Fan.
The reason why that information is important to begin with is because although I don't go to church, and have reservations about certain aspects of it, I still respect it, the good it does, and those who try to live the standards they preach. Because of the connection between BYU and the church, my respect is extended to the boldness our team displays by openly trying to live-up to a standard of living which most young men aren't able to reach; no matter if our boys fall short at times.
So, why is this Yewt Smack? It's not really, it's mostly an observation I made a few days ago that's really stuck with me, and as someone who is both a BYU fan and more on the outside of the church looking in, I thought some of you might find this interesting.
My girlfriend and I were at The Original Pancake House (best breakfast food in SLC valley) in Sugarhouse last Sunday morning for brunch waiting for 45 minutes to get seatedvery worth it by the way. Sitting next to me was a Ute Fan wearing his U Polo shirt, U hat, U goatee and oddly enough socks and sandals. Go figure...
I have many close friend's who are huge Ute fans and when it comes down to it I just love talking football, so I was gearing up to strike-up a conversation during the wait. Just before I opened my mouth a family walked in through the door to be seated after their name was called. They were all dressed in their Sunday finest, white shirts and ties, maybe they were mormon, maybe not, but they looked the part.
Immediately, the Ute fan next to me turns to his family (3 young kids and his wife) and launches into a diatribe about the family that just walked in being hypocrites. In the span of 20 minutes he took his kids on a tour through every single close-minded and judgemental insult ever levied against Mormons and did so in such a cruel way that it bordered on the line of indoctrination. When he spoke you could hear the hate in his words, it was actually extremely sad.
The reason why I'm sharing this story is this: I've had most of the week to think about what I saw and to really let the whole scene sink in. Fellas, it's great to have a rival like the Utes. To me, it's the perfect rivalry. It reminds me of the type of rivalry I had with my brother growing up. Familiarity, a history, we knew each others moves on the court, and were both trying to impress the same group of people with our (hypothetically speaking) athletic prowess. BUT...
The hate in this man was so great that it superseded a rivalry. I felt a true pity for him. I sincerely hope none of us feel the way about the Utes the way the man I encountered thinks he feels about us. The moment a rivalry consumes you to the point of hate is the moment you've lost sight of much, much greater things.
Go Cougars!
