Why is it called the “holy war”

This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by whitlessham.

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- 07/25/2019 at 1:18 PM #97428
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  whitlessham
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  A work associate asked me why the Utah/byup game is called the “holy war”? My first response was that it was a play on mormons vs non mormons but the fact that over 50% of Ute fans are mormon it really doesn’t make any sense.
  
  Can’t really find anything using the google machine…
- 07/25/2019 at 1:26 PM #97429
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  KiYi-Ute
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  I think it’s just a play on a religious institution (BYU) playing a secular university.
  
  It has the same vibe as “Catholics vs. Convicts” branding for Notre Dame vs. Miami back in the day. (Even with the “convicts” being very non-PC).
  - 07/25/2019 at 1:30 PM #97432
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    whitlessham
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    Used to attend ND games back in the “Catholics vs. Convicts” days. Funny thing is, only something like 30% of the ND teams were actually Catholic
    - 07/25/2019 at 7:46 PM #97472
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      Red Don
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      And fewer were Irish.
- 07/25/2019 at 3:13 PM #97464
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  UtMtBiker
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  “Over 50 percent of Ute fans are Mormon”?…. you must be Mormon. SL county is the least Mormon county in the state and SLC is the least mormon city in the county. Last legit numbers I saw somewhere around 39 percent were Mormons. By the LDS churches own numbers, about 50 four their membership is inactive.
  
  Doing the math, it’s not anywhere near the 99 percent of BYU fans that drink Mountain Dew to get amped for the game.
  
  Many Non-Mormons in the state really hate how Mormons push their beliefs on them and legislate “morals” in the State. For them, it feels good to see BYU eat crow and wonder why God isn’t making his big missionary tool win every game. The “Good things happen when you live your life right one and off the field” holier than thou attitude is annoying and obvious. Hence the holy war title.
  - 07/25/2019 at 4:39 PM #97467
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    Central Coast Ute
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    That doesn’t change the fact that the rest of the state is predominantly Mormon and several of them are Ute fans. Utah doesn’t have an strong following outside of the state so it only stands to reason that high percentage of Ute fans are Mormon.
    - 07/26/2019 at 12:02 AM #97500
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      UtMtBiker
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      Based on what stats?
      
      3.1 million utahns. 710k live in utah county.
      
      I’d argue that most mormons are BYU fans, no? So… just doesn’t add up that over 50 perfect of Utah fans are mormon. Id place it around 25 percent.
  - 07/25/2019 at 11:56 PM #97499
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    UtMtBiker
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    If you down voted this, have the balls to comment why. Make legit argument other than your feelings are hurt when i told you that many non- mormons in this state dislike you.
    - 07/26/2019 at 1:40 PM #97541
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      whitlessham
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- 07/26/2019 at 12:41 PM #97538
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  Utahute72
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  The basis is a State school versus a religiously sponsored one. Back in the day, the difference was more stark. Almost all mormons were BYU fans, a few of us diehards suffered through the bleak years of the 70s and 80s. As Utah football got better the numbers started to shift and really became about 50-50 within mormon ranks when Whittingham took over. So the name harkens back to the time where is really was a group of religiously inspired players versus players that didn’t hold those views.
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