ESPN is partners with Texas. Now an ESPN lackey attacks Texas A&M for standing up to Longhorn arrogance.

Big shock.

Well, maybe a little shock.

Texas has tried its best to kill the Big 12. Even Oklahoma had enough of it and ran to the Pac-12 to gain independence from the Longhorns.

But the Pac-12 didn’t want OU, and now the Sooners are forced to capitulate to their Longhorn masters.

However, the Aggies won’t bow the knee. Texas A&M is too noble to spend another day as serfs in Texas’ fiefdom.

For Texas A&M’s noble stand against the Longhorns, ESPN repays them with this broadside from Ivan Maisel. Maisel’s rant attempts to diminish the proud Aggie tradition.

The core of Maisel’s argument? Texas A&M isn’t Texas.

There is some breaking news right there. This is intrepid reporting such as uncovering the latest dog bites man scoop or figuring out gas costs more today than it did in 1985.

Maisel takes aim at Texas A&M’s pride. He ranted, “Through the lean times and the occasional flush ones, the Aggies always had their pride. Them being so full of themselves may have made Aggie jokes resonate to the rest of us.”

So, an ESPN football writer admitting he laughs at Texas A&M?

That is wonderful for ESPN’s reputation.

Almost as wonderful as spending millions of dollars wrecking college football with its Longhorn Network.

Make no mistake, the Longhorn Network is the culprit here. It is the result of Texas Longhorn arrogance and ESPN’s near omnipotence.

And ESPN’s wroth is clear. Maisel rants, “Never has one school combined an indomitable spirit with such a domitable football team.”

ESPN cannot dominate Texas A&M and the Worldwide Leader with its lackey is upset.

If there were ever any doubt that Texas A&M did the right thing, ESPN’s latest tantrum eliminates that question.

Texas A&M has irritated Texas and ESPN. For that, football fans everywhere owe Texas A&M a debt of gratitude.

Welcome to the SEC! This Alabama fan is proud of the SEC’s newest member.

72 thoughts on “SEC Expansion: ESPN lackey attacks Texas A&M”

  1. Thanks for the welcome, and as an Aggie, I am very happy this is finalized and looking forward to the new rivalries and renewing old ones with LSU and Ark. In following the news over the past month, I have seen a very good reception from fans and commentators associated with the SEC.

    There is a different atmosphere than in the Big 12, which may account for some of the success on the field.

    Wayne Yancey ’72

    1. Welcome! Bama boy in Australia here! Your everyday Bama fan has always liked and respected the aggies. You guys have saved our program 2x in history. One, You gave us Bear Bryant. Two, you took Dennis Franchione. And Gene Stallings was a nice bonus.
      You guys are ok in my book and there is not a crimson blooded bama fan who hasnt seen “The Junction Boys”.
      I look forward to playing you guys and seeing who wins the tailgate party.( I can smell the bbq’s a cooking!!!!!) ROOOLLLLL TIDE!!! and Go AGGIES!

  2. On behalf of the entire state of Texas, I’d like to say, “thank you.” Thank you for taking Texas a-and-m off our hands. You will enjoy the heck out of them and their quirkiness. Please watch over them and treat them with the kindness that all special needs people deserve, after all, we are ALL God’s children.

    JAC
    SMU Class of 1996

    1. Still upset you overpaid for that bachelor of arts degree pony boy? Call an ag when you need a job!

    2. Why so your school can beg and give back room blow jobs to get into the Texas big 12, win a few more big games and then try to disrespect an sec school. A big welcome Texas A & M from a Vols fan.

  3. I was raised an Aggie. I’m not old, but I’m not young either. followed at various levels of intensity since the Bellard days and outside Bonfire, can’t remember a conference-mate sticking up for A&M. So…
    Dear SEC-
    Please give us Aggies some time to adjust to SEC life both on and off the field. I know we’ll do our best to live up to your high standards.

    1. We play hard, We are passionate about our teams. And during the season we may all be be at each others throats from time to time. But when it comes to outsiders we definately stick together. Aggie Bro, I wouldnt worry about trash talk from (so-called) fan bases that cant seem to produce a legitimate National championship contender. A&M fans expect to win and expect excellence and they arent willing to wait around and play second banana to someone else. Welcome home.

    1. aTm grads are the highest payed employees in Texas. So I see 13th grade at smu didn’t help you much. BTW, The Boss of all Bosses is gonna be an Aggie soon. 😉

  4. At this point it’s simply entertainment to see what ESPN will throw out there next at us Aggies. Anyone who has a basic idea of what has been going down in the Big XII and conference re-alignment should find ESPN’s attempts at blasting the Aggies for going against their investment’s interest as a laughable act of obvious bias. To think, ESPN is supposed to represent itself as the leading company in sports reporting.

    If they want to tarnish their own image by breaking line and coming after us, then I say ‘bring it’. I’m happy to see an already solid form of backing from the SEC and its fans. It’s been less than a day since the official announcement and here you guys are right with us.. trust me, it’s a very big change for what most of us (Aggies) are used to from life in the Big XII, and a very welcome change at that.

    Thanks and gig’ em

    1. I agree with what you said.
      I also think that a&m was here before ESPN and they will be here long after someone else has bought espn and changed the name.

  5. James,

    A&M has been “off” SMU’s hands since the mid-90s, so I’m not so sure what you’re complaining about. Good luck with playing relevant games sometime this century!

    A Stephens ’89

    1. Alan,

      If you would take the time to read my post carefully, you would see the opening statement reads, “On behalf of the entire state of Texas” not just SMU.

      Furthermore, in regards to your statement about ‘relevant games’ let’s just review a couple of things…using aggy logic of course.

      In the last five years SMU has won a bowl game, aggy zreo. We have won the same amount of bowl games as aggy in the last ten years.

      Spin that with your aggy logic, or better yet blame it on the BOMC or the Longhorn Network.

      1. I can spin it. Texas a&m will definately be getting a lot of attention among recruits in Texas who want to stay in state and still play in the SEC. The SEC is turning out pro players like a machine. What that means is that 4 and 5 star recruits who want to add a NC to thier resume and get all of that exposure, are definately going to look twice at Texas A&M. UT has recruited great teams for decades. The state of texas is arguably the best recruiting spot in the US. But what has texas and other in state schools done with that talent?…. Not much. The big 12 (or whatever it is) has squandered alot of its natural resources. It has lived in UTs shadow for a long long time. It has deferred to Texas often._ That does not happen in the SEC. We play to win every time. We recruit to win everytime. And we dont accept substandard performance. Mostly we dont like standing in someone elses shadow. And wont play a second fiddle. The A&M decision is probably one of the best decisions of a long long time. Texas a&m did a conference upgrade, they have spiced up their recruiting, and they have added a huge television market and revenues. If a&m can get a top rate coaching staff they will be in the title hunt in the very near future. And when they meet Other Texas Schools they will pretty much dominate. SEC football is big strong and fast as lightening. I would say tht Bama or LSU’s 2nd team could beat anyone in the state of TEXAS right now. and Arkansas or Florida could win the Big 12. .Texas a&m could have wallowed in mediocrity in the Big 12 forever. I suppose they decided it was time to go out and live up to the excellence they want to achieve. You cant blame them for that.

        1. What has UT done with it? Winningest program in the last decade, during that time, 3 BCS games, 2 appearances in the Nat’l Championship and a Nat’l Championship victory.

          Third winningest (soon to be second winningest) program in college football history.

          Nearly all with TX players, there is occasionally one from Colorado or Arizona, but the rosters are 95% homegrown players year in year out.

          Yes, the SEC has played in alot of recent BCS and national championship games, and it is the best conference, But that has been split bw Bama, LSU and Florida recently, all who feed off the whole southeast for their players.

          UT stands alone in what it has accomplished, just so we’re all on the same page here.

          Also note, yes A&M beat us last year, that’s great. But they are 1-9 in the last 14 years in bowl appearances (some years they didnt make a bowl). So lets not get too hyped up ab their ability to make a splash in the SEC just yet.

      2. Here is how I can spin it……….In the last 5 years SMU has been getting A&M SCRAPS. In the last ten years, SMU has been getting A&M’s FRANCHIONE SCRAPS.

        In the last 10 years and coming 50 years, no recruit will view SMU as the better choice for football. REALITY SETTING IN YET????

  6. I could not be happier to be a part of the SEC. It amazes me the hate and idiocy that has come out of all of this. To be unhooked(no pun intended) to the likes of Texas and Baylor alone is priceless. And James last I looked College Station is still in Texas and when SMU becomes relevant in anything again let me know,

    1. I have to disagree with you SMU is relevant and known throughout the college football world. ******As being a program that cheated so much they got the death penalty.

  7. An SMU fan running over to a Bama site to talk shit on the Aggies. Priceless. Enjoy that overpriced education and athletic department that rivals UTEP. A&M draws more fans to Yell Practice than SMU on gameday.

  8. Thanks for having our back! I agree… ESPN needs to get back to sports journalism and out of the t.u. bleachers. Sad to see such a great sports broadcasting corporation degrade itself to the level of t-shirt fan for the longhorns.

    See you guys next year! Gig’em and Roll Tide!!

  9. Welcome to the SEC A&M. We now know that someone can come into the league and compete w/ UT in basketball. That is UT as for us in the SEC is the Vols, don’t look over your shoulder when you hear those initials.

  10. BTW, if memory serves me correct, that ESPN lackey is an Alabama native still living in Mobile.

  11. Let’s just get one thing straight. Not a single person in the state of Texas or Oklahoma is irritated or upset that the Aggies are leaving the Big 12 conference. Period! No matter how you or the Aggies choose to spin it. No matter what you choose to let yourselves believe. Texas and Oklahoma fans are delighted, in fact, thrilled beyond imagination that the Aggies are leaving. FINALLY!!

    Texas and Oklahoma fans have suffered for years by the Aggies dragging down the conference. Forever we’ve listened to pontiffs say “They don’t deserve to be in the national championship… who do they play?… nobody”. or my personal favorite “There should never be a Big 12 School in the Championship game because the Big 12 Sucks”.

    I’m already planning the party I’m going to have on July 1 2012 where we all get together and celebrate in Austin, Texas those whiny, self-diluted, completely in denial Aggies are finally someone elses problem!

    1. what a little bitch “thiscrap”

      then why are you little pussies following A&M around on the internet to MAKE SURE THEY KNOW how little you care.

      Jesus, get off their dick and get the fuck back to wherever you came from you crying little bitch.

    2. “This is crap” is well titled. What does it say for t.u. that they are 17 wins 18 losses vs inconsequential A&M over the past 35 years! “Hook Em”….what an appropriate yell for a team that wears a diagram of the female reproductive organs on the side of their helmets. Go back to 6th street and ply your George Michael talents. Sips….. gotta love them.

    3. As William Shakespeare wrote: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

      Yes, yes, yes…. nobody is upset… everyone is happy… Aggies have dragged down the conference… and you are having a party to celebrate them leaving.

      Great. So now everyone is happy and you can go back to your Big 12 blogspot and discuss all things relevant to t-sips and leave the rest of us to discuss our business.

      … back to the article: great to see that SEC fans really do stand behind the conference members and future members. I really look forward to cheering on other SEC teams but yelling for my Aggies first and foremost! Gig ’em, SEC!

      1. AggieGal that how we are, like anyother family we may fight like cats & dogs doing the season but let someone mess with our beloved SEC and you’ll see the worst come out welcome to the family from a Vols fan.

    4. I think the only thing a&m is going to be draggin in Texas or Oklahoma will be sooners and longhorns up and down the grid iron. UT, OU, say good bye to your little brother who is going off to join the navy seals. He will be back in a couple years to kick your ass in your own house. Write it down.

  12. James,

    You and Baylor should get a room and fellate one another.

    After all that’s the only way either of your schools will ever see any action.

    Maybe stop being mad that you paid $60,000 for an education you could have gotten for $1.50 in late charges from the public library.

    thisiscrap,

    u mad.

    Your name must be in reference to tu’s season. A&M was one of the only schools bolstering this pathetic conference and now the t-sips are going to be playing Baylor Bold and Iowa State. Ohhhhh, color me impressed. Put it on the LHN…oh wait.

    Also, no one’s coming to your party dipshit. No one knows (or cares) where your Austin Community College dorm is.

    1. I think he is holding it in his parents storage shed in the back. The one behind the rusted out Chevy and the old appliances.

      1. Last I heard everyone wants to leave the longhorn conference so it shouldnt be too big of a party. My guess is everyone will show up, get sick of the UT arrogance and haul ass to the nearest Burger King where at least that can get it their way and not UT’s.

  13. Have fun with A&M. They are a hoot. Tough and loud acting, but very, very sensitive.
    Catch them early, because they’re getting more generic every day. A lot of their silly traditions will be abandoned three years from now and they’ll be indistinguishable from Miss. St.

    1. Silly traditions? Do you mean like trotting Joe Earl’s prize bull across the playing field and watching players trip in cow shit afterward?

  14. Is this gonna happen everytime aTm is mentioned? Oh well, at least it’s keeping the booger eaters off the site….

  15. Great article. We are THRILLED to be part of the greatest conference in America. It’s already starting to feel pretty darned homey.

    I am amused at how vigorously our detractors above claim our irrelevance. They’re too stupid to recognize the irony. Oh well. We’re off your hands now Sips and Sooners (and – “on behalf of Texas” – SMU? Srsly? Bwahahahah!)

    Scoot along now little ones, grown-ups are talking SEC sports all up in here. You don’t belong.

  16. Didn’t SMU have their football canceled for 2 years a quarter century ago because the Ex-Gov Clements wouldn’t stop a player’s payroll. At any rate, SMU is so irrelevant that I didn’t even know they played A&M this year. Nobody wants that school in their conference.

    Welcome to the SEC A&M!

  17. Isn’t SMU still in that ever so tough C-USA? Shivers down my spine thinking about that league. Please don’t ever schedule us a game against anyone from that conference.
    Everyone is stiill forgetting that Aggies women won a natty champ. Has the Longhorns or Sooners or the Mustangs as if that mattered, won one lately?

  18. The Longhorns came close to winning one in football until the hype behind them went flat and the Crimson tide mashed them even flatter. I get sick of the arrogance. When Bama beat Texas for the NC. It is a sad statement that LSU, and Florida could have beaten them too.Except Miles whould have stumbeld and bungled his way through it with an elephant gun of talent. And Meyer would have ran up the score to 75 points. (Meyer would have had the field goal unit out with 2 seconds left adding points.)

  19. last time i looked, no one in the sec had the death penalty. suck on those sour grapes smu and go watch your womens field hockey or whatever you play now. to all you aggie fans welcome to the real home of champions THE SEC>

  20. What a well thought out article. Well done! We Aggies have very thick skin and a sense of humor, but we are a proud lot. We don’t like losing. The last 2 months have made for some very funny comments on all these blogs.
    The douche bags at espn (the world wide leader in bullshit) are bush league. My dogs could write better. We support our Team (even though their second half play was poor Saturday). We truly appreciate our new conference mates and the sense of brotherhood and class that is the SEC. We are so glad to leave the road kill of the big 12 behind. Our level of play still needs to improve, don’t worry… it will. Oh, I second those comments above from:sharpshooter, DecadePlan, almightytmc1 and home of the 12thman. Classic

  21. Ivan “The Russian” Maisel (nickname per Dallas sports writer in the 90’s) has been an Aggie hater for decades now, first for the orange printed Dallas Morning News when he was there. He found a great home at ESPN, the orange tinted cable sports station now. May the station RIP as the DMN/Belo has with the oncoming of the internet.

  22. ESPN CANNOT AFFORD FOR THE LONGWHORN NETWORK TO GO UNDER. IT WILL COST THEM TOO MUCH FOR NOTHING IN RETURN. JUST LIKE THE TU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT……….SPENDING ALL THEIR SPORTS REVENUES, BUT PRODUCING NO CHAMPIONS IN ANY SPORT OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS.

  23. aTm is nothing but UT’s bitch. The Orange Scourge owns your sorry farmerboy asses, you ignorant pack of shit-kicking losers.
    The SEC can have you. Look forward to a whole bunch of 49-7 ass-whippings, you ag morons, just like you took in the Big 12. Remember Oklahoma 77-0 over the bib overall crowd? Or Kansas State 62-14? Or Nebraska 54-15?
    Take your ball and run away, cowardly hicks. Texas will still have its Longhorn Network and Texas will still look down its nose at you.

    1. JC – thank you for your most insightful comments. You are obviously a fine upstanding fan of tu and I’m sure the whole tu system is happy to have you representing them so well. You are certainly the pride of your institution…

  24. What an entertaining blog!!! Thanks to all for sharing your deep interest in the Aggies moving on…
    James, James… thanks for being the official spokesman for the state of Texas! Sad to say, College Station and A&M aren’t moving out of state, we’ve simply adjusted our focus. Any tradition that A&M had with SMU ended with the Death Penalty. We at A&M never displayed animosity for you Ponies (you were our brothers), but since you feel compelled to speak for Texas and cast us aside as nothing but an irritant to the SEC, I say fine – now “boss” get back to managing those burger flippers! Rest assured, Dallas will still be carrying news about A&M for a long while, much to the delight of all us SEC teams recruiting Texas players.
    thisiscrap – thanks for your most insightful comments. I’m truly sorry if the Aggies brought the Big 12 down. You certainly have a grasp of the grandeur of stature that tu and OK have – so much so that the PAC 12 didn’t want you… Make sure you let us in the SEC know how Baylor, KU, Kansas, et al help the Big 12 succeed in the future (if there is a future for the Bevo 12 minus whatever).
    To ESPN – thanks for making the decision for A&M that much easier. Your parochial viewpoint toward the Longhorns is noted and well documented. Kirk Herbstreit’s comment on last Saturday’s Game Day certainly reflect the network’s bias toward A&M. Just don’t take it out on the SEC. Stick with promoting your lackey LHN and leave us be…
    To those who are welcoming us into the SEC – thanks. The 12th Man will be a great addition to the SEC and we consider ourselves lucky to be part of this conference. You have been patient with the jackassery regarding us leaving the Big 12 (ref Baylor) and it is much appreciated.
    For all – there are no more loyal Texans than Aggies. We never wished any animosity for any school in Texas (unlike James, apparently) – OK maybe tu but in a brotherly way. To our move – it is what it is. Deal with it. If you want to sling mud at us on our way out – fine. We won’t hate you for it, we’ll just compete the way we always have, and hope to meet you on the field or court sometime in the future.

    Bryan ’86

  25. ESPN writers and anchors are paid to express their opinions. A&M blew one of the biggest games in school history (when was the last time 2 top ten teams played in CS?), so don’t form conspiracy theories about why you’re receiving criticism when its due.

  26. College Game Day and Kirk’s comments were WELL before the monumental collapse Sat. afternoon. No conspiracy theory, just facts.

    1. The point of THIS article published Sunday is that an ESPN writer, Maisel, attacked A&M and that its somehow related ESPN protecting it’s investment in the LHN. That is a conspiracy theory.

      Herbstreit’s comments on gameday were before the game, I’ll give you that, but still. He’s an analyst expressing his opinion. The LHN was under construction during last year’s losing season, yet, analysts from ESPN still talked about what a horrible season we were having.

  27. Wait. Aggy is running smack about dirty programs?????? The widely regarded third dirtiest program in ALL of football really went there? How quickly we forget that the only winning aggy ever did was due to the Fed Ex cheating programs.

  28. Oh hell! Is this what the future holds? We got Ponies and Shortwhorens over here talking smack on CR. We couldn’t even get the Sips over here in ’09 so we could argue National Championship with them. Bet CR is staying up all night counting those hits! Thank goodness OU hasn’t been over here rattling cages. I’d hate to have to choose between our new member and a team with whom we have mutual respect. Remember when Phucking Phranchoni left us and when OU was beating A&M that year their band played “Yea Alabama”? Regardless of how the Whornes puff themselves up by dissing A&M’s move you know they have to be seething with jealousy inside that the “Sod Busters” are part of the greatest conference in sports and the Sips got turned down by the wannabees on the Left Coast. They have to be having nightmares about somebody coming home later with some 4 and 5*’s from Louisiana, Georgia and Florida and busting them in the chops. Bwaa haww haww! RTR!

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