Road Trip: Jimmerica

A couple months ago I went to the BYU-Utah basketball game and watched Jimmer Fredette pour 47 big ones on the Utes in the Huntsman Center.

A few weeks later, Katie and I listened on the radio (curse you CBS-C! Why aren't you in my TV package!) as Jimmer and Cougars upset San Diego State, then watched his live SportsCenter interview after the game.

Jimmer Mania was officially off the charts, and it was only going to get bigger.

The next morning I had an idea, and what follows was the result of that idea.

DENVER, site of the 2010-2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament, Southeast Region.

At that point in the season, it was pretty clear that BYU was going to receive a high seeding in a close destination, and I wanted to be a part of the action. Attending a NCAA Tournament game is one of my bucket list experiences. My team was having a phenomenal year, and our star player was the talk of the nation. Given BYU's basketball history, this opportunity may not come again for another 30 years. The time was now. And luckily for me, my understanding wife was willing to play along.

Selection Sunday arrived. BYU's name came up in Denver, and their road to the Sweet 16 didn't look impossible. With a little hotel booking help from Hotwire.com and a lot of ticket booking help from my brother in-law (Thanks Michael), it was road trip time.

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Thursday: (St. Patrick's Day)

Up at 5 a.m., on the road by 6 with a car full of food (How great are wives! They feed us so well). Drove through the mountains and arrived in Denver a few hours before tipoff.

The arena was packed with Cougar fans, and our tickets for this game were better than just about all of these fools (thanks again Michael!) Katie and I were just on the fringe of Celebrity Row - Provo.

El Presidente Samuelson (below to rack of balls). I'm sure the guy in the gray shirt is important too.

TJ Fredette. In a word, he's "Amazing." Dude belongs right next to Eminem and Vanilla Ice on the Mount Rushmore of white rappers. :)

And, oh yeah, The Jimmer (sipping Gatorade). This is the closest we got to him since the guy plays the entire game. We love The Jimmer, but not as much as these people...

"The Luck of the St. Jimmer"

My personal favorite

The legend was in the house to see his son play for Gonzaga. Always exciting to see #12, even if he's just sitting in the stands.

Kinda tough to tell, but the big sign says "Jimmerica: Land of the Three, Home of the Shaved (per Honor Code rules)." We saw the pregnant woman who was holding the sign earlier in the day. Her T-shirt was even better: "We're naming her Jimmer."

Also saw a couple guys selling shirts outside the arena before the game that said "Charlie loves The Jimmer" on the front and "Winning....duh" on the back. Awesome.

••••••••••

Friday:

This was still the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, so even on vacation, the best thing to do is watch basketball on TV. I'm lucky enough to have a wife who understands this. She did have one request for our Denver trip however, which I was happy to grant.

Katie's not much of a seafood eater, unless it's at Bubba Gump

Katie's meal: Jenny's Accidental Fish & Shrimp

My meal: "I'm Stuffed" Shrimp

I was extra happy that our table had a good view of the TV to keep watching games. Kind of amazing that a restaurant based on a movie is still in business more than 12 years after the show won the Oscar for Best Picture. I loved the movie when it still came out. I'll still watch it on TV when it comes up while channel surfing. But it's not like anyone's still referencing "Mama always said..." or using their Forrest Gump voice anymore.

•••••••••••

Saturday:

When we picked up our tickets from the BYU will call lady on Thursday, she made it very clear that we had great seats for the game. She also made it very clear that if BYU won, our tickets would be nowhere as good for Saturday's game.

Not sure how she knew that or why it was the case, but she was right.

We went from the BYU administrators and player families seats 7 rows from the team bench to the first row of the upper bowl. But as you can see, we had an unobstructed view, and we were still glad to be in the building to see Act 2 of The Jimmer Show.

You know how people talk about experiences in life that they will be telling their grandkids about? This will be one of mine.

Hopefully BYU will reach another Sweet 16 sometime in the next 40 years. But there may never be another Cougar who owns the sports world for an entire month like The Jimmer did.

How I spent my weekend

The plan for the past weekend was pretty well mapped out in advance.

Friday night: Dinner with Katie's friends

Saturday morning: temple
Saturday afternoon: church basketball and BYU basketball game
Saturday night: grocery shopping
Sunday: church, chillax

Nothing too exciting, but a plan nonetheless.

Things did not go as planned. For future reference, this is a fairly typical weekend plan for the Weilers. When it goes as planned, you can bet I won't be blogging about it :)

Friday:

Katie was not feeling well after work, so we scratched dinner plans, watched an episode of Man vs. Wild and hit the hay before 10 p.m. Charlie Sheen would be less than impressed, but then again, it's not like we have tiger blood or Adonis DNA, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise to him.

Oh, Charlie. Thanks for a week of laughs. We all envy your "uh... winning" ways and would give our right arm to try the Charlie Sheen drug for just one day, but none of us will miss your trashy show.

********

Saturday:

Katie's stomach was still on the woozy side when we woke up, so we put the temple bags back on the shelf and broke out our new Wii game, Donkey Kong. Slight trade off of spiritual nourishment for a solid wrist and thumb workout, but quality family time either way.

Katie tells me this was her favorite game as a kid, and she still knows how to pound some ground.

Church ball was the trifecta of disappointment. Tip-off was 30 minutes late (and some point during halftime of the BYU-Wyoming game). Got injured three minutes into the game and was relegated to the bench. Lost game and was eliminated from the tournament.

Jealous of this girl? Me too. If Jimmer had a nickel for every time somebody stopped him for a few seconds to get their picture with him, ... well ... , he'd be making more than I do a week. I caught the last couple minutes of Jimmer and the Jimmeretes' final home game and title celebration, and I'm still optimistic about this team's tournament run. Of course, I've never thought anything beyond the Sweet 16 was a realistic expectation. Guess I'm a glass half-empty kinda guy.

Despite my best attempts to get out the house, we spent the rest of the day on the couch watching basketball games and movies while nursing my sprained ankle. Katie took good care of me, forcing Motrin down my throat and keeping the ice packs coming .... in waves.

You've probably all seen or experienced a purple foot by now, but Katie took the pictures, so I'm posting them. I'm more drawn to the green hue that starts about mid-foot and works its way to the toes.

I have small feet, but I feel like this picture. Makes the ol' dogs look like St. Bernards. It also highlights the bottom of my chicken legs, which is nice.

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Sunday:

Good day at church aside from the limping. It's not as easy to chillax at home while icing your foot. We broke out one of the puzzles we received at Christmas, watched more movies and finally got to see the Amazing Race at its regularly scheduled time.

We've done a few puzzles before. We. Katie tore through this one. And as you can sort of see in the picture below, these were not your typical square puzzle pieces

I guess I've seen one too many interviews with celebrities and athletes who love Martin Scorsese and Goodfellas, so when I saw it was going to be on TV I made a point of watching it . Now that I've seen it, I don't get it all the adoration.

Sure, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were born to play New York gangsters, and they do a great job. You got your guns, your blood, your robberies, your drugs and your Italian stereotypes. A fun story, but I don't see what makes it such an iconic film.

Nothing runs like a Sloan

Thursday started out normal enough. The sports radio hosts on the morning drive seemed to be implying a trade involving the Jazz might be coming down the pipeline. A couple hours later Kevin and I started talking about the rumors on our way to Cafe Rio for lunch.

We turned up the radio to let Jim Rome join in on our conversation and break the news.

Jerry Sloan. Out.

It's three days later, and I still can't fully wrap my head around it.

It was an event that was inevitably coming in the next year or two but shocking considering the circumstances. A guy who had been the head coach of my team for 23 years steps down in the middle of season. A tough, old-school Hall of Fame pro who demands heart and effort quits in essence at a time when the going is not going so well. A coach who had signed a contract extension just a few days earlier is now somewhere in an Illinois barn tweaking a tractor engine.

So for better or worse, Katie and I had tickets for Friday's game and got to help usher in the Tyrone Corbin era (unlike C.J. Miles and Al Jefferson). At least that's how I'll remember it. For Katie, it was just another chance to see this guy.

We also made it into the newspaper, sort of. See if you can find us in the picture. I'm wearing a blue hat with white lettering.

Maybe this picture will help

The Jazz Bear made an appearance in our section during the fourth quarter as part of one of his stunts. Kind of tough to tell in the picture, but he's on a mountain bike headed for a ramp at the bottom of the stairs.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the night's highlights. But back to Sloan.

This is how I'll remember Jerry Sloan, conducting team practices and media interviews wearing a John Deere hat. To me, it says everything you need to know about how the man approached his job.

Just as you can't mention Stockton without Malone and vice versa, Sloan's name belongs in the same breath. For my oxygen, Larry and Hot Rod ought to be snuck in there as well.

How great is the end of this clip!? After so many years of frustration from falling short. one 3-pointer washes it away and turns a bunch of rugged old vets into kids. No matter where, when, or how many times I see this, I smile and get choked up for a second. Makes me feel like I’m 16 again, Jazz crazed as ever, going ballistic in my parent’s basement over my team finally reaching the NBA Finals.

I love talking to non-Jazz fans about the NBA and how many players caught fire during their time with the Jazz (Howard Eisley, Thurl Bailey, Raja Bell, Ronnie Brewer, Byron Russell, Shandon Anderson, Mo Williams to name a few) only to struggle after leaving Utah, whether it be because of a trade or in pursuit of “greener” pastures. That was never a coincidence to me. They were products of a system. The Jerry Sloan system.

I took great pride in being a fan of the team with the longest tenured coach in professional sports. And its crazy to think that within the past six months, the longest tenured coaches in the NFL (Jeff Fischer – Titans) and Major League Baseball (Bobby Cox – Braves) have also left the game. (Bonus points for those of you who can figure out who now owns these honors.)

I don’t believe Sloan wanted to leave Thursday. I don’t believe he just got tired. And I don’t believe this was all Deron Williams' doing either.

As most of these situations tend to be, I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle of all the rumors, speculations, things said and things left unsaid. And at the end of the day, I believe this is a good thing for Sloan, Williams, and the Jazz.

But I'm going to miss Jerry.

Trivia Answer (which I am proud to say I nailed two of the three without looking up and was very close on the other one.) MLB – Tony LaRussa (17 seasons) . NBA – Gregg Popovich, Spurs (16 seasons). NFL - Andy Reid (11 seasons)

December to Remember, Part III

.... PART III: THE HOLIDAYS

Before we got a chance to put up all of our Christmas decorations, Katie's siblings raided our apartment and spruced up the place while we were on our honeymoon

Nothing says "Welcome home newlyweds" or " 'Tis the season" like a house full of pamphlets highlighting some of Colorado's most beautiful and exciting attractions. I've been told it's sort of a Jorgy tradition to "brochure" a room when anyone is away from home. And as I've learned, they do such a good job of hiding these things in so many places the fun of cleaning it up goes on for months.

We had a whole lot of clutter on the other side of the apartment too. This was the good kind of clutter though.

Before

After

So Christmas came a few weeks early for us. We didn't mind.

Our first Christmas tree looked almost exactly like Katie's bachelorette Christmas tree. I contributed the tree skirt/fleece throw blanket.

We spent Christmas Eve day at my parents. The kids were loaded up with camping gear. The parents got a ping pong table. Both should provide for many fun experiences in the future -- and fill up all the ample storage space at each of our homes :)

Circa 1990

Circa 2010

That left us to do our first Christmas morning on our own.

Mmmm. Katie seriously downplayed her cooking skills while we were dating.

If it weren't for sports, this would be adorable.

Much better.

Can't forget the holiday ugly sweater party hosted by the Harpers. There was some strong competition, but nobody does ugly like Ryan Moffitt (tallest guy in the middle). Bonus points for suiting up in matching ugly pants, though I think it may have swayed the voting in his favor. Rules breach? If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

December to Remember: Part II

PART II: THE HONEYMOON

When Katie and I got engaged, the first order of business was reserving a date and time at the temple.

The second order of business was reserving our honeymoon cruise. So glad we've had our priorities in the right place from the start.

After spending our second day of marriage in airports and airplanes, Day 3 was aboard the Norwegian Sky in Miami. We were both cruise virgins and had heard nothing about Norwegian for better or worse prior to our trip, and it all turned out to be a very stress-free experience. The price was right, the dates were right, their "freestyle dining" policy was convenient (more on the food later), and the fun and sun of the Bahamas was right in our wheelhouse.

Oooooooooo.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Ehhhhhhhhhhh. (Actually, I was more impressed than depressed with the size and amenities in our room. We knew what we were signing up for with a standard room below the main deck, and it served our purposes just fine. Free room service. Towel animals. Ample closet space. Large porthole. Roomy (enough) bathroom facilities. Comfy bed.)

As you can see from our sunset picture, Miami was plenty sunny but plenty windy, so we felt a little strange eating our chicken and ribs on pool chairs in sweatshirts at the Welcome Party and BBQ. But a good start to the cruise all around.

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Port No. 1: Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

Not much to tell about Freeport. It looked nice enough from the ship. We had no pre-paid excursions for the day and a chilly breeze to deal with, so we opted to take it easy and explore the ship rather than wander from one gift shop to the next in town. We hit the buffet, jogged around the track, sampled one of the restaurants, took in a movie and a comedy show.

A view of Freeport from our room. Wondering what you're looking at? So were we.

Waiting for the comedy show to start at the ship's theater. I've never been to a show at one of the hotel's in Vegas, but this matched what I envision those to be like. We also saw a Broadway tribute show the next night. Again, nothing to compare it against, but not bad for cruise ship entertainment. You could clearly tell they were singing and dancing to numbers from Jersey Boys, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Swing, and Movin' Out (with some slight help from the musicals' billboards posted along the stage wall).

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Port No. 2 : Great Stirrup Cay

You won't find this place on any Google map since this island is property of the cruise line. The weather was vastly improved and just in time for us to hit the beach and take a kayaking tour around the back side of the island. We found out who really wears the swim trunks in our relationship (only kayak in the group featuring a female guide) and how important it is for Katie to navigate the water in a straight line.

My job was to point out sea life in the water - which I did magnificently - while enjoying the scenery. Sadly, there are no pictures that captured the experience. Someone in the back of the kayak was very worried about the camera getting wet and did not want it brought along for the ride.

Can't remember if this blog's new editor approved this picture. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

The sand and water looks particularly appealing right ..... about ..... now.

Easily one of my favorite spots on the ship was the eating area at the back of the boat near the buffet. The wind was partially blocked by the shade cover during the day and pretty well secluded away from our flamboyant cruise director "Richard" and the ship's nightlife activities. And, oh yeah, it was 10 feet from the 24-hour buffet. Katie took about six more trips there than she cared to, but she was a good sport and let me pig out.

Given all the wonderful things we had heard about food on cruise ships, Norwegian did not live up to either of our expectations. The orders were always right in the dining rooms/pre-paid restaurants and nothing was bad, but nothing was a-maz-ing. I think that was part of the reason I liked the buffet so much. The food was just as good as anywhere else on the ship, and you didn't have to wait for it or deal with a waiter.

Port No. 3 : Nassau

Another day at the beach? Yeah, we didn't mind either.

This day's excursion took us to a Blue Lagoon "private island," a short boat ride away from the port. We got a great mini tour of Nassau in the process, including a good view of the Atlantis hotel/waterpark/golf resort. One day, honey. One day.

Though our island didn't boast too many luxuries, it had what we were seeking. Calm water. Soft sand. Peace. Quiet.

"Private" turned out to have about a 60-person occupancy limit, and we had no issues sharing it with the 30 or so people who joined us that day.

Until I saw the doors on this dock house, I had hardly given any thought to the special occasions around the corner. Which leads me to ...