"Oh SOOOO Close!"

It started out as a great day and to be truthful it also ended great. We left for the blue turf Bronco stadium around 11 am (local time). We shared a cab with a mother and sister of one of the BGSU players. We had the opportunity to eat and mingle with other BGSU parents and fans at the BGSU Alumni tent. It was great to listen to the BGSU marching band and to talk to other parents.

Of course I have my own pregame routine. I have to be in stands, before the players come out onto the field for pregame warm up and drills. I concentrate on how Tyler is warming up and can usually tell how well the beginning of the game will go for him just by watching him. Of course both BGSU and Idaho were fired up to play the game.

To say the game was exciting is truly an understatement. I am willing to wager that the Humanitarian Bowl will go down as the most exciting game of the bowls for 2009. It was great to see Tyler play and I thought (bias as his father aside) he did very well. He did comment after the game that the only two holding penalties he has been called for all year occurred on national television. I did get some text messages from those of you who were watching the game to tell me ESPN commented on that great block Tyler had that lead to a touchdown.

I also tell my high school players that the game is never over until the time runs out. That statement was further exemplified by the final 32 seconds of the game today. Although I thought BGSU had won the game when Freddie Barnes caught his last touchdown pass of his college career, I also was worried BGSU left too much time on the clock for Idaho...my fear proved to be right. Who would of thought that the game would end with just a one point victory for Idaho 43-42.

It is obvious that Tyler is more resealant to the loss than I am . We got to talk to him after the game and even though he said it was disappointing he was already thinking about next year. He realizes he is the only senior on the line next year and will have to step up as the leader on the line. So as he was probably sleeping on the plane back to BG (they flew back right after the game)...his father is left with the last 32 seconds of the game going through his head...over and over and over and over.

It has been a wonderful experience and once again I and Kari are so thankful to those of the church family who made this happen. I wish I could share the feeling of seeing your child play in a bowl game on national television. As I stated before it is and will be a life long memory.

"That Darn Salt Lake City, Utah!"

The day started out very early, with Kari and I getting up at 4 am to try and get out the door by 4:30 am. We did not quite make it out by 4:30 am, but we were able to get to the Cinci airport in plenty of time to go through the heightened airport security.

There were other Bowling Green State University football players' parents on our flight. Of course I had the middle seat and wouldn't you know it I had to sit next to a very large man. He told me he was a big Ohio State fan and was on the plane to fly to California for the Rose Bowl game.

The flight from Cinci to Salt Lake City was a good one and everything went very well. Unfortunately Kari had to sit about 10 rows in front of me since it was the only two seats left on the plane when I booked the flight. But Salt Lake City got a little crazy. We started to back out from the terminal when the pilot came on and announced that there had been a electrical spike in the electrical system of the plane and he thought it blew some circuit breakers. So the maintenance people came on board and went to work. Well to make this story a little shorter...two hours later we were on our way to Boise.

The hotel we are staying in is the same hotel BGSU team is at. It is very nice and when we arrived we were able to spend time with Tyler. Of course he had a list of things to do the night before the game so we did not have a lot of time, but enough to get us excited about the game.

Well tomorrow is the big game...the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl with BGSU vs Idaho. According to the news outlets it should be a high scoring game since neither team "has a good defense." I am not concerned about how well Tyler will play...I know he will give 110 percent, I just don't want it to be a blowout for either team.

I want to thank my Speed Memorial Church family for making this trip and experience possible...it will be a life long memory.