As Benjamin Franklin said, “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” U students, unlike BYU students, are happy.
During the past football season, U fans’ drunkenness has become increasingly obvious. Many fans feel no need to hide it.
Just how big a role alcohol plays became most apparent during the recent rivalry game. Now, this is no glorification of public intoxication or public projectile vomiting, but rather an observation of how something perceived as a sin by one school can create a better atmosphere for another.
A rather large BYU contingent sat in the MUSS section. Surrounding the fans were thousands of U fans. I’m not entirely sure what the BYU fans were expecting or whether they thought their presence was welcomed. Maybe they thought, at the most, there would be a few jabs at Max Hall or just a little joshing around. Apparently, BYU breeds naïve students.
When 20 or so of your friends march into one of the biggest games in the history of the two universities, and sit among their enemies, they’re asking for war. Artillery rained down on them in the form of cups, garbage and food. Verbal exchanges of the most vulgar manner primarily came from one side, and obscene acts were broadcast in one direction. However, God’s own university carried out the only physical altercations that I witnessed.
Talk is cheap. It’s a beautiful thing knowing that you can say anything you want to an opponent who is taught to follow a very admirable moral code. And alcohol wasn’t even required for this particular scuffle, though admittedly, it might have been present.
It’s easy to blame every disturbance on those who had been drinking at games. But that’s simply making people guilty by association. The truth is there are people who get violent when drunk, losing all inhibitions, and then there are people who are well aware of how intoxicated they are and can control themselves.
Drinking at U sporting events just isn’t the plague some would have you believe it is. If drinking really were an epidemic, there would be thousands of streakers every game with bright red U’s painted on their posteriors.
Alcohol doesn’t make us better fans. It doesn’t make us better students. Its availability outside games does make the U a better school, not because of the abundance of alcohol, but rather the choice to drink it. College is all about newfound freedoms and choices. It’s a testing ground for life to come. The ability to test all options makes U students well-rounded individuals.
Brian Trick