Byron Stout

I don't remember the exact moment when Cj and I became friends or the first time I saw him. I am trying to put pieces together about how it all started. He was on my football team in 7 th grade and we started practice before school started so that would be the first time I ever saw him. When I started 7th grade all three of my best friends moved away. I went to Westridge elementary and he went to grand view. We happened to be on the same team (that’s kind of how they decided what kids had what teachers) at Dixon Jr high school. I was a skater he was a jock. We had English with Miss Moody and Math with Mr. Hardy together. He sat right behind me in English class and that is probably when we started to become friends. Andrew was in that class too. I think. But I think I was funny enough that a couple months into Jr high the jocks and Grandview cool kids decided they liked me. We had an assembly and to my surprise Rooney Cj and Andrew told me to sit with them and they were the popular kids. Bare with me Keri I am writing down the thoughts so I don't lose them because I might forget them. So I lied I wasn't a skater I was a rollerblader but I guess Cj wanted some better ones or something but I told him he good borrow or have my old ones. So that day I got home and like 10 minutes after the buss dropped me off Cj knocked on my front door. He got home and ran like 3 miles to my house and I really have no clue how he knew where I lived. He just investigated. He was so good at achieving goals. I was really insecure and that was amazing to me that Cj the jock came over to my house. So those are my first memories of Cj

The first time I ever had a sleep over on a school night was with Cj in 7th grade. We stayed up all night laughing and talking and when we missed the bus. So we forged late notes from our parents and decided to walk to school. We were walking and I don't remember whose idea it was but we were like nah let's not go to school. It was my first time sluffing school (that's what we called it). It might be different in Cali. So we just went down the left hand path toward village inn like 4 miles from my house. We climbed the edge of grand view and went around anyplace cj's neighbors could see him. We made it to village inn and I still remember what we ate. He made a ham and cheese omelet and I had a south west one with salsa. Then we went to a Golf shop where Cj knee all the guys and they would let us play the golf simulator game. The school called out patents and the next day we had to go to the principal’s office. We didn't get in trouble though. The summers from 7th grade to tenth grade I played a pretty good amount with Cj. I vividly remember him teaching me to golf at the drivers range. It seriously took me a lot of swings to actually hit it. I dont know if you know this but I have some paralysis in my left arm so it was impossible for me to follow through correctly. So Cj figured out away for me to it straight. Instead of following through over my left shoulder I just stopped half way with the club straight in the air like Thor with a sword in the air. I got decent at golf and I might have even made the JV team if I tried out. I should have. I was so terrible at putting but I was really good at pitching. My own set of clubs I think they were Greg's old ones and they were still pretty good. I miss that man so much.

When Cj and I started 8th grade we both were on the middle weight football team. There was a light weight middle and heavy weight. We were on the middle weight team in 7th grade too but almost all the kids we played with in 7th gained weight and went to heavy weight. I actually lost like 15 lbs so I could be on middle weight so I would be bigger than others instead of being puny playing with huge Polynesians
so Cj and I were huge for middle weight. He was quarter back and I was running back. I remember the first game we played Cj returned a kick and just ran really fast and scored a touchdown. He scored most of them. We lost almost every single game and kids kept dropping out until we had like 14 players on the whole team. It came playoff time and I think we had won game or I think we won a game that got us into the play offs. I think only one team wouldn’t get in to the playoffs and it was either us or fair Jr high and we almost lost. We almost lost because of me. I was supposed to cover a pass or something but instead I rushed the qb he passed the ball and I looked back and saw a kid wide open in the end zone. And it bounced of his chest!!! and then the game was over and we won and got to go to the playoffs. It was about that time that we figured out that we should only do maybe two or three plays. Cj pitches it to Chris elder the other running back, he hands it off to me and I go up the middle or Cj just gets it and runs. So I guess it took us a while but we figured out how to get yards. Since we were like the worst team we had to play the best teams in the play offs. First round was lake ridge their only loss was to centenial (centenial was the Jr high for tempview our rivals) so we play lakeridge who had killed us in the regular season and for some unexplained reason we just killed them!!! Their coach was my sixth grade teacher also which made it extra awesome. We beat them 21 to 0. Next we played oak canyon. Same shit they killed us in the regular season but we kicked their ass with our three plays that we did over and over. They should do a movie on this I swear the mighty ducks had nothing 0n us. So we make it to the finals. Against centenial!!! We lined up at the 50 yard line across from each other and they had at least 40 players and we had 14. It was an amazing sight to see. Anyway they were undefeated and it was on their home field it was such a close game. I don’t remember it very well I just remember I didn’t do crap and I felt bad that I played so terrible but it came down to the wire. All I know is we lost by one point to those rich bastards that grew up to go play for tempview and kick our ass over and over again. We serious lost 46 to 0 my Jr year and 50 to 6 my senior year. I hope Cj told you about all the stuff that went on between tempview and Provo in sports it was such an intense rivalry. I got a video of me and cj when we were 8th grade dancing in my basement but I dont know how to convert it from vhs to dvd I dont want it to take it to walmart cuz cj moons the camera and I dont know what the laws on that. I don’t wanna get arrested. it’s actually not on vhs its on one of those tiny vhs looking tapes that you would film and record on to vhs so I gotta do double work