I'm not sure this is how BYU wanted to celebrate their win over Utah. Certainly it has tarnished what many considered a very memorable game.
Max Hall, fresh off his struggles Saturday, dropped this whopper in the post-game press conference:
"I don’t like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them." "The whole university and their fans and the organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff and did a bunch of nasty stuff. I don’t respect them.
Now I'm not one to get worked up over heated words. Lord knows I've said some stuff on here in the past that could be considered far worse than what Hall uttered Saturday night. Yet I can't help but think he voided his argument by acting like a sore-winner. This plays into what I said earlier in my rant about why I hate BYU because that statement proves how the Cougars continue to look down their noses at us.
It isn't justified. It isn't justified because I think they make things up. I do not believe Hall's family had beer thrown on them. And if we're going to believe that, we better not forget that Kyle Whittingham's wife now has a fat lip because of an overzealous BYU fan.
Even in the off chance someone tossed beer on Hall's family - what's worse? A smack across the face or a little suds on your jacket?
Beyond that, though, Hall's comments show a total lack of tact. Remember Utah's blowout win last year? How many players even came close to uttering what Hall did after Saturday's game? None.
But what irks me the most isn't necessarily that he said it - but that he said it after his career had ended at BYU. It's one thing to throw smack around before the big game and it's another to do it knowing you'll never again have to face the team you're slamming. To me, it shows how cowardly Hall really is and that might be the most damning thing about this whole episode.
That and Hall wasn't the reason BYU won. He went on to say we deserved to win and Utah didn't. Why? Because they're better than us? No. But that they're entitled to it. Well Hall wasn't entitled to that victory. He struggled for most of the game and nearly cost them a victory with his poor game management during the fourth quarter. Had it not been for BYU's defense and their ability to come up big on Utah's final drive of regulation (holding them to only a game-tying field goal) and the first series of OT (another field goal), I don't think the Cougars win.
Then Hall is left probably saying absolutely nothing. But instead of dishing out the credit and rallying his team around a very nice victory to end the regular season - he pops off about how much he hates Utah, the institution and its fans. And he has the audacity to suggest we're classless?
How does that make the other players feel? All the attention they could have received from the media is now not going to their win, but to their quarterback's remarks. Which, coming from a winning quarterback, seemed way out of line.
And people wonder why I don't like the Cougars?