My dad is just an awesome man, in the true definition of the word, in that he leaves me in awe sometimes. I cannot speak highly enough of my love, admiration, and pure pride that I feel for that man. I could name a thousand things that as my father and my mentor, that he has given me, but the greatest gift of all, has been the gift of football.

From the time I was little, I knew we were Sun Devils. I knew I would go to ASU, and I knew what my future looked like. Now, at 31, I can say that my love for this institution is beyond average, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look forward to football season more than I look forward to Christmas. I spend an absurd amount of money on ASU apparel, to the point that I have an entire section in my closet totally dedicated to my team. My babies have more ASU clothes and toys than anything else in the house. Lucah was 4 weeks old at her first home game. I flew with 3 children from Denver to see games. I have missed weddings. I have missed work. I have not missed my team. Fork em.

What’s so funny about being a Sun Devil isn’t the ability to watch my team win game after game, as any true fan will know, we are still rebuilding ourselves back to the Plummer/Tillman/Poole era of greatness that we know we can be again. What’s so amazing is the feeling of being surrounded by thousands of people who love the same thing you do, week after week. When I lived in Colorado, I was thousands of miles from home, and there were times I would throw on my Devil hoodie and hit the pavement for a run, and more than once, a car honked and a “Fork Em” was held up for me to see. True. Undying. Devotion. That’s what makes a Sun Devil a Sun Devil.

Anyone can be a Broncos fan, or a Cards fan, or a Packers fan.. All they have to do is climb up on that lame-ass bandwagon and wait till the season ends to tuck and roll as they barrel off. A Sun Devil is a name that is earned. We don’t do fair weather fans. Fuck you. We have 2 options; you are a Sun Devil, or you are not a Sun Devil. And we take this shit seriously. We don’t just go to games, we experience them. We plan all week for the tailgates, who will bring what, who needs an extra ticket, who needs a ride, who will ride home with who, who has a parking pass, who has the beer. There is planning involved. One does not simply “go to an ASU” game.

The ASU tailgates will no doubt be on the highlight reel of my funeral. When I look back on my life, my biggest moments are defined by times at those games, at that stadium, with those people. There was when I was a little girl with my mom and my dad, and although those memories are faded, I still remember eating candy, drinking Sprite, and struggling to get the powder-y soap to foam on my little hands in the bathroom. There was the season after my folks split up when Dad took us to the games by himself. It was then that I learned my first taste of freedom and juvenile responsibility, simply by my father handing the boys and I our tickets and telling us to meet him at the half. There was the season I drove there by myself, as a newly licensed teenage girl, with a carload of girls whom my brother and his friends would spend the evening hitting on. There was the year I was an adult, and everyone made comments to my dad about how I had “blossomed”. There was the season my Mom was back. There was the season I was embarrassed to be there, trying to conceal my tummy, not yet comfortable with the idea of being a young mother. There was the next season when I proudly showed up with my 8 month old, stunningly bald, brown-eyed baby girl- totally rocking her Devil horns and ASU onesie. There was the first season without Micah, which was also the first season Lucah was a Sun Devil. There was Payte’s first season. There was the season I had a baby on each hip. There was the season they started serving beer in loge. There was the season Payte stopped being afraid of fireworks and people.  My life is defined by my love for this school and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look forward to every fall, no matter what the season may hold. Next season is my favorite so far, since I have no idea what it brings and I love a good mystery.

I look forward to not only what the season holds, but my kids’ lives in the future as I wishfully hope that they choose to be Sun Devils as well. It is their choice, but I have planted the seed and am feverishly watering it each passing day. No matter where they choose to earn their education, I know ASU will be home. I know that they will look back on the memories and be happy, and I know that like me, they will pass this on to their own kids. That’s the best part about growing up in a football family, knowing that even when I am gone, the kids will always have a part of me through this. They will see the pitchfork and think of mom, they’ll walk by Palm walk and remember our strolls there. They’ll maybe one day take their husbands or wives there and talk about when they were little.  It’s all part of the big picture I guess. I didn’t make a conscious decision to raise little Sun Devils because I wanted them to be football fans; I did it because I wanted them to see the importance of having something outside of work that you love, that you are passionate about, and fuck it, I’ll admit it… something you obsess about. Go Devils.