And the apology is in.

[BroncoBot]

Good, well thought out apology. You can even tell it came from him and not some PR hack who just had Hall sign it. I think this just shows how classy the guy is.

100% agree. He didn't back down from what he said. He owned it. Apologized to the appropriate people. And told the other people who owed HIM an apology to go to outer darkness.

I get the feeling that neither administration has been quite able to own up to the fact they have some out of control fans. If this topic helps them wake up and explore steps to control rowdier elements (RES, hello? Maybe you shouldn't sell beer at your game?), then this will all be for the good.

I thought they didn't sell beer at RES??? Which makes all the beer stories at RES even crazier.

[Mars]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=8847214

"I want to take the opportunity to clarify and apologize for a few of my remarks after the game yesterday. Last year at RES my family was spit on, had beer dumped on them, and were physically assaulted on several occasions. They had to endure extremely vile comments personally attacking my wife, my mother, other family members, and our religion. They had to be escorted to their car by local police. As a result of what happened to my family last year this rivalry became personal, and in the heat of the moment yesterday I made comments toward the entire university that were really directed specifically at those fans in RES. It was not intended to be directed at the entire organization and all of their fans and I apologize that it came out that way. I have the utmost respect for Kyle Whittingham, his coaching staff, and the Utah football players. I apologize to them and other members of the university for my comments. I'm also sorry if my comments took anything away from my teammates and coaches and our victory Saturday. The BYU-Utah game is a great rivalry, but no one should be treated the way my family was last year. I'm hoping that BYU and Utah fans can take steps to prevent future incidents at the game."

[BroncoBot]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=8847214

"I want to take the opportunity to clarify and apologize for a few of my remarks after the game yesterday. Last year at RES my family was spit on, had beer dumped on them, and were physically assaulted on several occasions. They had to endure extremely vile comments personally attacking my wife, my mother, other family members, and our religion. They had to be escorted to their car by local police. As a result of what happened to my family last year this rivalry became personal, and in the heat of the moment yesterday I made comments toward the entire university that were really directed specifically at those fans in RES. It was not intended to be directed at the entire organization and all of their fans and I apologize that it came out that way. I have the utmost respect for Kyle Whittingham, his coaching staff, and the Utah football players. I apologize to them and other members of the university for my comments. I'm also sorry if my comments took anything away from my teammates and coaches and our victory Saturday. The BYU-Utah game is a great rivalry, but no one should be treated the way my family was last year. I'm hoping that BYU and Utah fans can take steps to prevent future incidents at the game."

Great apology. Exactly what we all needed to hear to clarify what he meant by his post-game comments.

[scott715]

Real good question. The conference is investiaging the situation too. What can be done to fix the problem? I saw someone propose that BYU-Utah take a 2 year break from playing and each play Hawaii instead. More security? No beer? No tickets sold to the opposing teams fans? Put video cameras all over the stadiums? Completely seperate the fans or sit them Ute/Cougar/Ute?

I was watching the UCLA-USC game last night. It got very close to a complete brawl last night at the end. The whole UCLA team was half away across the field jawing with their rival. An innocent rivalry is fun not so when it crosses the line.

[Italics]

Real good question. The conference is investiaging the situation too. What can be done to fix the problem? I saw someone propose that BYU-Utah take a 2 year break from playing and each play Hawaii instead. More security? No beer? No tickets sold to the opposing teams fans? Put video cameras all over the stadiums? Completely seperate the fans or sit them Ute/Cougar/Ute?

I was watching the UCLA-USC game last night. It got very close to a complete brawl last night at the end. The whole UCLA team was half away across the field jawing with their rival. An innocent rivalry is fun not so when it crosses the line.

Yeah, the UCLA/USC thing was crazy. The funniest part was a ref chasing a UCLA fan and tripping, falling flat on his face.

I HATE the idea of the two teams playing Hawaii instead of each other for two years... Hawaii sucks and would hurt our already fragile SOS. They'd lose tons of money and media attention, too... man I hope they're smarter than to make that choice.
The idea of not selling tickets to opposing fans might seem nice, but I dunno... you GOTTA have fans of both teams at these games, especially considering how close they are to each other.
Completely separating the fans from each other is probably best.

[BroncoBot]

Real good question. The conference is investiaging the situation too. What can be done to fix the problem? I saw someone propose that BYU-Utah take a 2 year break from playing and each play Hawaii instead. More security? No beer? No tickets sold to the opposing teams fans? Put video cameras all over the stadiums? Completely seperate the fans or sit them Ute/Cougar/Ute?

I was watching the UCLA-USC game last night. It got very close to a complete brawl last night at the end. The whole UCLA team was half away across the field jawing with their rival. An innocent rivalry is fun not so when it crosses the line.

Yeah, the UCLA/USC thing was crazy. The funniest part was a ref chasing a UCLA fan and tripping, falling flat on his face.

I HATE the idea of the two teams playing Hawaii instead of each other for two years... Hawaii sucks and would hurt our already fragile SOS. They'd lose tons of money and media attention, too... man I hope they're smarter than to make that choice.
The idea of not selling tickets to opposing fans might seem nice, but I dunno... you GOTTA have fans of both teams at these games, especially considering how close they are to each other.
Completely separating the fans from each other is probably best.

And just how would you do this? surround them with Plexiglas?

[Florwood]

(RES, hello? Maybe you shouldn't sell beer at your game?), then this will all be for the good.

I thought they didn't sell beer at RES??? Which makes all the beer stories at RES even crazier.

I think you're right, based on what I've heard this morning. Maybe people smuggling stuff in, or maybe just assumptions about what the drink is. Bad form no matter what it is.

[BerliNY]

Real good question. The conference is investiaging the situation too. What can be done to fix the problem? I saw someone propose that BYU-Utah take a 2 year break from playing and each play Hawaii instead. More security? No beer? No tickets sold to the opposing teams fans? Put video cameras all over the stadiums? Completely seperate the fans or sit them Ute/Cougar/Ute?

I was watching the UCLA-USC game last night. It got very close to a complete brawl last night at the end. The whole UCLA team was half away across the field jawing with their rival. An innocent rivalry is fun not so when it crosses the line.

Yeah, the UCLA/USC thing was crazy. The funniest part was a ref chasing a UCLA fan and tripping, falling flat on his face.

I HATE the idea of the two teams playing Hawaii instead of each other for two years... Hawaii sucks and would hurt our already fragile SOS. They'd lose tons of money and media attention, too... man I hope they're smarter than to make that choice.
The idea of not selling tickets to opposing fans might seem nice, but I dunno... you GOTTA have fans of both teams at these games, especially considering how close they are to each other.
Completely separating the fans from each other is probably best.

And just how would you do this? surround them with Plexiglas?

Plexiglass no, fences (concrete, chain-link or otherwise) yes. This is what has been done at nearly every soccer stadium in Europe with ACTUAL POLICE in the aisles instead of 115 lb freshmen doing work-study while wearing orange "event staff" jackets.

[ABYUFAN]

I saw someone propose that BYU-Utah take a 2 year break from playing and each play Hawaii instead.

So someone thinks a good way to solve the problem is to put it off for two years? Who was this genious? President Obama?

Whatever problems exist today will exist two years from now if all we do to confront them is to bury our heads in the sand for two years...

[BoiseBYU]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=8847214

"I want to take the opportunity to clarify and apologize for a few of my remarks after the game yesterday. Last year at RES my family was spit on, had beer dumped on them, and were physically assaulted on several occasions. They had to endure extremely vile comments personally attacking my wife, my mother, other family members, and our religion. They had to be escorted to their car by local police. As a result of what happened to my family last year this rivalry became personal, and in the heat of the moment yesterday I made comments toward the entire university that were really directed specifically at those fans in RES. It was not intended to be directed at the entire organization and all of their fans and I apologize that it came out that way. I have the utmost respect for Kyle Whittingham, his coaching staff, and the Utah football players. I apologize to them and other members of the university for my comments. I'm also sorry if my comments took anything away from my teammates and coaches and our victory Saturday. The BYU-Utah game is a great rivalry, but no one should be treated the way my family was last year. I'm hoping that BYU and Utah fans can take steps to prevent future incidents at the game."

I applaud Hall. We all make mistakes and do dumb things. It takes a man to own up to a mistake and that is what Hall did in my book...Now the Utah and BYU Administrations need to own up to the fact that they have failed to address the fact that there are some really bad fans out there and there are steps that need taking to mitigate the problems that sour what is otherwise a great great rivialry. There are things that can be done. There are things that can be explored. How about forcing the teams to have dinner together or better collectively serving dinner to less fortunate the week before the game? But first the Administrations need to fess up that they have dropped the ball and when that happens generally things go to the lowest common denominator....