The Great Utah-BYU Divide, and Me in the Middle
Judging by my e-mail, it must be football season.
Before the first game has been played, I’m already getting hate mail from fans on both sides of the BYU-Utah divide. And on both sides, they’ve been accusing me of being partisan to the other.
The impetus was my column for Wednesday’s paper, wherein I wrote — lightly, I thought — that after everything the Utes did this summer, BYU stole its thunder this week by going independent. I figured it was just a humorous observation, but when it comes to Utah vs. BYU, it seems there isn’t a ton of room for humor.
As I noted previously, it surprised me that fans of either team thought I was cheering for anyone.
It was an observation, people, not propaganda.
Wrote one reader: “Wow, Brad, you really out-did yourself to put a Utah spin on the BYU announcement. Congratulations!! I didn’t think it was possible for an objective person to believe a school that has been contemplating it’s future for the past 3 or so years could look at their last-minute announcement, which they had played close to the vest, as a negative snub of their recent rival. Only a partisan Utah fan, not a true sports reporter, would suggest such a thing, couched in terms of illegal activity (stealing).”
On the other end of the spectrum was this: “Spin it baby, spin it. Wow, what a strange angle you took. ‘steals the spotlight’ is the story? So it’s all about the Utes in the end? You’ve clearly missed the mark on what the sentiment is outside your office. BYU finally chose between ok, bad and worse. BYU are fans are going through buyer remorse after about an hour of excitement and Ute fans are beginning to actually feel bad for BYU. “
Another reader contributed this: “Brad, I just read your latest article about stealing the spotlight with their announcement about going independent in football and joining the mighty WCC in basketball and all other sports. I guess in your expert opinion joining the WCC is stealing the thunder away from Utah who is only joining a sub-par conference like the PAC 10. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds to anyone outside of Cougar nation? Is your newspaper really worthy of being considered part of journalism?”
And finally: “Get a clue…..this isn’t the 80′s anymore. Happy Valley’s glory days are a distant image in the rear view mirror…thankfully most people realize that.”
I really wasn’t spinning, pushing or promoting either school, just observing that even at the start of one of Utah’s most interesting years, BYU manages to get into the story. Those teams will be competing for headlines, it seems, for a lot of years. Sorry to disappoint readers, but there was no agenda on my part, or the newspaper’s, just a good column angle.
I can hardly wait to see the mail I get during rivalry week.