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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Team USA held an open scrimmage for the public.
As it turns out, the best advertising came from one source: @gregwrubell.
"I heard it on your Twitter feed actually; I've been following you during the game." said Eric Morgan to Greg Wrubell.
"I saw a few tweets from you." said Tom Woods.
Sterling Poll rounded things out, "I follow you actually, on Twitter."
The BYU faithful found their way to the court to support their lone Cougar representative, Tyler Haws.
"I'm loving it, loving it. I'm really excited for Tyler. He's played well today." said Poll.
Morgan shared Poll's enthusiasm, "I'm a big BYU fan. We don't get to see BYU here in Colorado Springs anymore, so you've got to take what you can get. This is a pretty good opportunity to see Tyler."
"There's quite a few of us." said Woods, "It seems like the decibel level was a little bit higher when he made a basket as opposed to the other players on the team. So, yeah, there's a few of us. Marty (Tyler's father) is behind us, right here."
Woods is a dire hard gridiron guy, but he had some free time, "There's no football right? So, you've got to occupy the time that you've got until football starts. So I thought I would come out and support Tyler."
Tyler's father Marty also made the drive. It just took 10 hours and two days to do it. Marty was rewarded with an excellent showing. Tyler scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds on the night.
"I thought he was really active." said Marty, "I thought he got up and down, I thought he got in a little rhythm. It was fun to see. You can see that he's a little tired. It's been a long week, but I'm really proud of him."
Tyler's supporters appreciated his effort and results.
"He's not quite as big as the other guys, but he makes up for it with his effort." said Morgan.
Woods enjoyed the scrimmage, but hopes to see improvement if the national team expects to bring home the gold.
"It's pretty impressive. It looks like they've got a lot of work cut out for them. They look a little ragged to me, but to make it on a 12-man roster out of the United States is impressive."
Poll brought his family. As his sons watched these collegiate players realize their dream, he couldn't help but reflect on their aspirations.
"I have two boys who have dreams to be the next Jimmer Fredette, so this is great for them." said Poll.
Jimmer?
Chuckling for not making the obvious connection, Poll corrected himself, "Maybe the next Tyler Haws."
Marty appreciated the support for his son.
"It's fun to see these BYU fans show up, wearing blue and cheering, so it is a lot of fun." said Marty.
Team USA leaves for Russia on Monday for the World University Games.
