA comrades who also rushed the floor. Merritt Aho (left), Graham Orme (middle)
This was one of the best entries in student signage at the game. As you might tell, this is a roughly 5 foot by 5 foot image of Jimmer Fredette's head!! They held it up during the game and I thought it was crazy!!
After every BYU bball game now, the tradition is to ring the bell after a victory. So I got the opportunity to ring the victory bell after the big game. All in all, an event I will not soon forget. I'll also be able to tell my kids I got to see the one called Jimmer play before he made it big in the NBA!!
