One of the most enjoyable parts about going to school at either BYU or the UofU can be the rivalry, unfortunately this can also be one of the greatest causes of angst.
Let's review the rivalry to figure out where we can go right and where we can go wrong.
Both schools were founded by Brigham Young.
The U began as the University of Deseret in 1850, took a hiatus for financial reasons, and then reopened as a commercial school without the religious ties of the initial charter. In 1894 it formally became the University of Utah and moved towards the State institution of now. The next year was the first match between the U and the Y: a scoreless baseball game that ended with a bench-clearing brawl.
BYU began as a break-off of the University of Deseret as Brigham Young Academy. It retained its religious charter under Karl Maeser (whose educational philosophies were explored in a master's thesis project by yours truly). Years later, it obtained university status and moved to complete ownership and control by the Church.
The original bitterness of the rivalry came from the "little brother" syndrome of the schools, but over time this original meaning was lost. Sports dominated the basis for the argument. Though, in the last 39 years, (seems to be post-Vietnam) the rivalry has taken on a personal and bitter flavor.
This occurred as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increased in membership. Brigham Young University applications increased as more members sought to have their children in a largely LDS environment. Though the U of U is also largely LDS, the out of state tuition costs eliminated many of the potential applicants. The academic requirements necessary to obtain admission for BYU rose rapidly. The quality of education offered at the two schools has remained very close even though the difference in admission requirements has increased yearly. (According to U.S. News & World Report, and the respective school's websites: the GPA average/ACT average difference is now BYU 3.8/29 to Utah 3.5/23. The schools are ranked 113th and 119th overall).
Herein is where I believe we have all gone wrong.
Look at some of the other bitter and hate-filled rivalries in college sports, (i.e. Wisconsin v. Michigan, Duke v. North Carolina...) there is a pattern: (1) Both school draw from the same pool. (2) One school has harder entrance requirements. (3) Those students who are denied admission to said school go to the other with a chip on their shoulder. (4) They create a strawman argument (for those not familiar with logical fallacies, this means they create a false image of a person or thing that is easy to hate and then spend their time hating the perception they have created until they cannot see the difference between reality and fiction).
Putting this into terms of our rivalry, students wanting a higher education in the state of Utah often apply to both schools. Those denied entrance to BYU often go to the UofU. Some of them create a false image of BYU students as being child-producing-fat-mindless-holier-than-thou-robots-etc... This false image is perpetuated to the other students with anecdotal evidence and the strawman grows bigger. In response, some BYU fans respond by accusing UofU students of being the opposite extreme: intoxicated-slutty-stupid-etc. Both parties become increasingly bitter and spiteful of the opposition as the "regular" fans encounter the "extremists" on both sides and move towards the greater extremes themselves.
There are pregnant-holier-than-thou-robots at both schools. There are drunk-whores at both schools. Let's keep it to the field. If you win, you've got bragging rights for the year. If we do, take your lumps. I don't expect that we will all get along, but I think we can be intelligent about the great competition that comes from the history and proximity of the schools.
So BYU fans, this year let's show some decency, maturity and courtesy for those who help raise the level of our game.
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