Sweet 16 here we come!

Today was so great!!! The BYU mens basketball team played against Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA tournament. And to be honest, I was a little scared because last year BYU lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year! But they did so great! Jimmer did amazing (as always) but the rest of the team did very well also! Emery was stealing the ball like no other! And Noah was making three's like they were nothing! Abouo was doing great with his shots. But I was mostly inpressed with Kyle! Ever since we lost Brandon, no one had really been able to take his place and make the shots that he did. But during this game, Kyle was doing what Brandon did! He was getting up to the net and doing lay-up's, and he was rebounding the ball! The score was 89-67 BYU. It was a great game! And since these NCAA games have been broadcasted all over the nation, the country is finally getting to see what BYU is really made of and that they have made a name for themselves and that Jimmer isn't just carrying them on his back. This is a HUGE deal, because BYU hasn't gone to the sweet 16 for 30 years! The last time we went was with Danny Ainge past the sweet 16 to the Elite eight. Once again, it was a great game, and I look forward to meeting our next challenge in New Orleans, at the sweet 16, playing against the Florida Gator's. It's going to be sweet! (no pun intended :) )

BYU vs. Fresno Pacific

Today's game was SO great!! We totally clobbered them!!! It was 93 to 57! Very awesome game, I had faith we would beat them :) At the beginning of the game, Fresno Pacific was doing well at rebounding the ball and making points, they hung in there with us for the first half. Noah was the only one making points at the beginning of the game with three 3's!!! It was great!! But after that, we weren't doing too well at scoring. But that all changed during the second quarter because JIMMER was finally making points!! During the first quarter, he had only made 6 points, and if you know Jimmer Fredette, you know that is not what the crowed was expecting. But he came back during the second quarter and was making NBA 3's like no other!! It was flipping amazing! But apparently, Fresno Pacific didn't realize how amazing Jimmer is, because they kept fouling him to make free throws, and he never misses those!! Kyle Collensworth, Brandon Davies, and Jackson Emery were doing very good as well!! Towards the end of the game, coach Rose played the second string, and they were doing well, also! Stephen Rogers is very good, and improving! After seeing our second stringers play, I am happy to say that our team will not suffer TO much after Jimmer and Jackson leave :)

Well, after the game, I stayed with my sister Megan to see if the players would come out and sign some stuff for the fans. A week ago, my friend Nate did this and he got to meet many of the players. So, I decided to give it a try! Sure enough, about 45 minutes after the game, the players started coming out! I went up to Rogers right before he was going to talk with Greg Wrubell on the radio. He was very nice about signing my HUGE BYU basketball poster, and as I was leaving I tripped over the millions of cords that were around that table! I caught myself, but it was still so embarassing :/

After that, I went up to Chris Collensworth, and he was very nice about it as well, except he didn't have a table to sign it on like Rogers did. So he is looking around for a place to place the poster so he could sign it (again, while everyone else was walking around with their mini sized basketball posters, I had my GIANT one) and because he had nowhere to sign it, he asked if he could use my back haha, and of course, I let him. So Chris Collensworth wrote on my poster on my back :) I don't think a lot of people can say that ;)

After that, I was able to get Brandon Davies signature! very cool :)

After that, I turn around, and Jimmer Fredette is standing right there, with a huge line of people waiting to meet him (of course!) So I get in line, sit there for a minute or two, and then it was my turn!!! I go up to him, he automatically signs my poster, out of habit haha. And then I ask him if it would be ok if I had a picture taken with him, he was very nice and said yes :) so Megan quickly took the picture on my dad's I-phone, and I thanked him and left, it was great!! I had his signature AND a picture with him! After that, I went over to Noah Heartsock, and like the others, he was very nice about signing the JUMBO poster. After signing it, he thanks me for coming to the game, I thanked him, and turned to go, when I ran into someone! I apologized, and behind me I heard Noah say "Woah, run into Jimmer." It was Jimmer I ran into! So embarrassing! He said it was no problem, and just walked off. That was very embarrassing.

After that, I went to Jackson Emery. And I think he was the nicest out of all of them! He was having a full conversation with the people in front of me while signing their tiny posters, and as I walked up and began to apologize for my HUGE poster, he said it was totally fine and that it was better because it was bigger and I could see the signatures better; which is very true :) He smiled at me, thanked me for coming, and then I walked off.

Emery was my last signature, and after that, Megan and I left to go meet up with my dad. It was so much fun! On the way home, I was looking at all the pictures on my dad's phone, and just grinning :) What a perfect way to start off the year 2011 :) This one BYU basketball game will always stand out in my mind :)