but it's important to separate that from the LDS church and its doctrine. I can understand why some aren't fans. Part of being devoutly LDS lends itself to being less cool--"you don't drink, you don't smoke, what do you do?" I'm okay with that (some of the people I find most inspiring wouldn't meet most people's definition of cool). But I also think it's a bit spiritually dangerous (more to kids) to vociferously express dislike for an institution run by the church. I'm not sure kids in particular are equipped to draw the line in their mind that they have some form of testimony but hate BYU, whether it's the school, its sponsoring church or just the fan base. I'm not sure even they would know what they were saying, or what their parents were saying, if they said "I hate BYU!" No, liking BYU or its sports teams aren't temple recommend qualifiers. But understanding BYU's role, and even BYU sports' role, in the overall church's program would, I'd think, be something every member would need to understand and support at some level. Not that you'd need to cheer for them to win all games, but that you'd hope overall the program succeeds at its goals. As a result, in some ways I'm more upset about the Memphis brawl than an 8-5 season. 8-5 I can live with (once in a while), but having the team look really bad on national TV? Cuts against the reason for the program's existence.

Sorry, didn't mean for that to be a soapbox post.