How I became a Ute.

Being born a Canning there was no other team I could ever root for. You might say that I was born with Crimson blood coursing through my veins. Both my parents were born and raised in the Salt Lake City area (Dad in South Salt Lake, Mom in Murray), and for as long as I can remember I've been attending football games.

My parents used to buy tickets through their companies, who during the '80s would buy a block of seats at the games and sell them to their employees at a cheaper rate. Throughout the decade we watched as Utah teams got thrown around by teams, just dreaming of the day when the Utes would be big time (little did we know it would take two more decades). At the time my Dad worked for a company, Northwest Pipeline, that occupied a building in Research Park-a part of the U's property. As such we had incredible seats in the South End Zone right below the old scoreboard featuring a block U logo with a Native American's silhouette. These were the years when Rice Stadium was half full on a good day. We later were moved to the old North End Zone when my Mom got the tickets from her company National Semiconductor. This was when the North End Zone was all General Admission, and you had to get their pretty early to get a decent seat.

I've been told I was taken to Utah football games as an infant in a little red snowsuit to stay warm. Years later I would go but lost interest in the games all too quickly and by the second quarter I was either playing with my smuggled in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to keep me busy or reading the game program to learn all of the referee's hand signs. To this day I still know a large majority of the signs.

It wasn't until about third grade that I came to watch the games the whole way through. I remember Mike McCoy with a d-lineman about to tackle him throwing a bullet into the end zone to a freshman Kevin Dyson to win the Freedom Bowl. I remember Steve Smith taunting Cougar fans by stating "Even our cheerleaders are kicking your ass" when a Ute male cheerleader beat the hell out of a fan that tried to tackle him and the U flag. I remember both 34-31 wins, the first of which Chris Yergeson booted a Sakoda-like 50-yard field goal to beat BYU for the first time in years. I remember when duck calls rung throughout the stadium calling for Utah's dramatic "Duck" play. I remember when the game ball was delivered by a parachuter and when a person dressed in traditional Ute Indian garb rode across the astroturf with a flaming spear so he could stab a bail of hay on the 50 yard line.

Years later I myself finally became a true Ute in that I graduated from the University of Utah in 2008, the same year that Utah went undefeated and went to a BCS game for the second time.

My life has been filled with 25 years of Utah football memories. And I look forward to many more in the coming years.

Part of NCAA Football 11 video game's release week festivities about your favorite team.