Cougar Kickoff 2012

In one of my first posts on this blog, I mentioned attending the Cougar Kickoff last year and being sorely disappointed. I had to wait for a friend of mine to get off work to go with me, so we arrived about 20 minutes late. By that time, the line to meet Jake Heaps extended all the way across the practice field next to the IPF. We got in it immediately, even though the other lines were obviously shorter, because he is who we wanted to meet the most.

So we waited and waited and waited . . . for 2 freaking hours, without moving hardly at all. When we were about 5 people from the front of the line, they cut us off, and Jake left. We were then promptly kicked out of the event. I was so angry! I waited all that time and got nothing out of it. I guess in this regard, it's kind of a good thing that Jake turned out to be a whiner . . . it makes me a little less sad that I never got to meet him. But needless to say, I still had a bad taste in my mouth just because of how poorly the event was handled.

But this year was soooo much better! The lines were better managed, moved faster, and I actually got through to meet all the football players (or at least the ones who were sitting at the tables signing autographs). My favorite encounters were Cody Hoffman, Kyle Van Noy, Ross Apo, and, of course, Riley Nelson himself! Riley was especially cool, definitely living up to all the hype about him being so nice and genuine. He was giving high-fives to all the little kids and I heard him strike up a conversation with a cute little shy kid who was wearing a Transformers shirt. "I love your shirt! Do you like Transformers? They're so cool!" How adorable.

Here are the pics of me and my "BYU BFF" Melanie meeting a few of our heroes. What a great night! Can't wait for the real kickoff next week. Go Cougars!

Ross Apo, Kyle Van Noy, & Cody Hoffman

RILEY! Life = Complete :)