Warning: Proud Father Alert

April 17th was a day Eric, Timo, and myself had marked in our mental calendars for a couple months. This is the day of the annual Blue-Orange Spring game at Boise State. Prior to the scrimmage starting there were a lot of activities for the kids to do. The boys were able to participate in a football style obstacle course, get their pictures taken with the 2010 Fiesta Bowl trophy, play around in one of those inflatable playhouse thingies, and some other activities.

Quick Side Note: I badly and I mean BADLY want to go play inside one of those inflatable playhouses. I would just jump in there but there has to be some sort of weight limit. I don't need a bunch of pointing and laughing in my direction, especially from 9 year olds.

After a short time, the famed blue turf field was opened up to any kids 12 and under and they were able to participate in drills that the actual players do during practices. Parents weren't allowed on the actual field (so we wouldn't get in the way)but we were able to stand on the sidelines to watch. The best part was most of the players were involved with the drills. Eric and Timo went from drill to drill introducing themselves to certain players. Some of the players were Austin Pettis, Titus Young, Kyle Efaw, Kellen Moore, Brandyn Thompson, Jeron Johnson, Winston Venable, Kyle Brotzman, and several others. Eric doesn't have a shy bone in his body so he has no problem walking up to players and striking up conversations. Timo gladly followed Eric around with just as much enthusiasm.

Eric had a moment he'll never forget when he was mingling with Fiesta Bowl MVP Brandyn Thompson. I'm going to preface this short story by telling you I didn't actually see this happen so this is all according to Eric.
Anyway, when at Brandyn Thompson's station, Eric thew him a pass. Thompson caught the pass and stood there for a moment staring at Eric. Thompson then got the attention of some coaches who were nearby and said "you have to watch this kid throw." Eric gladly obliged and threw the ball a few more times for them. As far as I know, afterward the coaches told him good job and the boys moved on to their next drill. The humble part of me needs to remind you this is Eric's story so it's quite possible he wasn't throwing for actual "coaches." But as you know, it doesn't really matter because Eric impressed one of his favorite football players with some of his own football skills.
Eric was beaming after this happened. It was awesome. It's sort of funny because he's been working on technique throwing the ball lately. When holding the ball he knows, keep the ball high, keep your elbows low, step into the throw, thrust with your shoulders and hips, and follow through. After learning these fundamentals, his first big payoff was impressing one of his idols. Not bad.

Quick Side Note #2: Earlier that morning we were able to sign Eric up to play football this fall. As an 8 year old he's required to play flag football this year. Next year he'll move on to tackle. This will be Eric's first year and he is super excited. I know, because he reminds me every 10 minutes.


All right, onto the visual part of the blog. As always I was camera ready for this event.


This is the smoke-filled helmet the players run through before every home game. When we walked through the helmet Eric MADE Timo and I simulate the players' entrance into Bronco Stadium.


Eric being very focused running through the obstacle course.


Eric isn't the only kid in the family with throwing skills. Check out Timo's form as he readies to heave this ball. I'm going to pretend that the guy behind him is some sort of scout.


Eric and Timo proudly posing with the Fiesta Bowl trophy.


I just thought this picture was funny because of the way Eric is looking at Austin Pettis. I can't say I blame him. According to cbs.com, Pettis is ranked as the #2 receiver in the country going into this fall season.


Eric and Timo waiting to get an autograph from Kicker/Punter Kyle Brotzman. If you watched the Fiesta Bowl you probably remember the "riddler" play when Brotzman faked the punt and threw the ball to Kyle Efaw for a 27 yard gain. That play gave the Broncos momentum that led to a game winning touchdown.



And of course, the boys just had to get their picture taken with Buster Bronco.

Quick Side Note #3: As you can see, I'm standing on the blue turf to take this picture. I just wanted to point out this my first time on the famous blue turf....legally. And I've been on it at least half a dozen other times. There's been a couple incidences where I went to the stadium, found an open gate and wandered on in only to have someone close the gate after I took the field. So yeah, I've had to hop the gate a couple times to get back out. One time my friends Justin and Nate were with me. Good times.


Now here's a couple short videos. In the first video we see Timo running the obstacle course with an over sized Bronco football helmet on his head. Be sure to listen for Timo's grunt as he tackles the dummy. After watching the video a couple times I've come up with the theory that Timo pretended to have trouble handling the ball just so that girl would come up and help him.



Here's Eric and Timo on the field doing a tackling dummy drill. Those lucky little boys.


Afterwards, we finally watched the game. An estimated 12,000 people showed up to see the Broncos. It was an awesome day.