Things I Think I Thought A Lot About: Vol. 4

Today I was a minor celebrity. After a hectic day yesterday of camping out for the (HEARTBREAKING, by the way) basketball game for over 12 hours, I was at it again. Up early to go to the Apple Cup - for those of you that don't know, that is the in-state football rivalry between my Washington State Cougars and the evil Washington Huskies - and painted from waist to forehead as the representative letter "S" in "GO COUGS!"

It's no Red Sox/Yankees or Duke/North Carolina, but the Apple Cup is a pretty damn big deal. Especially up here. Despite a 2-9 record, the Cougars were looking for the upset, and even sweeter, to knock the Huskies out of bowl contention. To paraphrase the disappointing result, Washington pulled it out on the road 35-28. But that's not the point...

Let me remind anyone who's reading that it was averaging around 23 degrees here today, with some icy wind and light snow. And I was shirtless. For almost 5 hours. It's a miracle I'm alive, but my friends and I received more than enough attention! We had multiple pictures taken of us, were on the big screen at least five times, and were on live TV a few times as well. We made friends with the security guards and the crowd management staff, my roommate (the "space" between "GO" and "COUGS") made out with a girl who claimed she "just had to make out with one of the people they saw on the screen," and even got a passing Husky fan to stop flipping off our fans and hold his hands up in respect at the sight of us. Not to mention, I think my hands (wrapped in 2 pairs of gloves, including heavy snowboarding gloves) are bruised from the literally hundreds of high fives I received from the Cougar faithful passing by who were admiring our bravery, dedication, and no doubt our beautifully-sculpted male bodies.

Despite the loss and the awful weather, it was one of the most fun times I've ever had at sporting event. While it killed me to watch Washington celebrate on our field, I had a great time being "one of those guys" that the entire city surely saw during the game. And I have never been more excited to leave the stadium...I still can't feel my nipples...