Maybe This Guy Should Cool It.

I was just made aware of a blog post on a another blog entitled "Cougar Crazies." Yep, buckle your seat-belts, we're going to be seeing what is probably the most inconsolable and desperately sad zoobie I've ever heard of.

After Saturday's loss to Utah, I imagine many of you are still cognitively curled up in the fetal position wondering how to go on. I COMPLETELY understand. Boy do I ever. I eat, drink, and breathe BYU football.

I was a full-bore fan in 2001. Gosh was it fun to watch the wins pile up. I read everything online, went to every home game, and of course joined everyone else in the stands in chanting "BCS!" after BYU beat Utah. Unfortunately, two weeks later, I watched the Cougars get romped by Hawaii. Everything that was accomplished that season was flushed down the toilet. I vividly remember storming out of my college apartment and swearing to never give a crap about BYU football again.

Of course my sworn statement didn't last long. I followed the Cougs in the years to follow, feeling like a million bucks when they won and feeling like a piece of garbage in hell when they lost.

I think back to the Boise State loss of '04, when Payne's field goal was off. I was watching the game with my girlfriend and we were supposed to go out to dinner after the game, but after the loss I told her I didn't feel like it and I went home and sulked. We broke up about a week later.

I think back to the Utah loss of '05. After Beck's pass fell to the ground I said every (yes, I mean EVERY) word in the book and stomped my "Y" megaphone into pieces.

I think back to the Arizona loss of '06. It was the first game I watched as a married man. It was also the first night I slept on the couch. Yes, I was that upset.

Most recently, I think back to the TCU loss of '08. It was the biggest and last nail in the coffin of all the BYU losses I've suffered. It absolutely destroyed me. After it, I went a full week without watching a single college football game, reading a single college football article, looking up a single score, or listening to a second of sports radio.

I went into a deep, dark cave. I would wake up every morning with a nauseous feeling in my gut. Forgive me for the comparison, but it was like the feeling you have after you lose a loved one. I'd be going about my day well enough, then suddenly I'd have this horrible sensation that would crawl through my viens and deep into my heart. The though that the loss really happened and that the season was all over was almost too much to bear.

I know my description may seem like a complete exaggeration, but it isn't. That TCU loss was too much. After that week of hell, I had a heart-to-heart with myself. I knew I couldn't go on with my life knowing that every year BYU would lose at least one game and I'd then spend seven absolutely miserable days suffering for that loss.

I needed to figure out how to enjoy college football regardless of how the team I associated with fared. When BYU lost I hated college football. I also needed to figure out how to be a functional human being when the team I associated with lost. When BYU lost I was an emotional wreck.

I didn't come to a particular conclusion, but I knew I needed to realign my fanship. Then came the recent loss to Utah. I was rather upset after the game, and I wondered how the following days would go. I spent some time that evening wondering how I could carry on until the pain went away. At that point I thought about Bronco's comments after the loss to TCU. I thought of how he committed to enjoy wins more. If he and his team beat the crappiest D-II school 50-0, he was going to celebrate like a mad man with his players in the locker room.

Why? Because a school that recruits kids that have to meet rigid honor code and academic standards and puts proper representation of a school and church above winning games should be loving every win it can get. That's right. The majority of BYU's athletes would be lucky to start for a Junior College. On paper, they have no business competing with the best of the FBS--let alone hanging in the top 25 rankings.

Late Saturday night, after the Utah loss I vowed never to look over the significance of a win--regardless of who we'd play. I woke up on Sunday morning feeling just fine. Suddenly the ten wins of the season seemed so sensational that they more than overshadowed the two losses. I realized that when you take wins for granted, and don't enjoy one game at a time, a large streak of wins becomes meaningless after a loss. The wins appear more like stepping stones leading up to a devastating loss, rather than great victories in and of themselves.

So that addresses my new-found joy in wins. What about losses? Personally, I'd rather lose with the Bronco Mendenall and his band of brothers than win with Kyle Whittingham and his group of players.

That's right, Ute fans (as well as anyone else who has or will beat BYU). You may have put more points on the scoreboard, but that doesn't mean you beat us. We Cougars have some things you'll never win: tradition, spirit, honor.

Wow, that is really some crazy there. From stomping his "Y" megaphone, to allowing a game (Yes, it's just a game) to affect his romances. This man has showed that he cannot control his emotions and shouldn't be allowed to roam in public. I usually imagine guys like this like to dress as Cosmo for Halloween, wearing his little furry suit.