My Famous "Little" Brothers

At the ripe age of 26 and half… I’ve spent 22 of those years here in the lovely state of Utah. Of those 22 years, my family has been affiliated in one way or another with BYU or Utah football. Now in this  world there’s different kinds of people. There's cat people and dog people. There’s Nike people and Under Armor people. There’s Brick Oven Pizza people and Little Caesar’s people. And there’s even Swig people and Sodalicious people. Well, growing up in the state of Utah there also two kinds of people (sorry Sara Reale, Utah State didn’t make the cut)… There’s BYU people and there’s University of Utah people. Most people in Utah are die hard BYU fans, or die hard UofU fans. Just the way it is. Any given weekend in the fall time and people in Utah either have a blue flag hanging from their front porch or a red. In the situation of my cousin Hillary they have both (her husband is a Ute but we still love him). Now both universities are great schools, but we bleed blue for BYU. So in this smaller state of two main local football teams and basketball teams, you could imagine how well known the players are. Lucky me, I not only have a dad who coaches but also three brothers who play/played/will play sports at BYU. We are going to focus on my two brothers Bronson and Corbin, and what it's like having famous LITTLE brothers.

Going anywhere with Bronson or Corbin is always entertaining. They always get a handful of people asking for photographs. They even get some kids asking for autographsand signing anything from their t-shirt or their arm. You would think I’m hanging out with Kobe Bryant with the publicity these two get when we are around town. But the boys handle it well. They grew up loving BYU and love all the fans who are always so supportive. Now always in the background of these encounters you'll usually find me snapping a pic or two to send Michelle with a smart-Alec comment like “big time” or “goals.” I had my moment of fame in the state of Utah. People enjoyed me because I got cancer and was bald and blah blah it's a boring story really. But at the end of the day, I can't help but giggle all while my brothers are busy being famous. So, here are the thoughts that I have while my “famous” little brothers are signing autographs while we are out and about:

1. “If only these people saw how Brons and Corb eat at home and not in public.” – Poor Steve and Michelle. Not only have they had to change our diapers and take us countless times to the ER, they've had to supply food to feed these giants. Just so you have an idea. Daryl is probably 5’7” and the smallest by far. Devin is 6’6” 250lbs. Corbin is 6’10” 260lbs. Bronson is 6’8” 285lbs. And I’m 6’0 215lbs. We are quite larger than normal people. Each one, Bronson and Corbin, consume I would guess we'll over 5,000 calories a day. Now when my brothers eat in public they’re pretty good about using napkins, wiping up their messes, even using utensils. When they eat at the comfort of their own home you would think they’re a starving child straight from a third world country. They’re ravenous. You learn to eat fast around here because chances of you getting seconds if you eat slow aren’t too good. They eat right off your plate if you’re dumb enough to fall for the old “whoa look at that” trick. Utensils are optional, and mixing your whole plate of food into one big pile of lord knows what is a must. You can always tell where Bronson and Corbin sat at the dinner table due to the mess around their spot. They’re like Hansel and Gretel, leaving a nice little trail all around the table where they ate and usually all over their face as well.

2. “If only these kids knew that Corbin got grounded this morning for not making his bed.” – Yes you read that right… Sometimes Corbin still gets grounded. Sometimes I still get grounded. And sometimes Bronson gets grounded and he doesn’t even live at the house anymore! This is the thing, you step into the Gypsy’s house you are now the Gypsy’s property. Our cousin Jared gets grounded and was spanked as a small child at our house many of times.  Just the way it is. Keep in mind. I’m 26. Bronson’s 24. Married, and 6’8. Corbin's 22 and 6’10. Michelle is a whopping 5’10”. Weighs virtually nothing. And she can boss the lot of us around better than anyone I know.Saturday chores are a must, and taking turns helping clean up Sunday dinner is required. The thing is though, these two boys love their mother and have learned to respect her and all women and hold them in the highest regard. So yes they may be BYU sports stars, but yes they must still make their beds and do the dishes just like you or they get grounded.

3. “These children think Brons and Corb probably do something cool in their free time.” -- It's true though. I know for a fact people assume Bronson and Corbin in their free time must live some awesome life. Like they wrestle bears or something in the back woods of Provo Canyon. This is so false. These two are about as normal as normal can get for teenage boys. Notice how I said teenage boys… More like young boys. First of all these two get together and they all the sudden are 10 and 8 again playing Smash Brothers on the N64 or ping pong. They fight over Xbox controllers, as well as which games they want next (Yes this happens and did the other day at Game Stop) and sometimes even fight over food. They’re quite normal nerdy guys. They love Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and can tell you anything you want to know about any character, especially Corbin. They both have an awesome Pokemon collection and could quote all of Twilight. They know the ins and out of every Star Wars movie and love the old Godzilla movies subtitles and all. They also know the words to every Sound of Music song, ABBA, and Cher songs.

4. “If only these people knew how these two learned their work ethic.” – Located up on the Eastern side of Provo is a lovely neighborhood grocery store. It's owned by the Day family, naturally it's called Days Market. I’ve heard so many people ask my brothers and myself what our parents did to help us “excel” in athletics. Well for starters, we didn’t spend all our time doing sports. So many people think we spent hours training and doing those speed training coaches and everything but no. The second high school practice was over the 3 of us rushed over the Days, threw on our aprons, and that's when the real fun began.This is where Bronson and Corbin and I spent many hours in our high school years. There came a time where the three of us would get to work together on an occasional Saturday or Thursday night. The three of us worked at Days Market 3 sometimes 4 times a week closing shifts and sometimes 12 hour shifts on Saturdays to pay for our sports. I remember Bronson calling everyone at the store begging them to let him take extra shifts so he could pay for his state championship ring and his Hawaii trip for football. These two not only worked at the grocery store, but they also did yard for our neighbor. Not just normal yard work, hard yard work. I went and helped them one day because they needed it and well I lasted about an hour. They worked so hard for every little thing they wanted. Sports are expensive. High school and club teams. Working and paying for our own sports made us not only appreciate them but we learned so much. I know those two especially learned how to work hard doing all that yard work for good ole’ Joe Armstrong. But,  mostly I just enjoyed the late nights at Days Market with the boys playing way more than working.

5. “These people think these two are so tough. Please.” – Ok so one would think that my boys are the toughest kids you’d ever meet. They’re huge and both weigh well over 260lbs. But here’s a secret. They’re both quite softies. And that's what makes them the best, they’re like big teddy bears. Growing up I wasn’t he nicest big sister and I was actually taller than them. I distinctly remember once I caught Bronson lying. Keep in mind this is when I as taller than them. I tackled him, pulled his pants off, and threw them up on the power line. I continued to chant “Liar liar pants on fire hanging from the telephone wire.” Bronson was in tears. I got in trouble, but that didn't stop me. I soon learned the game keep away. And Corbin was quite the easy target. 

He was much smaller than Bronson and I, and he was always sucking his thumb so he only had one hand available. Corbin was always the monkey in the middle and always was until Michelle would make us stop and find something new to play. Corbin was also our target for everything though. When we would play 007 on the N64. We would see how many times we could kill him a 20 minute game. We used to make him run under the trampoline while we would jump on it and he would have to dodge our jumps (Don’t judge us I know it's dangerous but we were young and dumb). We once even tied him up in an inner tube, flipped it upside down and timed him while he escaped. Corbin’s terrified of heights. Bronson is terrified of spiders and still makes Corbin kill them. My younger large brothers are quite normal and at the end of the day aren’t as tough and rough as they appear on the field or court. Let’s just be honest, they’re lucky they’re taller than me now!

Now my brothers Bronson and Corbin really are all stars (Sorry Dev, you’re on a mission and are the youngest and spoiled) not only in their sports but in life. You can learn so much from them! They may eat like animals from time to time but they love to eat and make sure their bodies are always fueled. They eat good (for the most part) and make sure they are always fed and fueled for their practices, games, and weekend spike ball tournaments. They learned house hold chores and can both clean a bathroom better than most people I know, and they learned to respect their mother while doing so. They are both the biggest nerds. Playing their Call of Duty and Diablo and arguing about Lord of the Rings theories. They weren’t completely sport oriented. Michelle made sure we were well rounded. They held jobs all through high school even during sport season, took piano lessons, sang in Timpview’s choir, and both took guitar lessons. I think what makes them such special boys is when they’re off the field and court. They love doing service for people in the community and are both quite tender boys. They might be sport all stars and BYU famous but my baby brothers are quite normal. With the exception of their caloric intake and height and weight, they are just normal boys. They understand the important things like friends, family, and treating others kindly. And they know that at the end of the day, there's more to life than football and basketball. 

How lucky am I to have such great examples for younger, larger brothers?