Today is the BYU vs U of U football game. It is affectionately known as “The Holy War”
for the fans involved.
I grew up smack dab in the heart of “Ute country”. My home growing up was a 15 minute drive to the U of U campus and was
surrounded by the fans of the red school.
But I was raised in a home that cheered for the blue team (except when
they bought season tickets to the U of U basketball games…we’ll forgive that
little infraction). BYU football was a
huge thing in my home, our fall was planned around the games. Often we (or my parents) traveled to one or
two away games each season. We almost
always went to the “Holiday Bowl” in San Diego
that BYU used to play in nearly annually.
We attended the 1984 National Championship bowl game and I’m pretty sure
tears were shed. It was BIG OLD DEAL and a huge tradition in my
family. My brother went to BYU and
married a Ute fan and we say they have a “mixed marriage”. One year my sister-in-law baked a BYU cake
for my Dad to “congratulate” him on the Cougars win and when he cut into it, it
was a red velvet cake. So funny!
I was a HUGE football fan from my tween years on. I knew the game, I knew the statistics. I had huge crushes on the players (Steve
Young and Mark Bellini mostly). I loved going to the game and watching them on
TV. In fact one of the things my husband
was attracted to was my love of football and BYU.
In my high school (Go
Oly!) we celebrated “rivalry week”. Mr.
James Felt, my history teacher was
HUMONGOUS Ute fan. He even had a
red Swedish knit suit he wore that week.
I walked into his class with BYU
sweatshirt on, and he told me I lost points on the assignment for the day. If he could have legally done it, I am pretty
sure he would have. We also had Mr. Marc
Lyons who played for BYU and who does the color commentary for BYU football, he
taught Math and his classroom was directly across the parking lot from Mr. Felt’s. Every year they would each decorate their
windows in their respective colors and the rivalry was HUGE between them. In fact they always had a bet going, if their
team lost they had to sing the fight song of the opposing school over the loud
speaker and dress in Ute or Cougar gear.
If you haven’t lived along the Wasatch front or attended BYU
or the U, you probably think the rivalry is a little bit ridiculous. It is, but it is a fun crazy. The “Holy War” title isn’t that far from the
truth. There are a lot of people who go
to and teach at the U that have problems with BYU’s standards and even LDS
doctrine. Don’t get me wrong there are a
lot of LDS fans of the Utes, but there is a bit of an undercurrent of some
religious contention in much of the rivalry.
I have been to many BYU/Utah games and there are always fights that
break out, there is always name calling and it happens at both stadiums. BYU fans are guilty of baiting Ute fans (sometimes
worse) and vice versa (and BYU fans can’t even blame it on the liquor!).
So we are heading off to some
friends to watch the game and cheer for the BLUE . Go BYU, please make a better showing than
last year!
