We’re on a three week journey examining the fanbases of each of the fourteen SEC schools. Yesterday was Alabama; today our next stop is College Station.
Everybody has that one family member who’s just a strange bird. You know, the odd uncle you have to warn your girlfriend about when she’s about to meet him for the first time. That freak cousin who’s gone goth, and cuts herself. The brother who leaves the family “to find himself” then comes back much later strung out on heroin.
For the SEC, that odd bird is Texas A&M. If you were to jump in a time machine, go back to the 1930’s, and bring a football program back to 2013…or specifically its fans…you’d have the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.
Like cute cheerleaders? Well then forget Texas A&M. They ain’t got any. Instead they have five male yell leaders dressed like ice cream soda shop waiters from 1951 that lead the crowd in diacritic chants, all the while contorting their bodies into positions that would lead Jerry Lewis to having a telethon for them. Their cheers…excuse me, “yells”…resemble the “Rah, rah, shish-boom-bah” bull crap that died out 80 years ago. In fact, here’s an actual yell you can hear at any game:
This one is called “Locomotive”
[Pass Back: Hand looks to be pulling a train whistle, reaching upward and twisting on downward motion]
(slow)
Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah!
T-A-M-C
(faster)
Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah!
T-A-M-C
(very fast)
Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah!
T-A-M-C
(Seniors only: “Whoop!”)
Aaaaaaa
Rah! Rah! Rah! Team!
Simply put, if today’s fan is an iPhone, the Texas A&M fan is the old party-line phone that preceded the rotary dial. “Sarah, get me relevance…”
The school was established in 1876 as a military institution, and today over 2,200 of its students are members of the “Corps of Cadets.” Think about this group like the ROTC program at your old school. This group carries zero military obligation once they graduate, so you can walk around school, dress and pretend like you’re a soldier, then graduate and go sell insurance. Some do go on to military futures, but others gear up, parade around and for four years just act like they’re active duty military. I’m sorry, but it’s just peculiar seeing grown men do this.
A Texas A&M fan is called an “Aggie”. In the early 1900s A&M students were referred to as Farmers. The term Aggie began being used in the 1920s, and in 1949, when the yearbook changed its name to Aggieland, Aggie became the official student body nickname.
Like so many other screwed up SEC schools that can’t decide what they are, the TAMU mascot is a dog. A bull-dog? No. A pitbull? Nope. How about a full-blooded collie; Lassie, if you will. “Reveille,” or “Miss Rev,” is the highest ranking member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, and can be seen around campus attending classes or events.
Do you see why this bunch is just freaking weird? Oh, here’s another yell for you:
Sky Rocket
[Pass Back: Slap hands together with right hand moving upward and index finger pointed to the sky)
Whistleeeeeeeeeeeeeee
BOOM
Rah Rah Team Aaaaaaa
Texas A&M was waiving towels long before former Auburn assistant Trooper Tayler ever picked one up (Auburn ripping off another school’s traditions? Strange). The tradition actually didn’t start though until 1985, known as the “12th Man Towel”. Fans wave towels instead of shaking shakers. The “12th Man” tradition started on January 2, 1922, when the Aggies were playing defending champion Centre College in the Dixie Classic, the bowl that preceded the Cotton Bowl. The game produced so many injuries that head coach D.X. Bible feared he wouldn’t have enough players to finish the game. So he called on former play E. King Gill from the stands to suit up in an injured player’s uniform. Gill had quit football to play basketball.
The 12th Man tradition has taken many forms. Under Jackie Sherrill in the 1980’s, the kick-off coverage team was made up solely of walk-ons, allowing just one touchdown return in its time. R.C. Slocum reeled the tradition back a little, limiting the participation of one walk-on player who would wear the number 12.
Last season Johnny Manziel sometimes made it feel like opponents were playing against a twelfth man. But for a moment, forget Johnny Manziel, the dominant out-of-nowhere little quarterback. Historically, Texas A&M has been hardly anything but Manziel-like.
In fact, the Aggies’ decision to join the SEC was largely an effort to get out of the shadow of its mean, bullying older brother (the University of Texas) as much as anything else. Texas’ dominance in the Big 12…and in that region of the country in terms of revenue share, recruiting, and public interest…made the Aggies’ jump to the SEC a logical move. If you can’t beat’em, move away from ’em.
Prior to joining the SEC in 2012, Texas A&M had fallen to the Longhorns 11 out of the last 16 years, including a 6-year skid from 2000-2005 that finally ended with a rare Aggie victory in the 2006 season. Sound familiar, Bama fans? But instead of reaching down and doing what it took to stop the bleeding of losing to your rival repeatedly, the Aggie nation ran.
More on that in a second. But first, another yell, this one called, Horse Laugh:
Horse Laugh
[Pass Back: Hands with fingers straight are held palms together, and then hands move back and forth in a pointing motion]
Riffety, riffety, riff-raff!
Chiffity, chiffity, chiff-chaff!
Riff-raff! Chiff-chaff!
Let’s give ‘em a horse laugh:
Sssssss!
Okay, back to Texas-Texas A&M. From the rivalry’s beginnings, it took nine years for the Farmers (as they were called then) to even score on the Texas Longhorns. The first game came in 1894 with a 38-0 Longhorn victory…so bad that in 1895 TAMU didn’t even field a team. In the 117 year history in the series, Texas boasts a 76-37-5 record against little brother. And remember, this is against Texas we’re talking about…the program that has done less with more than possibly any other school in America.
In fact, unless you’re Baylor, Rice, SMU or TCU, Texas A&M doesn’t own a lopsided all-time winning record against you. Even Arkansas holds a 41-25-3 advantage over the Aggies.
So why is this information important? Because it means this eccentric bunch of weirdos have stayed the course, remaining passionate and true to their school and team despite results. In an odd sort of way, that’s kind of commendable.
Texas A&M and Alabama share a few commonalities, mainly coaches like Bryant, Stallings and…ugh, we both agree…Franchione. But if Alabama is the budding supermodel at the Thanksgiving table, Texas A&M is the peculiar poet with a thousand piercings at the other end.
Welcome to the SEC Texas A&M! We’re glad to have you…sort of.
Tomorrow: Tennessee fans
(Follow ITK on Twitter for Bama news, commentary and smack.)
153 thoughts on “FAN REVIEW: The very, very odd Texas A&M fan”
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Way off base. You have taken a weak stab at it, but A&M (the school/fanbase) is the polar opposite of goth, heroin addicts and piercings. We don’t mind folks who do choose these lifestyles/habits (well maybe the heroin), but we have our own way of doing things that are a little more chicken-fried. Those predilections (goth/piercings) would more likely be found among the population of our nemesis t.u. (How we refer to U. Texas). In addition to the reasons you noted above, this cultural divide makes the SEC a better fit for us. We had made overtures to make the move before, got sucked/suckered back in, but we are finally where we belong. We are proud to be in the SEC. Suffice to say if you liked the Paul Harvey/Farmer commercial in the Super Bowl you would love A&M.
It takes a very jaded worldview to assume that, because we are traditionalists, patriotic and respect common decency, this makes us somehow weird or backward. I invite you to come to College Station show up at the Dixie Chicken the night before the Bama game this year wearing your school colors. I’m certain you won’t have to pay for your own drinks all night. Proceed with the crowd to midnight yell practice (might want to take your colors off at this point just to blend in…but if not no big deal). Go to the game the next day to experience how loud Kyle Field is with our coordinated/practiced “corny” traditional yells. Get back to me after you’ve done this, and you have some inkling as to who we are and what we’re all about.
PS: As you stroll through campus on your way to yell practice, you might want to note the tier one facilities devoted to science and engineering. Don’t get your i-phone too close to the cyclotron though. It can play havoc with reception, and it has been on campus (and upgraded several times) since 1967. Probably about the time folks wherever you grew up were transitioning away from party-line phones.
My take on TAMU is they are best defined as proud.
They can’t take a joke, for one.
No, seriously. I’m an Alabama fan. I grew up vacationing in Tuscaloosa where I crossed railroad tracks to go bowling or fishing for brim with a bamboo pole off a boat dock. There’s plenty of comedy inherent to being an Alabama fan.
But TAMU, my impression has been that they are just too proud. I met so many angry Aggies about not being ranked higher than they were in 2012, including after beating Alabama. The get defensive about so much it’s just often not fun to talk to them about anything, especially football.
I’m not putting TAMU down. College Station isn’t the prettiest place for a game but wow does it have amazing atmosphere, and TAMU fans certainly care about football. My feelings about single-man football teams notwithstanding, their fans have a culture and an identity that fits in the SEC.
But wow do they ever get defensive. I’m afraid what would have happened if Manziel didn’t win the Heisman last year. I wouldn’t have been surprised to read about a good old-fashioned greagian revolt if Manziel had lost, complete with flaming pitchforks and spades. They remind me a lot of Clemson fans.
I think you’ve confused A&M with Texas Tech. They are usually the ones with the lynch mobs and vandals.
As far as not being able to take a joke, there are probably as many Aggie jokes as there are jokes about people of Polish descent. And the majority of people telling them are graduates or family members of A&M. It’s one of the most friendly campuses you’ll ever visit where the majority of students are true ladies and gentlemen.
And one fact check for the original article…t.u. may be the bigger “brother” but they certainly aren’t the older. Texas A&M originated from a land grant (Morrill Act of 1862). The University was established by the Texas legislature in 1871 and started classes in the Fall of 1876. It wasn’t until 1883 that the University of Texas was founded.
In the end though, what’s wrong with a little pride and passion for one’s school? Especially with all the trash that got talked about the Ags being the new “whipping boy of the SEC,” they’ve earned the right to hold their heads high with the number of upsets and stunned silences they left in the wake of their first year in the conference. And don’t think for one second it’s a coincidence that die-hard Longhorn fans are calling for Mack Brown’s head all of a sudden.
@Charlie—–“In the end though, what’s wrong with a little pride and passion for one’s school?”
Nothing is wrong with that.
So why take it so hard? Again, the response is all defensive. You have a very good football culture and history, even when you don’t have a great football team. Alabama has that too. You don’t have to prove it, or defend it.
That’s why I think it’s part of the TAMU culture—–it’s so prominent and so universal so far in my experience that the fans are so quick to defend the Aggies and the school and Manziel and, well, really anything anyone says and often things they don’t even say.
I don’t think anyone called the Aggies the new whipping boy of the SEC. This IS an Alabama fan site though, so don’t be too surprised when everything isn’t fair and balanced. It’s meant to be fun, but it’s especially meant to be fun for Alabama fans.
What I’m afraid of is the defensive mentality of TAMU won’t go away, even if they are successful enough to win a national title. Clemson still has it in their culture after having the best two years of the last thirty. The “us against the world” part of the culture, I don’t know how you get rid of that. But it’s part of TAMU. Instead of simply a new and loud part of the SEC, it’s like the fans think they are treated like the new boy and it’s “us against the SEC” instead of just straight up being a power hitter about it and letting the football do the talking, like it could have this year. Nobody is out to get you. Learn to love and hate your rivals for the right reasons, rather than just hate everyone for the same reason because they’re simply not you. I don’t know if you can fix that. I don’t know if they even would ever want to fix that because it defines their culture so much.
But don’t expect people to not have a little fun with it, especially on a rival fan site, especially after beating them by play for their yearly football loss.
Dude, the goth part was just an analogy. The point was that A&M is a strange bird and you have proved it with this comment. Y’all are just too literal and can’t take/get a joke…
Glaring disrespect is the calling card of a troll
Thank you, William, for representing Aggieland as we would have defended ourselves. Your tone of respect and control is most certainly not what the rest of the country would expect from us.
I really wish people that don’t know who we are and what we’re doing would just spend a couple of days with us. I hope that others from here don’t lose their cool and take offense to this. What makes us different is what makes us so great. We do all of these things because we’re still grounded in history; we move forward and yet carry our heritage. Every person in Aggieland knows that some of the things we do in Aggie culture are anachronistic; but they do them anyway, because we belong to something that precedes us.
In a nation where what you believe and what you hold onto is as disposable and forgotten as last week’s Facebook status, we are anchored, have definition, and believe that values aren’t transitory.
In the next few years, more and more of the country will have their eyes on us, curious about what we do, and of course they’ll think we’re odd. But if we can’t learn anything from them, I only hope they’ll learn something from us, if they open their hearts and minds.
Funny, we’re so weird, yet are attracting record numbers to A&M. All the things that make us “weird” just differentiate us and make our bond to each other so much more powerful than any other institution. We’re called cult-like, but it’s only because of our pride and bond as students and alumni. I’ve really seen this since graduating when I come across alumni from any other school. There’s not the same sense of pride — it may be pride in the football program, basketball program, etc., but the ongoing obsession with everything about their school just isn’t there. When 2 Ohio State alum meet, they might have a nice chat, but they don’t have this instant trust and connection that we share as Ags. So, hell yes, I’m defensive about it. When you’ve discovered perfection, whether it be your school or even a chocolate chip cookie, you’re gonna be defensive about it. When it comes down to it, we’re just like any other southern fanbase plus a few more traditions. And another thing, especially in regard to Bama, at least 90% of our fans went to school at A&M, compared to the 10% of your fans that did. Funny, you’re the first person I’ve seen write an article after this season that criticizes our move to your family.
Pete, a couple or three things here…
1.) I didn’t criticize your move to the SEC. You’re welcome here, and had a pretty doggone good football team. Besides, Auburn needs a leader in cult behavior to draft behind.
2.) The team taking the biggest hit is LSU. They used to be able to take their pick of SEC caliber players from Texas.
3.) I’m sure you can support your 90/10% theory with hard research.
4.) You did, of sorts, flee from Texas. Say what you will, but historically you had as much chance against them as a pain pill in a room with Lindsay Lohan.
5.) Why be defensive? We’re just having fun here, pointing out what everybody thinks…if you’re proud of who you are, who cares that everybody else thinks you’re a bunch of pretend soldiers?
as to #3, Texas A&M is still located in College Station, Texas. We did not flee from Texas
Also, the notion that we ran away from the U of Texas because we were afraid to compete makes no sense, seeing that we were running to the “Toughest Football Conference” in America, second only to the AFC and the NFC.
As for our record vs UT, yes, if you include all those years where we were a small all-male military school vs a large co-ed school with no recruiting limits, the record looks bad. Also consider the war years, where our entire graduating classes graduated early and entered the military en mass. That can put a crimp in your teams roster.
However, if you look at the last 37 years, since the time scholarships were limited to 85, and A&M was roughly the same size; A&M has a 19-17 record against the Longhorns, including winning 10 of 11 games in the eighties.
I am not being defensive here, just pointing put a few facts.
If it seems I am upset with Alabama, you have to admit, I have good cause. After all, you stole Bear Bryant from us and in return, gave us Francione. That was not a nice thing to do. 🙂 🙂
See how Corso uses Auburn math there at the end and be selective with the years they claim?
That’s the second time you’ve belittled our Corps of Cadets or referred to them as “pretend soldiers” . . . for your information Texas A&M commissions more officers than any other university, except the service academies.
The University commissions officers into all six branches of the service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine). Many have fought and sadly many have died serving their country.
I would hardly call that “pretending”.
So, have fun all you want with your characterizing our culture and traditions, but I would think twice before referring to the graduating commissioned officers as “pretenders”.
How many battles have they been in or won (while at TAMU)? If they dress like soldiers but fight no battles, by definition that makes them pretend soldiers.
Have a drink and calm down man. But I’m still right.
How many battles have the cadets at West Point, the Naval Academy, or the Air Force Academy been in or won (while at the Acadamy)? “If they dress like soldiers but fight no battles, by definition that makes them pretend soldiers.”
How many of your former students have won a Medal of Honor? A&M has 7.
“Give me an army of West Point graduates and I’ll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I’ll win the war.” ~ General George S. Patton
How many of your football teams have won National Championships? Bama has 15.
“I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” ~ Sonny the Cuckoo Bird
Our football team doesn’t accoust our student body and take their valuables. Give us time and we will replace your hillbilly school at the top of the heap.
Fiction can be fun. You know, like your pretend soldiers.
In regards to #4… In my lifetime (27 years) A&M and Texas are 13-13…sounds like a good chance to me.
“And another thing, especially in regard to Bama, at least 90% of our fans went to school at A&M, compared to the 10% of your fans that did.”
This is an actual fact. 90% of all fans at any given college football game went to the respective University.
Except at Alabama, where on 10% (10,200) of the 102,000 fans at a home game went to UA. The vast majority sit in the student section at home games and are current students. Most alumni don’t attend football games at Alabama.
Scientists are still baffled by what happens to these students once they graduate and become alumni and why they disappear.
I’m fine with being considered weird. It means we’re still different from everyone else.
As far as the jokes and disrespect, consider the source:
Can’t spell heroin.
Can’t spell Corps.
Thinks making fun of people with muscular dystrophy is funny.
Disrespects our military school history.
Plays the played out “toy soldier” card.
Supports his position by posting a picture of five cadets with the Secretary of Defense, in his office.
Can’t spell twelfth.
Plays the “If you can’t beat ‘big brother,’ leave” card.
Cites A&M vs. t.u. scores from over 100 years ago.
Cites all-time record of tiny military school against huge rich state university, prior to scholarship limits
Doesn’t matter, beat ‘Bama.
Still waiting for an actual joke so that I can’t take it.
TAMU had a great game against Bama, the week after ‘Bama’s most physical, draining game to date. TAMU caught the Tide at the PERFECT time, scoring just 9-points in the 2nd-4th quarters. Bad offensive play calling on those last four downs decided the game.
Check the track record of teams facing Nick Saban when he’s had an entire offseason to prepare for them. Then check the schedule; TAMU is SEC game #1 next season.
Bama was a 13-point favorite.
Did the “most physical, draining” LSU game come as a surprise to the Tide?
Did somebody sneak the LSU game into the schedule?
Didn’t The Tide kick the livin’ snot out of LSU in the 2012 BCS CG?
Didn’t Saban have an entire off season to prepare for LSU?
If Bama had scored on the last four downs — it’s fun to hear Bammers whining “what if” — The Aggies (an Johnny Manziel) would still have had nearly two minutes to get close enough to kick a field goal and beat Bama anyhow.
Bad offensive play calling? Impossible. Bama never makes mistakes. Ask any Bammer. But even if the calls were bad, the execution was worse.
Of course you overlooked the FACT that A&M’s defense held mighty Bama for four downs inside the five yard line.
Coach Sumlin also will have a whole offseason to prepare for the Tide. He had ’em pretty darned ready last November, didn’t he?
Welcome to Kyle Field.
P.S. You previously made a comment about 12th Man Towels and shakers. Talk about an obsolete 1930s kind of thing — shakers are definitely outdated but their all over Bryant-Danny. Shakers and A&M? Never had ’em, Never will!!
Talk to me when the Aggies put an entire season together.
In fact, talk to me when the Aggies string together anything that resembles long-term success.
Like the old gent who used to say for 7-Up, “Never had it, never will. Ahahahahaha!”
You’ll see how good Johnny Manziel is next September, SEC game one, instead of November, SEC game 7.
Say the word Alabama. What is the first thing you think of
Championships.
I suppose it’s hard for anyone to prepare for a team that lines up four tackles forty feet from the center and snap the ball with 29 seconds on the play clock.
Alabama played their undisputed worst football game of the year against TAMU and they still lost by a play. Trying to pretend the schedule had nothing to do with it and TAMU’s preparation had everything to do with it is what I’ve learned to expect from the culture, but it’s incidental because next year Alabama gets time on their side. Losing by a play will be better than losing by more than a play.
That’s all assuming Manziel doesn’t get hurt, or even a sinus headache. It’s Manziel plus-ten on the field. I’d be scared everyone will be coming for him before Alabama even gets a chance just from winning the Heisman as a freshman.
Who said “Bammer” never makes mistakes? I don’t understand what’s going on here. Alabama’s loss fueled their fire, that’s the difference, and that’s what it takes to be able to compete for championships. I don’t know why more people can’t enjoy that regardless, but I’d still be careful, it wasn’t 49-0, for example
“Say the word Alabama. What is the first thing you think of?”
Tree killers.
Why are you getting so DEFENSIVE here and using excuses. The players weren’t drained from a whole week previous. If you wanna say they were beat up or injured, then show some facts!
Look, like your children believe there’s a tooth fairy, you’re going to believe what you want to believe. It’s a part of your identity. I get that.
But TAMU presented some real challenges coming off the most physical and draining game of the season for Alabama to that point. I credit TAMU for that; they were on fire. But so was South Carolina in 2010, then we never heard from them again. You’ll learn this, but teams play the game of their lives against Alabama. In most cases it still results in a loss, but in yours it didn’t. And that’s okay.
I’m not diminishing what TAMU did. But to think in game eight of the season Bama wasn’t beaten up you’re crazy. Maybe you just started watching football last year, and if so, good for you. But there’s a post-big game hangover after you’ve just beaten a rival that’s hard to recover from.
You wouldn’t be familiar because you hardly ever beat Texas, but believe me, it’s real.
With ‘bama’s plethora of 4 and 5 star recruits platooning on offense and defense, it’s hard to grasp the concept of being physically drained following the LSU game. Out of shape, maybe? Peak early or die!
Well since you’ve been through one SEC season, and have a long history of beating your rival, I’m sure you’re a better expert than I.
(I am being sarcastic.)
Meh… I guess if you want to hear a “true SEC” fan to be proud of you should listen to the intellectual juggernauts calling for “BAMMER” on Fienbaum… Yeah, roll tide?
BCS National Champions 2009, 2011, 2012…
So yes, Roll Tide.
Let me know when you’re able to put an entire season together, not just one game (catching an opponent at the perfect time.)
How many Heisman’s while Bear Bryant coached ‘bama? ZERO. How many Heisman’s while Bear Bryant coached TexasA&M? ONE
Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it matters. TAMU fan, you’re turning into Auburn!
National Championships (team awards) > Heisman (individual awards)
When the shoe’s on the other foot, suddenly it doesn’t matter? We’ve got twice as many Heisman’s, when you catch up, let us know.
Sti1etto has to have had one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever seen on this site.
And this person is probably allowed to vote!
Don’t care. SCOREBOARD.
CRYSTAL.
Not many Bama fans are posting here bcause they are busy burning crosses in peoples front yards.
No, not many Bama fans are commenting because we don’t have to live off the off-season to talk smack. Everything that needs to be said on our behalf generally is said on the field between September and early December, with a 4-hour party late in the first week of January.
Yea yours is next!!!!!!!!!! RT.[[[[[[[[[[[[
Someone needs to learn some history.
Texas A&m was NOT founded as a military institution. In fact it was founded as a branch of the University of Texas.To this day, the U.S. military has nothing to do with the Texas A&M Corps of cadets and the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets has nothing to do with the U.S. military. The overwhelming majority of “Corps turds” are not even enrolled in ROTC training. In fact, Texas A&M graduates about the same number of ROTC cadets each year as does University of Texas.
The tradition of the “12th Man” did NOT start at Texas A&M in 1922. That is a lie the Aggies tell people. One thing you will learn is that Aggies lie a lot. As far back as 1912, Univ of Iowa referred to its fanbase as the “12th man’ and the Aggies were referring to their fans as the “12th Man” well before 1922. here is a copy of their student paper from Nov 25, 1921. http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/ianaggie/12man.jpg
As for Aggie football history, remember they have a lifetime losing record against the SEC, ACC, Pac 12 and Big 10 as well as a lifetime losing bowl record. Last year they won their first significant bowl game in 25 years and last year was also the first time they won bowl games in consecutive years since before World War 2.
Believe me, the more you learn about Aggies, the more you will understand why people in Texas make so much fun of them.
You seem obsessed about those Aggies, don’t you?
A&M is older than UT, so how could it have started as a branch of UT?
None of the Aggies I know refer to creating the concept of the 12th Man, just that their tradition started with the basketball player that suited up.
I’m in Texas and they get ridiculed just like Longhorns, Raiders, Bears and the others. Maybe you need to step away from sports for a while until you can think straight. Please don’t put your school affiliation on here just in case its mine.
The U.S. Army was established in 1775, yet the colonies didn’t declare their independence until 1776. Are you also claiming the Army can’t possibly be a branch of the U.S. Government? Read the Texas Constitution. By decree of the legislature, the ago college was constituted as a branch of Univ of Texas. It was split off in 1946 and it wasn’t intil 1963 it even became a university. Happy 50th birthday!
As for the whole”military college” lie, when the ag branch of University of Texas was started, Texas was both dead broke and under military occupation. Only the Aggies are dumb enough to believe that the U.S. Government would fund the instruction of military tactics in a state still under armed occupation for taking up arms against the federal government. The state of Texas didn’t have the money at the time to finance two separate and competing public universities. Think for a second.
As for the Corps of Cadets, barely 40% are enrolled in ROTC training. TAMU graduates around 180 cadets each year, UT graduates around 140. Not much of a difference on a campus of 50,000 students.
I’m learning here. Thank you Bob Jackson.
Bob, Texas A&M is considered a “Senior Military College” and is the largest of the five in the U.S. (This doesn’t include the 3 military academies.) This includes Universities like the Citadel and VMI.
Yes, Texas A&M was originally supposed to be under a “University of Texas” system before its founding, but that didn’t come to pass in the end by the time the Texas campus was built.
Regardless, why are you so obsessed by this? The 12th Man was before E. King Gill because of some random 12th Man reference in a newspaper? E. King Gill is the representation of the 12th Man in it’s current form, there is more to the 12th Man tradition than just being a good, loud fan base.
And I join the rest of the world in not giving a crap about your weird history.
String together some prolonged success with hardware to show for it and we’ll talk.
No wonder the Longhorns laugh a you.
Bob, just a few inaccuracies in you post in regards to the Corps…
1.) The Corps of Cadets does receive DoD money that other normal ROTC schools don’t. It’s under the same classification as VMI, The Citadel, Norwich and Virginia Tech. It’s referred to as a Senior Military College (same as the above listed schools). I’ve served long enough to not make the claim that we produce superior officers ( I work with great people from the military academies and ROTC), but the DoD sees some value in the program, because they help fund it.
2.) I find it difficult to believe Texas commissions as many officers as A&M does. This is because around 50% of Corps graduates commission. Considering a normal class is about 600-800 people, math would tell me 300-400 people commission. Now, I don’t know Texas’ numbers are and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of reality for a large school to commission that many people. In short, your point of the “vast majority don’t commission” is baseless and untrue.
Just a point of clarification . . . there is more than one “Bob” on this thread, believe it or not. Unfortunately, there is a “good Bob” and a “bad Bob”.
This would be the “good Bob”! Texas A&M, Class of 1967 . . . and proud of it,
Best I could tell, there are only five teams the Aggies have owned throughout history, and one of them is Rice.
The more they read your t-sip disinformation, Bob, the more the Capstone Report’s readers will realize what a bunch of losers the longhorns are.
I had the privilege of swearing my son (A&M class of 1983) into the Navy. He was a proud member of the Corps of Cadets and the NROTC. I’ll guarantee you the Corps is affiliated with the Armed Forces. A university MUST be affiliated to have an ROTC, dumbsmack!!
After reading this article, a well known Aggieland phrase once again proves to be true……”From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.”
Here is a list of several Aggie traditions–this author clearly doesn’t understand our Aggie traditions and wonders why we do certain things…educate yourself, so you better understand this amazing University and all of us “odd birds”.
http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205414581
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University
I always find it funny that the first thing other schools want to question is why we don’t have cheerleaders. Well, having grown up in College Station and around Aggie football, I have been to many games. As a little girl, I always enjoyed watching the other teams cheerleaders…what little girl wouldn’t. But even as a little girl, I noticed that our 5 Yell Leaders had no problem getting an entire stadium of people to yell along with them….while no one hardly ever does the cheers with the “Cheer Leaders”. Interesting. So, next time someone asks why we don’t have cheerleaders…..simply tell them to pay attention to the volume level of their stadium vs the volume level at Kyle Field. Question answered!
Or I could just not care, like the rest of the world.
Apparently you do care, given the number of posts.
Really? Did I write them all?
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re laughing, not caring. Now gimme a horse laugh cheer.
Doesn’t matter, BEAT BAMA @ HOME!
And you’ll learn to shed that Auburn “we just have to win one big game a year” mentality, or you too, like Ole Miss, will never make it to Atlanta. Or Miami. Or Pasadena. Or New Orleans. Or…
Crystal, baby. 2012, 2011, 2009…
Doesn’t matter, Won Heisman, went 11-2 first year in SEC with a FRESHMAN QB.
Let me know when TAMU wins a Crystal football. We have three in the last four years.
Get back to me on that.
Doesn’t matter, crystal trophy.
And another.
And another.
And likely next year, another.
Google the term “jizz jar.” Aggies sit naked in a circle and watch each other jack off into a mason jar that they pass around the circle. I know they do it before football games but someone told me they also do it with recruits during official visits.
Good grief. Stop it.
The EXCUSES coming from bama fans really put a damper on what I thought of them after we smacked them around in their own back yard. I was at that game and all I heard on the way out was “Great game and great team”, “You beat our asses” ect ect. Now, after a few months have gone by its poking jokes at us and how we got lucky and oh “CRYSTAL”. So, here is my take now. You see, for one a few better teams then you had to lay an egg to get you into that situation to play for the “CRYSTAL”. You didnt earn your way into that game. You fell into it by pure luck. Everything was given to you and it all went down on the very same night. If KSU or the Ducks win guess what? Your headed to the Cotton bowl. And now lets move on to our win over your school. You lost and I dont care about who u played a week before. A&M had one open date this year and you know when it was? At the start of the season before we even played a freaking game. So who was tired, really? But the real fact is if we had played you instead of the irish in the NC, you would of lost again. We are the better team and we will prove it to you again this year. You get a open date before you play us so you cant use that excuse of being tired again. Thank god. Until then, try your best to keep those 4 players that were arrested for robbery on your team. Funny stuff right there.
How can you make generalizations on a school with about 50 thousand students?
This is a ridiculous article.
Also, scoreboard.
If you woulda said FIFTY-ONE thousand you woulda had me.
But you didn’t, so…
Crystal.
You seem to be forgetting that two teams had to go belly-up for you to even get to that game. Then, you played possibly the worst #1 team of all-time in ND.
Well when you put yourself in a position to be in that game, by you know, not losing to an average Florida team on KYLE FIELD and not lose to Les Miles and LSU…ON KYLE FIELD…those kind of breaks go your way.
Use your Texas money to buy a nice TV so you can see us do it again next year, k? It looks great in HD.
Funny. You would think a team that lost to an average Florida team on KYLE FIELD and lost to Les Miles & LSU ON KYLE FIELD would have also lost to the number 1 team AT BRYANT-DENNY.
Sure, Bama was worn out from playing LSU. Sure, any other Saturday Alabama would have won. I know, the coaching wasn’t on par that week! Maybe the guys inhaled too much antler juice and it weakened their systems instead of strengthening it. Realistically though, A&M won. Alabama lost. That’s how it went down in the record books as a ‘L’ for Bama, not a ‘Worn Out From Week Before’
But A&M losing to an average Florida team would make A&M slightly less than average…but then Alabama losing to a slightly less than average A&M team would make Alabama slightly less than slightly less than average…but we know that’s not true. So yes, A&M did lose their SEC opener to Florida and A&M did lose to LSU…but A&M got better and worked out some kinks and were unstoppable.
But of course, through all my pride and weirdness for attending A&M, I will credit Alabama that this season, in the end, did fall into the best spot and won the national championship.
Kudos to the University (not to you, for you probably did next to nothing to help the team win it all – unless you’re actually Nick Saban or AJ’s girlfriend – if that’s the case then I apologize profusely).
There is a pride about our school that people don’t understand – and that’s fine. I respect that.
Sure we’ve got plenty of traditions that 99% of the nation doesn’t understand. It’s understandable that they don’t understand. I wouldn’t expect them to if they didn’t go to A&M.
Yes we have Yell Leaders and no cheerleaders – I don’t see the big deal. I attend the game to watch football. That’s why they call it a football game, not a cheerleader game – if you want to watch cheerleaders then go to one of their competitions (though if you get the chance, attend an A&M basketball game and get a glimpse of our Aggie Dance Team or an A&M Baseball game and watch for the Diamond Darlings).
Alabama’s a football powerhouse. I get it. I know that. Yes, Alabama has crystal. Honestly though, I’d give that crystal up at any moment if it meant that I was able to attend Texas A&M (yes, I know, it’s not my fictitious crystal to even give up – but you get the point) – and I bet you that there are 51,000+ students attending A&M currently that would say the same thing.
If you can make it to the A&M/Bama game at Kyle Field this year then please, come to College Station and at least get a day’s worth of experience before you start laughing at our “weirdness.”
Okay, I didn’t read any of that because it’s way too long. Good communicators don’t have to write dissertations.
All you need to know is, the aura of Kyle Field holds no historical relevance. You had an Auburn-like, flash-in-the-pan season in 2012, and that’s to be celebrated. But that was yesterday. Bama has done it now for five years in a row.
Here’s hoping TAMU’s momentary success carries over in-full to 2013.
Also let me add that I laughed at all the sec fans saying you guys were unclassy and I dont know bama and their fan base. Now, I see what they were talking about. And im sure they are laughing at me now.
I don’t know about them, but I’M sure laughing at you.
Well trust me when I say this. Come sept you wont be. Just like last year when you cried on the way home from the game. If you could even afford to go to it.
Are you gonna double-dog dare me to come to the game now? Does your mother know you’re on her computer?
Good one dude!…
Peope used to tell me that the reason bammers love football so much is because there is nothing else in that state to get excited about, except for incest and crystal meth.
You misspelled Crystal footballs.
But then, you’ve never seen one, so no big deal.
ITK, you’re still butthurt from your loss to us and trying to take uneducated shots at us.
Keep it coming. The tears taste great.
Nope. You’ll learn in the SEC you need more than one good game for it to be a great season.
There’s a crystal football that makes me not give a rat’s butt hair what happened against TAMU.
Ya’ll are just a weird bunch. And we like laughing at you. That’s all.
Bama fans are very jealous of Texans. Bama is an armpit state populated by people who receive more in government assistance than payin taxes.
Yep, because Texas has so many football accolades we’d want.
Oh wait, no it doesn’t.
And yet we have more championships than you and Texas have combined. In fact, has TAMU ever won ONE?
I’ll take the armpit state over the blowhard state that thinks it’s something it’s not.
Keep your football accolades. Especially the claimed national titles in years that you lost your bowl game.
I’m content with my full knowledge of the English language, and my damned good football team that just beat yours. In your own house (or should I say trailer).
Are you sure you’re not an Auburn fan? They’ve been holding on to the ridiculous immediate here and now for years, disregarding history in favor of a weak argument. Yours is still weaker than theirs, but I do appreciate you trying.
Fritz, chum, I would suggest that you don’t come over here writing checks your ass can’t cash! A&M was DAMN lucky to win that game. Never more lucky than the air fumble Manziel caught and threw for a td which was the difference in the game. Saban and Bama are famous for winning revenge games in blowout fashion. As for Kyle Field, your record there is hardly impressive. Kyle Field is not Death Valley or The Swamp or Happy Valley, so I don’t think we’ll be intimidated. Oh by the way – under Saban our away record is better than our home record. See your ass in October Bub! RTR!
Yawn, please try again.
Game is in September. If you’re expecting Kyle Field to be anything less than the stadium’s you’ve mentioned, you’ll be unpleasantly surprised.
Is it longer than 100 yards long and 53 yards wide? If so, neat.
Judging from the mediocrity TAMU has fielded for most of your lifetime, my guess is you’ve seen plenty of teams beat TAMU on Kyle Field, including Bama back in 1988.
So, I’ll put my fear on hold, if you don’t mind. Those open endzones just scare the crap out of me, but I’m going to contain that fear for now.
Why did so many gumps get hurt in the game? I think the Aggies taught the gumps a lesson in tackle football:
Correct me if I’m wrong: Lacy went off the field crying along with a DB and 2 lineman.
You don’t want to hear this, because facts are just hard to deal with, but the entire Bama team was beaten up after the Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee and LSU stretch. It’s called man football, and the TAMU game came in the worst possible spot.
Next season is a whole, beautifully different story. We win that game and we’re essentially back in Atlanta. The rest of our schedule is a joke in 2013.
Think Nick Saban, a four-time national champion, will have us ready?
Carry on with your bullshit. You got planted at home. As in face in the dirt. Johnny says hi bitch.
I can’t hear you. I have two crystal footballs in my ear.
A&M is your rich, weird uncle. While you are A&M’s redneck nephew, the one that lives in a single wide. He has a better education, makes more money and even beats you at the game you think you play the best… In your yard.
It’s nice to see you are a fan of and know the longhorns well. Care to site Bama’s record against the longhorns? I bet not. Longhorns could not be paid to be associated with the unwashed, rednecks in Alabama. Don’t believe me? Ask them. You are too far beneath them. To them, you are white trash going to school at a glorified community college. See longhorns think they have USC’s football program and UC Berkley’s academics. They have neither.
Your adamiration for them is amusing. You are too dumb to know when to be insulted. But, then again, your mascot is an elephant while your student body is named after a woman’s menstrual cycle. Does that make you all a bunch of big, bleeding vaginas? Yes, probably.
Finally, nothing screams strong, manly Southerner from hardy stock more than a grown man in a button up shirt, with long bangs wafting in the wind while shacking a pom pom. Nothing like a metrosexual redneck. No wonder we lost the Civil War. Keep it androgynous Bama. Y’all are great at it.
Well, last I remember we curbstomped the Longhorns….who OWN you…for the first of our THREE BCS National Championships IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS.
It’s cute that you think TAMU has done something by having a miracle season that ended with nothing to show for it but a shoestring win against the golden standard for college football, but at Bama we call that a down year.
Have fun finishing 3rd in the West again next year, if you beat Ole Miss.
Have fun losing to A&M again.
Have fun watching last year’s game on DVR for the foreseeable future to remember what it felt like.
Easy to tell when an article is based off google searches.
I guess he’s getting alot of traffic off this trolling, though.
29-24, and prepare for another beating of your “supermodel” team on September 14.
Maybe you’ll come to College Station to witness how the “wierdness” creates the best college football atmosphere.
Take a gander at Saban’s record at Alabama when he has an entire offseason to prepare.
Remember this is the man who did to Tebow what NOBODY did to Tebow in college.
Johnny M. isn’t sneaking up on anybody next year, especially one Nicholas Saban. Johnny won’t be able to find his jock till Tuesday.
So, I see . . . you are editing our comments . . .changing them to suit your position. I suppose you can do what you want, but when I say the first thing I think of when I here “Alabama” and I say “Tree Killers” . . . and you change it to “bell cows of the SEC” . . . fine.
But, you’ve lowered yourself enough without any more help from me, and I’m outta here.
C Ya.
Hear . . . not “here”
What in the world are you talking about? Dude you’ve lost it.
You know how you gather a bunch of Alabama alumni together? You drag a dollar through a trailer park.
You know how you gather a bunch of TAMU alumni? Write an article on YOUR team’s fan site.
This has been absolutely hilarious to me. I love it.
Most of us have seen this article in many variations by Texas, Baylor and even Rice fans, nothing original but always makes for interesting responses.
However ITK, you may not care, but I would suggest that you may want to replace the photo of the cadets posing with the man in the suit with the boots. Under the photo you continue the fake soldier premise. The man in the photo is Robert Gates when he was President of Texas A&M. Gates was also an Air Force officer, the Director of the CIA, served in National Security and was also the Secretary of Defense for Bush and Obama. He has served this country with distinction and always above the political fray. To even imply by the photo, which you meant as a dig to A&M, that the people in it were fake and not honorable is simply a disgrace. You can find plenty of photos to make fun of the cadets but go Google Robert Gates and I think you will change that photo.
A simple search found that all the cadets in the photo signed service contracts while in school and became active duty military officers.
The photo was also taken in the Pentagon while Gates was Secretary of Defense.
Billy, the whole article and series is meant tongue-in-cheek. TAMU has a long history with fabulous tradition. But traditions in and of themselves can be a little weird. Why in the world are we the Crimson Tide but have an elephant walking around? I know the answer, but to others it’s just weird.
As for the cadets, I was speaking in generalities. Robert Gates is a fine man and countryman. But people who dress and act like soldiers but don’t have any immediate military duty or responsibility, again, is one of those weird things some don’t understand. Again, take it with a grain of salt, which I’ve learned today you Texans have a great degree of difficulty in doing.
But your history is what it is. 2012 was the exception in your football program’s history, not the rule. And so having fun with it is something we do in the off-season. You need to get over yourselves. There’s nothing you can say about the Bama nation that will stick because we know who we are, and what you think doesn’t matter to me. I’d suggest you thicken your skin a little and follow suit.
Article did not bother me, when I was in school, we made fun of the cadets who did not sign contracts. You can tell the real from the fake by the shoulder patches on the left side, which you can’t see on the three to Gate’s right. A service patch indicates they are going to serve while two Aggie patches means that cadet has not signed a service contract. The photo had me riled up because those people all served while your caption said otherwise. Like I said, I enjoy reading the responses to these types of stories as you can now attest to that fun!
I’ll just say this, people take ownership of some of the strangest things in life. What we let define us as humans is always an interesting thing to me, because usually it’s things (like football) that won’t amount to a hill of beans when we die. It’s just a game, but the responses today, wow. And that’s any fanbase, Bama, TAMU, anybody. It’s scary, really.
I’m proud to be an Aggie for all the traditions that have nothing to do with football like Muster. I like my Aggie football and fly my flag every football weekend and act like a rabid Aggie…12 or so Saturdays a year and love it but the rest of the time is real life like family, which is so much more important.
Well, good. And I like going to the Bryant Museum where I get to see more Championship trophies than UA knows what to do with.
Texas Aggies. Deal with it.
Crystal footballs. Try to get them.
Deer piss……You drink it along with your football team?
What does that even mean? Let your mom proof what you’re trying to say in here before you hit ‘submit,’ k? You’ll sound less dumb.
ITK,
Arguing who as the best football team is fine…A&M has a long way to go to match Alabama’s success on the football field. But attacking the Aggie Corps of Cadets is something I would expect from PAC12 fans…Cal or Oregon. That toy soldier cadet corps has produced 7 Medal of Honor recipients and countless general officers who gave their life for this country. I know for a fact that this article is not indicative of graduates of UA I know.
WOW REALLY!!???!! You have no clue what im talking about???? Here ya go then…Your football team has been accused of drinking Deer antler spray(deer piss in a bottle) to gain an advantage during football games. Stupid ass. I can already tell youre just a tshirt fan that has nothing to do with the school but watching them play on tv. Now, go die for real.
Please castrate yourself, like, now. If you reproduce your stupidy will affect another generation, and we just can’t have that.
Nice hit piece faggot. You’re a know nothing. Scoreboard. In Bama’s house. Loser
Dang! Someone is pissed-off!
Chill out and go get help for your anger issue.
Damn, looks like you stepped on one of aTm’s nerves. 109 responses. Have.’t had a thread that big almost since Scam Newton, well anyway since since LSWhi beat us 9-6 and launched the short life of the Tooth. I’ll wager that will be the top thread in this series. As for these aTm fans, they seem to be very similar to Aubies – although they appear to be better educated. Guess they have smarter cows in Texas. But living in the shadow of UT, they have developed th same inferiority complex as Aubie. One good season and they completely lose control of their senses. They think they should be ranked higher since they edged Bama – but what do they do about losing to LSU whi lost to Clemson or Florida who was stomped by Louisville. Guess we got another bunch of crybabies on our hands. RTR!
I did not go to A&M, my brother did. I crewed F-15s at Tyndall AFB and we drove through Alabama to get to better places. Alabama has a great football tradition and nothing else. Junior college academics, metrosexual redneck fans, and an inferiority complex realizing that after hoisting the trophy they still have to go back home to Alabama.
1st…thank you for your service to our country.
You may not like Alabama and its citizens, but thanks for defending it.
Appears you are loyal to the country, but still a dumbass Texan. I lived half my life in Alabama where I was born, and I’ve lived the other half mostly in Texas where I live now. Half of Texas is as ugly a desert filled with scrub and Mesquite as any place on the face of the Earth. While there are some pretty forests in the Eastern half, none of them can compare to the ones in Alabama – especially the Northern forested mountains. While Texas has about 600 miles more coastline than Alabama, Alabama’s coastline is 600 times prettier and cleaner. Exactly what fictitious part of Alabama did you travel through in which you could find something better elsewhere, dumbass? All you are is Homer mouth with an empty skull to back it up. Love the hate by the way. Glad we could fuck up your day! Cheers! RTR!
I’m an Aggie and I thought this article was fine. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before and well, TAMU has some weird football traditions – that we have to admit. Our Yell Leaders DO look like a soda shop gang and the history behind their uniforms is just…strange (janitor uniforms, really? that’s freaking bizarre.)
Our traditions don’t make sense to people who don’t attend this university – and there’s little purpose in educating people on the history of our school when they don’t freaking care! Honestly, if the author of this article cared about the origins of our traditions, he would’ve spent more time explaining their history then in mocking them. So who cares if he makes fun of them?
And it’s weird to see people so protective of the Corps of Cadets when in reality most Aggies mock them at least some point in their life. My brother was in the Corps and he is now an Army intelligence officer stationed in Korea doing whatever smart people in the Army do in Korea – but you better believe I have made my share of “toy soldier” references to him. It doesn’t change the respect I have for what he is doing – it’s just making light of a pretty scary situation (trust me when I say I’m frightened every day for the safety of my brother.) My “mocking” him is just playful fun (not to mention my sacred duty as a little sister) – seriously people, don’t be so quick to get offended by something that was a harmless jab.
The traditions I hold dear – Silver Taps, Muster, and Big Event – are honorable and commendable and no one really makes fun of those. In fact, I have never heard anyone speak ill of Silver Taps or Muster. But football traditions are meant to be hokey and fun – lighten up a little bit, it’s just a game.
Gig ’em Ags and to ‘Bama – I look forward to playing you next year! Hope it’s a helluva game!
The article was meant in fun. Fandom is fun, quirky, sometimes weird…and depending on where you go (Auburn), maybe even a little cult-like.
Nothing was meant personally, though we certainly stoked the fires a little. But it doesn’t bother me at all when another fanbase throws stones at Alabama, because I’m secure in who and what Alabama is, has been, and is on the road to continue being. Some take it extremely personal, and not just at A&M, obviously.
I look forward to the game as well.
And in fun it was taken.
Also this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3QHkjm6eyo
One of the most joyful videos to come out of that game.
“You’re a good quarterback but I HATE you!”
Alabama is full of well fare idiots who have no cable tv so they listen to the games on the car radio. Which mind you, is broke down in the grass on the front lawn. Beer cans floating down the street from a long summer rain is a sight to see most summers. And lets not forget the old creepy men sitting on the front porch, eating popcorn watching the little girls go by on their way home from school.
It always humors me when a person who has trouble spelling and/or communicating accuses someone else of being an idiot. It’s precious, really.
Maybe you can put on a soldier uni and pretend you’re marching into battle somewhere.
Thing is JUST WHERE DOES THIS DUMBASS LIVE? I can show him places exactly like he described in EVERY State in the nation. Most people try to stay away from those areas or neighborhoods or slums and ghettos. Unless of course that’s where you were born or are just too plain inbred and stupid to get out. Guess we know which one he is! ROTFLMMFAO! RTR!
The Bloomington, Illinois area…not even in Indiana. Rumor has it he’s in the insurance business, drastically lowering the bar for anyone thinking it’s hard to work in that industry.
I think these Alabama third world hicks got a case of the butt hurt. Sound a little scared, frankly. See ya Sept. 14th. Good luck!
Check Nick Saban’s track record in SEC openers while at Alabama. Get back to me when you have the answer.
Oh, TAMU is our opener. Hate darkening your Thursday with that news.
Butt hurt? Eho is National Champions, dumbass??? A&M like Aubie in 2010 is a one man team. Manziel gets hurt and you go 6-6 at best. Bama is a 22 player team with at least another 22 backups. Admitedly there would be a dropoff if AJ went dowm, but with our power runnig game ànd Sims running ability our only serious challenges would be A&M, LSU, the SECCG and the BCSNCG. Bama fears no one. 119 othee FBS teams fear Bama. And that’s a medical fact. RTR!
Doesn’t matter, beat Bama.
Doesn’t matter, won Heisman.
Doesn’t matter, destroyed OU.
Doesn’t matter, 11-2.
One season a winner does not make.
A faggot thread made by a faggot person. Scoreboard which means we are a better football team.
If anyone knows about “faggots”, its Texas A&M.
How do they decide which cheerleader gets to be on top?