BYU Board salute to dads drawn together through sports with a Donation
Father’s Day doesn’t get the same marketing push as Mother’s Day, but let’s be honest, Dads are just as important. Without dads, we wouldn’t have moms and without both, there wouldn’t be us.
Perhaps more than anyone else, the influence of a father shapes the music we listen to, the cars we drive, the food we eat and the teams we cheer for. The McCanns’ lifelong BYU loyalties were shaped by our dad — and so were our feelings about the team up north.
As a result, I have compassion for Utah fans, including those who live in the comments below, because a lot of the inner fervor they radiate just isn’t their fault. I blame their father — and I hope he also passed down his sense of humor
There are always exceptions. In the case of my kids, despite their blue and white upbringing, Courtney, Paige, Madison, Andrew and Lauren all chose to attend and cheer for Utah State. The family joke is that “BYU money” paid for their Aggie educations (mostly true). In the spirit of my dad’s sense of humor — at least they kept the color.
Everything starts somewhere, and when it comes to sports, so much of who we are goes right back to dad. While our mom’s side of the family (from Indiana) introduced us to the Cubs, everything else is linked to dad, mostly because of the people he became attached to at BYU through his job as executive director of the Cougar Club.
Dad knew LaVell Edwards, so we were linked to LaVell. Dad knew Danny Ainge, so we cheered for the Celtics. Dad knew Steve Young, so we pulled for the Buccaneers (even in their creamsicle uniforms) and then the 49ers.
Dad didn’t yell for the Utes, so neither did we.
Working a career in sports, with much of it covering the Cougars for the Deseret News, BYUtv and Y’s Guys, I have been surrounded by hard-working dads who deserve a Father’s Day shoutout. Here are a few of the many that I am grateful for.
On-air Dads: Blaine Fowler, David Nixon, Austin Collie, Harvey Langi, Brian Logan, Spencer Linton, Jarom Jordan, Jason Shepard, Greg Wrubell, Hans Olsen, Mark Durrant, Gary Sheide, Michael Smith, Scott Higgins, Chris Maathuis, Mike Headrick, Kevin Eubank and Charles Gibson (“Good Morning America”).
Behind-the-scenes Dads: Jeff Simpson, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, Elder Michael A. Dunn, Derek Marquis, Mikel Minor, Russ Merrill, David Phillips, Ben Bagley, Hema Heimuli, Harrisson Collier, Colton Potter (brand new dad), Tom Holmoe, Brian Santiago, David Almodova, Mark Wallington, Duff Tittle, Brett Pyne, Kenny Cox and Tyson Jex.
Deseret News Dads: Doug Wilks, Burke Olsen, Kent Condon, Dick Harmon and Jay Drew.
Y’s Guy’s Dads: Blaine, Jack Hadley, Steve Myers (Cougarboard), Travis Brady (BradyPlus), Travis Hansen (Eddy), Jared Price (Eddy), and Nathan Anderson (Mountain American Credit Union).
