Song sung blue? Provo Council sings 'Utah Man'

As it turned out, the Provo City Council's playfully unpolished rendition of the University of Utah fight song Tuesday was much more impressive than the BYU football team's turnover-filled performance against the Utes.

Six members of the Provo City Council visited the Salt Lake City-County Building to make good on a friendly wager with its capital-city counterparts over the annual Utah/BYU football game.

The Utes easily dispatched the Cougars 48-24 in November, setting up Provo city leaders' visit to serenade the Salt Lake City Council with "Utah Man" — all three verses.

"I'd never sung those last two verses in my life," said Salt Lake City Councilman Eric Jergensen, who coached the Provo contingent and then joined them for the a cappella performance.

Salt Lake City Council Chairman Carlton Christensen presented each of the visitors with University of Utah mini-flashlights emblazoned with "13-0" to commemorate the Utes' undefeated season.

"We want them to see the real light and know their way to victory," Christensen said.

The Salt Lake City Council can expect to receive flashlights next year, said Provo City Councilwoman Cynthia Dayton.

"It wasn't in our budget this year," Dayton joked.

Members of both councils hinted that the wager could become an annual event.

"It is a tradition we may not want to have started," said Salt Lake Councilwoman Jill Remington Love.

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