A few things to watch for this Labor Day Weekend

Ah, Labor Day. While it's hard for this holiday to compete with the likes of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can't honestly say that there's a time of year where I feel more fulfilled than over Labor Day weekend. Living in Utah in the spring and fall make the snowy winters and hot summers worthwhile. Labor Day represents the beginning of fall, perfect grilling weather, trees changing colors, gorgeous sunsets, and most importantly, football!

If you're wondering about some things to do, here are some things I recommend to watch for this weekend:

1. Utah vs. Michigan. Saturday, August 29th, 1:30 MT. Shown on ABC nationally.
Everybody who knows me knows that I'm a die-hard Utah fan. We were more die-hard than usual the past three years while Steve starred for the Utes (last year, we traveled to Louisville, Oregon, San Diego, Las Vegas, Colorado, the Provo bubble), but we're still planning on going to most games. And it KILLS both Jamie and I that we're not going to the renowned BIG HOUSE this weekend. But we couldn't find airfare for less than $400 to Detroit - and we've just got too much going on right now.
But even if you're not a huge football fan nor a Utah fan (if you're not, you're missing out), this game will be a fun one to watch. Utah has one of their most talented teams. The coaches are saying it's the most talented team since the 2004 Fiesta Bowl year. I don't have a ton of faith in the coaching staff, so I'm a bit more cautious this year, but those expectations are good - because they either meet them or they look for big changes.
Meanwhile, Michigan is getting a lot of attention this year because they have a new coach who is bringing the famous spread offense to Michigan - who is typically one of the most traditional offenses in the country. What's ironic is that their coach, Rich Rodriguez, was the coach whom Urban Meyer learned the spread from - before bringing it to Utah in 2003.
Michigan is favored by 3.5. Look for my Utes to spoil Rich's first game in the Big House. My pick: Utah 24 Michigan 20


2. Deal or No Deal. Monday night, September 1st. 7 pm MT on NBC.
So, here I am talking about how great fall is in Utah, and I'm telling you to watch a game show on Labor Day? The truth is, I don't like game shows. I've only seen Howie Mandell's popular show once, and didn't really care for it (though I'll admit it can be pretty intense).
But you've GOT to watch it this Monday. Why? It turns out that I know the girl who is on there on Monday night. And it's not just that she's on there. Rumor has it, or you can say that NBC wants us to believe that she will make history on Monday night, winning the largest prize on a gameshow in U.S. history - a cool million!! Jessica is the wife of a friend of mine, from work. She's a very sweet girl and she's currently pregnant with their second child. I do need to make it known that nobody at our work knows whether or not she won, but you can see the preview on the website and make your own judgement. My friend hasn't talked about it at all and won't even answer any questions. He's as poker-face as you can get. But when they started airing the ads during the olympics, a few people from my work recognized her (you can even see some decent footage of him running on stage) and we confirmed it on the website (http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/video/clips/the-moment-has-arrived/524361/).