Kragthorp's Folly

Kurt Kragthorp makes an interesting, if not compelling argument in this morning's Tribune about why Utah should continue to play BYU in football.  But he seems to forget, there is nothing in it for the Utes to continue the series.

The Cougars could even on shaky recruiting ground, put together a team that could beat you, and that doesn't look good for us on a national level.

And besides, we have a full schedule.  We will have 9 PAC 12 games every year, one with a Big 10 opponent and that leaves only two open dates, and both will be in September.

For the foreseeable future that looks like a, "Directional" school (Northern Colorado, Eastern Washington, Southern Utah) for a tune up to start the season.  And then someone else that we would want to schedule a, "twofer" with.  Like, we make one trip to UNLV, or, Colorado State and they play us here, twice.

BYU would never agree to that.  Their pride is what lead them to shoot themselves in the head and go independent in the first place.

No one thinks for a second that our Big 10 game is going to be Michigan or Ohio State every year.  But every time we play Minnesota or Illinois, or Indiana, we get media attention in the entire Big 10 footprint.  And that includes the Eastern Time Zone, where most of the people in this country, and most of the sports writers who have a vote in the polls, live.

So what this does is make beating a Big 10 school, ANY Big 10 school a whole lot more valuable on a national level, than having a hard fought game in Provo, on a Thursday night, that no one outside of Utah even cares about.

And if we lose to them, it doesn't hurt us.  After all, they are a Big 10 school.  If we lose to BYU?  Who did they play this year?  Idaho, San Jose State, New Mexico State?  Good bye top 10 ranking.

If it comes down to having another in state game?  EVERY Ute fan's money is on Utah State.  We LIKE those guys.  We root for them when they aren't playing us!  Their fans are FUN!  You can't say that about the Cougars.

Who wants to cross paths with a bunch of self righteous scolds who think they're better than you?  Their idea of college tailgating is Jello.  The rest of the worlds idea of college tailgating is Jello SHOOTERS!

Their pre-game party is like waiting for the fireworks show to start at the stadium of fire.  Ours is more like waiting for a Jimmy Buffett show.  We're a world apart.

And lets face it.  The, "rivalry" part has gotten ugly in the last ten years.  I've seen fights, and threats.  Name calling and religious arguments.  I'm not calling anyone out, it's come from both sides.  But we never tackled a cheerleader, as far as I know.  Just sayin...

So it's time to give it a rest.  Let things cool off for a while.  Oh, and Cougar fans?  That trophy from your Deseret First Credit Union?  Keep it.  Truth is, no one in red ever gave, to quote, Kurt Vonnegut, "a flying fuck at a rolling donut" about that thing.