Grandma Farnsworth marching to new beat

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.