Can’t make it to the Border War? This should help

LARAMIE -- I figured I'd use this space this week to share some personal Border War memories.

I certainly encourage you to share yours, no matter what side of the rivalry you are on.

I'm 36 years old. Looking back, I believe I have been to at least 30 games between Wyoming and Colorado State. When I was really young, it was just fun. The atmosphere was always lively. The games were intense.

For me, 1994 changed all that.

That was my first ever Cowboys road game. My parents, who owned a bar in Cheyenne at the time, rented a party bus to go from downtown to Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins. I was the only kid invited.

However, I needed to get a book report done before that was happening. I "read" the book so fast that I don't even recall what the title was. You can hear more about that adventure here in the first segment of this week's Roaring Repeater:

Like I said, that left a bad taste in my mouth. From that day forward, I have been fully invested in this matchup.

There are plenty of good memories, too.

Marques Brigham capping "The Drive" in 1996 is one that still brings a smile to my face. That was the first time Wyoming's senior class beat the Rams. I still feel good for Marcus Harris, Richard Peace, Jay Jenkins, Josh Wallwork and Co. I'd imagine there would be a void in their lives if they hadn't have pulled at least one victory off in the Border War.

Wyoming's current senior class has the opportunity to do just that the CSU this Friday night. Logan Wilson, Cooper Rothe, Tyler Hall, Cassh Maluia and the rest of the Class of 2019 have never lost to their hated rivals.

That's special.

I'll remember Austyn Carta-Samuels still arm forever and the smile on Dave Christensen's face as he walked out of Hughes Stadium that fall afternoon. Or how about the show Alevester Alexander put on in 2010. The Cowboys tailback scored five touchdowns in the 44-0 rout.

There was Josh Allen to Drew Van Maanen in the snow in Laramie and the debut of Sean Chambers last season, too. How about Chase Appleby's pick-six in the Cowboys final game on the Rams former home field.

One of my favorite memories was when Bradlee Van Pelt and the high-powered Rams paid a visit to War Memorial Stadium in 2003. That was Joe Glenn's first season. Wyoming didn't win many games back then, but they won that one, 35-28.

Watching Wyoming's natives (traitors) Ben Stratton, Clint Oldenburg and Bob Vomhof lose that game still brings me great joy.

Fans rushed the field as snow fell from the sky. The field goal posts took a ride down to the Buckhorn Saloon, a fun tradition back in those days.

Tonight, for the 111th time, these two rivals will meet under the lights at War Memorial Stadium. It never gets old, does it?

A bet's a bet
DNVR, an online media outlet who covers CSU out of Denver, could be going through a logo change this weekend. Well, we might, too. Depends on who wins this game.

In the spirit of rivalry weekend, we made a friendly bet with DNVR. Wyoming wins, they have to turn their logo brown and gold for the weekend. The Rams pull off the upset, our media guy, Kasey Orr, will have the unthinkable task of turning the 7220 sports logo green and gold.

There's also a 12 pack of beer on the line.

Snow border
Speaking of Kasey, he spent Thursday afternoon at the state line. He was gathering video and photos of the annual "boot run."

The ROTC programs from both schools made the journey, running in formation to the border to hand over the game ball.

The two head coaches shale hands, pretend to like each other and say a few words. Pistol Pete is there. So is Cowboy Joe and Cam the Ram. Tradition is what makes this rivalry so much fun.

I'm stoked Kasey braved the weather, broke his drone and decided to spend a day with the Bronze Boot and gang.

Check out a few of his shots:

Ticket giveaway
We had four Border War tickets and a pair of parking passes to give away this week.

They found a good home.

Devin Mazzone, of Cheyenne, landed a pair. He is taking his step dad to Laramie tonight. Mazzone has never attended a Wyoming game before. He's in for a treat.

Michael Lesco, of Rawlins, is taking his mother. This will also be her first game inside War Memorial Stadium.

We are proud to be giving these tickets to Wyoming fans who have yet to enjoy a live Cowboy football game. How much you want to bet they will be die-hard Pokes fans after this one?

They went to CSU?
Now for the weekly (fill in the blank) went to Colorado State University.

Denver Pyle, the actor who played Uncle Jesse in Dukes of Hazzard, went to college in Fort Collins. So did John Amos, who played James Evans in the hit sitcom, Good Times. Olympic champion swimmer, Amy Van Dyken, was a Ram. So was Jenny Cavnar. You might know her work from watching Colorado Rockies games. And speaking of the Rockies, Keli McGregor was the president of the team from 2001 until his death in 2010.

Leslie Jones was a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Becky Hammon was the NBA's first female assistant coach.

Here are some notable athletes that also went to CSU:
Joey Porter
Shaq Barrett
Clark Haggans
Thurman "Fum" McGraw
Jason Smith
Erik Pears
Cecil Sapp
Dexter Wynn
Joel Dreessen
Rick Dennison
Kelly Stouffer
Michael Gallup
Rashard Higgins
Olabisi Johnson

CSU currently has 10 players on NFL rosters. So does Wyoming.

Here’s all the information you need about Saturday’s game:
WHO: Colorado State (4-6, 3-3) at Wyoming (6-4, 3-3)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. MST
WEATHER: High of 26, low of 21, wind 9 mph
ROAD INFO: WYDOT cameras
WHERE: War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyo.,
TV: ESPN2 (Channel 143 on Dish Network, 209 on DirecTV)
RADIO: Wyoming affiliates
STREAMING: ESPN
TICKETS: gowyo.com
BOX SCORE: ESPN
ROSTERS: Wyoming / Colorado State
VEGAS ODDS: Wyoming -6.5, O/U 50.5
HISTORY: Colorado State leads the overall series is 58-47-5. Wyoming leads the Bronze Boot series, 27-24 (Last meeting: 34-21 Cowboys at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins in 2018)
HEAD COACHES: Craig Bohl / Mike Bobo
ALL-TIME RECORDS: Wyoming / Colorado State