Utah Man's Simple Fix for BYU Chant Wars
When rival fans chant anti-Latter-day Saint taunts at BYU football games, the instinct is often to escalate — louder responses, sharper retorts, or calls for security to intervene. But in a recent column, Gordon Monson suggests a disarmingly simple alternative: a Utah man's idea to respond not with anger, but with something closer to grace. The proposal, rooted in the state's peculiar sports culture, reframes the confrontation as an opportunity rather than an insult.
The logic is straightforward. BYU's identity is inseparable from its faith, and opponents know exactly which buttons to push. Yet a chant only lands when it draws a reaction. By choosing a response that acknowledges the jab without absorbing it — a wave, a smile, a shared laugh — fans can strip the taunt of its power. It is a tactic familiar to anyone who has watched a playground bully lose interest when the target stops flinching. The Utah man's approach, as Monson relays it, leans on that very human truth.
Why the State's Rivalry Needs a Reset
Utah's sports landscape is uniquely charged because the rivalry is not merely athletic but cultural and religious. The chants are rarely about football; they are about identity, belonging, and decades of perceived slights. That depth of feeling will not vanish with a clever slogan. But a deliberate, non-escalating response could slowly change the tone of the rivalry — not by silencing critics, but by refusing to let their words define the moment.
Critics may argue that passivity rewards bad behavior, or that fans should not be expected to turn the other cheek in a stadium. Yet the proposal does not ask for silence; it asks for a different kind of volume. A unified, good-natured reaction from the Cougar faithful could become its own statement — one that says the taunts are heard, understood, and ultimately irrelevant. In a state that prides itself on neighborliness, that may be the most Utah solution of all.
Whether the idea catches on remains to be seen. But Monson's column has already done something valuable: it has shifted the conversation from how to punish the chanters to how to transcend them. That alone is a win for anyone tired of the noise.