Destruction and firing of Nauvoo Expositor was really just a ward basketball game that got out of hand

Second run of Nauvoo Expositor

PROVO - Professors at Brigham Young University made a startling announcement today. Coming on the heels of months of research two professors of early church history declared that the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was nothing more than "a ward basketball game that got out of hand."

Walter Gregory and Tony Summerhays, teaching at BYU since 1988, were shocked at what their research uncovered. Said Prof. Summerhays, "We initially thought the Expositor only published one issue. Turns out we were wrong. There was actually one issue before the June 7th (and final) printing."


Prof. Gregory picks up the story: "The Nauvoo 6th ward and the Commerce 19th ward had a bad history when it came to sports, almost like the BYU/UofU rivalry today. The Nauvoo ward claimed Joseph Smith, Orson Pratt and Brigham Young as members. They were considered the 'Lord's Team'. On the other hand, the Commerce ward's most famous member was Jesse Gause. They took pride in being the guys from the other side of the river. Needless to say, every time they met to play ball things were chippy."



"Trash talking was elevated to an art form," Prof. Summerhays continued. "The Commerce ward figured the best way for them to clown the Nauvoo ward was to buy a printing press and let them have it with both barrels. Three days prior to a game played on June 6th the Commerce ward published their initial trash talking issue. As you can imagine this didn't sit well with the Nauvoo folks, though it did give them some bulletin board material."

The game was played on June 6th with surprising results.

"The games were always close, back-and-forth affairs," says Prof. Gregory. "But June 6th was different. Nauvoo ward was on a mission, forgive the pun. They jumped all over Commerce right out of the gate. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around the game was out of reach. Naturally, Commerce thought Nauvoo was running up the score and they took umbrage. Hard fouls and ejections followed. Eventually the refs just called the game with 2:43 seconds left."

The next day is when the second (and more well known) issue of the Expositor went to press.

Expositor, pre-destruction

"Nauvoo ward was livid. They felt they had played a clean game and that Commerce had gone all bush league. To be maligned in the press the next day was too much to take. They went over to the printing office and took care of business. The rest is history."

The professors say that, given their new findings, some church materials will need to be updated. They are also seeking more funding in order to research if the Mormon Reformation was nothing more than a regional tournament gone bad.



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