The senior quarterback threw two touchdown passes in his final home game, including the game-winner in overtime, and when asked at a post-game press conference if that redeemed his six-turnover debacle from 2008, Hall did not mince words....

A little bit, yeah. I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything. So it felt really good to send those guys home.

They didn't deserve it. It was our turn, and our turn to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight. And it felt really good, again, to send them home, to get them out of here, and so it is a game I will always remember."

And then he continued, "I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose."

Wow. That's like real hate. So that's probably the end of that story, right? Nope. Believe it or not, Utah fans were a little ticked off:

"Max Hall is a jerk. He says he hates Utah. I hate him. I hate BYU. That school is filled with hypocrites." — Steve

"Hall is a whiny b——, just like all Cougars and their fans." — no name

"What a baby Max is. Why is it that BYU players are always the ones saying stupid things. I hate that place. Talk about classless." — Tom.

"MORGAN SCALLEY MADE SIMILAR COMMENTS IN 2004 WITHOUT CRITICISM. YOU NEED TO CALL IT BOTH WAYS." — Mark.

Just to let you know how serious Ute fans are taking this ... they've started anti-Max Facebook groups. No foolin'. So on Sunday, Hall decided to ease the tension a little bit and offered an apology for taking a dump on half his state.

"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 [Rice-Eccles Stadium]. 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."

First of all, what did he say there about not intending to insult the entire organization?

"I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless."

Ok, just checking. But Hall says he was really upset because during the 2008 game at Utah, his family was physically and verbally assaulted, including getting beer dumped on them by unruly fans. So that's why the "rivalry became personal." If ask me, it isn't a rivalry until you take it personally. That's why they're called rivals.

A year ago, Hall got embarrassed on the field and his family was humiliated in the stands. So this time around, he rips the heart out of his opponent and redeems himself. Shouldn't he get to talk all the shit he wants? Like the University of Utah is so kick-ass that no one is allowed to hate it? Ok, maybe when the hate rises to the level of beer throwing and insulting mothers, you've gone a bit too far, but Max Hall should be commended for getting his payback on the field. That's the best kind of revenge there is.

So don't listen to those Mormons, buddy. Hold on to your rage and let it feed your soul. It's healthy for you!

Monson: Mad Max's thunder a blunder [Salt Lake Tribune]
Monson: There's too much hate in BYU-Utah rivalry [Salt Lake Tribune]
Mad Max Will Regret Post Game Blunder [Bleacher Report]
Hall's pain a reflection of self-betrayal [Deseret News]
BYU Cougar quarterback Max Hall apologizes for ripping Utah Utes, fans after victory [ESPN]
[Photo via]

Via our friend at the Sportress of Blogitude comes this curious Los Angeles Times report:

As Albert arrived, with an entourage of one, TNT public relations specialist Jeff Pomeroy, there was a sudden scuffle when a multitude of 50 Cent protectors seemed unfamiliar with Albert. There was shouting ("It's Marv Albert," yelled a Kimmel show guard, a pronouncement that seemed to have no effect on the 50 Cent phalanx.) There were obscenities. A fist or two flying. A "Don't you put your hands on me" pronouncement.

And finally Albert made it to his waiting room, relatively unruffled but slightly puzzled. "Did you see that?" Albert said. "I thought they were kidding, but then I realized they weren't."

Poor Marv. He's still the best play-by-play guy around. His star has fallen so far, however, that not only does he find himself in Kimmel's green room instead of Letterman's, but he now is merely an anonymous toupeed inconvenience to a more famous guy's entourage. I expect a sharply worded diss track on Marv Albert's next release of Dazzling Dunks and Basketball Bloopers.

Marv Albert gets recognition from Jimmy Kimmel, but not everyone at show [Los Angeles Times]
Marv Albert And 50 Cent's Entourage Mix It Up Backstage At Jimmy Kimmel's Show [Sportress of Blogitude]

The dirty Canucks have decided that since their country is 98% uninhabitable ice, that somehow entitles them to all the gold medals at the Winter Olympics. Their maple-soaked organizing committee wants HockeyWorld to not only claim the most medals in its history, they want to win more medals than any other nation next year. (A laughable notion, of course.) Their only hope for that to happen is to deny innocent, non-moose riding athletes much-needed training runs on the unique and dangerous courses for sports like bobsled and downhill skiing. Yes, even Americans have not been allowed unfettered access to the luge track, which is crazy, because don't they have to do what we say?

Who you gettin' crazy with, Pucky? Do you really want to bring a luge war down on your heads?

Also, unlike every Olympic city ever, Vancouver actually finished its venues on schedule, so those Molson-swilling seal jockeys have already enjoyed hundreds of hours of unrestricted practice time on the slopes of Whistler and whatever it is you take bobsleds down. "Oh, Canada! We stand on guard against Norwegian biathletes ... who we will probably shoot in the back of the head after we trick them into taking a wrong turn on some hellish Yukon death trail!"

Don't think we haven't forgotten about that loonie in Salt Lake, you French-talking syrup suckers. A hard snow is a-gonna fall.

As Host of the Winter Olympics, Canada Acts More Like a Guard [New York Times]
Luge federations spar over Whistler training time [CTV]

Clark played for the Cardinals from 1985-87, three glorious years that saw either the Cards or Mets on top of the division. That also meant Cards and Mets sharing space on the All-Star team, which was a perfect opportunity to snub his exhibition teammates. Jack reminisced about those good 'ol days on KTRS-AM radio this morning.

I didn't want to let them know I was glad to be there with them, or wanted to be on any kind of team or be a teammate with them. We were going to battle."

Battle? At the All-Star Game? But that time it didn't even count!

I think they felt the same and if they didn't I made sure at least they felt it from me.

Yeah, it might have been just you, Jack. However, Clark also wanted take the opportunity to remind people that Howard Johnson was a cheater and that Gary Carter was an "disgusting" attention whore.

On Carter: "He couldn't stand it. Whoever was talking to somebody else, he'd have to go over there to the media, and try to get in there because he wanted to be the one that the whole game was all about. Which was pretty sickening and disgusting to everybody else. ... We didn't have to see him with his white shoes on, being sad and acting like he was somebody special ... He talked his way more into the Hall of Fame than actually deserving it."

Was Ho Jo's bat corked?: "Yeah, it was. That just goes to show those guys were trying to cheat, you know, and it didn't end up working for them anyhow. If his was corked, I'm sure a few other guys' over there were corked, also. It didn't make any difference to us."

Yeah, they only won one World Series! Shows you what cheating gets you!

Jack Clark, a Cardinal of the 1980s, Disdains the Mets of That Era [NY Times]

It seems a Washington State basketball fan ran into an old friend of John Brockman—the starting forward for the rival Huskies—the night before the "big" UW-WSU game last weekend. So he spent the bulk of the evening calling and texting Brockman in the hopes of giving him a sleepless night. Since Brockman had a career-high 18 rebounds the next day and UW won, I'm going to say that it didn't work.

But it got worse when Brockman decided to enact some revenge on the griefer via this message he posted on everyone's favorite web-menacing tool, Twitter:

Requesting all dawg fans to call (208) 625 0872 and tell him about the husky win......he called me 25 times last night.....let him have it!

James Monsey, the Washington State senior who started the whole thing, received approximately 400 calls from Brockman's Twitter army. (So I guess it backfired?) Both gentlemen seem to be taking the whole thing in the spirit of old fashioned sportsmanship and no one will be indicted. However, I suggest you throw away your cell phone and never go on the internet again.

Brockman gets his revenge [Seattle Times]
A Chat with Jon Brockman's Cell-Phone Adversary [Seattle Weekly]

Keep in mind that we are dealing with people who hang out on college basketball message boards in the middle of a Tuesday night. Everyone was in agreement that something must be done, but no one could be sure what that should be:

If y'all are serious about tomorrow, you should really F*** with these guys all night.

Naturally, prank calls were the first order of business:

Haha, I just called and asked for Gerald Henderson's room please and the lady at the front desk actually connected me to him. He just said hello and I hung up. I don't really have anything witty/funny to say.

You hung up? Brilliant! A lot more ideas were floated for Plan B. Pulled fire alarms. Getting a hotel room. (What for? To jump on the beds?) Air horns. More prank calls. And ... that was about it. The finest internet minds gathering together to wreak mayhem and madness, and this is the best they could do? Not even a fake 100-pizza delivery order?

Of course, the Dukies were no better. Once they caught wind of this "appalling" and "classless" act, they went running to Mommy—calling Blue Devil coaches to warn them of the impending menace like so many Paul Reveres of the Web. In fact, it looks like they got more calls through to the team than the Maryland fans did.

It seems that all these half-hearted measures got phone access to the Duke rooms cut off well-before midnight, and the players and coaches no doubt slept like babies. In fact, despite much boasting and plotting and (most likely) lies, it seems that only one person managed to mildly annoy a Duke player last night. (And even that is probably made up.)

Since Jdawg asked; my Paulus transcript:

"Hello, this is ****** with the Washington Times, sorry to bother you at this hour Mr. Paulus, but we are running a small piece tomorrow and I was hoping to take 2 minutes and ask you a question?"

Him: "Uhhh, sure"

"If you had to choose between Deron Washington, Danny Green, and Dwayne Collins, who's nuts would you say tasted the best?"

Him: ...click.

Crap. He forgot to say "Bababooey."

Maryland's "Operation Scheyerface 2.0″ & Hotel Shenanigans [850 TheBuzz]
Dooks Greenbelt Marriott Hotel and digits [Terp Center]
Maryland Fans Have Crossed the Line [Duke Basketball Report]

It seems the two had a little radio show war of words a couple weeks ago before their current teams, Tennessee and Jacksonville went at it. When Jones-Drew was asked what he would do if his son grew up and went to USC he replied, "I'd say, son, do you want your dad to go early to his grave? It would be tough to see my son wearing that ugly red and yellow." (Pete Carroll disagrees.)

Asked the same question two days later on the same show, White responded a little more thoughtfully:

“I probably would ground him until he realized that that’s the worst grief you would ever imagine. You know, powder blue. I guess enough said. Their powder blue uniforms and that ugly mustard color.

UCLA [stinks]. It’s the worst school you could ever go to if you were a football player. ... You got to make your choice. If you want to get dominated by your crosstown rival, where they can come on your campus and take your girlfriends and stuff, then you make that decision."

The girlfriend stealing motif is obviously a favorite of his, because he repeated it yesterday on the "Mason and Ireland" show on ESPN radio. It also included some choice words for his friend Maurice.

For the audio disinclined, highlights include:

Does it feel better to beat UCLA or Notre Dame?

Definitely UCLA, because after you beat them you go on campus and take their girlfriend.

Difference between Bruins and Trojans?

"Heart and winning ... If you want to [not] win and go to the Vegas Bowl or Tangerine Bowl, then that's where you go."

Prediction for Saturday?:

70 to 3.

Final thoughts?:

"If Maurice Jones-Drew is listening to this somewhere ... your team sucks."

Ok, then. See you Saturday!

LenDale White, Maurice Jones-Drew in USC-UCLA smackdown [LA Times]
Mason & Ireland [ESPN Radio]

Always seems to happen that way. Except with the Mets. Granted, this is still not an official "rivalry" in the minds of certain individuals currently employed by New York magazine (or, better, "The New Yorker") but the Phillies and Mets have taken on a life of its own beyond just the usual second class citizenry. No, these teams for the last couple years now are seemingly in sync with upsetting each other's momentum at opportune times. Given last year's remarkable collapse, the Mets have more to prove in the last final weeks of the season than the Phillies do. (Remember: Carlos Beltran is the one who declared they're the "team to beat" this year.) And they are, still. Even though the Phillies do hold that precarious half-game lead right now in the NL East, that'll change. Plenty. The Phillies will come out of this homestand emotionally drained and then have to fly to Chicago for a four-game series with the seemingly unbeatable Cubs. A split would be a gift. The Mets will retool once again and find their footing, bounce back and do everything possible to redeem themselves from last year (and last night's loss.)

Granted, even though the National League pretty much begins and ends with Chicago, the Mets and Phillies have carved out their own personal series that'll probably be much more exciting the rest of the season than either one of their prospects in October. Nobody's thinking about a wildcard spot. And when September rolls around and both teams are once again facing the spoilers of the National League East (the Marlins, Nats always seem to give both these teams trouble when it matters most) a Phillies win will almost be as electrifying as a Mets loss. (For me, at least. The opposite holds true for you cretins from Queens, obviously.) But the way this is shaping up, it appears that remarkably there won't be an empty seat in Citizens Bank Park on Sundays this year even when football season begins.

So, enjoy it. This is good. This is a rivalry.

See you tonight.

Faith and Fear in Flushing:

So put down the scalpel and by all means protect your vision. You'll need it tonight to see what staff ace Johan Santana does to answer a question that, at Mets 7 Phillies 0, appeared ridiculous: How do we get even in this series and back into first place after probably the worst loss ever etched into the annals of worsts, losses, etchings or annals?
Do what you're supposed to do, Ace. After a Rollinsian debacle of Rogersesque proportions, we require all the help we can afford.

Mets Find A New Way To Collapse [NY Daily News]
Mets Fans Are Highly Irritable [The Fightins]

The Phillies and Mets, of course, have some history, but it’s not real history, in the way the eighties Mets and Cardinals hated each other, or even the increasingly mild Red Sox and Yankees (somewhat) cheer against each other. Rather than two teams trading blows for baseball’s most cherished prize, the Mets and Phillies tend to stumble ungallantly across the finish line, the winner crowned mostly because of the collapse of the other. Last year was the most vivid example; the Mets’ implosion down the stretch opened the door for the Phillies, who celebrated by being promptly swept out of the playoffs.

How droll. Regardless of what certain floppy-haired Midwesterners believe about the "history" between these two teams, the current state of Mets-Phillies is anything but civil and the rivalry is well on its way to achieving the appropriate level of realness.

Tonight: Watch. Enjoy. Cheer for the fat kid on the mound.

Tomorrow: Return. Promptly. Please?

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin.

Mets, Phillies To Flail It Out For Desperate Fans [NY Mag]

In the midst of depression, you have to admire the fanbases. Tickets on StubHub are still awfully pricey. We're going to be in Seattle this weekend — we actually leave tomorrow night — and the Michigan-ND tickets are still more expensive than the Washington-Ohio State tickets, and that's involving two 2-0 teams. Difference is, though: Tyrone Willingham has a chance to win.

Michigan-ND Tickets [StubHub]
Washington-Ohio State Tickets [StubHub]