Following in the footsteps.

I taught this kid everything he knows.

He's legit.  Hands down.

Thanks a Heap, Jake Hypes

Dear Jake Heaps,

I know you have gotten a lot of crap the past couple of days for transferring, so I figured one more blog post wouldn't hurt.  I am just curious as to what you were thinking when you decided it would be a good idea to abandon your team right before the bowl game.  It is one thing if you realized BYU was not the right fit for you, but to quit on your teammates during the season says a lot.

First, it tells me you don't care about your teammates at all.  Yeah, you know, those guys who have busted their tails to try to make you look like a semi-decent quarterback.  Of course you were struggling all year to get the offense going...your teammates can't even respect you because of the little drama queen you are.

Next, it shows that you are a straight up quitter.  Look at ANY all-star quarterback and you will see that they had to work for their spots, they weren't just handed the starting position because they were a top recruit out of high school.  Cam Newton who won the Heisman last year played at a JUNIOR COLLEGE for two years before heading back to Division I ball.  Steven Young sat and watched Joe Montana win time and time again with the Niners.  Tom Brady sat behind Bledsoe and Aaron Rogers sat behind Favre.  And now look at them.  Newton won the NCAA Championship last season, Young won the Super Bowl 3 times, Brady also won it 3 times and was named Super Bowl MVP two of those times, and Rogers won it last year and is on his way to do the same this season.  You had the prime opportunity to grow and develop as a quarterback at BYU, but you just couldn't stand the heat which is rather ironic.  Riley Nelson, the very man who replaced you, refused to give up after having been the backup for basically his entire BYU career.  He still put himself out there, worked hard, and took what you virtually threw away.

Lastly it shows that you won't be able to make it in the NFL, which I am assuming was your ultimate goal.  If you can't handle what BYU has thrown out you, there ain't no way you can take what the league's top defensive players would have in store for you.

I most certainly do not want you to go to another school and fail, but looking at your history it looks like that is what you are going to do because when things get a little tough, you will quit and blame everyone else for your problems.

Good luck playing somewhere else that isn't famous for producing quality quarterbacks.

Sincerely,

A true BYU Cougar

I'd timp that...

Yeah that's right, we hiked Mt. Timpanogos...again.  It was a pretty epic day, not gonna lie.  First this little missy opened her mission call...

...she is off to Brazil.  I'm going to "hecka" miss her, but she is going to be the best Sister missionary ever.  Anyways, we packed up our bags and headed up to the mountain.  The weather was PERFECT, but we started at 3 in the afternoon so we knew we would be hiking in the dark.

This was our little group at the start of the trail.  Literally five steps into it we made a wrong turn and unfortunately it would not be our last.  Our first stop was at this beautiful waterfall...

We hiked around it for a little while because it is probably the coolest things (besides the peak) on the whole hike.

You get to pass the falls twice on the way up, so here we are standing at the top of the falls...

We did work after this stop.  We knew we had a loooong way to go so we didn't stop much for pictures after this point.  We made it up to the lake when it started to cool off and the sun started to set.  We lost half the group to fatigue, but Porter, Mel, R-beck, and I kept going.

We had to straight up walk across a glacier to get to the trail to take us to the peak.  It was nuts.  First R-beck would slip, then Mel would pretty much fall clear off of the mountain, and then I would get my leg stuck in rocks.  That part was all kinda miserable and you had to go slower than a snail to get across it.  However, when we got over the saddle it made it all worth it.

You can tell it was getting pretty dark at this point, but I did not hike for 5 hours to not finish the last leg and make it to the top.  I thought it was only going to take 20 minutes or so from this point...it took an hour.  BUT...

WE MADE IT!!!!

It was a pretty solid accomplishment...you can tell by the look on R-beck's face just how amazing the whole experience was.  Well we made it 7 miles to get to the top and we had to turn around and hike the 7 miles back down.  That is when we got lost and injuries ensued, but we made it out alive.  Barely.  We got off the mountain at 1 a.m.  Yeah, do the math.  That is like a billion hours of hiking (or 10, but pretty much a billion). It was awesome and super pretty, but I think I'm done hiking it...until next fall.

As cool as Timp was, it is not the best thing that has happened this fall.  Football is.  I seriously love me some football.  Not like most BYU girls do though...you know the ones who just go to take pictures to put on FB so people think they are having legit college experiences.  I love the game...watching it, talking about it, predicting what's going to happen...all of it.  My inspiration is this guy....

He had me hooked when I was about that ^^^ age.  I sorta kinda used to brag in elementary school that my dad was this stud football player who knew EVERYTHING about the game.  We talk on the phone every Friday afternoon and predict the scores of all the big games and talk about what players we think will do well.  It is the best...you would think that the two of us combined knew more about the game than Bronco and Doman.  It's probably because we do.  If we were coaching the Cougs, we would have a 6-0 record instead of a 4-2 record.  We love us some BYU football and one of my favorite vacays was when we came to Provo as a whole family my senior in high school to watch BYU dominate.  It was good times...

Haha Rylee and Kirk were so presh.  The only thing I dislike about being in Provo during football season is that I am missing this kid's season.

He's a pretty big deal.  He scores touchdowns...a lot.  It is weird to think that my "baby brother" is an animal on the football field.  It was just yesterday he was our cute little grizzly.

 Now he is a little all-star...and all grown up.

Such a stud.  I love it.  And I love him.

He is prolly the cutest grizzly ever.  Here is K-dawg in action....

Gotta refuel.

Such a beast.  I wish I could watch him play.  I'm pretty sure next season I'm going to have to introduce Porter to GB football and take him out to one of the games.  They are the best.  Any GBHS alum will agree.

I'm also missing this one tear it up on the soccer field.  I guess she is doing this little cross country thing and the word on the street is she is alright.  She like runs super fast and stuff.  She's "totes" amazing.

Well that is what's going on with the McKeon's.  My mom comes up this weekend to help me find a wedding dress...that should be interesting considering I HATE shopping with a passion (unless it is for running shoes), but I love kickin' it with my momma so I'm pumped regardless of the circumstances.  I'm so thankful for her and all the work that she is doing for me...she is the best mom in the history of motherhood.  That is all for now.  Oh and remember to cheer on them Cougs and Niners!   --Car--

The Grumpy Old Man on the Metro

I have decided that living in the city is not for me.  There are people EVERYWHERE.  Cars are EVERYWHERE.  Tall buildings are EVERYWHERE.  It just isn’t really my scene.  As exciting and adventurous as it is to be out here in D.C., it will be nice to go back to my family and Porter in quiet, little Granite Bay.  

The other thing I don’t particularly care for in the city is the metro.  Actually the metro never bothered me…until today.

I was sitting by a man who was reading the newspaper.  Abby Wambach’s disappointed face was on the cover.  He noticed I was trying to slyly read the article over his shoulder when he said to me, “Sports are just a waste of time and money.  Has anything good ever come from them?  They just get you excited over a game and then it disappoints you.  Kids should worry more about school and less about games.”  Obviously he did not know that I was one of those kids, in love with soccer, who looked up to people like Wambach.

I’m a pretty chill person until you bash on people I love or things I care about.  Sports definitely fall in the category of things I care about.  There is no reason for me to write down exactly what I said…so let’s just say I shared my strong opinion with him in an even stronger manner.  

Has anything good ever come from sports?  Are you kidding me?  Only some of the greatest moments in history!  He obviously never saw Jordan drop 63, Derek Jeter get to 3,000 hits, or watch the USA hockey team win the gold in 1980.  Ignoring all that, sports teach you something you can’t learn in a classroom.  Sports teach you how to be a leader, how to work as a team, how to set goals, how to practice hard, and help define your character.  At least they did that for me.  I have met some of the most amazing people and learned some of the most important lessons in life because of sports.  

I looked at the newspaper again, back at Abby’s face, and I had seen that face a time or two before.  It was my face after losing one of the biggest games of my life in high school.  However, with those heart-breaking moments come some of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences you can imagine.  In sports I experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. 

 I met some of my best friends who now I honestly think of as family.  Even though I no longer compete competitively in sports, I continue to learn from them.

Take this little one for example.

She is a stud soccer player.  I remember taking her out and passing with her on our patch of grass/weeds in Arizona and now she is a little all-star.  In fact, she was good enough to try out for a Comp team up in Northern California.  Not only did she get to try out, but she also made it.  To give you a perspective of how competitive it is, the team has its own college coordinator who is in charge of making highlight tapes and getting the girls scouted.  Rylee was so beyond excited when she made it.  Actually I think I got a phone call 2.4 seconds after she found out she was in.  

Then my parents went to the first team meeting.  They learned that they would have soccer tournaments, show cases, and practices every Sunday.  Rylee would only be able to go to church once a month if she was lucky and would probably never make it to mutual.  My parents left the decision up to her.  Now this girl loves soccer.  She had to decide between doing something she loves or being a part of something she believes in.  She decided to turn the offer down so she would be able to go to church.  Soccer helped teach Rylee the importance of living up to her standards.  No math class or chemistry test could have taught her that.

No grumpy old man on the metro, good things don’t come from sports.  Great things do.  They teach you what really matters in life.  Last time I checked, it was bouncing a ball on the hardwood that helped me become the type of person I wanted to become, not reading a social studies book.