The Holy War

[mirkwood]

 

 

[Traveler]

1 hour ago, mirkwood said:

 

 

Thanks to a coach from BYU

 

The Traveler

[JohnsonJones]

I must admit...I don't get it.

[LDSGator]

9 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

I must admit...I don't get it.

It’s a religious school (BYU) vs a secular one (Utah). So I don’t get it either. The other holy war in college football is between two nominally religious schools-Notre Dame and BC. 

[Guest Godless]

23 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

It’s a religious school (BYU) vs a secular one (Utah). So I don’t get it either. The other holy war in college football is between two nominally religious schools-Notre Dame and BC. 

It's not happening this year, but BYU/Notre Dame would qualify as well.

[LDSGator]

1 minute ago, Godless said:

It's not happening this year, but BYU/Notre Dame would qualify as well.

Agree 100%. 

[dprh]

33 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

It’s a religious school (BYU) vs a secular one (Utah). So I don’t get it either. The other holy war in college football is between two nominally religious schools-Notre Dame and BC. 

Maybe he meant 'holey' war, referring to BYU's defensive line.  BOOM!

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, dprh said:

Maybe he meant 'holey' war, referring to BYU's defensive line.  BOOM!

Zing! Zing! 

[Vort]

There was a time when the football rivalry between BYU and the U of U was fun and light-hearted. When I was a student at BYU in the 1980s, that is how we approached it. I was shocked to discover that many U of U students, even back then, sincerely despised BYU and honestly wished evil upon its football team as well as the institution itself and especially its students. Charges of "holier-than-thou" attitudes abounded, though I rarely saw such from BYU students. Acquaintances at the U of U confirmed that the bitter feelings were both sincere and widely felt.

I avoid most rivalry nonsense now. Some U of U students, alumni, and supporters I count as friends, even family. I have been disappointed to find in my adult life that some U of U alums proudly wear a chip on their shoulder and actively denigrate BYU as an institution as well as its students and alumni, even at Church. A better man than I would take pity on such souls. For myself, I tend to despise those who despise me and things I find sacred.

There is nothing ennobling or fun or enjoyable about "rivalry" interactions with Utah. U of U students, alumni, and faculty have seen to that. It's all hatred and virtue-signaling allegations of oppression. Mockery is common; a favorite of many U of U students is "sacrament" using Jello and whiskey shots. Har de har har.

Personally, I am all for BYU dropping U of U from any and all sports and other intermural activities forever. Winning streak? Losing streak? Who cares? If they want to proclaim their superiority, that's okay by me. Let them wallow in their own filth. Just keep those I care about away from them.

The point is, there is nothing holy about it.

(And for the record, I'm certainly not talking about mirkwood. Don't mean to rain on his parade or his rivalry smack. I consider him one of the Ute friends I mentioned back in the second paragraph.)

Edited September 9, 2021 by Vort

[mikbone]

Football is too dangerous a sport.  I played it in high school back in Texas and had quite a few bad experiences.  Heat exhaustion, concussions, stupid coaches.  A boy from a neighboring town died from abdominal injury during practice -  he had mono, and an enlarged spleen that ruptured.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy CTE has become a big deal and hopefully will eventually cause the NFL to make some drastic changes.

I have seen some heart breaking injuries in  children.  And have treated countless elderly men with advanced traumatic knee arthritis that started from football knee injuries.  Including my father.

The steroids that have made the athletes bigger, stronger, and faster is also a huge problem.

I’d like to see us move to something safer like Australian rules football or rugby.  We must get rid of the head gear and armor that encourages the athletes to collide with reckless abandon.

I think that Fantasy Football has extended the lifespan of American football.  But I think & hope it’s days are numbered.

I’ll still probably watch it though, but I’d like to see some changes.

 

[mirkwood]

Interesting perspective @Vort.  I've experienced some less than light hearted rivalry while attending basket ball games between the two down in Provo (never could get football tix.)  I would not say either set of fans is innocent, though I suspect the minority are the problem.

 

That said:

 

[LDSGator]

11 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

Interesting perspective @Vort.  I've experienced some less than light hearted rivalry while attending basket ball games between the two down in Provo (never could get football tix.)  I would not say either set of fans is innocent, though I suspect the minority are the problem.

 

That said:

 

College sports always were a bit more intense than the pros. Down here it’s a religion. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by LDSGator

[mirkwood]

Here's a list of all the reasons that I'm convinced that Utah wins easily this Saturday:

 

1. Utah is a lot better at football

[Anddenex]

20 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

I must admit...I don't get it.

Let me break it down for you:

1. UofU and BYU are rivals, thus the Holy War is a play on words.

2. BYU hasn't beat the UofU since 2010 in football

3. Thus, UofU is living rent free (play with words) in the heads of BYU players -- thus the reason they are still losing. Or as any sport player knows, when you are in the head of your opponent you are winning.

[mirkwood]

Max Hall still hates me.

[Vort]

17 hours ago, mirkwood said:

Here's a list of all the reasons that I'm convinced that Utah wins easily this Saturday:

 

1. Utah is a lot better at football

Honestly, this is the best possible smack Utah has. Until BYU wins, it can't really respond.

[mirkwood]

[mirkwood]

Utah Utes Fight Song - Mormon Tabernacle Choir - YouTube

[MrShorty]

@mirkwood So you are predicting an all field goal game when BYU and WSU face off in pullman in late October?

[clwnuke]

If BYU wants to win games, any game, every player on the team needs to realize that they are never competing against an opponent - they are competing against themselves. It isn't Utah they need to beat, it's mental mistakes and errors they need to beat.

I will be forever grateful for one particular JV soccer coach in my life who worked us into the ground every practice, to a point that we literally hated this coach for his endless demands of perfection in every skill. He was young and had played for the US Olympic team before blowing a knee. He yelled, he pushed, he made you work until your legs and body collapsed to the ground gasping for air. We practiced longer than any other team on the field, often hitting the locker room soaked with mud from diving headers at the end of practice in the rain, walking fully clothed into the showers to rinse off.

He didn't care about winning. For the first several games of the season he demanded that we not score a goal, but that we work the ball down to a point where we could obviously attempt a goal shot, and then turn around and work the ball around the entire field again, and again, and again. Opposing coaches were perplexed.

He taught us that the way to really win was by demanding excellence from yourself - every minute of every game you were to give give every ounce of energy and thought you could muster from the deepest parts of your soul. Play smart, play hard, and play with solid sportsmanship! He demanded that you complement the good plays of the other team, help them up if they fell down, and he would bench you for the slightest unsportsmanlike conduct. He said that you didn't need to hate the other team in order to do your best.

When he finally turned us loose to actually score, we never lost a game. At the end of the season we played the Varsity team before the went to state playoffs. We beat them 3-1, and that was the only day during the entire year that the Varsity team stayed on the field longer than we did. I've never forgotten those lessons.

I have kids who graduated from BYU, Utah, and Utah State so I guess I'm happy no matter who wins - and I will hoping that every player does his best.

[mirkwood]

[clwnuke]

On 9/9/2021 at 8:16 AM, dprh said:

Maybe he meant 'holey' war, referring to BYU's defensive line.  BOOM!

@dprh You got that all wrong! It's BYU's defensive strategy called "Planned Confusion". The idea is that you offer so many open paths down the field that there is a moment of "confusion" in which the opposing player hesitates and can be tackled.

It usually works until the opposing team realizes that it doesn't matter which hole in the line you choose, they are all good .., 🙁

Edited September 10, 2021 by clwnuke

[clwnuke]

Weather might make the game a slog-fest, which favors Utah's running game.

[mirkwood]

[hzdbl5]

There was a time when the football rivalry between BYU and the U of U was fun and light-hearted. When I was a student at Utah in the 1980s, that is how we approached it. I was shocked to discover that many BYU students, even back then, sincerely despised Utah and honestly wished evil upon its football team as well as the institution itself and especially its students. Charges of "we’re-God’s-chosen" attitudes abounded, though I never saw such from Utah students. Acquaintances at BYU confirmed that the bitter feelings were both sincere and widely felt.  Max Hall was just the one to verbalize it.

I avoid most rivalry nonsense now. Some BYU students, alumni, and supporters I count as dear, close friends, even family. I have been disappointed to find in my adult life that some BYU alums proudly wear a chip on their shoulder and actively denigrate Utah as an institution as well as its students and alumni, even at Church. A better man than I would take pity on such souls. For myself, I tend to avoid those who despise me. 

There is nothing ennobling, or fun, or enjoyable about "rivalry" interactions with BYU. BYU students, alumni, and faculty have seen to that. It’s all hatred and virtue-signaling, allegations of religious bigotry. Mockery is common; a favorite of many BYU students is denigrating the Ute Indian tribe by referring to Utah’s mascot as the “Yewts”.  Har de, har har.

Personally, I am all for Utah dropping BYU from any and all sports and other intermural activities forever. Winning streak? Losing streak? Who cares? If they want to proclaim their moral superiority, that's okay by me. Let them wallow in their own self-proclaimed righteousness. Just keep those I care about away from them.

The point is there is nothing holy about it.

(And for the record, I'm certainly not talking about Vort. I don’t know him personally so can’t speak intelligently about his behavior and attitude.  I do enjoy reading his comments on these boards.  I only want to point out the nastiness goes both ways, unfortunately.)

Edited September 10, 2021 by hzdbl5