By ADAM MANGUM
mangum@du2.byu.edu
There has been a lot written over the last week in the pages of this very newspaper about the rivalry between BYU and the University of Utah. Articles and letters to the editor have been exchanged to take a stand on the issue.
But where does average Joe Cougar stand? Will the average student even watch the game? Is booing the enemy a sign of bad sportsmanship, or is it rather a sign of a healthy rivalry?
To answer these questions, I turned myself loose upon the populace of BYU, interviewing people on campus. My survey was hardly scientific and even though I'm taking statistics this semester, I couldn't determine its significance. But here are the results either way:
Only two of the people I asked said they were not going to watch on Saturday. Everyone else said they intended to watch the game, mostly on television. An equal number of respondents said they were interested in the game's outcome.
A slight majority of people thought BYU would come out on top, with almost an equal number saying the game was too even to call. Then, I found three traitorous souls which declared their faith to be in the Utes.
Then I asked the people their opinion on the rivalry. Is it too much, or does Provo lack spirit? Is rivalry, in and of itself, a bad or good thing?
For the most part, those questioned said that rivalry was good and fun, as long as it stayed within good sportsmanship. Also, most said BYU lacks spirit within the rivalry.
Rick Price, a sophomore from Sandy with an open major, was asked whether we should try to get along with our northern enemies.
'Why get along?' Price said. 'Its kind of cool within Utah to have a rivalry. Utah needs something like that.'
Josh Gardner, a sophomore from Salt Lake majoring in political science, said the rivalry is much more important to residents of the Salt Lake Valley than it is to BYU students. He attributes this to the greater number of out-of-state students here in Provo.
What about the cheerleaders? Do they get into the rivalry?
Well, I happened to find four of them in the Cougareat(very fortuitous, I know). When asked if there was a rivalry between the two squads, they said there was, but that it was friendly.
'The rivalry is competitive, but in a fun way,' said cheerleader Kristin Redford, a freshman from Provo majoring in elementary education.
But for others, the rivalry is more intese. Angie Harline, a senior from Houston majoring in youth leadership administration, said she never paid the rivalry much attention until last years BYU/Utah basketball game here in Provo.
'I was never biased towards the Utes until that game,' she said. 'There were U of U students behind me. They were drunk and yelling (profanities).'
Of course, Harline used an edited version of the Ute comments.
What was the concensus? The majority of students said rivalry was not a bad thing, as long as it is kept under control. A healthy rivalry can add significance to a game that otherwise might not have any meaning at all. BYU lacks this spirit of rivalry, a majority of students interviewed said.
So go ahead and boo the Utes and cheer even louder for your Cougars. Though some might call booing the dreaded Utes rude and uncalled for, I disagree.
Its also normally rude to bash someone with your body just because they're carrying a ball you want, but that's the nature of football.
Boo. Boo.