Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore

Now that Max Hall has calmed down from his rant following BYU's win over Utah Saturday night and apologized for indirectly disparaging everyone from Brigham Young himself on down to current LDS President Thomas S. Monson, I have a confession.

All that stuff about him hating the University of Utah?

I loved it.

People say there's no backing down in this rivalry. Why stop now?

Every once in awhile, it's not bad to have a Lenny Gomes incident to keep it interesting.

If you didn't watch Saturday's overtime game, you missed a great finish. But you didn't miss everything. Not by a long shot. The really interesting stuff came afterward when Hall took a jab — no, a haymaker — at the University of Utah and anyone else who has ever set foot on its campus. I won't re-quote him; if you're reading this, you already know he said he hates Utah — its team, its fans, its food court, its concert hall, its fine arts museum.

He said "classless" Utah fans poured beer and spit on his family last year and he hated their guts. Then he expanded from there.

Nicely done.

I give it a strong 9.8. Really.

But he forgot to mention their heritage or their I.Q.

On Sunday evening Hall issued an apology, which was probably a good thing considering former LDS leader Young, President Monson and BYU President Cecil Samuelson all have ties to the U.

Still, this isn't as big a deal as it may seem. Many will lament the lack of civility, which I understand. At the same time, who ever said true rivalries are civil?

I'm pretty sure Michigan fans have been harassed by Ohio State fans and Texas A&M fans have had beer poured on them by Texas fans. I know the Wyoming-Colorado State rivalry has produced some ugly stuff, including fruit-throwing, beer pouring and other discourteous behavior.

Wayne Howard got infamous as Utah's football coach in 1981 when he discussed the "hatred" between Utah and BYU. That ticked off a lot of people.

Maybe it's a cultural quirk: The worst thing you can say to a Utahn is you hate him.

Austin Collie wasn't disparaging, but nonetheless riled up Ute fans when he said after a win over Utah in 2007, "When you're doing what's right on and off the field, I think the Lord steps in and plays a part in that. Magic happens."