Witness to History

I am so proud to have seen this day. I am so proud to live in a time when America, the land of my home and my heart, has shown a small glimpse of its wonderful promise. I am so proud to be able to tell future generations that I lived in the days when a black man became President of the United States of America.

I am not sure why President Obama's story is so moving to me. I am not sure why I relate to it so strongly. I do not know why I teared up while I watched the inaugural speech and saw the millions of Americans gathered on the Washington Mall, listening to their newly elected leader.
Perhaps it is because I identify myself with two persecuted groups: the Mormons and the Native Americans. Perhaps it is because I am a believer in the enduring strength of the human spirit, which belief was vindicated in great measure today. Perhaps it is because, throughout my whole life, I have stood on the privileged side of race and wished, desperately, that I could erase the divide, and give to all of God's children the opportunities He intended us all to have.

Perhaps it is because I have seen myself as an unwilling member of an oppressive group. My face looks more like the Custers and Klansmen of the past than it looks like the Martin Luther Kings and Ghandis. I don't want to be one of that group, or at least I don't want that legacy. I wish I could disown the past insults to humanity that are part of the history of the Anglo/Saxon tribe, everything from the enslaving of the African continent and its people, to the wholesale execution of entire cultures in the Americas. I hate that legacy, and I want no part of it.

So it makes me feel cleaner somehow that Barak Obama is President. I still know the hateful and despicable things that my forefathers did. History doesn't change. What does change is my fear that history cannot be overcome, that oppression is permanent. Barak Obama is proof that all human beings are capable of tremendous things, no matter what oppressed population he or she comes from. It reaffirms my belief that all people, regardless of color, are overflowing in potential and are born with the seed of greatness within them. People of all races are the children of God, and have that divine potential within them.

So I think, in those ways among others, that Barak Obama's victory is not only a victory for him, or for black men, or for black people in general, but is a victory for all people, regardless of race. A victory for the oppressed and for the oppressors, and for the children of both.

U-T-A-H, Fight! Fight! Fight!

Every once in a great while, life becomes sublime. Poetic. The tumblers fall into place, the stars align, and fate smiles on the little people.

That is not what happened yesterday. Yesterday, a fantastic yet underrated football team took a similarly fantastic yet overrated football team to the woodshed and gave them an old fashioned Mountain West whuppin. 

I had prayed for a Utes win, but my faith was admittedly shaky. I listened to the pundits talk about how Bama would manhandle the Utes, and I was annoyed at their lack of respect for the nations ONLY undefeated team, but I also was concerned that they might know what they were talking about. The Utes had never played against Alabama. They were ranked #1 for 5 weeks. They had lost only to a very strong Florida program. They were touted as the best defense in the land, etc. etc.

My prayers for a Utes win were admittedly more wistful than fervent, but I went into the game hoping, and maybe even expecting a win. At the very least I wanted my Utes to acquit themselves well, and make a respectable showing.

And then Brian Johnson got the ball. That first quarter was stunning. Beautiful, powerful, dominating football. Bama looked like Toto after the tornado: "What the h*** just happened, and where the h*** are we?" I loved the body language on the Bama sideline after we went up 21 to nothing. I imagined that is what the Philistines must have looked like when Goliath lost his head, and David started picking up more rocks. 

I also loved the delicious silence from some of the moderators who were busy pulling their feet out of their mouths. It took until half time, but when they eventually did come around, they were singing the same tune that Ute fans have been singing for four years now: The Utes can play with the best in the nation, and the BCS keeps them out without a single credible reason.

It was very sweet to watch my Utes come away from the Sugar Bowl with National recognition and respect. It was very sweet to watch them tear that respect away from a grudging national powerhouse like the Crimson Tide. It was very sweet to hear the Fox moderators talk at length after the game about how the Utes deserved a shot at the championship, and how they could likely beat any team in the nation, including Florida. What was most sweet of all was the fact that my Utes earned every piece of it. A perfect season, pounded out one game at a time, proving week after week that they are an elite team and deserve their top ten ranking, topped off by a similarly hard-earned win over a "top-tier" team. 

Plenty of excuses have been and will be made about why Bama lost to the Utes. When all is said and done, the only real reason is that Bama lost because the Utes were better. The only team in the United States that has no loss in 2008 is my Utah Utes. That will be on the books forever. That is sweet as Sugar.