How to Go to a Football Game In Utah

On Thursday night, August 29, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University will open their respective football seasons against each other. Their rivalry, known as the Holy War, is one of the few big college football rivalries to be a regular season opener, rather than a closer.

Before You Go. We think of Utah, we think of the Wild West. Desert. National Monument Valley. We forget that it's also in the Rocky Mountains. I flipped out when I heard that it was chosen as the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Winter? Utah? But it's got mountains, and it's got snow. For years, the license plates even said, "Ski Utah." Now, they say, "Greatest Snow On Earth."

The Salt Lake Tribune, the State's largest newspaper, is predicting the low 90s for daylight next Thursday, but dropping all the way to the low 60s for the evening.

Utah is in the Mountain Time Zone, 2 hours behind New York. Adjust your timepieces accordingly.

Tickets. This season's UU-BYU game is at BYU, and is sold out. BYU's usual tickets are expensive: Midfield seats $150, end seats $50, end zone seats $35.

Utah's usual tickets are also expensive: $98 on the sidelines and $78 in the end zones.

Getting There. It's 2,174 miles from Midtown Manhattan to downtown Salt Lake City. In other words, if you're going, you're flying.

Because, driving, you'd have to get onto Interstate 80 West in New Jersey, and – though incredibly long, it's also incredibly simple – you'll stay on I-80 for almost the entire trip, getting off at Exit 306 for downtown Salt Lake.

Not counting rest stops, you should be in New Jersey for an hour and a half, Pennsylvania for 5:15, Ohio for 4 hours, Indiana for 2:30, Illinois for 2:45, Iowa for 5 hours, Nebraska for 7:45, Wyoming for 6:45, and Utah for 1:15. That's almost 37 hours, and with rest stops, and city traffic at each end, we're talking 2 full days.

That's still faster than Greyhound and Amtrak. The station serving both, Salt Lake Central Station, is at 300 South 600 West. But the Greyhound trip leaves Port Authority at 5:15 PM on Monday, and doesn't arrive in Salt Lake until 10:35 PM on Wednesday, nearly a full day before kickoff. And you'll have to change buses in Cleveland and Dayton Ohio, and Denver. Round-trip fare is $598, but can drop to $422 with advanced purchase.

On Amtrak, you would leave Penn Station on the Lake Shore Limited at 3:40 PM on Monday, arrive at Union Station in Chicago at 9:50 AM Central Time on Tuesday, and switch to the California Zephyr at 2:00 PM, arriving at Salt Lake City at 11:05 PM Mountain Time on Wednesday, nearly a full day before kickoff. Getting back, the California Zephyr leaves Salt Lake City at 3:30 AM on Friday, arrives in Chicago at 2:50 PM on Saturday, and the Lake Shore Limited leaves at 9:30 PM and arrives in New York at 6:23 PM on Sunday. Round-trip fare: $434.

Amtrak and Greyhound do not go to Provo, so you'd have to go to Salt Lake and then take the local bus or commuter rail.

Newark to Salt Lake City is not a cheap flight this week. You can get a round-trip nonstop flight, but it will cost over $900. With a stop each way, you might find one for a little over $700.

Once In the City. Founded in 1847 by Mormon leader Brigham Young (who famously found what he thought was the right spot for his followers and said, "This is the place") and named after the Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City is the smallest anchor city in North American major league sports, except for Green Bay, Wisconsin: 193,000.

But it has a metropolitan area population of about 2.5 million and rising, which makes it larger than NBA markets San Antonio, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Memphis; and MLS markets Kansas City and Columbus -- and not that far behind Vancouver.

The State House

Society in the State and the City remains dominated by "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," a.k.a. the Mormons. So, in Star Trek IV, when James T. Kirk, having traveled back in time with Spock, tells a woman that Spock was in Berkeley, California in the 1960s and "did a little too much LDS," it was a mistake, not a reference to Spock being a Mormon.

The Utah Territory applied for Statehood in 1848, but was rejected, because the Mormons practiced polygamy: A man being allowed to marry more than one woman. (The converse, polyandry, a woman allowed to marry more than one man, was not allowed.) In 1890, the Church stopped allowing it, and applied again. The process took a while, but on January 4, 1896, Congress admitted Utah to the Union as the 45th State.

Despite it being a Western university, I don't think there were very many Mormons at the University of California, Berkeley in those days. They were much more likely to have attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah State University in Logan, or, especially, the school named for their faith's leading figure, Brigham Young University in Provo.

Nevertheless, like Austin in Texas, Little Rock in Arkansas, Atlanta in Georgia and Lincoln in Nebraska (but definitely not the suburbs of any of those), Salt Lake City is an increasingly liberal capital city in an otherwise very conservative State.

I put it this way: In Salt Lake City, Mitt Romney, America's most famous living Mormon, is regarded as "severely conservative"; in the rest of Utah, he's "Massachusetts Moderate Mitt." (As Dick Smothers would say, "That was not a compliment." Dick and his brother Tom probably also had a few things to say about Mitt's father, George, Governor of Michigan and a Presidential candidate in the 1960s.)

Salt Lake City has the most confusing street names I've ever seen. In place of numbered streets, such as "West 6th Street," they have "600 West," then divide them along the other access, so it reads as "South 600 West." I suppose that if you've lived there all your life, this would be second nature to you. Or North 200 Nature to you. But it would drive me bananas.

At any rate, Main Street is the east-west divider, with State Street taking the place of 100 East, and West Temple -- not "West Temple Street" or "West Temple Avenue" or anything like that, just "West Temple" -- taking the place of 100 West. There's also a North Temple and a South Temple, but not an East Temple. South Temple is the north-south divider. The exact centerpoint is Temple Square. Interstate 215 forms a partial "beltway."

ZIP Codes for Utah begin with the digits 84. The Area Codes are 801 (overlaid by 385) and 435. Rocky Mountain Power runs Salt Lake City's electricity. Salt Lake City was 91 percent white as recently as 1970, but is now 66 percent white, 22 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Asian, 3 percent black and 1 percent Native American.

With so few black people -- the joke is that they all play for the Utah Jazz -- Salt Lake City has had very few racial issues. But on February 27, 2016, the police shot a 17-year-old Somali refugee named Abdullahi Omar Mohamed, after he got into a fight with another man as the result of a drug deal gone wrong. People began to throw rocks at the police, and a riot squad was called out. Mohamed barely survived, and served a little time in jail. 

With their history as the site of the union of Eastern and Western railroads, with the famous 1869 "Golden Spike" ceremony at Promontory Summit, you would expect Utah to have good rail service. The Utah Transit Authority runs buses and TRAX light rail. Routes numbered 001 to 199 run east-to-west, 200 to 299 run north-to-south, 300-399 are express, 400 to 499 are intercounty, 500 to 599 are neighborhood routes, 600 to 699 are Weber/Davis County routes, 800 to 899 are Utah County Routes, and 900 to 999 are Ski Service/Seasonal routes.

A TRAX train

A square bounded by Temple on the north, 200 East on the east, 500 South on the south, and 400 West on the west, plus the State Capitol, Salt Lake Central Station and Old Greektown Station, are a Free Fare Zone. Otherwise, within Salt Lake City, a one-way fare is $2.50, and a Day Pass is $6.25.

The University of Utah was founded in 1850, 3 years after Young arrived, and 46 years before Statehood. It had the Territory's original name: The University of Deseret, and got the current name in 1892.

The Block U logo, on Mount Van Cott since 1907

Notable sports figures outside of football include basketball players Arnie Ferrin (the earliest surviving NCAA basketball champion), Jerry and Tom Chambers (brothers), Billy McGill, Danny Vranes, Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller, Michael Doleac, Jeff Judkins, Andrew Bogut and Delon Wright; and baseball player Chris Shelton. Boxing referee Mills Lane, a judge in Nevada, got his law degree from the University of Utah. ESPN reporter Holly Rowe is also a graduate.

The University of Utah Student Life Center

Notable graduates outside of sports include:

* Politics, representing Utah unless otherwise stated: Governors Heber Wells, Herbert Maw, Scott Matheson, Norman Bangerter, Olene Walker and Jon Huntsman Jr.; Senators Joseph Rawlins, Reed Smoot, William H. King, Elbert Thomas, Wallace Bennett, his son Bob Bennett. and Frank Moss.

* Business: Hotel chain founder J. Willard Marriott, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People author Stephen Covey, and longtime Wells Fargo CEO Spencer Eccles (whose name is on the university's stadium).

* Science: Artificial heart pioneers Robert Jarvik (designer) and William DeVries (surgeon), Gore-Tex inventor Wilbert Gore.

* Entertainment: Actor Keene Curtis.

Serial killer Ted Bundy attended the University of Utah -- for, of all things, law school. But he was arrested before he could graduate.

Provo, home to BYU and founded in 1849, was originally Fort Utah, until it was renamed for its river. It is about 45 miles south of downtown Salt Lake. It is home to 112,000 people, about 79 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic, 4 percent Asian, and 1 percent each black and Native American. Provo City Power provides the electricity. The Utah Transit Authority runs buses, $2.50 for a single-zone ride, and connects with Salt Lake City. The cities are also connected by commuter rail. ZIP Codes begin with 846.

The local newspaper is the Daily Herald. The city has no beltway. Like Salt Lake City, Provo uses that weird street numbering system. Center Street divides addresses into North and South, while University Avenue (U.S. Route 189) divides them into East and West.

Brigham Young was born in 1801 in Vermont, joined the new Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1832, became a missionary, and was one of the Church's original Twelve Apostles in 1835. When the Church's founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered in 1844, Young became its 2nd President, and led the followers west, until they reached the Great Salt Lake on July 24, 1847, and he declared, "This is the place."

He was appointed the 1st Governor of the Utah Territory by President Millard Fillmore in 1851, founded what became the University of Utah, and founded what became its arch-rival in 1875. After his death in 1877, the new school broke off from the University of Utah, and became Brigham Young Academy, and Brigham Young University in 1903. So he founded both schools. Don't celebrate Young too much: He supported slavery and its extension into Utah.

BYU's Centennial Carillon Tower

Notable BYU sports alumni outside of football include:

* Baseball: Jack Morris '76, Kevin Towers '82, Rick Aguilera '83, Wally Joyner '84, Cory Snyder '86.

* Basketball: Kresimir Cosci '73 (the father of Yugoslavian basketball), Danny Ainge '81 (currently stands as the last man to play in both MLB and the NBA, with considerably more success in the latter), former Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts '83, Greg Kite '83, Shawn Bradley '93, Jimmer Fredette '11.

* Golf, if you count that as a sport: Johnny Miller '69, Mike Weir '92.

Notable BYU alumni outside of sports include:

* Politics, representing Utah unless otherwise stated: Senators William H. King 1887, Bert Miller 1901 of Idaho, Marian Bergeson '49 of California, Orrin Hatch '58, Mitt Romney '71, Mike Crapo '73 of Idaho, Gordon Smith '76 of Oregon, Jeff Flake '86 of Arizona, Mike Lee '94, and Kyrsten Sinema '95 of Arizona; Governors Henry H. Blood 1894, Clubert Olson 1895 of California, Olene Walker '53, Norman Bangerter '55, Mitt Romney '71 of Massachusetts; Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland 1881; Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson '26.

Mitt Romney has divided his life between Michigan, Massachusetts and Utah. He ran for the Senate in Massachusetts in 1994 but lost to Ted Kennedy, then ran for Governor in 2006 and won, then ran for President in 2008 and finished 2nd in Republican delegates to John McCain, then won the nomination in 2012 but lost to Barack Obama, before getting elected to the Senate from Utah in 2018. He is the son of former Governor George Romney of Michigan, himself a 1964 and 1968 Presidential candidate, before serving as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Oddly, for such an accomplished man, he attended many colleges but never stayed at any long enough to earn a degree.

* Journalism: WABC-Channel 7 meteorologist Amy Freeze '95.

* Literature: Juanita Brooks '25, Samuel W. Taylor '30, Jack Weyland '69, Orson Scott Card '75, Stephenie Meyer '95, James Dashner '99, Brian McClellan '09.

* Entertainment: Actors Johnny Whitaker '86, Aaron Eckhart '94 and Jon Heder '04 (Napoleon Dynamite); directors Kieth Merrill '67 and Neil LaBute '95; and film animator Don Bluth '54.

The "sales and use tax," as it's known in Utah, is 4.7 percent for the State, and rises to 6.85 percent in Salt Lake City.

Going In. The University of Utah opened Ute Stadium in 1927, giving it the same name as the team, named for the Ute tribe of Native Americans. In 1972, it was renamed Rice Stadium, for Robert L. Rice, a bodybuilder and fitness executive who funded its renovations. It seated 32,500 people at its peak.

In 1998, it was replaced on the same site with the 45,807-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium, named for Rice and for the new main donor, UU graduate and banking executive Spencer Eccles. The address is 451 South 1400 East, about 2 miles east of downtown. Bus 703. If you drive in, parking is $10.

The stadium is a horseshoe, open at the south end. The field runs north-to-south, and was natural grass until 1971. Except for 2000 and 2001, it has been artificial turf since 1972. The stadium was the centerpiece of the 2002 Winter Olympics. It hosted Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake from 2005 to 2008, and a U.S. soccer team win over Costa Rica on June 4, 2005. It has hosted 3 concerts: NSYNC, with Pink as the opening act, in 2000; U2 in 2011 and Imagine Dragons in 2018.

BYU opened Cougar Stadium, named for its teams, in 1964. It was renamed LaVell Edwards Stadium for their most successful coach in 2000. The official address is 1700 N. Canyon Road, about 2 miles north of downtown Provo. Bus 830X. Parking is a whopping $46. Hey, the Romney family's hair care products aren't going to buy themselves.

Edwards Stadium opened with 28,812 seats, was expanded to 35,000 in 1968, and to 65,000 in 1982. Currently, it seats 63,470. It, too, runs north-to-south, albeit in a bowl shape rather than a horseshoe. The field has always been natural grass, and is surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains.

An October 6, 2017 Thrillist article ranked Edwards Stadium 18th on a list of the best college football stadiums:

Granted, your tailgate at the largest LDS university on the planet might consist of Jell-O mold, cold cuts, and Diet Rite. And you won’t even find caffeinated Coke at the concession stands. But when you’re in the most spectacular mountain setting in college football, it’s probably best to have a clear head. The peaks that ring BYU’s home field feel like an extension of the bleachers, giving the sensation of watching football in the cauldron of a volcano. The fans are faultlessly polite, which combined with the breathtaking setting make this the nicest place in America to watch a game.

Food. The University of Utah's website does not have a concession stand map. All it has is this message:

This season, the stadium is rolling out its most robust food lineup ever, from campus favorite, The Pie pizzeria, to Sub Zero ice cream, frozen right before your eyes. Gates open 2 hours before kickoff, so come early, get settled, make some new friends and nosh on some yummy food and treats from the classic concessions menu or a number of unique food truck offerings. This year, we welcome J-Dawgs, Jersey Mike’s, Iceberg and Salt City Taco. Find a full list of food options here. Come and get it, Ute fans!

BYU's website does have a map, but the items on sale look about as ordinary as you would expect from Mormons.

Team History Displays. Utah has won 24 Conference Championships in 5 different conferences. They won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 1922, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1933 (that's 6 straight); the Big Seven Conference in 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1947; the Skyline Conference in 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1957; the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 1964 and 1995; and the Mountain West Conference in 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2008. They joined the Pacific-12 Conference in 2011, and have not yet won it, but won the South Division in 2015 and 2018.

BYU have won slightly fewer Conference Championships, 23, and they are more concentrated: They won the WAC on 1965, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 (that's 10 straight), 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 (5 straight), 1995 and 1996; and the Mountain West in 1999, 2001, 2006 and 2007. They will not be adding to this total anytime soon: Since the 2011 season, they have competed in football as an independent.

Each school claims a National Championship. Each claim is incredibly dubious. In 1984, BYU went 12-0 to win the WAC and finish the regular season ranked Number 1 by both the Associated Press (AP, the sportswriters' poll) and United Press International (UPI, the coaches' poll). But the WAC was not regarded as a major conference at the time. (It never was.) They only played 1 game against a team ranked in the Top 20 (it wasn't yet expanded to a Top 25), and that was their season opener, away to Number 3 Pittsburgh, a 20-14 win. Pitt didn't help matters by having their worst season in years, 3-7-1.

To make matters worse, the WAC Champion was locked into the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, so they couldn't prove themselves by winning one of the New Year's Day bowl games. They were matched against a national power, Michigan; but, like Pitt, the Wolverines were having a subpar year by their standards, only 6-5, and not ranked. Michigan led 14-10 after the 3rd quarter, and BYU came from behind to win 24-17, not very convincingly.

But nobody else stepped up much. The 1985 Orange Bowl had Number 2 Oklahoma, Big Eight Champions, lose to Washington, Number 4 but not the Pacific-10 Champions, because their only loss of the season was a league game to USC, which came in ranked Number 18. They won the Rose Bowl over Big Ten Champions Ohio State, which only went in ranked Number 6. Number 3 Florida won its 1st Southeastern Conference title, but got caught with recruiting violations, and were stripped of their title and their Sugar Bowl berth; new SEC Champions Louisiana State, only ranked Number 11, lost to Nebraska, which went in only Number 5.

So when the final rankings were released, it was 1, BYU; 2, Washington; 3, Florida; and 4, Nebraska. If Washington had just beaten USC... But they didn't, and BYU "won the National Championship."

In 2008, Utah went 12-0, and won the Mountain West. Whereas '84 BYU closed their season by beating Michigan at a neutral site, '08 Utah opened by beating Michigan away, in front of 108,421 people. That got people's attention. They won 2 games against ranked opponents, Number 11 Texas Christian and Number 16 BYU, both at home. Finally, they won the Sugar Bowl against Number 4 and SEC Chamiopn Alabama, 31-17.

In the final polls, Utah came in Number 2 in both the AP and UPI. But the Anderson & Hester poll, conducted by the Seattle Times, ranked them Number 1, and Utah claims this as a National Championship. But the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game had Number 1 (going in) Florida vs. Number 2 Oklahoma, and Florida won.

With a little irony, Florida's coach had come to them from Utah: Urban Meyer. He led them to an undefeated season in 2004, and to victory in their only other major bowl appearance, the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Rice-Eccles Stadium has banners honoring their 2004 and 2008 undefeated seasons outside, but nothing for their Conference Championships inside. Nor do they have any retired numbers.

Notable Utah players include Mac Speedie (1941, star end with the Cleveland Browns), Larry Wilson (1959, Hall of Fame safety for the St. Louis Cardinals), George Seifert (1959, later coached the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowls XXIV and, with Steve Young, XXIX), Bob Trumpy (1966, All-Pro tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals and NBC announcer), Manny Fernandez (1967, defensive tackle on the Miami Dolphins' Super Bowl VII and VIII winners), Jamal Anderson (1993, running back who led the Atlanta Falcons to Super Bowl XXXIII and invented their "Dirty Bird" dance), Kevin Dyson (1997, receiver for the Tennessee Titans who caught the Music City Miracle catch and nearly sent Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime), Steve Smith (2000, All-Pro receiver for the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII), and Alex Smith (2004, quarterback was the 1st pick of the 2005 NFL Draft, now with the Washington Redskins).

Edwards Stadium has a display honoring their 1984 National Champions, as well as BYU's retired numbers. Number 6 has been retired for 3 quarterbacks: Marc Wilson (1979), Robbie Bosco (1985, including the 1984 National Championship) and Luke Staley (2001). Number 8 has been retired for Steve Young (1983, a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, and quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX winners).

Number 9 has been retired for Jim McMahon (1981, quarterback of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX winners). Number 14 has been retired for 2 quarterbacks: Gifford Nielsen (1977) and Ty Detmer (1991, winner of BYU's only Heisman Trophy, in 1990). Number 40 has been retired for quarterback Eldon Fortie (1962). And Number 81 has been retired for defensive end Marion Probert (1954).

Nielsen, Wilson, McMahon, Young and Detmer are in the College Football Hall of Fame. So are 
coach Edwards (1972-2000) and tight end Gordon Hudson (1983). Young is the only BYU player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The rivalry between Utah and BYU, a game first played on April 6, 1896, 3 months after Statehood, is known as the Holy War, and Utah leads it 61-34-4. Utah went 17-0-2 from 1922 to 1940, and 34-2-4 from 1922 to 1964. Then BYU woke up, winning 3 straight. Utah then won 4 straight, but from 1972 when Edwards arrived in Provo until 1992, the Cougars went 19-2. Since 2002, under Urban Meyer and his successor, Kyle Whittingham, the Utes have gone 13-3.

As Alex Smith said before leading the Utes to a 52-21 win in 2004, "I really hate them. Playing in the game helped me understand. They are the most arrogant people. It's the whole church and state thing. They're the 'good kids.' We're the 'bad kids.'"

It's not quite "Catholics vs. Convicts," as Notre Dame vs. Miami was in the 1980s. But BYU does have a habit of sending its freshmen on Mormon missions, and when they came back, they still having all their eligibility -- except, as seniors, they're 23 or 24 years old, playing kids ages 18 to 22. It's not quite fair, but it is within the NCAA's rules.

The trophy for the winner is the Beehive Boot, because of Utah's nickname of the Beehive State and its Western status. Actually, it's a 3-way trophy, with the Utah State Aggies also being involved. It was first awarded in 1971, and it's been won by BYU 22 times, Utah 15, and Utah State 9 (most recently in 2014). With the teams no longer guaranteed to play each other each season, it hasn't been awarded since 2016, when Utah won it, and they retain possession. (Another former WAC rivalry, between Colorado State and Wyoming, awards the winner the Bronze Boot.)

The Beehive Boot

Utah's rivalry with Utah State is much bigger than BYU's is. It's called the Battle of the Brothers, but it's not much of a battle: Utah leads 78-29-4, including 22 of the last 25. Each school played its 1st game against the other, on November 25, 1892, with Utah State winning 12-0.

(UPDATE: Through the 2019 season, Utah leads Utah State 79-29-4, and leads BYU 62-34-4.)

Stuff. Neither stadium has a large team store, just smaller souvenir stands. The BYU Bookstore is at 800 East Campus Drive, about a mile southeast of the stadium. The University of Utah calls its bookstore the Campus Store, and it's at 270 1500 East, half a mile north of the stadium, and across from the Student Union at 200 Central Campus Drive.

Shane Hinckley published University of Utah Football Vault in 2010. DVDs of their 2005 Fiesta Bowl and 2009 Sugar Bowl wins are available. In 2008, Duff Tittle (as far as I know, no relation to Y.A. Tittle) published Brigham Young University Football Vault. Earlier, in 1997, Dick Harmon and Steve Cameron published Wild Blue Yonder: The High-Flying Story of BYU Football. For DVDs, they have The Legends of the Cougars and the 1984 Holiday Bowl.

During the Game. While the Utes and Cougars hate each other -- enough for UU fans to regularly deface a Cougar statue outside Edwards Stadium -- their stadiums are relatively safe. You shouldn't worry about your safety unless you're seeing them play each other. In that case, just stick to one team's fans, and avoid the other's.

The defaced Cougar statue

The subject of Native American mascots remains touchy. Hoyo, a cartoon Native boy, was long a University symbol, but was dropped. In the 1980s, the Crimson Warrior, a man in a native costume atop a horse, rode onto the field and planted a lance in a bale of hay -- possibly inspired by Florida State's Chief Osceloa, and his flaming spear. But this was dropped as well.

Finally, in 1996, the University consulted the actual Ute tribe, and asked them what would be appropriate. A red-tailed hawk was suggested, and Swoop was born. There's only a costumed version, not a live one. So he can't fly. Instead, he rides a motorcycle onto the field, wears Number 96 for the year of his introduction, and copies one of Florida State's rivals, the University of Miami, and makes a U logo, which makes more sense in Utah than it does in South Florida.

The band is known as The Pride of Utah, and the fight song is "Utah Man." This has proven controversial: Not only does it seem to exclude women, but it has a line saying, "Our co-eds are the fairest." Although intended to mean "most beautiful," "fairest" could also mean "lightest-skinned." Granted, Utah has a very white reputation, but it's not completely true, especially with Hispanics and Native Americans. But a student referendum overwhelmingly voted to keep the song.

Utah's helmet logo resembles that of another team with a Native American name, the Washington Redskins, only the circle has a block U instead of an "Indian head." BYU's helmets also evoke another team: Being blue and white, and using the letter Y for Young (instead of the 3 initials BYU), it resembles that of Yale University.

BYU player: "Thou dost suck!"

Utah player: "Your old man's a loser!

And so's your mama! And your old man's other wives!"

The BYU Cougar Marching Band, a.k.a. The Power of the Wasatch, is headquartered in the southwest corner of LaVell Edwards Stadium, and rehearses in the adjoining parking lot. Before every game, they play in front of the Cougar statue until 45 minutes before kickoff, at which point they march into the stadium. The fight song is "The Cougar Song," also known by its chorus: "Rise and Shout, the Cougars Are Out."

After the Game. Salt Lake City is one of the safest cities in the country. Provo is safe as well. You should have no trouble getting back to your car or your hotel all right.

If you want to go out for a postgame meal or drinks, you'll have a bit of a walk. To the northwest of Rice-Eccles Stadium, there's a few eateries along 1300 East. While Edwards Stadium has a farmer's market outside its south end, it may not be open on game days. South of the stadium, along 150 East, and to the west, along University Parkway, you can find some chain restaurants.

If your game in Salt Lake is during the European soccer season (which this one is), there's one place that shows up whenever you look up area soccer bars: Fiddler's Elbow, at 1063 East 2100 South, 5 1/2 miles southeast of downtown, in the Sugarhouse area. Bus 209, then a 3-block walk east on 2100. I wouldn't count on finding any such places in Provo, though.

Sidelights. Salt Lake City doesn't have much sports history, but may still be worth a visit beyond the game.

* Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz' arena opened in 1991 as the Delta Center, with the airline having bought the naming rights. It became the Energy Solutions Arena in 2006, and was changed again last year, to Vivint Smart Home Arena, as the naming rights were bought by the private home security system. Yet another thing about Salt Lake City that's confusing, along with the street addresses, the combination of desert and snow-capped mountains, and the liberal City in the conservative State.

The official address of the arena is 301 South Temple. It's downtown, within walking distance of most hotels. The Gateway Mall, including the old Union Pacific Railroad depot, is across North 400 West.

The playing surface is named the Larry H. Miller Court, for the late Jazz owner, whose company still owns the team and the arena. (BYU's baseball field is also named for Miller.) The building was used for figure skating and short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics. (Because the Olympics prohibit corporate names on venues, it was officially known as the Salt Lake Ice Center for the duration.) The WNBA's Utah Starzz played there from 1997 to 2002, when they moved.

It was home to a pair of minor-league hockey teams, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles from 1991 to 1994, and the Utah Grizzlies from 1995 to 1997, winning the Turner Cup in 1996 and '97. It's hosted NCAA Tournament games, although the NCAA is now committed to holding them in domed stadiums with at least twice this arena's capacity of 19,911.

* Salt Palace. There have actually been 3 buildings with this name, but only the 2nd is connected to sports. Opening in 1969, it hosted minor-league hockey's Salt Lake Golden Eagles from 1969 to 1991; the ABA's Utah Stars from 1970 to 1975, including their 1971 ABA Championship; and the Jazz from 1979 to 1991. The Beatles never performed in Utah, but Elvis Presley sang at the Salt Palace on November 16, 1971 and July 2, 1974.

For most of its history, it seated a little over 12,000 people. By the time the Jazz got good in the mid-1980s, among the NBA's 23 teams, only the Milwaukee Bucks had an arena with a smaller capacity. It was time to build a larger arena.

On of the last events there was an AC/DC concert on January 18, 1991, at which fans rushed the stage, and 3 of them were trampled to death. It took 20 minutes for someone to get word to the band about what had happened, and they stopped the concert. Most likely, you didn't hear about this (unless you were a fan of the band or a Utah native) because the Persian Gulf War had started 2 nights before, and that was all that TV news wanted to talk about. A lawsuit was filed against the arena operators and the band, and was eventually settled out of court.

The Salt Palace was demolished in 1994. The Salt Palace Convention Center was built on the site, and includes the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and a concert hall, Abravanel Hall. 100 South Temple.

* Smith's Ballpark. This 15,411-seat ballpark, one of the largest in the minor leagues, has been the home of the Salt Lake team in the Pacific Coast League since 1994, known first as the Buzz, then as the Stingers starting in 2001, and as the Bees since 2006. They are currently a farm team of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

It was built on the site of Derks Field, which had been home to area baseball since 1947. The original Salt Lake City baseball team played from 1911 to 1984. As the Bees, they won the Pioneer League (then Class C) Pennant in 1946, 1948 and 1953, and the PCL Pennant in 1959. As the Salt Lake City Angels, they won the PCL Pennant in 1971. As the Salt Lake City Gulls, they won the PCL Pennant in 1979. But the current Bees have never won a Pennant, last making the Playoffs in 2013.

The Salt Lake Trappers won Pioneer League (now a Rookie League) Pennants in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991, making a total of 10 Pennants for Salt Lake City teams. En route to the 1987 Pennant, they won 29 straight games, to set a North American professional baseball record. In 1994, the Trappers moved upstate to become the Ogden Raptors. 1365 South West Temple, 2 1/2 miles south of Temple Square. Ballpark station on TRAX light rail.

* Jon M. Huntsman Center. Home to University of Utah basketball since 1969, it was originally named the Special Events Center. It was renamed for a major university contributor, the founder of Huntsman Chemical Corporation and the father of a former Governor.

Jon Huntsman Sr. died in 2018, Jon Jr. is currently U.S. Ambassador to Russia (not that Donald Trump needs one), and his sister Abby Huntsman is a panelist on ABC's talk show The View, alongside fellow Republican relative Meghan McCain. Although straight, and married with 3 children, Abby famously left LDS for its opposition to gay rights.

Most notably, the Center hosted the 1979 NCAA Final Four, including the legendary Final, won by Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Michigan State over Larry Bird's Indiana State. It has hosted 81 NCAA Tournament games, 2nd only to the University of Dayton Arena's 91.

Utah won the National Championship in 1944, led by Tournament Most Outstanding Player Arnie Ferrin, now 94 years old and the earliest surviving NCAA basketball champion. He won the 1949 and 1950 NBA Championships with the Minneapolis Lakers, and was Utah's athletic director from 1976 to 1985.

Utah also reached the Final Four in 1961, 1966 and 1998, losing the Final to Kentucky. They've won 29 regular-season Conference Championships and 5 Conference Tournaments, in each case, most recently in the Mountain West in 2009.

1825 East South Campus Drive, about 3 miles east of downtown. TRAX light rail at University Campus South station.

Utah State is in Logan, 83 miles north on U.S. Route 89. It is not easily reachable by public transportation. BYU is in Provo, 45 miles south on I-15. TRAX does extend to Provo Central Station, taking about an hour, and then you can transfer to the 830 or 831 bus to the campus.

* Rio Tinto Stadium. Home of Real Salt Lake since 2008, including its 2013 MLS Cup season, this 20,213-seat soccer-specific stadium is also home to the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League. (UPDATE: The Royals were moved to Kansas City after the 2020 season.)

It has also hosted 4 U.S. soccer team matches, all victories, most recently a 2017 draw with Venezuela, the only blot on an otherwise all-winning record. The U.S. women's team has a perfect 3-0 record there. 9256 State Street in the suburb of Sandy. TRAX to Sandy Expo Station, a 48-minute ride.

* Maverik Center. Originally known as the E Center, this 12,500-seat arena hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic hockey tournament. The East Coast Hockey League's Utah Grizzlies have played there since it opened in 1997. (Yes, I know: Utah is on neither the Pacific Coast nor the East Coast. I didn't name these leagues.) 3200 Decker Lake Drive, in the suburb of West Valley City. TRAX to Decker Lake station.

Don't count on Salt Lake City ever getting a team in a sport other than the NBA and MLS. Its metro area population would rank it 30th in MLB, 27th in the NFL, and 23rd in the NHL. For now, the closest teams in those leagues are in Denver, 523 miles away.

And yet, while the Denver Broncos are Utah's favorite NFL team, and the Colorado Avalanche its favorite NHL team, it doesn't hold true in baseball. According to an article in the April 23, 2014 edition of The New York Times, Salt Lake City's vast distance from any major league team means that its favorite teams are the teams its people are used to seeing on TV: The Yankees and Red Sox each got 17 percent in a poll, and the next-closest in the poll was the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a mere 7 percent. It's not until you get to Uintah County, 160 miles east of Salt Lake (and 320 miles west of Denver), that you get to definitive Colorado Rockies territory in Utah.

Utah has never produced a President. Mitt Romney, born in Detroit and living most of his life in Boston, but having a home in the Salt Lake suburb of Park City, was nominated for President in 2012, but didn't come all that close to winning. So there's no Presidential Library or Museum nearby.

The most famous Utahan remains Mormon leader Brigham Young, and his home, The Beehive House, is a Salt Lake City landmark. The spot where Young told his followers, "This is the place" is now the This Is The Place Heritage Park, a "living history" park, a "Mormon Williamsburg" if you prefer. 2601 Sunnyside Avenue South. It is part of the University of Utah campus, as is the Natural History Museum at 301 Wakara Way. Like the This Is The Place. Both can be reached by Bus 3 from Temple Square.

As I mentioned, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art is part of the new Salt Palace complex. The Museum for Speed includes exhibits about the speed records set at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. 165 East 600 South. Bus 200 from Temple Square.

Golden Spike National Historic Site commemorates the meeting of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to form the 1st transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. Interestingly, both of the locomotives shown in the famous photo were made within a reasonable drive of us: Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey built Union Pacific No. 119; and Schenectady Locomotive Works of the Albany area built Central Pacific Railroad #60, a.k.a. Jupiter.

6200 North 22300th Street West (no, I checked, that address is not a typo), in Corrinne, 86 miles northwest of Salt Lake City and around the Great Salt Lake itself, up I-15 and Utah Route 83. Ironically, it's not reachable by train. Nor by bus: You'd have to rent a car to see it. It's about 32 miles southeast of the actual location, usually referred to as Promontory Point, but actually named Promontory Summit, near Brigham City. ("Promontory Point" is a different place.)

The tallest building in the State of Utah is the Wells Fargo Center in Salt Lake City, 422 feet high. (It should not be confused with the building of the same name that is the new Philadelphia sports arena.) Main Street and 300 South. But the most famous building in the State remains the Salt Lake Temple at Temple Square, the Mormons' "Vatican."

As the home of National Monument Valley, many of the films made in Utah have been Westerns, including Stagecoach, The Searchers, How the West Was Won, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -- which gave its name to Kid portrayer Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival -- and the Wild West scenes from Back to the Future III. The beginning sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with 18-year-old River Phoenix playing a 13-year-old Indy, was said by the credits to take place in "Utah, 1912," and was indeed filmed in the State. The spot in Forrest Gump where Forrest stops running is on U.S. Route 163 in Monument Valley.

As for Salt Lake City itself, a scene from Legally Blonde 2 was filmed at the Jazz' arena, and another at the State Capitol. The High School Musical movies were filmed at East High School, 3 miles east of downtown. 840 1300 East. Bus 220.

But the most famous movie shot in Salt Lake was, ironically, set in a place we normally associate with filming locations: The Sandlot, set in California's San Fernando Valley in 1962. The houses of Scotty Smalls (played by Tom Guiry) and Benny "the Jet" Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) are at the corner of Bryan Avenue and 2000 East, 5 miles southeast of downtown. Also Bus 220.

The actual sandlot, renovated for the film's 20th Anniversary in 2013, is behind 1386 Glenrose Drive South at Navajo Street, 4 miles southwest of Temple Square. Bus 516. Patrick Renna, who played catcher Hamilton "The Great Hambino" Porter, filmed another movie in SLC, The Great Unknown, in 1997.

A recent photo of the Sandlot

TV shows set and/or filmed in Utah include the late 1950s Western Union Pacific, Touched By an Angel (the angels' car went all over the American West but had Utah license plates), its spinoff
Promised Land, Everwood, and the Mormon-themed drama Big Love and reality series Sister Wives.

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Like a lot of cities, Salt Lake City and Provo can be a bit of an acquired taste. But Utah, whether Utes or Cougars (or Aggies), loves its college football, and it could be a good roadtrip for a sports fan.