School pride vs. Team pride
Cheer for the school you attend
Kyle McDonald | Sports editor | @kylesportsbias
Sports Column
This week is what could be labeled as BYU week for Utah Valley University athletics. The UVU volleyball team is hosting the 9th-ranked Cougars on Saturday night in the PE building on campus and it leads to writing this article. We have seen numerous tweets since the new school year has started regarding student’s wearing apparel from other schools but most notably BYU. The problem with this is the fact that you go to Utah Valley University not BYU. Students should at least have the common courtesy to wear the school colors of the school they actually go to while they are on campus. If you go out with your friends and want to wear your BYU blue or your Aggie gear that is cool. But in this editors opinion it looks really tacky to wear the colors of a school that you don’t attend either because they denied you or because you chose to come to UVU rather than attend BYU.
I have a tough time saying these things because I will admit I love BYU sports. I have grown up with them my entire life and I have been a big fan. However, after interviewing UVU volleyball coach Sam Atoa for an article in 2014 while wearing a BYU hoodie and getting razzed by Associate Athletics Director Clint Burgi, I decided that I had to have some loyalty to the school that I attend and that I write sports articles about. Since that time, I haven’t worn BYU apparel while I have been on campus. It is either Wolverine green or no college gear at all. I have attended many sporting events at UVU over the past year ranging from wrestling meets to softball games to men’s soccer games and although UVU might not have the traditions that USU or BYU have, they are working on that and working on building a bigger fan base and a winning tradition and they need the help of the students. Yes, UVU doesn’t have a football team, but they have the only Division I men’s soccer team in the state that by the way is 4-0 to start the season. They have a wrestling team that will be competing in the Big 12 Conference. That means UVU got into a Power 5 Conference before BYU did. They have a new men’s basketball coach that is doing everything in his power to get the students excited and to fill those ugly yellow chairs in the UCCU Center. They have Coach Atoa and women’s basketball Head Coach Cathy Nixon who have been around for years.
Yes, UVU might be a commuter school where a lot of students are working full-time or married and drive from long distances to go to school. They may not have time to go to every game or to pay much attention to the sporting events going on. But one thing that students are capable of is donning the green, white, and black and taking some pride in the school that they attend rather than a school that they have grown up cheering for. There is always room for change and I am a great example of that. You can do it too and it would be far better to see more green, white and black in the halls than blue and white or even red and white.
I am 32 years old, love the Chicago Cubs. A huge lego maniac and love to crochet team blankets (just ask, cool stuff)!! I have a passion for sports and a passion to write about them.