On the Road with Cruiser

I am happy to introduce My 3 Cents' newest contributor, Cruiser. He will from time to time writing a column for this site and providing insights into the team that only he can as he is a former BYU athlete with connections to the team. Don't try to ask me who he really is, I don't even know.

That being said, Enjoy!

On the Road with Cruiser

This spring the football team is engaging in something called “Super Games.” Several team leaders have picked teams, and now those teams compete against each other for prizes and bragging rights. Two weeks ago, the teams raced to the Y on the mountain. Last week they played kickball.

That’s right, the best athletes at BYU found a kickball and started taking positions on a makeshift field. Passions ran high as pitchers started rolling the ball inside and “batters” threatened to charge the mound. Soon, however, complaints centered around a newcomer who had obviously been around the game for some time. Cries of “Unfair” and “Ringer!” rang out from all other teams.

The problem? Ryan Denney, the 6'7" 270 lb. defensive end for the Buffalo Bills, has decided to work out this spring at BYU and was wisely picked by one of the captains. That’s right, the rising NFL star who had 72 tackles and six sacks last year was throwing his weight around against mere D-1 football players. It was a mismatch from the beginning, as he threw runners out from all over the field, hitting them squarely in the head or back as they ran to first or tried to leg out a double. He hit one running back so hard he almost knocked him over. (The running back shall, mercifully, remain nameless). At the plate, Denny kicked a routine fly ball to center that suddenly took off. “Looked like it got picked up by the jet stream,” said the unfortunate center fielder, who shall also remain nameless. By the time the ball came back to earth, the bases were empty and the rout was on.

The team that Denney was single-handedly trouncing tried to recruit a ringer of their own by throwing Dan Coates on the field. But the umpire, Coach Omer, cried foul, because Coats wasn’t officially working out with the team. “He just happened to be hanging around,” said Blue, and that was that for the big tight end headed to Cincinnati. In the end, Denny’s team ran the table, giving his team a decided advantage in the on-going competition.

Now, you may ask, what does kickball have to do with football? How can a game for 6th-graders benefit Bronco Mendenhall’s hard-charging, championship football team?

I have no idea.

But then, who am I? Just some goofy-looking guy passing by. If you want an answer, try to lasso Bronco and ask him yourself. He wasn’t taking my questions that day.