About five years ago, I was wandering thru the Campus Store
(more commonly known as the Bookstore) at the University
of Utah Utah
were evenly represented. I bought it and a matching tumbler. I kept the flag,
but I gave the tumbler to my friends, who are also a divided family. Grandma
Pugh, who had Alzheimer’s, didn’t like the BYU side of the tumbler like her
grandson, Jason did, a staunch BYU fan.
As it got closer to Thanksgiving, I hung up the flag in the
unit we live in. Jay, a dyed in the wool BYU fan, didn’t want it on the front
door, so I hung in the entry way. I can’t remember who won that year, but if it
was 2009, it was BYU. That year, Jay bought me soup and that was more painful
than comforting. In our household of two, the loser got the soup or some other
comfort food.
After the game, the flag came down and was packed away in
the closet until the next year. I am not sure if it came out in 2011, the first
year the rivalry moved to September, thanks to BYU going independent and Utah
moving to the PAC12. It didn’t come out in 2012 because of our Mom’s illness. I
didn’t get into the rivalry like I usually did. My cousin, Coach Jackson did
give me some grief on Facebook like he usually does. I was glad for that
distraction, even though I wasn’t into it that much. The day before the game, I
flew out to Seattle , to be with my
Mom once more. But Mom died before I boarded the plane. I had packed my “Utah ”
clothing, so I was wearing red on game day. Laura had to use Kohl’s coupon, so
during the game I was shopping. But my friend in Ogden
kept me posted on the score.
Two weeks before the game this year, Coach tagged me in one
of his post. Apparently he posted a BYU football photo in my honor. I was back.
It wasn’t until I posted a photo I took years ago, that I realized I was
enjoying the rivalry again. It felt good. I managed to tag family members on my
photo. All were tagged on the top half, except for Steven, my almost twin
brother. He attended BYU and Utah ,
so I did my best to get him in that middle part where it was white. But his
name showed up on Utah side with
me.
When Coach said something about BYU being on top, I knew I
had to get out the camera again. After a few shots, I finally got one that I
could post. BYU and Utah were
pretty much even in the landscape shot. It was easier getting Steven’s name
right smack in the white middle. Of course, Coach noticed and asked why. I gave
him some lame excuse, because I wasn’t ready to confess. I added a few more BYU
relatives on both of parent’s side of the family. I even posted Jason near the “Y”
and two of his sibling in the white middle. Jason’s sister has flip-flopped
quite a bit and Jared has been a fan of both teams. And besides, I knew I
needed to be the lone Utah fan in
the red part of the flag. It was sometime this summer that I realized I am the
only one in my family – paternal and maternal – that is not a confirmed BYU
fan. I’ve been bleeding red since my return to the Salt
Lake Valley University
of Utah
Even though, the Utah-BYU rivalry is on hiatus for two
years, the house is still divided. After all, the two teams will suit up for
basketball and other sports. The division will be less intense.
To be continued . . . in 2016.
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