OCR Text |
Show StatesmanSports Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Page 9 Whimpey twins competitive at home and on the field By TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor Kevin and Kyle Whimpey are very similar. They share similar likes, including similar sports, games and clothes. They even date similar girls. They also share the same birth date. Utah State Aggie head football coach Gary Andersen has known the Whimpey twins since they were in high school at Lone Peak in Highland, Utah. Andersen even recruited the two athletes when he was the defensive coordinator for the University of Utah. "Coach A was recruiting at the University of Utah and me and my brother were always looking for the opportunity to stay together," Kevin said. "Coach A gave us that opportunity. It just worked out that they needed people at both those positions. We liked the new facilities. We just felt at home from coming up here for football camp." Kyle was also sold from day one on playing for the Aggies. "When we walked into (Andersen's) office, we knew this is where we wanted to play," he said. After serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Kevin served in Ventura, Calif. and Kyle served close by in Riverside, Calif. — they are ready to make an instant impact on a very young and still developing Aggie football team. "They'll both have an impact on the team this next year, no question," Andersen said. "They're both in the rotation right now fighting for starting spots and they'll both have impacts this year." Twins don't often end play- ing on the same Division I program, and for both brothers to be able to make a Division I program is significant accomplishment. "I think it's an interesting dynamic that there's two of them playing Division I football and being twins," Andersen said. "I have twins myself, and I think it's a pretty special accomplishment for the both of them." The fact that Utah State football had the ability to offer both of the Whimpey twins a spot on the team carried much leverage in their decision to become Aggies. "It's always good to be on a team with a family member," Kyle said. "It's always awesome to be able to get out on the field and to enjoy the game that we love together. It's just fun to be family on the football field." The twins have also always been competitive, in every aspect of life. "There still is sibling rivalry," Kevin said. "Whether it be with our girlfriends or with just playing with the XBox, we get in big fights all the time. At my house right now the closet door is broken because we got in a fight the other day, but we get over it pretty quickly. We are still pretty competitive." That competitiveness in their personal lives also applies on the field, and it pushes the twins to be better. "There is a lot of sibling rivalry especially on the football field, because up until this year, we've gone headto-head every day," Kyle said. "Every time he goes against me, he comes 100 percent, so he expects that from me. It's a battle every time we line up from each other." Though Andersen expects SOPHOMORES KEVIN AND KYLE WHIMPEY, pictured here earlier during spring practice, look to make an instant impact on the offensive and defensive line for the 2011 season. STERLING BOIN photo the twins to have an instant impact on the football field, they both know they will have their plate full during the summer. "Coming off my mission, I'm really noticing throughout spring ball that my leg strength is pretty weak," Kevin said. "I think this summer will be a big determining factor in what I can do next year. I need to really hit my legs, do some leg endurance and just work on the technical foot work and get some things like that. I feel like if I have a good summer, and its up to me what I can do, I feel like I can make an immediate impact." According to Andersen, the twins are headed in the right direction to make an instant impact. "They have very good work ethic," Andersen said. "They're driven, they're driven by each other, but also they are driven personally. Football is important to them and that's a good thing to have. A great deal of maturity took place over the two years they were on their missions, and that's definitely a positive for them right now and it's helping them move in the right direction quickly." They're driven to succeed in three areas and that's the three areas that I harp on our young men to succeed in and that's academically to succeed, socially to succeed and to succeed on the football field. I think those are three things these young me truly think about every single day." —ty.d.hus@aggiemaiLusu.edu Aggie pride, go and catch it Aggie pride. It is something you The View from Section F either catch, or you don't. It is something that, if you catch it, is incredibly infectious. It is something that, if you catch it, you want to spread it to everyone around you. It is something that, if you catch it, gets so deeply rooted that things such as reason, common sense or rationality seem to take a back seat to the loyalty for the Aggies. Aggie pride is something that spreads deeper than just athletics, though. Aggie pride is the entire sense of satisfaction that comes with life at Utah State University. Like I said before, you either catch it, or you don't. Over the past five years I have met plenty of people who gave Utah State a try for a semester or an entire school year, but left unsatisfied and without that infectious sense of pride that seems to capture most of us up here. Whether we show it through relentless support of Utah State athletics, involvement in campus activities or just the overall sense of attachment and territorial nature of calling this place home, Aggie pride is everywhere. This is a sports column though, so as much as I would encourage everyone to get involved as much as possible and do what they can to make Utah State a better place than they found it, the bigger picture for me, and probably for the nation's perception of Utah State, comes through athletics. Nothing shows off Aggie pride better than the single best crowd in the entire nation that we have at The Spectrum. If you catch it, it's going to run rampant. Along with all that, maybe the most important thing I can tell people when it comes to sports is that you get out of it what you put in. Like most anything in life, the more you emotionally invest into something, the more rewarded you will feel when things really do go your way. Sure, there will be plenty of losses mixed in with all the wins, but that's true to life as well. I said a while back that the win over BYU in football last October undoubtedly meant much more and brought much more joy to the people who had stood by the team through all the tough times over the years. Obviously the win was monumental for everybody stricken with Aggie pride, but for those few die-hards who really invested themselves, it was above and beyond just a great day. It was something unforgettable. In that same light, imagine how everybody who has sacrificed their vocal cords for Stew Morrill and company over the year will feel when USU finally busts through and makes that deep NCAA Tournament run we all know we are due for? There have been thousands upon thousands of us living and breathing everything Aggie basketball throughout our college years, enjoying tons of success, but also the occasional letdowns in that mix as well. Sure, we might not go winning national championships, but imagine the thrill of making a sweet-16 or elite eight in the big dance one of these years. What this all comes down to is: Aggie pride is something you should embrace 100 percent. Don't just dabble in nerdy levels of excitement for what goes on at Utah State, but dive in head-first and go all out. That's what I did, and I would not have had it any other way. Whether it's just showing up early and making noise at every home game or being the kind of idiot who would start a game day newsletter and try all sorts of crazy chants, the rewards will outweigh any negatives. If nothing else, sports are the perpetual answer to the question of what there is to do in Logan. To me, and plenty others I'm sure, there is nothing better than throwing on a Game Day shirt, heading out to a game and screaming your heart out for our Aggies. Throw in a pre-game meal and a post-game party with your friends, and you've got yourself a solid evening out. And with the games themselves being unpredictable, it's the much less repetitive. There is strength in numbers. The more people who commit to rabid fandom, the more fun it'll be for everybody. Not only that, but the support for our teams reflects well on the school as a whole. My time at Utah State has been the time of my life because of all this and because of all the people who helped create the atmospheres we've created, and to that, I have nothing else to say but a huge thank you to everyone! Go Aggies. Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu. you woke up eo,r1 .9 ) skip breo,k-fo,s-E, nAck ke the long wo,lk to clAss, 1' ♦ up both wo,ys, And 3e-t to clAss only to -f .Ind bo,re-foot, 0, Fo,Fer on the door so,yin3 thoct CL ASS IS CA N C E L E D?!? Don't you Wish you could just be no-L I-f .led v,11-th p, text? CANVAS [to replace blackboard] 2011 - 2012 WWWFACTUSU.EDU/HTM/CANVAS |