Heartbreaker

HeArTbReAkEr

We're addicted to you.

We love our Cougars.  Rain, shine, sleet, hail, win, loss, we will cheer our cougars on.  So when our beloved team made it to the sweet sixteen, we counted ourselves extremely fortunate.  Not only were the Cougars making a name for themselves, but we only live an hour from New Orleans, where the next tournament games were being held.  We found some tickets, left Brielle with a sitter, and drove to the game.  One of the things I love about being a Cougar fan is that there are other Cougar fans everywhere.  It seems that when you live outside of Utah, if you meet a fellow member of the Mormon church, then you've also met a fellow Cougar fan.  Our team was well-represented in New Orleans.  It felt great to walk down the streets of the Big Easy and see Cougar t-shirts everywhere.  It felt great to get a big smile, wave, and hello from people wearing those shirts once they saw ours.  Camraderie.  That's what I like.

Fans on the Street

Mark in front of the New Orleans Arena

We started out sneaking near the front row to see the team warm up.

Then we moved to our seats in the nose-bleed section:

When we saw all the empty seats right before the game started, we moved closer:

Much closer.  We were right behind the BYU section in front.  So fun to be with the cheering fans.  And we celebrated as the Cougers fought the fight.  We jumped up and down and hugged our neighbors when they pulled ahead.  We screamed ourselves hoarse as the clock ticked down and they were tied.  We bit our nails in fear as they held the score to a tie.  And we sat in quiet dispair as the overtime game closed with Florida in the lead.  And our hearts were broken once again.  We love our Cougs.  Just wish they wouldn't break our hearts.  So until football season, GOOOOOOO  COUGARS!