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Originally Posted by realtall
I have a theory why this happens, or at least why it happens easily to BYU: The rivalry exists mainly between the two fan bases. The yewts sports teams seem to have a much greater connection to their fan base(for whatever reason) than BYU does to theirs so they can plug into the flaming hatred that yewts have for BYU. BYU cannot, for some reason, do this with their fan base and the teams just don't feel the same contempt for the yewts that the yewts do for them. And there is the disparity in preparation and intensity.
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I can agree with this. As a Utah fan, I will admit that the BYU game is always marked on the calendar because of the rivalry. Of course, this doesn't mean that I would consider it a successful season each time Utah beats BYU. On the contrary - if Utah were to go 1-10 in football with the opnly win against BYU, the season would still suck, but I'd be happy with that one win.
I'm not sure why BYU athletics - and it seems a large part of it's fans as well - seem to view Utah as just another game. It isn't. Utah and BYU are rivals and BYU only has itself to blame for not getting up for each game. I have a good neighbor who is a rather ardent BYU fan and he tries to give me a hard time by claiming that, in his opinion, it's just another game for BYU but to Utah it's the season. I just laugh at him and ask him why he's in such a pissy mood after each loss to Utah, if it's just another game.
Until BYU accepts this as a rivalry game, Utah will continue to win, especially now that both teams are pretty much on equal ground when it comes to football (with Utah perhaps gaining and edge now) and Utah still having an edge in basketball.
Rivalries are what make college athletics so great. BYU is missing out on all the fun.