Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
STAYING WARM — It’s been a wild weekend in sports, especially on the Wasatch Front.
In college football, BYU, Utah and Utah State all won home games, Weber State maintained its top-5 national ranking with a win over Northern Arizona, and Real Salt Lake advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers.
Oh, and the Jazz’s NBA season is right around the corner.
But wait, there’s more.
It was another great weekend in college football, and the Houston Astros punched their ticket to the World Series in walk-off fashion.
Here are some of our favorite moments. As always, click the video above for more Great Clips of the Week.
Provo’s newest dance craze
In case you missed the weather report, Utah was cold Saturday.
Torrential downpours in Salt Lake City, including during the Utes’ 21-3 defensive clinic against Arizona State, fed into cold, rainy, windy and even snowy nights during the late kickoff at BYU.
But the cold didn’t bother anyone in Provo, anyway — during a 28-25 win over then-No. 14 Boise State.
It especially didn’t bother BYU fan Brooke, who was caught on ESPN swaying and (we assume) just trying to stay warm during the sub-40-degree temperatures.
It all started when Brooke didn’t have a royal blue jacket (the color of BYU’s stadium atmosphere, per the Cougars’ athletic department). She came to the game in a royal blue sweatshirt (you can see part of it underneath her hood in the video above), but sometimes sweaters just aren’t enough.
So she put on her bright red coat and began to dance to the beat of her own drum.
This story has a happy ending, though; BYU associate athletic director Liz Darger saw the video online and offered to gift a royal blue jacket to Brooke for the remainder of her BYU fan days.
Now we have a conundrum. BYU beat Boise when Brooke was wearing the red jacket. Do we have a chicken-and-egg lucky-jacket scenario? Or does Brooke need to suit up in blue, as her fandom would allegedly demand?
Either way, keep dancing, Brooke. Just keep dancing and staying warm.
Boooooooooomer
Before every home football game in Norman, Oklahoma, the Sooner Schooner drives out onto the field to hype up the fans.
But before the Sooners’ game Saturday against West Virginia, something different happened.
The Schooner didn’t quite make it back off the field; it tipped over.
Fortunately, everyone involved in the crash, including the two horses were checked by on-site medical personnel and given a clean bill of health, according to a statement from OU Athletics.
“We believe it was the result of weight distribution among riders in the rear of the wagon,” the statement read. “Three individuals were evaluated at the stadium and released. All others reported that they were uninjured.
“Upon initial evaluation, it also appears the ponies are uninjured. Medical staff responded immediately, as did the expert horse handlers and veterinarian who staff all games. We are grateful that the injuries were not serious and for the staff members who responded so well.”
Not everything turned out perfectly, though; the Mountaineers lost 52-14 (did anybody check out that injury?) and PETA called on the university to “keep horses off the field.”
“Exploiting animals for sports is unnecessary and incredibly dangerous for animals AND humans,” the statement read, in part.
That's a walk-off
We’ll end with some baseball.
Jose Altuve had the best moment of the weekend when he smashed a game-winning walk-off two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 6-4 win over the New York Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
And as teammates mobbed him at home plate, celebrating a pennant win and the Astros’ second World Series berth in two years, Altuve sheepishly clutched at his jersey.
“I don’t know (why). I’m too shy,” Altuve told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal after the wild celebration. “Last time they did that, I got in trouble with my wife.”
Game 1 of the World Series with the Washington Nationals is Tuesday at 5 p.m. MDT.
