I hate the University of Utah

Finally, Someone had the courage and the lack of tact to say it. "I don’t like Utah, in fact I hate them." How true those words ring in my soul. And no, I’m no typical zoobie. I don’t think BYU is the ‘Lord’s University”, and in fact I disagree that Utah is isn’t a great institution and has a fantastic football program. But I do hate them. Not because they are all anti-Mormon or jack Mormon—although a lot of them are—but because they accuse the BYU Nation of being self-righteous and Hippocratic. They are just as self-righteous in their Utah fanship or even in their behavior as BYU is, they just don’t have a Church of Jesus Christ officially supporting them. They aren’t hypocrites, that is for sure. but they are often mean, fowl, and counter-culture.

I will be the first to admit that our fans are almost as bad as Utah fans, and Max Hall had harsh words for BYU fans too. We are annoying, and going to home games can be painful because of how idiotic, self-righteous, and myopic BYU fans are. But Utah is worse. They just are.

I digress a little, because I think my hate for Utah isn’t something that can be explained. It’s something that is inside me. I want to be able to be happy that they won a BCS game, because it helped the conference, but I can’t. I want to be able to be happy for Alex Smith when he got drafted and feel bad for his poor performance, although I wasn’t happy for him and I love that he fell flat on his face. I loved it. I love that a self-righteous jerk, who is ignorant and even arrogant, is kicking butt in the NFL on the Colts. I just love BYU so much that it requires me to hate Utah.

I just think that deep in the rivalry between these two teams lies a mountain of emotion that extends into LDS church history and modern Mormon culture. Think about it, BYU-Utah, Dessert News-Salt Lake Tribune, Provo-Salt Lake City. The fight between Mormon culture and modern thought puts people at odds. And although not generally applied to every BYU and Utah fan, the rivalry is rooted in that dynamic.

So if you're a true BYU fan, you really don't like Utah, but Max’s rant doesn't really reflect the church, and probably doesn’t come from his love of BYU. It doesn't reflect the university of BYU. It reflects his emotions—from sucking last year and having one bad family experience—and reflects his passion for what has happened this year. But that first sentence reflects what I and every true blue cougar feels. I hate Utah and I sure love beating and sending them to a bowl game named after a flower.