Every rivalry has bad blood.
Before Utah’s historic 48-24 win over BYU even got under way, the ill will was cranked up a notch.
As the Cougars usually do before every game, they performed their pregame ritual “haka” dance on the west side of Rice-Eccles Stadium following the coin toss.
The haka is a posture dance with shouted accompaniment, performed traditionally by Pacific Islanders and New Zealanders, and was introduced to both BYU and Utah through the influx of Pacific Island players in recent years.
Utah performed its haka dance during pregame warm-ups. Amped and ready for a final drive toward perfection, strong safety Joe Dale and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester ventured over to the BYU side of the field when the Cougars started to perform their version of the haka to let them know that this was their house.
“They can’t do that on our field,” said quarterback Brian Johnson. “That shows disrespect.”
Free safety Robert Johnson, who made an acrobatic third-quarter interception during the game, agreed in the postgame interview with his quarterback by saying, “Yep, exactly.”
As Dale and Sylvester led the way, soon a sea of red followed behind them and the two teams began jawing back and forth. Special teams specialist Deshawn Richard jumped in front and got into a heated conversation with a BYU player before the refs and Utah coaching staff stepped in to separate the rivals.
“Our guys got the feeling they were disrespected a little bit,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “But, it is what it is and nothing came of it.”
Emotions ran high, and as soon as the Utes were in the face of the Cougars, the second-largest crowd in Rice-Eccles history of 46,488 rose to their feet in support of their team, and the stadium was rocking before the ball was even placed onto the tee.
Johnson likened the ruckus to national rivalries such as Ohio State-Michigan and West Virginia-Louisville, both of which had some sort of altercation Saturday.
“That’s what you get in rivalry games,” Johnson said. “It kinda comes along with the (rivalry), but at the same time, we’ve gotta protect this house.”
c.kamrani@chronicle.utah.edu
The Daily Utah Chronicle > Sports
Utes protect their house after BYU haka dance
Published: Monday, November 24, 2008
Updated: Monday, November 24, 2008
 "Photo: Thien Sok")
Thien Sok
Referees and coaches had to separate players after the Utes felt disrespected that BYU was performing their haka dance in Rice-Eccles after the coin toss.
5 comments
Richard
Boooo to frivolous displays of the Haka! It belongs with the Maoris, not a bunch of losers from Provo.
J
Xavier, did you read the article? Even Utah is doing the Haka now. Do you want to screw them too?
Realist
they have ripped it off from the New Zealand "All Blacks" National Rugby team which year in and year out are one of the top Rugby nations in the world. They need to come up with their own deal instead of ripping off someone else's pre-game ritual. I actually find it funny watching the y do it after seeing the real thing done by the All Blacks.
Servo
That the Haka is popular is precisely why the TDS is doing it. While they feel they're above everyone else, they desperately want to "feel cool". Remember several years ago when the "Tomahawk chop" was popular? They started doing it at RES-south too, even though their team/mascot has nothing to do with Indians and therefore makes zero sense. Everyone else was doing it, so the zoobs had to do it too because it was cool.
Xavier
Screw BYU for doing the HAKA, especially in our stadium. Everybody and their flippin' dog is doing the HAKA now. It should be kept out of football. The New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and maybe the Highland Rugby team are the only ones who should be doing the HAKA.
