World Series- Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia

World Series- Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia

For the past week I have been watching “America’s Favorite Sport” each night- The World Series. This year the teams that are playing for the MLB Title are the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. I am not a big fan of baseball, but I do take the time to watch the World Series each year to see the best teams in baseball face off against one another. This year has been fun to watch. The Phillies are currently leading the Series 3-1 with the rest of the 5th game being played Oct 29th. The 5th game was originally played on Monday Oct 27th, but was unable to finish due to a rain delay and then the decision was made to finish the game 2 days later (which is the day I am writing this article).

The first 3 games of the World Series were close and exciting with the Phillies taking the 1st game 3-2, Tampa taking the 2nd game 4-2, and Phillies taking the 3rd game 5-4. Each game could have gone either way making it very exciting to watch. The 4th game was different with the Phillies hitting HR after HR and beating the Rays by a score of 10-2. Philadelphia was then primed and ready to play Game 5 and try to end the series when the rain started to come down. They played the first 5 innings and the Phillies were leading 2-1 when the Rays hit a ball to left center field driving home a player to tie the game at 2-2. The top of the 6th ended shortly after and that is when the game was called and decided to move it to another night to finish.

Now the teams will take the field in the first postponed game in World Series history to play the last 3 ½ innings. I think that the excitement will be a little more tempered for the Philadelphia fans and team and the Rays will come out and win this game by a score of 4-3 to send the Series back to Florida for games 6 and 7. It should be an exciting final few games of the World Series. I am cheering for the Tampa Bay Rays as they are the underdog and have also never won a World Series.

I will spend the next few nights watching the rest of game 5, and if needed games 6 and 7. The games have been exciting and for a guy that doesn’t watch baseball all year, it has been a nice change of pace from basketball and football. As for the phrase “America’s Favorite Sport” being used for baseball so much, I would have to say that this no longer applies, because football has become the sport of choice for most fans. I will always be a football first fan, with basketball being second, and baseball coming in at third.

***Update***
The Phillies won Game 5 to win the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. After the rain delay, the final 3 ½ innings were finally played at Philadelphia. The Phillies pulled out the victory by a score of 4-3 winning the MLB title for the first time since 1980.

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The Cougars Run the Rebels Out of Town

BYU squared off against the UNLV Running Rebels last Saturday and when the dust had settled the Cougars won 42-35. Max Hall led the Cougars potent aerial attack with 4 touchdown passes and 245 passing yards with 0 interceptions. Austin Collie was, again, his favorite target with 7 receptions totaling 113 yards. BYU and UNLV exchanged touchdowns throughout the entire game with the game tied at 21 going into the half. At the end of the 3rd quarter the game was again tied at 28. The final quarter is where things got very exciting.
The Cougars marched down the field twice in the first 8 minutes of the 4th quarter hitting a Mitch Payne field goal on each drive making the score 34-28. UNLV countered back with a long drive of their own resulting in a 15 yard touchdown pass putting the Rebels up 35-34 with 6 minutes to go in the game. BYU then made a long, time consuming drive that used up 5 minutes and went 70 yards with Max Hall connecting on a 6 yard TD pass to Dennis Pitta. The Cougars were now up 40-35. BYU went for the 2-point conversion so they could try and gain a 1 touchdown lead and succeeded with a pass from Hall to Harvey Unga. The Cougars then proceeded to hold off the Rebels in tying the game by sacking their QB in the closing seconds and then intercepting the last second “Hail Mary” pass in the endzone.
BYU really needed this win to not only keep their confidence high, but also to show the country and the pollsters that they still belong in their current top 20 ranking. BYU faces off against Colorado State this week in Fort Collins. Colorado State should give BYU a tough game, but the Cougars should be able to gain another win with Max Hall and Austin Collie hooking up for more long passes and multiple touchdowns. The score will be BYU 45-Colorado State 17.

The Green Bay Packers have a bye this week. The Packers are flying high after a big win against the Indianapolis Colts last week. They are full of confidence and should have most, if not their full team, completely healthy for this Sunday’s game against one of the leagues best teams, the Tennessee Titans. This will be a great statement game for the Packers. They can show the league that they are one of the best teams with a win against the mighty Titans. I am predicting that the Packers really push the “Big Boys” with a pounding running game and an efficient passing game. The Packers win the Titans 27-17.

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Halloween Night Safety Tips and Last-Minute Costume Ideas

Halloween night is just a few days away and in order to make it a fun night it is important for you and your children to follow some basic safety precautions.

Here are some tips to follow when you go out on the evening of October 31st:

• Make sure and only trick or treat at homes of people that you know.
Try going to neighbors, friends, people in your ward, relatives, and your parent’s place of employment. You could even go to stores and business that are reputable. A lot of them give away treats to children on Halloween night.

• Carry a flashlight and/or wear something on your clothes that makes you visible to cars when walking outside. It is important to be careful when walking from house-to-house at night because there a lot of cars around on Halloween night in the neighborhoods. Have at least one person carry a flashlight in your group and wear something that glows in the dark on the outside of your costume so that cars can see you better.

• If you are an adult who is driving kids around, be sure to watch for kids on the road and obey all traffic laws. If you are driving, make sure and go slower when traveling through neighborhoods where there are a lot of kids walking around. Don’t assume that kids see you and always let the kids cross the street, even if you feel like you should be able to go first. Pedestrians always have the right of way. Be sure to look when backing out of driveways as kids may be walking behind your car.

• Check your children’s candy for signs of tampering. I am sure all of us have heard the horror stories of candy that has poison in it or has been tampered with. Make sure and throw out any candy that looks suspicious or appears to have been un-wrapped and wrapped again. There is no such thing as being too cautious when it comes to your children’s safety.


One of the hardest decisions a child will have to make in their young life will be what costume to wear for Halloween. This is always a big deal for kids. They start thinking about these things when October 1st comes around. They have 30 days to decide what they want to be for Halloween. Some kids know right away and others will wait until the last minute to make a decision.
There are times when we as parents need to step in and make these difficult decisions for them. Due to the past month’s economic struggles, it is important to think of costumes that won’t cost much money if any money at all.
Here are 5 low budget costume ideas that most kids will enjoy and will be easy on your wallet:
1. Nerdy kid. When I was 15, the movie “Revenge of the Nerds” came out. This was a show about a group of nerdy kids who went to college and ended up becoming very popular at the college they attended. That year, me and my friends wore our Dad’s shirts from the 70’s, put on funny looking glasses, and bell-bottom pants. You could dress your kids up in some of your old funny-looking clothes, although the clothes I wore as a kid to be nerds are now in style again.
2. Newspaper Boy/Girl. Give your child a stack of newspapers and have him carry them around and act like a newspaper delivery boy/girl. Don’t tell your child that they really are a newspaper delivery person, just show them what a cool costume idea it is to have a big pile of newspapers and actually give them to the people who give you treats.
3. Football fan. Dress your child up in your favorite team’s clothes/hat and have them go as a football fan. I am a big Packers fan and I would have my child wear one of my shirts, my hat, and paint their face in the Packers colors of green and gold.
4. Borrow a Halloween costume. My mom has a closet full of costumes she has made for the grandkids and they’ve all been worn several times by different grandkids. Ask around, most people have a dress up or costume bin you could probably borrow from.
5. Politician. Have your child put on a dress or a suit and tie and be a politician. You can explain that politicians go door-to-door asking for free hand outs just like Halloween. Make sure you have your child promise the neighbors lots of things in return, like they won’t play their radio too loud anymore, won’t break your window with the baseball anymore, won’t bother you anymore, etc….you know, promise things like a politician does.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween and hope that the Newspaper boy shows up at your door rather than the Politician.

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The Cougars Falter at TCU and the Packers Break the Colts

The Cougars were bound to have a let down game and it came this past week at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs. Let me first say that the mascot, Horned Frogs, is one of the strangest mascots in all of college. You would think a Cougar could beat a Frog, but not this year.
TCU topped the mighty Cougars 32-7 in a rout. From the first snap to the end, the Cougars didn’t have a chance. BYU was down 23-0 at halftime and had no success against the Frog’s smothering defense. TCU had 7 sacks and 2 interceptions against Max Hall, who until this game has had a phenomenal year.
This game has hurt the Cougars chances at a BCS game, possibly beyond repair, but it should ignite a fire in them to finish out the season with this being the lone loss. The Cougars might have become too complacent or over confident due to their great success during the past 5 games. The Horned Frogs gave them a wake up call with a game that put the Cougars back in their place. The Cougars need to go into the next game and future games with a fire in their belly wanting to avenge this 1 loss that has most likely knocked them out of BCS contention. The Cougars still have the Utah Runnin’ Utes on their schedule, which should be the game of the year for the Mountain West Conference, but for this coming week they will play UNLV in Lavell Edwards Stadium. I expect a very fired up Cougars squad to come out and show the country that they are still one of the best teams in the country. BYU 42-UNLV 7

The Packers fared better than the Cougars this week. The Indianapolis Colts came into town and found out that the Packers and the fans in the NFL’s greatest stadium- Lambeau Field- were ready to rock their world.
Green Bay put on an awesome show of defensive force with 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns. They also held the Colts to only 7 points in the first 3 quarters of the game. Green Bay’s QB Aaron Rodgers played another mistake free game driving the Packers down the field time and time again for scores. Ryan Grant, the Packers RB, got going in this game and really tore up the field with his hard nosed and grinding style of play. The Packers won this game by a score of 34-14. They were firing on all cylinders and are in great shape heading into their bye week.
They have a record of 4-3 and are atop the standing in their division. After their bye, the Packers will be playing at Tennessee, who is currently undefeated and the best team in the league. It is shaping up to be one of the best games of the year. If you haven’t joined PackerNation yet, hop on board for the ride.

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Tips for a Happy Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner this year. Most of us think of Halloween as a one night holiday that comes and goes quickly. I am actually not a big fan of the trick or treating on Halloween night, but I do enjoy all the many other fun things you can do leading up to the big night.

When I was younger, Halloween in my family was never really that popular. We carved pumpkins and went out trick or treating, but other than that we didn’t decorate much and didn’t do any other activities. As I have started my own family, and found that my wife grew up in a family that loves Halloween, I have found that there is a lot that you can do in the days leading up to Halloween. I have a list of 6 fun activities that you
may not have thought of, that you could do this year during the pretty autumn days leading up to the 31st.

1. Find a local farmer that is doing a hay ride to go into a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. Over the past 3 years we have gone to the Red Barn in Santaquin, Utah to go on their annual pumpkin patch hay ride to pick out our pumpkins. The kids love the ride and are amazed at all the pumpkins in their large patch. It is a fun family night idea and after the ride you can buy a treat to enjoy. Watch for similar ideas in the area where you live.

2. Decorate your whole house in Halloween decorations with your kids. As I mentioned earlier I grew up in a house that didn’t decorate much for Halloween. My wife has now converted me to Halloween decorating because she brought to our marriage a bunch of different decorations that have been a lot of fun to take out every year and have the kids put around the house. This year we put spider webs all over the outside of our house. We also have an 8 foot Halloween Mickey Mouse in our front yard. The kids love all of it.

3. Go to a Halloween party. Every year there are certain places that have Halloween parties. Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah has all different kinds of fun activities for kids, parents, and even a Halloween dance for teenagers. Another good place for a fun Halloween party is at Young Living Farms in Mona, Utah. This year they are having their “Fall Festival” on October 25th from 4-8pm

4. Buy some Halloween books and read one every night during October. Kids love to be read to, and probably haven’t read many Halloween books. This will really get them excited for Halloween and will also provide good quality time for parents to be with their children every night.

5. Don’t just carve pumpkins, paint faces and even buy plastic eyes, noses, and parts for younger children to put on. Carving pumpkins with your family is fun, but when you have younger kids, it can be difficult for them to be involved very much. This year I saw a little package of plastic eyes, noses, ears, and mouths that could be put on pumpkins to make faces. Our kids have really enjoyed making different faces this year on the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch on our hay ride.

6. Make home-made treats to give kids that are trick or treating. When I was younger and went trick or treating it was an annual tradition to go to my older neighbors, who would always give us a rice puff ball. We would then go to another neighbor who gave us decorated Halloween cookies. The times like this are long gone, but we could try doing this one year and see how the kids react to a fresh homemade Halloween treat rather than the average piece of store bought candy. My wife and I tried making Halloween cookies a few years back and had wonderful compliments and enjoyed sharing our cooking with the parents as well as the kids.

Whatever you decide to do for Halloween, make sure that you remember that you are making memories for your kids. Remember you are making fun and enjoyable memories for your kids to think of during the rest of their lives. The things you do for and with them today will be with them forever.

Happy Halloween!

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The Cougars Light Up the Lobos

The Cougars do it again. After winning a tough game (in the final 3 quarters) against the Utah State Aggies, BYU comes back to beat the New Mexico Lobos in what was a tough defensive battle. Max Hall had his 3 touchdowns (which has now become the weekly norm for him) and a total of 265 yards passing. The Cougar running game got into the mix as well with 117 total yards rushing led by Harvey Unga with 95 yards. The Cougars displayed a balanced attack with a strong running game and an always potent passing game led by Hall at QB and his favorite target- Austin Collie. BYU also showed that their defense can rise to the occasion as well in the games that become a defensive battle. The defense held the Lobos offense to 155 yards passing and 130 yards rushing (which was good considering the Lobos have a powerful running team). They also had 3 sacks and 1 interception. The Lobos were able to only manage 7 points against the stingy defense of BYU.

In the past 4 games (including a game against Pac-10 UCLA) the Cougars have held opponents to 17 points while their high flying offense has put 158 points on the board. That is what I call total domination on both sides of the ball. I think it would be difficult to find a team that has scored more points and held the opposition to such low point totals for any 4-game stretch this year. With the offense and defense firing on all cylinders, the sky is the limit for the Cougars. They are ranked 8th place in the National Polls and if they can pull off another win against TCU, they should move up even further. The game against TCU will be at TCU and will be a great test for BYU to see how they fare against another tough Mountain West football team who is currently ranked 24th in the National Coaches Poll. My prediction is that BYU will pull out a close game with a strong running game and average passing game. TCU puts up a tough fight but the Cougars win this one 24-21.

On to the Packers. Green Bay finally awakens from their 3-game slumber to take down the Seahawks. The game against Seattle wasn’t the best game the Packers have played this year, but is one that they sorely needed to win. After losing 3 straight games, they knew going into Seattle that they had to take control and put this game away early. The Seahawks came into the game minus their top 2 receivers and their QB Matt Hasselbeck was out with an injured knee. With the injury situation, the Seahawks “were ripe for picking”.
The Packers came out a little flat and were tied at 10 with the Seahawks at halftime, but Coach McCarthy must have really lit a fire under the team during the half because the Pack came out and scored 17 points in the second half and showed off their passing duo of Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings. The Packers went on to win the game by a score of 27-17. The win was not much to be excited about, other than it gave the Packers a little extra lift as they play against the Indianapolis Colts next week in Green Bay. Any other year, I would think that the Colts would be victorious in this matchup but with the way the Colts have been playing this year, I have to give the edge to the Packers. With the Pack at home and the combination of a good defense and the hot arm of Aaron Rodgers, the Packers win this one in a shootout; 36-30.

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Opening Morning on the Annual Deer Hunt

Opening day for the general rifle deer hunt is coming real soon to Utah. It opens on Saturday morning October 18th. This is a very exciting time for many Utah hunters. There are thousands of men, women, and children who go camping over this weekend and hunt for the many deer that are found throughout the Utah mountains.

I recall as a child and later as a young man, going on many deer hunts. It was a fun time to go out with the “guys” and camp together and hunt together. During my elementary school years the deer hunt was so popular that the schools would adjourn school at noon on the Friday before the opening day of the deer hunt. I remember being very excited in my classes thinking about how at noon my dad would take me and my brothers to the store to buy all the groceries and food needed for the weekend camping excursion. We would buy all the good stuff: bacon, sausage, eggs, pancake mix, licorice, nuts, candy, beef jerky, and other goodies to bring while we were hunting; and a lot of other food to enjoy over our campfire the night before the hunt.

After buying all the food and treats that we could fit into our car, we would then go home to finish packing the trailer and get everything prepared. I think this must have been my Dad’s favorite time because he was always pretty excited and happy during this time of year and especially when we were all ready to drive up into the mountains for the weekend. We would make the annual, customary stop at the gas station to fill up the tank and us kids would run into the station to get treats and drinks for the drive to our favorite deer hunting spot- Eureka.

After all the stops, we were finally on our way to the mountain area in Eureka that we went to every year that I can remember. We camped in the same spot and hunted in the same big hills. These things never changed growing up and to this day I still think of those times when we were riding to Eureka in my Dad’s old forest green International Scout pulling our old camper/trailer behind us. We would make our way to our camping spot and set up camp and make dinner, tell stories and laugh together and watch as the campfire burned out before climbing into our warm sleeping bags thinking of the morning that awaited us.

6am rolls around really fast when you have been up late on a campout and have been sleeping in a sleeping bag in a camper/trailer. I remember waking up and eating a quick breakfast before pulling on the orange vest and orange hat, then stuffing beef jerky, candy bars, drinks, and more food than you can imagine into my pants. We then drove off to our hunting spot in the darkness of early morning. We trudged up the mountainside trying to get to the top before the sun came up. It felt like the climb took forever as a young boy. We finally made it to the top and the hunt would begin.

In probably 15 deer hunts I remember going on, I think I saw about 5,000 doe and maybe 10 buck. Needless to say, I don’t remember seeing my Dad or brothers get many deer, but the preparation and camping memories will be with me forever. I am no longer a deer hunter, but I still see an occasional doe while in the mountains on campouts and they trigger great memories.
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