As freshman AJ Dybantsa scored his 40th point during BYU’s basketball game against the University of Utah on Saturday with the Marriott Center crowd rising to its feet with a roar, an usher gently guided two of his favorite basketball fans out of the game.
Tim Osborn has worked as an usher at the Marriott Center in Provo for 11 years and for the majority of that time he’s been making sure sisters Dixie Grimmett and Penny Spresser always make it safely to and from their seats.
“It’s hard for us to move sometimes, and Tim’s a great guy. He’s been helping us for years,” Dixie said.
Through twists and turns during their lives, the pair have been BYU fans since birth. And now they are fixtures at the Marriott Center.
Getting the sisters to the game and their seats safely a group labor of love
Now in their late 80s, the happy pair slowly made their way early Saturday through the concourse to their portal — Penny with her walker and Dixie with her cane — and the crowd gently parted around them, opening up their path to Portal U. As Osborn saw the pair approaching, his face lit up and he immediately moved to greet them.
After the walker was moved out of the way, the trio patiently waited for the national anthem to end before Osborn took Penny’s hand and started guiding her step by step down the stairs. Dixie followed closely behind her sister until they eventually made it to their row.
Upon their arrival, those already seated in the row smiled and stood, ready to help the two sisters into their seats as they do for each game. After sitting down, the pair took off their coats to reveal the royal blue BYU T-shirts they were wearing.
They were ready to enjoy the rivalry game.
“I like to watch the games, and eat the brownies,” Penny said.
“We always enjoy the games and we enjoy the people around us,” Dixie said.
Getting the sisters to each game is a group effort, not just by those in the arena who help them but by their family members who take turns dropping them off and picking them up as they no longer drive themselves. But the effort is worth it because of how much Dixie and Penny love attending the games.
“We love seeing them go to the games, and we’re glad that they still love to go,” said their niece Kim Bond, who drops them off at some of the games.
Sisters back together for their golden years
Dixie, 88, isn’t just a big basketball fan; she also has her own years of experience in the world of collegiate sports. From 1972 until 1985 she was the women’s volleyball coach at Long Beach State. During her tenure, she won two national championships and was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. Dixie also won National Volleyball coach of the Year in 1975 and coached the U.S. women’s national team.
She also has her own personal ties to BYU; Dixie received both her bachelor’s degree and her Ph.D. from BYU. She received her master’s degree from Washington State University.
After serving in a variety of roles at Cal State Long Beach, including as assistant to the president, Dixie returned to her home state to help take care of her mother in her old age.
Their parents had five daughters, Dixie being the third and Penny the fourth. The family grew up in Provo in a small house in the river bottoms. Their dad played basketball at Brigham Young Academy, starting the family’s deep ties with BYU.
Penny, 85, claimed to not have lived as exciting a life as Dixie, but has had plenty of adventures of her own.
After serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand, Penny got married, moved to Ohio and had five kids. As she raised her kids, Penny worked for a company doing marketing research before she was recruited by Procter & Gamble and worked as a manager for them.
Her husband died suddenly, so Penny moved her kids back to Utah to be closer to her family. As she navigated the highs and lows of her children’s lives, Penny worked as a counselor for a number of years, helping people through the 12-step addiction recovery program.
It was after Penny retired and Dixie moved back to Utah that the pair started going to games together.
Their BYU fandom is as strong as ever
The sisters admitted Dixie is more into the technical aspects of the sport, but that doesn’t mean Penny doesn’t enjoy every moment of the game.
“I love basketball,” Penny said. “That’s the game that I really like.”
As the game unfolded in front of them, they watched intently with Dixie raising her hands to her face in nervousness when things got tense. But when BYU scored and slowly pulled away in the second half, the two women cheered along with the crowd.
At halftime, Dixie shared how she was enjoying that particular competition.
“We’re winning. When you’re winning, it’s always good,” she said. “Sometimes a play is not as good as we’d like, we’d make different choices, but we always enjoy the game.”
Penny shared that sometimes when she gets very excited about something good, she’ll lift her sister’s cane and raise it into the air.
“We love their energy; they cheer as much as anyone,” said Korey Larsen, whose family has had the seats next to the pair for years.
The two inherited their tickets from their parents, who have had seats since the Marriott Center first opened. Their original seats were located behind the basket where the ROC student section is today, so their seats were moved over a few sections.
They also had tickets to BYU’s home football games as well, but as they got older it became more difficult for them to attend the games, so the tickets now belong to Penny’s son.
The whole family remains major BYU fans. A few of their relatives have seats just a few rows behind Dixie and Penny.
“We all bleed blue,” said Gene Bond, Kim’s husband.
Attending basketball games just one of the many activities the sisters love
Dixie and Penny have been attending games together for years, and after their mother died at age 107, they moved in together at their parents’ house.
Outside of their regular basketball attendance, Dixie and Penny have plenty of activities to occupy their time.
“Even though they have trouble getting around, remembering and hearing, they love to go places and do things,” Kim said.
They love going to movies and seeing plays at the Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove. Kim shared that they also love going to concerts, with plans to see Gentri in April.
And like many Cougar fans, the sisters are also big fans of the university’s creamery; Kim takes them regularly.
“It’s got to be chocolate, anything chocolate; we both love chocolate,” said Dixie.
Dixie’s favorite flavor from the creamery is roasted almond fudge and Penny loves the flavor Inshanely Chocolate.
Penny is in a choir that performs multiple times a year, though sometimes her choir practice gets in the way of her basketball attendance. At home, they both love to read.
Though they are getting older, they both still love to travel. They went on a cruise last year to Mexico and this year will be joining family on a cruise to the Caribbean.
Dixie and Penny’s basketball attendance brings out the best in humanity
One thing Osborn sees and appreciates is that everyone is always so willing to help Dixie and Penny as they attend the basketball games.
One time, BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake and a number of his players were sitting near the sisters. As soon as Dixie and Penny arrived at the game, Sitake and his players immediately went to see how they could help them.
Kim said she is always willing to help her aunts to their seats, but they’re always already taken care of by those around them.
“I think it brings out the best in everybody. Everybody wants to help,” Osborn said. “I think it helps everybody to want to help another person.”
Aside from making sure the sisters make it in and out of their seats safely, Larsen and his wife also bought the pair water during Saturday’s game.
“They’re the sweetest people to sit by,” Larsen said.
“We’ve just become friends; I just love them to death,” Osborn said.
A couple of years ago, Osborn noticed how hard it is for Penny to climb back up the stairs when she is ready to leave. Because of this, he devised a plan to take the sisters down the steps toward the court instead. Each game, he helps them down through a tunnel then out by elevator.
“The reason why I do that is gravity is her friend at this point,” Osborn laughed.
The pair tends to leave games early to avoid getting caught in a crowd as they leave the arena. Because of the excitement and stakes around Saturday’s game, they stayed longer than they typically do.
With about five minutes left in the game, the pair signaled to Osborn that they were ready to go.
Those on the row helped the sisters out of their seats and to the aisle, where they were joined by Osborn for the down toward the court. As they slowly made their way out, BYU extended its lead to 20 points and Dybantsa scored his 40th point of the game.
The crowd erupted around the two women. A great night to be Cougars fans.
“It was a fun game,” Dixie said as she stood on the sidewalk with her sister waiting for their ride. “The crowd got crazy. We had fun.”
