To outsiders, the University of Wyoming is akin to being in Siberia, and many people have memories of being stranded on I-80 in a whiteout blizzard, spending an unexpected vacation in wintery Laramie. LaVell Edwards, retired BYU football coach, is legendary for making the statement "I'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie." However, the U of Wyo is my alma mater, where I received my bachelor's degree. My wife graduated with an honors degree in education, and my oldest son graduated from UWyo law school. Besides, I taught there nine years, and my wife grew up in Laramie. Two of my kids graduated from Laramie High School.
While at Wyoming, I never missed a football game or a basketball game while I taught there. Most football days were gorgeous Indian summer days when you could look out to the colors and clear skies on the horizon. I never had any sympathy for people who complained about having to come to Laramie to play football or basketball. Visiting teams often arranged to stay in Fort Collins so they didn't have to stay overnight in Laramie.
As a dyed-in-the-wool Cowboy fan, here are five things I loved about being at Wyoming:
- I loved the fact that the altitude of 7,250 feet seemed to intimidate some visiting athletes who may have ended up huffing and puffing.
- I loved the U of Wyo fight song "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" which I have sung at Michigan, Penn State, Colorado State, and BYU. I never bothered to learn the BYU fight song in something like nearly 30 years, although they put the words on the TV screen, something about "rising and shouting", so I would just fill in the words from Ragtime Cowboy Joe (who always sang, raggy music to the cattle as he swang(?)) much to the consternation of those around me.
- I loved the fact that a good blizzard during a football game at 7,250 feet tested the mettle of softies from San Diego, El Paso, or other equally pansified locations with sunshine and balmy breezes.
- I loved the fact that people from all over Wyoming would bring their RVs, camper pickups, or whatever to Laramie, driving through snowdrifts, herds of antelope, and whiteouts, to see their beloved Cowboys.
- I loved hating Utah, BYU, and Colorado State, especially, during my Wyoming years, never dreaming i would spend ten years at CSU and over twenty years at BYU.
I keep a bright yellow and brown U of Wyo alumni sticker on my car in Utah, which irritates some Utah folks. My main complaint about the U of Wyo games is that the Wyoming fans, especially some students, can't behave themselves and spend the time chanting four-letter obscene yells at BYU. Alcohol is controlled much better at War Memorial Stadium than it used to be monitored, so that aspect of it has improved. My kids worked concessions when we were there and had a tough time selling Coke until they started yelling "Mix, Mix" and mix sold much better than Coke. I wish the Wyo students and fans would behave themselves, since we don't really hold any animosity toward them.
I will continue my discussion of the University of Wyoming later. Meanwhile, if you haven't sat through a Wyoming football game wrapped in quilts, clothed in five layers of clothes and ski masks, and trying to see where the down markers and yard lines are, you haven't lived yet. But you may also have missed some glorious autumn days in full fall colors and a luminous skyline. And if you actually lived there, chances are you would become attached to the Laramie plains and the Wyoming Cowboys. And find yourself singing Ragtime Cowboy Joe instead of the assigned hymn in Church.
