Max Hall, Brigham Young University's starting quarterback, made some startling comments following his team's overtime victory against the University of Utah this past Saturday.
The senior tosser said "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything. I think the whole university and their fans and their organization is classless." Max, please, don't hold back on us. Tell you how you really feel!
Today, Max apologized, noting that his comments were directed at the specific individuals responsible for insulting his family. Only he knows whether or not he truly regrets his post-game comments. Regardless, I suspect in several years, if not already, he will feel a sense of embarrassment over his words.
What I find particularly silly is how personally the players and fans take this "Holy War" football rivalry. I had a good chuckle over Max's comments, and haven't lost any sleep over them. I appreciate his raw emotion, having had my own share of regrettable comments. Fortunately, I am not in the public spotlight and have never been surrounded by a bunch of reporters drooling over my comments and egging me on. Max, on the other hand, has the highest student public profile at a top-notch and internationally recognized university that has had, arguably, the greatest string of quarterbacking talent in the past 30 years (Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Steve Sarkisian). Do people listen to BYU's quarterback? Yes.
The question begging to be answered is why are Utah and BYU fans so rough on each other? Other famous college rivalries, while ruthless in their challenging of one another, don't show this deep-rooted (religious?) level of hatred. I love good-natured pranks and jokes, but there's no need to be mean, right?
BYU and the U of U are not enemies. They are an hour drive apart and are more intertwined than any of us can imagine. Students transfer between the two schools regularly, have degrees from both schools, do academic research with each other, etc. They are two of the most academically and athletically talented schools in the entire mountain region. In fact, a student-athlete would probably have to go as far West as California or as far East as Texas to find a better opportunity than what they would get at the U or the Y. These schools got there by working with and challenging one another.
So why do we see this deep hatred between the two rivals? Granted, not all the fans feel this hatred, but enough do that we have players and fans making headlines over mean-spirited comments and actions. I believe the reason is because of a difference in how segments of the two schools' fans identify with Utah, the state. More specifically, I think out-of-state students and fans new to the state have such little understanding of other religions and the Utah culture that they totally buy into the imaginary hatred being fueled by locals.
Even though I'm not formally affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), I consider myself "culturally Mormon." I was born in Utah, raised in an LDS community where Cub Scout meetings were held in the Mormon Church and started with a prayer, went to Utah public schools where I was usually the only non-Mormon in class, and had exclusively Mormon friends until I left for college. Obviously, I was heavily influenced by traditional LDS values and believe I am a better human being for having been raised in Utah.
Above all the local religious and cultural influences, however, I identify with the state of Utah, my home state, and am proud of anything great accomplished by any Utah team or individual, from the Jazz making the NBA Finals, to the Utes making the NCAA basketball championship under Coach Majerus, to BYU football's 1984 season-ending No. 1 ranking, to the Utes crushing Alabama in last year's Sugar Bowl, to child archer sensation Denise Parker, to the Sanderson brothers.
My small immediate family has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Utah, BYU, and Weber State, so I feel some attachment to nearly every major university in the state. I believe this connection I have to all-things-Utah is something lacking in many U of U and BYU fans. I believe the reason for the displays of fan hatred between the two schools has as much to do with a lack of connection to the state as it has to do with religion. This makes sense when you consider that the majority of Utes football players are LDS members, the U of U head coach is a BYU alum, and many LDS leaders have degrees from both schools.
Most out-of-state students and families recently transplanted from elsewhere have few or zero connections in Utah, so they create in their minds a total devotion for one school and a total hate for the rival. As it turns out, Max Hall is not from Utah, and it's quite possible the Ute fans who insulted Max Hall's family were out-of-staters as well. Had Max Hall been from Utah, I can't imagine his saying those things ... he'd probably have a close relative or high school coach who graduated from the U, making him think twice about such a comment.
Even though the rivalry is called the "Holy War," what creates a lot of the strong emotional division of U vs. Y fans is not just religious differences, but Utah identification differences. BYU, as a private school, has a much higher percentage of out-of-state students (about 70 percent) than the U of U (about 20 percent). Broken down religiously, nearly all BYU students (99 percent) are LDS, regardless of origin. I cannot find a source, but I believe the majority of the U of U student body is LDS, and would imagine that most out-of-state students are non-LDS. That leaves us with a whole lot of Mormons moving to a new state to attend the ultra-conservative BYU and quite a few non-Mormons moving to a new state to attend a fairly liberal U of U. Their schools are rivals and these people don't accept each other's lifestyles or understand much about their new state.
When looking at out-of-state students, if we put the religious differences and the Utah non-identification differences together, you can see how easily real hatred can form in a hyped up rivalry. Bluntly stated, these transplants to the state don't understand the culture, haven't had the chance to make Mormon or non-Mormon friends, have little understanding of the state's other educational institutions, and generally get sucked into believing all the nonsense they hear without ever having a chance to learn firsthand what their rivals are all about.
All those non-Utahns attending the Y are devoted (religiously and as fans) to BYU, but haven't the slightest emotional connection to anything else about the state. It's easy for them to create a real hatred for the U of U and the godless, debaucherous heathens who they are led to believe go there. Likewise, a lot of Utes fans, especially those from out-of-state or without any LDS friends, haven't the first clue about BYU's role in the state and beyond, and find it easy to stereotype BYU fans as holier-than-thou snobs.
Religion is, without a doubt, an underlying factor in the animosity between many U and Y fans, but how connected they are to the state's citizens and its many institutions is just as big a factor. What's the lesson? Make some Mormon friends if you don't have any, be accepting of people who drink coffee or beer even if you don't, show some tolerance and curiosity about other ways of living, and then root like heck for your favorite team! Most of all, don't be mean.
Sweitzer lives in Ogden.
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