Why I WAS a BYU fan

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Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by FloridaAggie13 » October 8th, 2018, 2:49 pm

I thought this might be a bit insightful as we all ponder why in the world anyone could be a BYU fan and why there is such a prevalence of Zoob fans who've never even attended the school.

I know, because I was one.

1. I am a child of the 70's and a teenager, college student of the 80's early 90's and BYU football was on television EVERY Saturday afternoon. USU wasn't, Utah wasn't, but BYU was.

2. They were entertaining to watch because they threw the ball all over the place. Yes, they were, admit it. While the Big 8 conference was enamored with the wishbone and option attacks and the Big Ten was double TE I-formation, BYU was throwing the ball 45 times a game against everyone. The offensive concept was so cutting edge that Bill Walsh adopted it in the late 70's and dominated the NFL for the next decade. Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon (loved him - he would have been a great Aggie) and Steve Young. Robbie Boscoe - Lavell Edwards once said Boscoe might have been the best of them all until his shoulder injury. Point #2 is they were fun to watch.

3. Growing up in Utah I felt like we weren't "respected" within the sports universe. No MLB or NFL team. Everyone was either a Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos or San Francisco 49ers fan. The fact that BYU was consistently a top 20 team was exciting and it felt like it gave the state some legitimacy and yes, I rooted for them to beat Michigan to win the National Title.

What changed?

1. Attending USU for college. My first three years at USU, '87, '88, and '89 were bad football teams. I went to one or two games a year and usually it was just to mock the ineptness of our own team. Show up late first quarter and get a seat on the 50 yard line. The real game was on TV - BYU vs whomever. Then, BYU played in Logan in early 1989. I was excited to finally see them in person. After all, Ty Detmer was lighting everyone up, and...and I saw up close how big of pricks these guys were. Where was this "honor code" I'd heard of all of my life? I don't remember which WR it was but after the game he was whining about USU's DB's hitting late - all game long we were watching BYU players "hit through the whistle" and now this entitled zoob is whining that he was getting his own medicine?

2. Same game...BYU fans up close. Need I say more? They acted like they were offended there was no red carpet for them, after all, they were gracing us with their presence. My college roommates, some of which were from Utah County, were ecstatic that I was able to see up close what they had experienced their whole lives.

2a. I attended the '91 and '92 games in Provo. My roommate was from Utah County and had a lot of friends at BYU. Toward the end of the '92 game we went down to talk to a group of parents of friends he'd played baseball with, some of whom were at BYU. They were lower row seats, very good seats, and the condescension they showed was palpitating. It was Weatherbie's first year and probably the first time in a decade USU didn't just lay down and their treatment of us felt like being patted on the head, "...you guys have a good team. Keep up the work..." while in their minds they're thinking USU will never beat us again. Then '93...:-)

3. Never rooted for BYU again. I've said this before...I moved to Florida in 1995 and it was almost like a breath of fresh air (saying I was reborn would be too predictable) when BYU wasn't on TV unless it was a national game (and I didn't watch) and moreover, no one here knew who they were. They weren't/aren't respected nationally as some football or sports power; funny, because the media in Utah made is seem so.

Love watching their decline and I hope no one let's them into a conference so they can taste the withering fruits of the tumbleweed of independence while choking on their own narcissism.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by Donman » October 8th, 2018, 3:05 pm

I can relate. I was a BYU fan growing up. I used to make a 4-5 hour drive to go to almost every home game.

I went on a mission and went to Utah State. I was already having an issue because I remember all of people who went and partied all of the time and then suddenly they were going to BYU. I also remember people acting like I was some sinner because I wasn't going to BYU (could have had a scholarship there but never really had the desire to attend).

Worked in the AD when I was at USU and got to see the very attitudes you discussed.

As one of my former coworkers told me on Twitter during the game when I mentioned I was beginning to feel bad for BYU, he reminded me of all of the mocking we had gone through.

First time I've been able to witness my Aggies win in Provo ever (and I've attended many games in that stadium and Marriot Center).

Thank you Coach Wells and the team for making a dream come true!!!



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ViAggie » October 8th, 2018, 3:08 pm

some funny stories about byu's "honor code"

My sister in law was at home one night studying when she got this phone call from someone claiming to be her dad's friend.
She said he wasn't home but she could take a message. The guy asked if she wouldn't mind driving to Provo and giving a byu football player a ride to "Coach Edwards home." She agreed and he gave her the address. When she drove to the address on West Center Street she realized that it was Jim McMahon, standing in front of a bar, a bit tipsy, needing a ride. It's no mystery why my father in law had a Jim McMohon signed byu football on display in his office, apparently it wasn't only time he gave him a ride when he was in a jam LOLZ.


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by SeattleAg » October 8th, 2018, 3:39 pm

ViAggie wrote:
October 8th, 2018, 3:08 pm
some funny stories about byu's "honor code"

My sister in law was at home one night studying when she got this phone call from someone claiming to be her dad's friend.
She said he wasn't home but she could take a message. The guy asked if she wouldn't mind driving to Provo and giving a byu football player a ride to "Coach Edwards home." She agreed and he gave her the address. When she drove to the address on West Center Street she realized that it was Jim McMahon, standing in front of a bar, a bit tipsy, needing a ride. It's no mystery why my father in law had a Jim McMohon signed byu football on display in his office, apparently it wasn't only time he gave him a ride when he was in a jam LOLZ.
Jim McMahon is far and away the best Cougar ever. No matter my feelings about the institution as a whole, I will always have a soft spot for a man who once blew his nose on San Diego Chargers reporters. (I think it was SD at least.)



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by USUBlue » October 8th, 2018, 3:46 pm

FloridaAggie13 wrote:
October 8th, 2018, 2:49 pm
I thought this might be a bit insightful as we all ponder why in the world anyone could be a BYU fan and why there is such a prevalence of Zoob fans who've never even attended the school.

I know, because I was one.

1. I am a child of the 70's and a teenager, college student of the 80's early 90's and BYU football was on television EVERY Saturday afternoon. USU wasn't, Utah wasn't, but BYU was.

2. They were entertaining to watch because they threw the ball all over the place. Yes, they were, admit it. While the Big 8 conference was enamored with the wishbone and option attacks and the Big Ten was double TE I-formation, BYU was throwing the ball 45 times a game against everyone. The offensive concept was so cutting edge that Bill Walsh adopted it in the late 70's and dominated the NFL for the next decade. Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon (loved him - he would have been a great Aggie) and Steve Young. Robbie Boscoe - Lavell Edwards once said Boscoe might have been the best of them all until his shoulder injury. Point #2 is they were fun to watch.

3. Growing up in Utah I felt like we weren't "respected" within the sports universe. No MLB or NFL team. Everyone was either a Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos or San Francisco 49ers fan. The fact that BYU was consistently a top 20 team was exciting and it felt like it gave the state some legitimacy and yes, I rooted for them to beat Michigan to win the National Title.

What changed?

1. Attending USU for college. My first three years at USU, '87, '88, and '89 were bad football teams. I went to one or two games a year and usually it was just to mock the ineptness of our own team. Show up late first quarter and get a seat on the 50 yard line. The real game was on TV - BYU vs whomever. Then, BYU played in Logan in early 1989. I was excited to finally see them in person. After all, Ty Detmer was lighting everyone up, and...and I saw up close how big of pricks these guys were. Where was this "honor code" I'd heard of all of my life? I don't remember which WR it was but after the game he was whining about USU's DB's hitting late - all game long we were watching BYU players "hit through the whistle" and now this entitled zoob is whining that he was getting his own medicine?

2. Same game...BYU fans up close. Need I say more? They acted like they were offended there was no red carpet for them, after all, they were gracing us with their presence. My college roommates, some of which were from Utah County, were ecstatic that I was able to see up close what they had experienced their whole lives.

2a. I attended the '91 and '92 games in Provo. My roommate was from Utah County and had a lot of friends at BYU. Toward the end of the '92 game we went down to talk to a group of parents of friends he'd played baseball with, some of whom were at BYU. They were lower row seats, very good seats, and the condescension they showed was palpitating. It was Weatherbie's first year and probably the first time in a decade USU didn't just lay down and their treatment of us felt like being patted on the head, "...you guys have a good team. Keep up the work..." while in their minds they're thinking USU will never beat us again. Then '93...:-)

3. Never rooted for BYU again. I've said this before...I moved to Florida in 1995 and it was almost like a breath of fresh air (saying I was reborn would be too predictable) when BYU wasn't on TV unless it was a national game (and I didn't watch) and moreover, no one here knew who they were. They weren't/aren't respected nationally as some football or sports power; funny, because the media in Utah made is seem so.

Love watching their decline and I hope no one let's them into a conference so they can taste the withering fruits of the tumbleweed of independence while choking on their own narcissism.
As a Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints Aggie, I always love a good conversion story. Let me just say "Amen"!



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by GreenAg » October 8th, 2018, 3:58 pm

"Love watching their decline and I hope no one lets them into a conference so they can taste the withering fruits of the tumbleweed of independence while choking on their own narcissism. "

A-effing-men! I'm also a converted Cougar (so many siblings and parents and in-laws have graduated from there). Long story short, it was the aggregate effect of a million different condescending and douchey comments that swayed me. I'm loving their slow decline into irrelevance; the effect of their own self-absorption ("We can survive independence, like Notre Dame." "We'll surely get a conference invitation eventually." "Magic happens." "It's not a rivalry.").



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by DaKineKane » October 8th, 2018, 4:12 pm

I, like many fellow Utahns, grew up drinking the same kook-aid as everyone because, as previously stated, they were the only kook-aid available at the time. I mostly didn't care about football anyway back then because my ADHD wouldn't let me stay engaged long enough to care. Then I went to college and experienced first hand how douche their students can be. I had never met so many people in one location actively reminding everyone how special they are for attending BYU and how much smarter and better they had to be to even get in. That really turned me off. Flash-forward to post-mission college, I transferred from Snow College to USU. When I discovered how awesome USU basketball was and how fun their games were, I was sold through and through on Aggie fandom. This was still in 2008-2010 when football still was crap. Then when we beat them in football in 2010, I got a lot more interested in football and discovered just how horribly douchey BYU had been to USU football in decades past. It was nice to be in a place that shared my pre-USU animosity towards BYU. It is certainly sweet to be able to own them on the grid-iron.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by FloridaAggie13 » October 8th, 2018, 8:35 pm

For awhile I wondered if it was just me...glad to see others grew up a Zoob fan almost by default due to the media coverage.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ineptimusprime » October 8th, 2018, 8:59 pm

It’s really not too surprising that there are many former BYU fans amongst the Aggie fanbase. I mean we are all just people that didn’t get into BYU with axes to grind. :sarcasm:

I grew up a BYU fan, but after serving an LDS mission came to USU (because that’s where my now wife was going). I was a quick Aggie convert, and then a few years later a de-convert from the LDS Church.

Most can probably not relate to this, but I am mostly thankful that I deconverted from BYU fandom before deconverting from the Church. I am personally aware of many ex-mormons that cannot shake their BYU fandom, which is extremely awkward and something that should probably be in the DSM-V.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ChicagoAggie » October 8th, 2018, 9:48 pm

Never, never, never, ever was I a BYU fan. Grew up an Aggie fan from the moment I could walk and talk.

Now that the annual two weeks of BYU (week leading up to the game and week after) are nearly over...can we move on?



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by jackmormon » October 8th, 2018, 10:10 pm

ChicagoAggie wrote:
October 8th, 2018, 9:48 pm
Never, never, never, ever was I a BYU fan. Grew up an Aggie fan from the moment I could walk and talk.

Now that the annual two weeks of BYU (week leading up to the game and week after) are nearly over...can we move on?
My sister made Jim Turner play electric football with me on Christmas when I was five. I was an Aggie from day one.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by Aggie formerly in Hawaii » October 8th, 2018, 10:47 pm

Never was a byu fan, but I certainly had a level of inferiority complex when it came to the rivalry. Say what you want about Matt Wells, but destroying byu in provo was science fiction in my youth. He has now done that twice. We were lucky to get a crazy 58-56 win and I thought; "yeah we can beat byu, but only by a crazy fluke." Glad those days are gone. Not only do we belong on the field with byu, but we are the better program now. Incredible.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by BigBlueAggie » October 8th, 2018, 11:15 pm

Love this thread.

So I grew up in Louisville Kentucky. I was 16 in 1987. Prior to this was a sorta Cougar fan because...well I was a Morm..errr...Latter Day Sain...errr...umm, whatever we are called now, and my sister was going to school there and sent me back swag all the time.

Meanwhile, my Mom had a job being the secretary for the basketball coach at the University of Louisville Cardinals (starting in 1980 when they won the National Championship). I quickly became a Cardinal fan and loved watching Darrell Griffith amongst others as I grew up and she kept getting me tickets. By the time I was 16, I loved the Cards and liked BYU. Then, as fate would have it, BYU was to meet the Cards in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I knew my ward/stake had many BYU homers and we all got along because the Cards never played them. Our stake set up a watch party at the stake center and over the next few days as the delusional Cougar fans kept talking an unreal amount of smack about how badly they were going to beat the 5th seed UofL, I grew to hate them. During the actual game, it was even worse, with our Bishop and Stake President getting into the action and their kids, who were close my age, taking it to unreal, very uncool, unsportsman-like levels.

There was no Cinderella Story that day as Goliath flicked his index finger at David and knocked him out cold with Louisville rolling them 97-76. By the end of the game my hatred of them and their team had taken root.

That summer, my Mom moved to SLC to attend the U for her Master's Degree and we lived on campus my senior year. I had every intention of being a Ute as I left on my mission (going from a red team to a red team seemed awfully convenient). Came home two years later, enrolled at the U that summer to start in the fall. Met my wife on a blind date. Got very serious very fast (because she was way outta my league and liked me for some reason), proposed, she said yes. I asked her when she was going to transfer from USU shortly thereafter, even though she was going to be starting her junior year there and she just laughed and said when are you transferring to Utah State? She then proceeded to lay out her pedigree how every generation of her family since the 1890s had attended there as well as her parents and her brothers and sisters (all eight ended up going to USU) and said again, when are you going to transfer?

Honestly, my reaction was "Where and what the heck is Utah State??" She told me, "Just to come up for a day and check it out." I agreed and the second I drove into Cache Valley and then saw Old Main, walked the Quad, etc. I was all in. Transferred the next day and absolutely LOVE being an Aggie. The highlight was interning in athletics in 1993 and seeing the 58-56 win up close and personal.

Postscript: we are three for three in sending kids on scholarship to USU with one more to go in two years. More importantly, all of my kids grew up thinking the smell of skunk was the smell of BYU because for about 3 or 4 times in a row, whenever we drove I-15 south through Utah County there was a dead skunk and I would point at the Y and say, "See kids, that is the stench of BYU."



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by bigblue » October 9th, 2018, 12:39 am

At first I wasn't that interested in this thread. But I have to admit, I love hearing these stories. Thank you all for sharing.

As for me, I'm Aggie born. Even starting my college education at Weber State, which never felt right but my only option at the time, I was still an Aggie. Life did allow me to get transferred to where I belonged to become the Aggie grad I always wanted to be.

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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by aggies22 » October 9th, 2018, 6:37 am

I'm proud of you guys! The first step is admitting you had a problem in the first place.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by JSHarvey » October 9th, 2018, 7:33 am

BigBlueAggie wrote:
October 8th, 2018, 11:15 pm
. . .
Postscript: we are three for three in sending kids on scholarship to USU with one more to go in two years. More importantly, all of my kids grew up thinking the smell of skunk was the smell of BYU because for about 3 or 4 times in a row, whenever we drove I-15 south through Utah County there was a dead skunk and I would point at the Y and say, "See kids, that is the stench of BYU."
LOL That's a great story! :-)


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by RigAggie » October 9th, 2018, 8:20 am

Growing up in southern Idaho in the 70-80's there was no one to root for in Idaho. Played football in HS and had an older former teammate get a scholarship offer to BYU. So I watched and cheered for them. Went on a Mission and followed older siblings and enrolled at USU. Lived through the horrible early years in the 90's, but fell in love with the team on a freezing cold winter day when Beach kicked that floater and beat a ranked Fresno State team. Met my wife at USU who lived in SLC and was a cougar fan her whole life. Brought her parents to the game against Anthony Calvillo and watched USU beat BYU in an absolutely fantastic game(still remind her parents of that game). We went to games in Provo, both Basketball and Football and suffered the indignation of BYU fans telling us to "drop football" and "get a life, go to BYU".

My love of all things Aggie has grown to where my oldest son now plays in the Marching Band for USU and was at the game last Friday night cheering like crazy for this great team.

My friends, we are as of right now, living in the glory days of USU football. It is a wonderful day indeed.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by 2004AG » October 9th, 2018, 10:20 am

Born and raised an Aggie. Lived in Utah County my whole life hating byu. My wife thinks I’m kidding when I say any child that doesn’t go to Utah State is our of the will.


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by swordsman1989 » October 9th, 2018, 12:08 pm

I grew up in Hanover, NH, the child of two USU Aggies. Being a Morm...oops, I mean member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, most people from my ward expected me to want to go to BYU. But the thought never crossed my mind, not once. Not only were my parents Aggies, my Mom's family all lived in Logan, so every summer we would spend a few weeks at my grandparents house just down the street from the Spectrum and Stadium. I loved going up to campus during our visits, and often our trips would correspond with the Festival of the American West when it was still held on the HPER fields. So when I graduated, there was only one place I wanted to go, USU. I resented the non-stop question "why don't you want to go to BYU", and very quickly learned to resent everything BYU.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by GUS » October 9th, 2018, 12:38 pm

I grew up the child of two USU Aggies. All my siblings graduated from USU. I attended USU out of high school and then left on a church mission. After my mission, some missionary friends talked me into attending byu. That school sucked big time and after one year I returned to USU where I graduated and never looked back. One year going to school with those idiots is more than a person should be required to endure. While living in provo, I realized I was a true blue Aggie. I remember I had received a sticker that said go USU beat byu while I was visiting Logan. It wasn't on my vehicle a week before it was defaced by the provo turds.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by thegreendalegelf » October 9th, 2018, 1:00 pm

I, like many, grew up a BYU fan. My grandfather was an Aggie fan and a Cougar fan but when he was raising my father, uncles and aunts, there wasn't much for the Aggies. So they grew up Cougar fans and so I grew up a Cougar fan. We didn't even have much "Red blood" in the family.

Then as I prepared for college, I loved USU. BYU never seemed to try to court me, they simply said "you want to be here, so whatever." USU seemed to care about me and it seemed like a lot more fun. I also at that point started getting sick of "Utah mormons" and I felt that BYU would be populated solely with them. Not to mention that my program is better at USU than it is at BYU.

But once I made my decision, I was shocked at the comments from BYU fans and students. "Oh did you not get in?" "Were you not worthy?" "Its okay you can transfer over." I didn't get rejected from BYU. I had good grades/ACT/extra curricular/etc. and I know I would have gotten in. I just didn't want to go. I rejected BYU.

But then the rude comments continued. Whether it was about Logan, our football team (my freshman year was 2012), our basketball team, etc. It was almost as if BYU *had* to be better than USU in everything and every single USU student/fan was jealous of every single aspect of BYU/Provo.

So in 2010, I was ecstatic about BYU beating Utah and in 2012, I was ecstatic about Utah beating BYU and heartbroken over the Aggies losing in Provo 6-3. And every year, my love for the Aggies has grown and my dislike for BYU has too. I've even started liking Utah just fine.
Last edited by thegreendalegelf on October 9th, 2018, 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by utkyag » October 9th, 2018, 1:52 pm

I can proudly say that I have never been a BYU fan. I also grew up in Louisville (50's and 60's) after being born in Lexington across the street from the U of K campus. I had no clue what a Mormon was or who Brigham Young was (I attended the Christian Church which I called the Church of Kentucky Fried Chicken because our pastor was a childhood friend of Colonel Sanders and he would attend services there). I had to ask my dad where and what Utah was when he came home and said we were moving there (figured if Daniel Boone didn't want to go there, neither did I). Seagrams had let him go after not wanting to take a promotion and mandatory move to the corporate offices in New York City (my dad had redesigned the distillation process to get a better yield and quality of bourbon....his schematic was the mural in the Seagrams lobby for years). He took a job with the R&D group at Thiokol (natural progression....booze to rocket fuel). Box Elder High School was not the best experience for me, so I attended Dixie Junior College to get as far away from the students of Box Elder and still pay in state tuition with the plan to transfer to the U of K after my sophomore year. At the end of my sophomore year, my father had a severe heart attack, and not knowing how he would pull out of it, I told my mother I would transfer to USU to be close in case she needed help with my dad or the horses (he had a full recovery). That was the best decision of my life. Glen Taggart was university president, and I think the only reason I was not kicked out due to some of the pranks I was involved with, was due to his daughter being part of our group. I have a true love for USU and a genuine dislike for BYU. I told my nephew that he was out of the will when he married a BYU graduate....of course my great nephews have tons of Aggie clothes and other USU paraphernalia. I even gave my niece-in-law Aggie gear for her graduation present from BYU. Over the years and the various companies I have worked for, it has been easy to tell who are the BYU graduates and who are the USU graduates among my coworkers.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by cav73 » October 9th, 2018, 1:59 pm

ViAggie wrote:
October 8th, 2018, 3:08 pm
some funny stories about byu's "honor code"

My sister in law was at home one night studying when she got this phone call from someone claiming to be her dad's friend.
She said he wasn't home but she could take a message. The guy asked if she wouldn't mind driving to Provo and giving a byu football player a ride to "Coach Edwards home." She agreed and he gave her the address. When she drove to the address on West Center Street she realized that it was Jim McMahon, standing in front of a bar, a bit tipsy, needing a ride. It's no mystery why my father in law had a Jim McMohon signed byu football on display in his office, apparently it wasn't only time he gave him a ride when he was in a jam LOLZ.
Steve Sarkisian spent more time in Salt Lake bars than he did on BYU's campus during his two years in Provo. I knew somebody who worked at a bar in Salt Lake called the Port O Call, Sarkisian showed up there almost every weekend and used to exchange signed jerseys for wiping away his beer tab.
Last edited by cav73 on October 9th, 2018, 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by bwcrc » October 9th, 2018, 2:43 pm

I can't say I grew up a ybu fan in Southern Cal but followed the football team in the early '90s because most of the other kids in our ward and their parents were fans. I also had a distant cousin play b-ball there before being drafted by the Celtics (he never amounted to much in the NBA). Before moving to Utah during my junior year of high school I figured I would probably follow the same path my parents and two older siblings slogged through at ybu. But after moving to Utah I wanted nothing more than to get away from Utah Valley and everything in it after graduating from high school. My grandfather went to the old AC and I remembered with fondness sitting at the counter having a milkshake at the Blue Bird during a family trip to Utah when I was a young kid. Those two things, along with being out of Utah Valley, led me to USU and playing on the men's volleyball team kept me there after my mission. Being there for Stu's first year and the great teams thereafter made it much more fun. (I wish the football team would have been more respectable back then but at least that has improved now.) Fortunately my kids like wearing their USU apparel over the ybu trash they get from aunts and uncles. I have also nearly convinced some Pennsylvania residents with no connection to Utah to apply to USU because out-of-state tuition is lower than in-state tuition of some Pennsylvania schools.

The last time I was in Logan I took my kids to get Aggie Ice Cream and the guy in line behind me was wearing a ybu shirt. Both myself and the students behind the counter rightfully razzed him about it but still treated him with respect. A couple of days later my wife wanted to show the kids the other campus down south and I had my son wear his "Happy Valley" shirt with the PSU logo on it. He received some very strange and confused looks.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by hipsterdoofus21 » October 10th, 2018, 8:14 pm

One shouldn’t talk about past sins after they’ve repented.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ChicAggie » October 10th, 2018, 8:45 pm

bwcrc wrote:
October 9th, 2018, 2:43 pm
I also had a distant cousin play b-ball there before being drafted by the Celtics (he never amounted to much in the NBA).
Smith, Kite, or Ainge? I assume Smith given the "never amounted to much" comment. I HATED Smith as a BYU player. He seemed like a complete douche. When the Aggies played BYU each season (twice each season back in those days), Smith used to catch the ball out beyond the top of the key, hold the ball over his head surveying the court, all the while shuffling his feet all over the place -- never once getting called for traveling. Used to drive me crazy. I would be screaming at the officials to blow their whisle (I was one of the front-row rowdies back in those days), but they ignored it entirely.

My opinion of Smith changed dramatically many years later when he handled the color commentary duties for the Clippers alongside Ralph Lawler. Lawler and Smith may be my single favorite broadcasting duo ever for an NBA team. They were funny, self-deprecating, and consistently fair-minded and complimentary of other teams. The Clippers made a huge mistake when they let him go in favor of Bruce Bowen this past season.


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by FloridaAggie13 » October 10th, 2018, 9:03 pm

ChicAggie wrote:
October 10th, 2018, 8:45 pm
bwcrc wrote:
October 9th, 2018, 2:43 pm
I also had a distant cousin play b-ball there before being drafted by the Celtics (he never amounted to much in the NBA).
Smith, Kite, or Ainge? I assume Smith given the "never amounted to much" comment. I HATED Smith as a BYU player. He seemed like a complete douche. When the Aggies played BYU each season (twice each season back in those days), Smith used to catch the ball out beyond the top of the key, hold the ball over his head surveying the court, all the while shuffling his feet all over the place -- never once getting called for traveling. Used to drive me crazy. I would be screaming at the officials to blow their whisle (I was one of the front-row rowdies back in those days), but they ignored it entirely.

My opinion of Smith changed dramatically many years later when he handled the color commentary duties for the Clippers alongside Ralph Lawler. Lawler and Smith may be my single favorite broadcasting duo ever for an NBA team. They were funny, self-deprecating, and consistently fair-minded and complimentary of other teams. The Clippers made a huge mistake when they let him go in favor of Bruce Bowen this past season.
I remember the Michael Smith shuffle. Sounds like you and I were probably sitting a few rows apart 30+ years ago...his shuffle along with his constant whining to the refs and his four pounds of hair gel just grated on my nerves. I had a friend from Utah County who knew people in the BYU basketball program who said Smith (up to that point in time) was the most talented player they'd ever had, including Ainge. But he was also the laziest and just tried to get by on natural ability. Sounds like he was pretty good color commentator though.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by bullshot » October 11th, 2018, 8:34 am

I came from “Nor Cal” in the early 70’s on a partial scholarship to USU. One nice September day a (long haired) friend of mine and I went to Provo to visit a mutual friend who got a full scholarship to BYU for track. We knew very little about the Y but once on campus, the stares, giggles and whispers towards us were off putting and disconcerting. While we noticed the coeds were by in large cute, we were also disappointed at the lack of young ladies in halter tops and short cut-offs that adorned the Logan campus. Then things got weird. We determined we were stuck in a time warp, but told ourselves this was a “Bob Jones University” type college. We then went to get a “Coke”. Well in 1972, you can imagine how that turned out. I learned what a sock hop was and we were struck by how hoaky everything seemed. Our track friend soon laid out the do’s and don’ts of the campus in what seemed like a never ending list of rules. He pointed out that the only minorities (very few) were athletes. It was nice to return to the warm and balanced embrace of USU.



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ViAggie » October 11th, 2018, 8:43 am

2004AG wrote:
October 9th, 2018, 10:20 am
Born and raised an Aggie. Lived in Utah County my whole life hating byu. My wife thinks I’m kidding when I say any child that doesn’t go to Utah State is our of the will.


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by USU78 » October 11th, 2018, 10:01 am

When I was a Jr in HS, I attended the yBu invitational track meet. At track meets, one wears one silks and warmups. I only had two events, the 220 and 4x220 relay [2nd leg], with a big break in between. It was a hellaciously warm day, so I left my warmup jacket at the stadium with the BEHS track gear and went with some buddies to get something to eat at the Student Center.

I picked up food at the Boogar Eat, then stood in line to pay. The numbskull behind the cash register refused to let me pay for the food because my dress wasn't Boogar appropriate. I ranted something about "this is how you treat guests" and "just how do you expect track athletes to dress," whereupon a supervisor came by and gave us all a pass to pay for our food.

It's not always the administration's fault down there: but it is always the students'. Those people are impossible.


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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by DaKineKane » October 11th, 2018, 11:16 am

Ugh. I remember visiting a friend attending BYU several years ago and I happened to be sporting a beard. Got a few stares and glances but nothing more probably because they now allowed beards via beard-cards. I joked with my friend that if any questioned me, I would just flash my USU Student Card and say "there's my beard card. Now leave me alone."



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Re: Why I WAS a BYU fan

Post by ChicAggie » October 12th, 2018, 11:45 pm

bullshot wrote:
October 11th, 2018, 8:34 am
While we noticed the coeds were . . . large . . .
FIFY.


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