How-To

The Sports Fan’s Girl

How to be a (good) Girlfriend on the Third Row

When I went to college the last thing on my mind was sports. I didn’t care about sports. I didn’t enjoy watching sports. I would rather do pretty much anything other than something related to sports. And then I met this guy. It just so happened that said guy was a “front row-er” at our college basketball and football games. Luckily for him we met during the off-season so he had me hooked before I really knew what I was getting into. Since I was a front row-er’s girlfriend I got to sit third row at basketball games and front row at football games. I am sure you can feel my excitement. It didn’t take long before I learned that sports weren’t the only things with rules and regulations. Through the next two years I was yelled at, taunted, mocked and probably assaulted for the mistakes I made as a new fan and now that I am a pro girlfriend on the third row, I want to pass on my knowledge to you.

Wear you school’s color (preferably the one that isn’t white or black)

We begin with a seemingly obvious matter, but one that many college girls get wrong. Ladies, you need to buy a game day shirt. They cost like five bucks at the school bookstore and it will save you from hours of ridicule. Luckily, I am all for new clothes (even if it is a badly fitted cotton shirt) so this wasn’t a problem for me, but trust me, you don’t want to be known as the girl in the picture randomly wearing the bright yellow shirt.

Don’t talk during important parts of the game

Now this one is tricky because “important parts” is a very vague term that varies between fans. For example, I was at a “blue and white game,” the game at the beginning of the season where teammates face each other and play, giving fans a little taste of what is to come. So lets be clear, there are no winners or losers and this game doesn’t count against any statistic. In all honesty this game is a glorified practice. That being said, I about had my head ripped off and thrown across the isle for speaking during a free throw shot. I have never had so many large boys (not quite men) turn around and scream into my face. Now usually when the team is playing an ACTUAL game this is an important time to be quiet. Silly me for thinking a team practice was the exception to this rule…because it isn’t.

Waiting 3+ hours before a game outside the stadium is a sign of dedication and pride, not a waste of time.

This rule is debatable to anyone with an outside perspective. Not being a waste of time kind of contradicts itself since most of these fans take much longer than 4 years to graduate (because they were spending ALL DAY sitting in a small room doing nothing. Not proven fact, just a girl’s opinion). Lets be clear. You are not to mock these boys. You are to bring your significant other drinks and food and grab his butt in front of his friends. Nothing more. This is a spiritual ritual for them. Just leave it alone.

If an away game is within a day’s drive, expect to attend…even if it’s your birthday…or you’re dying.

Exaggeration? I’m afraid not. On my birthday a few years ago I was hospitalized the early morning of an away game. It was nothing too serious so they let me leave in the afternoon, taking with me a bottle of painkillers. I wasn’t immobile, but I definitely wasn’t about to run up a flight of stairs. My sweet boyfriend came to see me. He was first concerned about my health, of course, but then very concerned about what this meant for him and the basketball game. Being the naïve and stupid girlfriend that I was - and not wanting to be alone on my birthday- I told him I would still go to the game (thus not making him have the decision to go to the game or stay home with me –we all know what he would have chosen). Needless to say I sat in my chair miserable for a few hours and by the end of the night I had taken so many painkillers (the first few didn’t seem to be working) that I had to be carried to the car- no doubt whispering sweet nothings into my poor man’s ears.

Pretend to be sad when the team wins, even if you don’t care.

If your man is as big of a fan as mine, then their team means more to them than at least I will ever understand. These boys worship the players and the game so when it leads to a disappointing end, our men are heartbroken. They will sulk and be grouchy and probably eat their sorrows away. Don’t try to console them or say it will be okay - just let them cry it out. I found that leaving him to his own devices for a few hours after a loss was beneficial for our relationship.

I hope these rules help you avoid some of the mistakes I made as a naïve, yet well-intended, girlfriend. Just remember, eventually your man will grow up, get a real job, and won’t be able to spend all those worthless hours waiting outside the stadium. It gets better –I promise.

Some Things I learned

As I mentioned before, my semester is pretty much over, and here are a few things i learned:

When making a video the first 3 scenes should go like this-
1. establishing shot
2. close up
3. medium shot

African music isn't just a bunch of noise, but you can't tell until you have learned each part of the song individually.

White balancing a camera is harder than it seems, and yes, you can tell if it was done wrong.

When writing for a magazine you use says instead of said and your opinion is allowed.

Final Cut Pro/Express requires a lot of rendering. Said rendering should be done a little at a time instead of the whole thing all at once.

Different music cultures have different modes. For example, in India it's the Ragga and in the Middle East it's the Maqam.

Just because the guy works in the tech room, doesn't mean he knows anything about the equipment.

When writing a How-To story never use How-To in the title.

A tripod is your friend, the zoom isn't.

When in doubt, say the song is poly-rhythmic. 

I have to catch the 8:11 a.m. TRAX or I'll be late. Any earlier and you get weird kids and any later I'm not on time for class.


If I move out of Utah I'll make at least double what I would make in Utah.

Second Liners are the people in the streets that dance and follow the funeral party after the burial (Jazz funerals)

I learned more than this, but my brain is a little fried so this is all the review you get

Cheetah, Rhino and bumper stickers

sometimes I go to bed at 9 on Saturday nights because I'm really really tired. this early bedtime usually means I also wake up at 7 on Sunday mornings. I am a kind wife so I leave Bart alone and head to my blog when this happens.

at the moment I can hear our pet bird Cheetah chirping outside our window. This bird sounds like it is in our dryer vent moving around and singing his life away but after some investigation we decided that wasn't what was happening-but we can still hear him loud and clear. This isn't our first make believe pet either. At our first apartment we had a really old fridge...really old. And sometimes that fridge would make chirping noises. sometimes at dinner, in the middle of the day, or when we were trying to sleep at night. to try to make light of the situation we called him Rhino and whenever we heard him we reminded the other that he just must be hungry. Cheetah isn't as annoying as Rhino was, but every once in a while we will be eating dinner and Cheetah comes to visit through the dryer vent.

if you didn't know, Bart started a blog, and it's pretty entertaining, you should check it out.

Bart and I are 29 days away from being married for one year. crazy! It feels like we just got married, and it feels like we have been together for years (which technically we have) once we got married though all of our memories from when we were dating kind of just squished in with our being married memories. don't worry, you'll get a cute blog post on our anniversary-mark your calendar. :)

hello ladies, this next part is for you:
don't have a man as a work out buddy. this said man will trump you in all of your goals, despite your greatest efforts. you won't really be mad at this man seeing as how he is toning up and lookin pretty sexy. but you will be jealous at his results because YOU work out at least twice as much and twice as hard and yet your waist line shrinks just a little, and his vanishes within a month. that being said, having an activity both of you like to do, and do together, is pretty great. like my brother said, "I think you are the only one that complains that her husband is losing weight." I'm not complaining...well maybe a little. so, moral of this story? I need a chick work out buddy to help me feel okay about my results that are slowly but surly coming.

So Sunday morning of conference Elder Uchtdorf spoke and his talk has been the one that has already impacted my life.

"This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:

Stop it!"

As I have grown up, I have stopped doing a lot of those things. For example, I don't really gossip anymore. In high school I did (just like everyone else) but eventually I stopped and when I stopped I realized something. if you aren't talking bad about others, you don't assume people are talking bad about you. Even if people are gossiping about you, it isn't on your mind because you aren't gossiping. There is something very peaceful about never thinking/caring what people are saying about you. It just isn't on your mind. 

No, gossiping isn't my problem, but letting other people's actions bother me, is. I realized I just need to worry about myself. I need to stop caring about what other people are doing and not let it bother me. I'm not their mother, boss or life coach, and if I just worry about myself I will be much happier. 

“Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”

I absolutely LOVE this- even if he did quote it from a bumper sticker. I think this quote is meant for members of the church. By judging others who aren't members by not letting your kids play with their kids, or not including them in neighborhood barbecues you are judging them for sinning differently than you. I think sometimes we as members think we are above a certain line which gives us permission to judge everyone who is under it. we aren't. 

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone. -John 8:7

Cake and Summer

So I went on this vacation right? 

skipped a week of school? 

I came home kind of stressing knowing all of the stuff I have to get done before the semester is over. Well I should get stressed more often because in 2 days I whipped out all of the papers I had to write (7 in total) and finished all my projects I could (except my group project).

Point of this story? These next 2.5 weeks are going to be CAKE.

I also bought a new swimming suit that I am super stoked for so the sunshine needs to come out.

Spring Break with the Bowens

ahh. home sweet home. Our vacation was great, but I don't think anyone would argue the beauty of one's own bed.

 Our vacation consisted of windy roads, rolling hills and lots of green. it was beautiful in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada's and I think I would be okay living in some of the places we passed. (But only if the population is more than 32)The whole first day driving around I was obsessed with the scenery, but I did eventually get sick of the windy roads. We went for a run the first morning we were there (that's right, we exercised on this vacation) and I could have gone for miles just enjoying the view. I did get lost though and freaked Bart out a little bit so we didn't go running again for his peace of mind. 

We first stopped at a cute little gold mining town going through all the old shops and buildings. It was a beautiful day and some awesome color everywhere.

We also stopped at Mercer's Cavern and Moaning Cavern, getting to see some pretty great stuff underground. Since there was no natural lighting down there our depth perception was WAY off so this place was much bigger than what we were seeing. Our pictures didn't do these places justice, but we still had to attempt to document them.

After Angel's Camp, we headed to San Fransisco for the next 1.5 days. The city was awesome, but I was happy to leave. I don't love cities. I can only handle so much traffic and people and confusing street signs with no numbers :)

We decided to rent bikes and ride to the Golden Gate Bridge and it was the perfect way to see the bridge and the piers. The last few miles heading back were pretty miserable. We were going off of a bowl of cereal from 6 hours before and had already gone 11 miles on bikes (and we don't ride bikes usually) so I was kind of grumpy until we got some food, then we were okay.

The next morning before we headed out, we went up to the Muir Woods to see some Redwoods. We have been to the Redwood Forest on the Oregon/California border, so we weren't totally fascinated with the park, but it was still a lot of fun. Bart went crazy with the camera and we walked out of there with 200 new photos.

After the park we drove to Oakland and went to the temple. It was a beautiful temple overlooking the city.