This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I've had nearly two weeks to ponder the arrest of one of Utah fans' most hated foes, Max Hall, for suspected shoplifting and cocaine possession.
I've decided to weigh in, but from a different perspective than has appeared in most public comment arenas.
Cougar fans say Hall needs support.
Ute fans have shown elation at the former BYU quarterback's troubles.
After all, during a 2009 news conference after his Cougars defeated the Utes in overtime in Provo, he painted everyone associated with the University of Utah with the same disparaging brush. He said he hated everybody at the U. and that they had no class.
He alleged that the year before, when BYU played in Salt Lake City, Ute fans threw beer on his family members, spit on them and scared them so badly they had to be escorted out by police after the game.
U. fans, for the most part, reacted with their own outrage toward Hall, while BYU fans rallied behind him — just as they are doing now.
At the time Hall slammed my alma mater in 2009, I wrote a column that I made into a poem, parodying the old Whiffenpoof song, "We're poor little lambs."
"My name is Max Hall and I hate you all, Waa, Waa, Waa."
BYU fans ripped me, basically dubbing me the dumbest person since Gomer Pyle. U. fans thought I was a literary genius, comparable to Mark Twain and Will Rogers.
My favorite was a letter from a Cougar die-hard in Provo.
Here is what he said, with my responses in parentheses:
"It's not Max Hall's fault that you have a drinking problem." (Hic).
"It's not Max Hall's fault that you can't get a better job." (Yeah, I always yearned to be a multilevel marketer).
"It's not Max Hall's fault that you don't have better luck with the ladies." (Yeah, I only have one wife).
My point is that while BYU fans are rallying behind Hall and Ute fans are relishing in his despair, nothing has changed.
To Cougar devotees, the Utes and their fans are degenerates who deserve no respect. To Ute fans, the Cougars and their fans are prigs who deserve no respect.
When a BYU fan ran out of the stands in LaVell Edwards Stadium years ago and tackled a U. cheerleader, prompting the cheerleader to pummel him, Cougar supporters wanted the cheerleader charged while U. backers cheered him on.
When I reacted angrily in my column about a pregnant woman who had been cold-cocked by a drunk U. fan because she was wearing a BYU sweatshirt, Cougar fans applauded me as a hero. When I criticized a BYU fan for getting in the face of Utah coach Kyle Whittingham's wife, I was back to being a scumbag.
The sad conclusion: We're all hypocrites when it comes to Utah vs. BYU.