From: schof@doc.bmd.trw.com
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: Re: BYU - America's Most Hated Team??? (Fan's opinion)
Date: 14 Sep 92 10:44:16 MST

In article <1992Sep11.174039.16004@ichips.intel.com>, henstrom@pdx030.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Alex Henstrom) writes:
> In article <1992Sep11.010109.22182@mailer.cc.fsu.edu>, zuniga@loligo.cc.fsu.edu (Ralph Zuniga (FREAC/CAR)) writes:
> |> As I watch tonight's game (9/10) between San Diego St. and BYU, I
> |> see that the BYU fans are calling their team the most hated in America.
> |> Huh?? I can think of 10 or more teams that I hate more than BYU. Just
> |> what is BYU thinking??? Anyone from BYU care to comment???
> 
> The only reason BYU is calling themselves the most hated team in America is
> because of an article that appeared in the college football preview issue of
> Sports Illustrated. This issue contained an article naming BYU the most
> hated team in America. 
> 
> In sumise the article stated that BYU was the most hated team because:
> 	They win.
> 	They are poor winners, and poor loosers.
> 	They are Mormons and there is a belief that all Mormons are racially
> 	    intolerant. This due to the fact that afro-americans could not
> 	    hold the priesthood in the Church until the late 70's.
> 	The studentbody commits themselves to not smoke, drink, or have
> 	    premarital sex and to abide by a dress standard. Other people 
> 	    sometimes take this as "you think your better them me because...".
> 	
> 
> I would agree that BYU is a widely disliked team....But the most Hated??
> I would venture to say that a program like Notre Dame or Miami are probably
> more suited for this title (no offense Irish or Hurricane fans). These teams
> are also probably the most loved teams. You either love them or hate them.
> 
> The article was written by a writer that is based in Colorado (I forget his
> name). The article was not very objective and used incidents that were the
> exception and not the norm. Ex-WAC players from opposing schools were quoted
> as hating BYU. There is no question that from within the WAC, BYU is the most
> hated team. I didn't understand how quotes from opposing players that always
> lost to BYU are credible proof of BYU being the nations most hated team. I
> beleive that the author was influenced by that fact that he lives in the 
> midst of the WAC enviornment.  As far as BYU being poor winners or loosers,
> I don't believe they're worse than most teams around, there have been cases
> of poor sportmanship but that's the exception not the norm. Most Mormons are
> not bigots despite belief otherwise. The Mormon church teaches against racial 
> intolerance.
> 
> The BYU fans decided to not try and fight the new title of "MOST HATED", but
> rather have begun to take pride in it. That is why the shirts and banners
> that proclaimed themselves the most hated.
> 
> In all, the article was not very accurate nor did is objectively explain why
> BYU is supposed to be the most hated team in America. Though I would have to
> say that around January of 1985 they very well might have been the most hate
> team in America, especially in the Northwest ;-)
> 	   
> --
> =Alex Henstrom=
> henstrom@ichips.intel.com
> 
> "Where the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons,
> computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1 1/2
> tons." 
>           ---Popular Mechanics, March 1949
-- 
I have to agree with the comments made by Alex.  Being a BYU alumnus and 
season ticket holder, I personally was not offended by the SI article but 
was pleased that BYU and the WAC was getting so much free publicity.  All 
of the things that were in the article are probably true however, they are 
all of the minority cases.

I was upset by the misquote of Coach Lavell Edwards.  The article quoted 
Edwards as saying that BYU needs speed in the backfield and then had the 
nerve of putting words in Edwards' mouth by interpreting this to mean that 
he meant that BYU needs black players in the backfield.  What a bunch of 
hogwash!!!  I was also upset by the statistics of black players playing at 
BYU as opposed to other schools and the inference that the BYU athletic 
program is prejudiced against blacks. Those same stats show that less than 
10% of BYU students are black yet over 10% of the BYU football team is 
black.  Go figure! Doesn't that show the opposite situation? (NOTE: Please 
don't flame me for numbers.  I don't have the article here for reference, 
I'm just going by memory.) People forget that BYU is a private school, run 
by the LDS Church and, at the present time, a very small percentage of 
American LDS Members are black.  This situation is reflected in the 
studentbody.  Many of the black football players are not Mormon but have 
been recruited by the BYU athletic program simply for their athletic 
talents NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK!

Again, the main intent of the article was for free publicity to BYU and the 
WAC and it worked!  Thank you, Sports Illustrated for all of your help in 
BYU's recruiting.

*****************************************
*  Cory Schofield			*
*  Cory_Schofield@oz.bmd.trw.com	*
*  (801) 776-9186                       *
*****************************************