Bloodlines — it's one of the more intriguing aspects of the crazy BYU-Utah rivalry.
Households get split, marriages cross borders, in-laws are a mix and match. Even former BYU quarterback Brandon Doman had his wedding reception in the new Rice-Eccles Stadium press box shortly after the 2002 Olympics.
The rivalry transcends matters of the flesh, given and taken in law and pedigree.
And now comes John Beck, the Cougars' starting quarterback.
His grandmother, Barbara Dalton Farnsworth is his biggest fan. But 55 years ago, she was a Ute — a diehard Ute. She was in the Ute marching band, played the clarinet and never missed a home Ute football game all four years of college.
"I didn't play the clarinet very well, but I marched real good, so they let me in the band," she said.
Grandma Farnsworth, mother of Beck's mother, Julie, was in the stands for that memorable 33-32 Ute win over the Cougars on Thanksgiving Day in 1953 when she says Pappy Jack Curtice had it rolling all the way to a conference championship. "And they had good football players from Millard, and Millard always had good players."
Her husband-to-be, Alan Farnsworth, a childhood friend, attended BYU. He once invited her to a BYU home basketball game against the Utes where they sat high up in the seats of the brand new Smith Fieldhouse. When Utah scored the first basket, she let out a holler, then realized she was the only one who cheered and kind of slumped down so nobody would know where it came from.
Barbara and Alan married in 1954, then her groom went to Germany for a year in the service while she finished school at Utah. When he returned, he attended Utah and got his degree then went on to dental school at Washington University in St. Louis.
About this time, when kids started to come to Barbara and Alan, it all changed in the rivalry.
Now don't be mistaken, Grandma Farnsworth, respects Utah. Her time as a Ute will always be some of her most memorable and fun times of her life. She praises Utah for last year's BCS-busting team and wishes the Utes well — except for Saturday.
"I'll get scalped for this, but I'm picking the Cougars," she said.
Grandma , 72, is a social person. She loves people. She's loquacious, loves to visit and chit-chat and is positive as a tent preacher. He is loyal and thoughtful. John Beck is her first grandchild. She never missed any of his high school games he started.
She used to drive to St. George from Beaver, take a shuttle to Las Vegas and fly to Arizona where she would see him play. She's been to all of his college home games and many on the road, including two at Notre Dame. With 26 grandchildren and John the first-born, she has no problem telling him with a smile, he's No. 1.
Grandma bought a giant big-screen TV, just for watching BYU football.
When John is on TV, one of those Sunday sports shows with Tom Kirkland at KSL, she calls John immediately to comment. And after games, she considers Tom her friend, same with sports reporter Kathy Aiken. She'll tell John, "Well, Tom and I were talking . . . , "like they are long-time buddies.
All six of Grandma's children attended BYU. Besides John the quarterback, his sister Anna is a Cougarette as a freshman. His brother Rudy, now on a mission to the Dominican Republic, is a walk-on Cougar receiver. Two other grandchildren, Chase and Benjamin Campbell, are in the men's chorus at BYU and a niece, Emily Dalton Moffit, is a member of the Young Ambassadors.
Deep blue.
Beck's parents, Wendell Beck and Julie Farnsworth were born in 1958, it was the second time BYU had ever beat Utah (1942 was the first). When his parents first met in 1977, BYU won. In 1980 when the couple married, BYU won. In 1981 when John was born, BYU won. The year 2005 is their 25th wedding anniversary.
"I'm proud of John," said Grandma. "He's a good athlete, but he's an even better person."
In Beaver, where Grandma lives in the Farnsworth homestead home that is 115 years old, she is known as John Beck's grandmother, something she takes great pride in.
This past summer, Grandma Farnsworth invited her grandson and members of BYU's offensive line to her house for the weekend. There, the players went fishing and rabbit hunting. Among those who attended were Jake Kuresa, Lance and Dallas Reynolds, Eddie Keele and Terrance Brown. She fed them steaks, and they laughed long into the evening.
The funny thing is, all these 400-pound guys went down in one Suburban.
As a former mission mother for more than a hundred LDS missionaries while her late husband served as president of the Texas Houston East Mission, Grandma is used to taking care of young men.
But when asked where all these big guys slept, she tried to remember the accommodations in that old house and the shed, and then just gave up by saying, "I don't know where they all slept, but they were all here."
After games, she loves giving them a hug, as if they were her own grandsons.
"They're such good guys," she said.
It's been half a century since Grandma marched for Utah. Nobody can ever take away those days in her young life.
Just like nobody can accuse her of not being fully invested as a Cougar today.
What a rivalry.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com