Brendan & Bally’s Excellent Above-the-Red-Line Adventure?

My original plan for last Saturday evening was not to go see Brian Clancy at the Irish Snug, but rather, to take my parents up to Fort Collins to see #9-ranked BYU, and its superstar Jimmer Fredette, play at Colorado State. Those plans fell through because, wanting to wait and see what the weather would be like for the drive north, I waited too long to buy tickets, and CSU had its first sellout since 2003… so I missed the chance to watch Jimmer go off for 42 points against the Rams. D’oh!

I haven’t given up on seeing The Jimmer Show, though. BYU at Air Force on February 9 is an obvious possibility, but that’s the night before FAU at Denver on February 10, and I’m not sure what sort of mega brownie points I’d have to earn to convince Becky to let me have two straight weeknights “off” from bedtime duty — for basketball. She’s already been exceptionally patient with my Pioneer Pulse endeavours, especially given her, y’know, condition. 🙂 So that leaves next Wednesday, February 2, when, during a week with no DU home games, BYU visits Wyoming. But I already have tickets to #4 San Diego State at Colorado State that night, which rules out going to see Jimmer in Laramie…

…or does it?

BYU @ Wyoming tips at 6:00 PM. SDSU @ CSU tips at 7:15 PM. The drive from Laramie to Fort Collins is roughly 75 minutes. So, in theory, DU Bally and I should be able to catch the first half of Jimmer vs. the Cowboys at the Dome of Doom (more than enough to see Jimmer work his magic in what should be a blowout win for BYU), then hit the road for Fort Collins in time to see the second half of the big Aztecs-Rams battle (which promises to be much more competitive).

Hmm. I’m still pondering if I want to do this. Admittedly, it was more attractive when I thought the tip time for SDSU @ CSU was at 8:00 PM, which meant I could probably catch the bulk of that game, not just the second half. Now we’re talking about catching, at most, a grand total of two halves of basketball, and going to a lot of trouble to do so.

But even so, weather permitting, it seems like it’d be a lot of fun, in an off-the-wall sort of way. Indeed, it feels like a classic Mid-Majority sort of thing to do — ROAD TRIP, baby!! — even though it involves above-the-Red-Line teams (albeit, in the case of the home teams, two of the bottom five above-the-Red-Line teams, budget-wise).

Anyway, stay tuned.

P.S. Incidentally, as you may have heard, #4 San Diego State (20-0) is at #9 BYU (19-1) tonight in the OMG BIGGEST MWC GAME EVAR!!! I’m not sure who to root for. If the Cougars win, I could potentially see two Top 10 teams in the course of a few hours next Wednesday. But if the Aztecs win, while BYU would likely fall into the upper teens in the rankings, the CSU-SDSU game would really be a hotly anticipated one, as it would represent CSU’s big chance to knock off not just a Top 10 team, but an undefeated Top 5 team. (CSU, incidentally, is on the bubble, and very much in need of a marquee win. Like beating the undefeated Aztecs, for instance.)