Perfect...

[AggieBob]

ZZZZREAL School Spirit!
Ending the “Great Fans” Debate- Dec23

If anyone who went to school in “The Triangle” of North Carolina walked into a barbershop in College Station Texas and heard a conversation about “great college basketball” you would snicker and think “yeah right”. ..If a Texas A&M Aggie ever heard a Wuffie and a Heeloid talking about “school spirit and great fans” their reaction would be equally ludicrous.ZZZZ



The following article on Texas A&M school spirit was written by Wayne Drehs for ESPN.com earlier this year. It’s a bit lengthy but we think a good lesson for those whose “world view” is limited to a 200 mile radius of The Brickyard or The Old Well. Enjoy!





COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- They warned me. In the opening line of the Texas A&M press box notes, in bold black letters, they gave me -- and every other Kyle Field press box rookie -- plenty of notice for what lay ahead.



"Welcome to Kyle Field. For those of you visiting for the first time, please do not be alarmed. The press box will move during the Aggie War Hymn."



Sure, I thought. High above this 82,000-seat Texas football Mecca, some 150 feet in the sky, this massive press box -- supported by three concrete pillars -- was going to move. Uh-huh. And the folks in Alabama miss Dennis Franchione.



But a few minutes later, it happened. While my nose was buried in game notes, my entire world started to sway from left to right like a tripped out scene from "Fear and Loathing." I looked up, saw a sea of maroon rocking below me, and freaked. The writer to my left, from some tiny, tough-as-nails Texas town, chuckled.



"First time, huh?" he said with a wide grin and a dragging drawl.



"Uhhhhh ... yeah," I responded, shaking.



"Happens every game," he said. "Nuttin' da wury 'bout."



He was right. The song eventually ended. The press box stopped swaying. And calmness returned. It was just another example of how mind-blowingly fanatical the Aggie fans can be. And how much they hate the University of Texas.



Bear Bryant once said, "Ten Aggies can yell louder than a hundred of anybody else." He's still right. The 11-line verse that rocked Kyle Field to its foundation? The repeated bellowing of "Saw Varsity's Horns Off," a knock on the Longhorns. During the verse, all the Aggies squeeze together, put their arms around one another and swing back and forth. The stadium follows their lead.



"I guess if you haven't been here before, it could be a little shocking," said 34-year-old Alan Waltman, a lifelong Aggie fan, sitting in the stadium's top row below the press box. "But that's just how we do it here."



It wasn't the only time I didn't believe what was happening in front of me. Visit tradition-rich A&M on a home football weekend and two overwhelming themes stand out: 1.) No big-time program has more off-the-wall, age-old rituals to support its team; and 2.) Everything revolves around beating Texas.



Of the 37 lines in the Aggie War Hymn, 16 of them -- in some form or another -- refer to the Longhorns. (No other school is mentioned once. Can you imagine, say, Arkansas State showing up last September and hearing "so long to the orange and white?"). A feces-collecting wheelbarrow that follows the school's mounted cavalry around the field is painted burnt orange with a white "TU" on the side. And the purpose of the bonfire -- the 55-foot-tall raging inferno that the Aggies built every year until a collapse killed 12 students in 1999 -- was to demonstrate the Aggies' "burning desire" to beat the Longhorns.



"It's pretty simple. They look down on us and we whip their ass," said Ted Lowe, an A&M yell leader in 1958.



Actually, the Longhorns hold a 70-34-5 advantage in the 109-year-old rivalry, which renews on Friday in College Station. Recently, Texas has shifted its hate in the direction of Norman, Oklahoma. But the Aggies haven't budged, still saving their finest jokes for the T-sips.



Q. How does a Longhorn put on his underwear?

A. Yellow in the front and brown in the back.



Q. How many University of Texas students does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. Four: One to screw it in, one to boast how great the light bulbs were when Darrel Royal was there and the other two to leave about halfway through.



It's fitting that the Aggies haven't changed. When it comes to football traditions, few things down here ever do. Though students are no longer required to join the Corps of Cadets and the school went coed in 1973, the most popular men on campus are still the student-elected yell leaders -- five personable, good-looking guys who form the group that has led the Aggie cheers for 90 years.



Their white jumpsuits give them the look of hospital orderlies, but A&M's yell leaders are the only students who receive a varsity letter without competing in an intercollegiate sport. Though NCAA rules prohibit them from participating in football practice, they spend much of two-a-days running and lifting alongside the team.



Before games, after games and during countless public appearances, they're treated like the Backstreet Boys, with 12-year-old girls wearing braces jumping up and down and hoping for a picture ... all while their girlfriends, some of the most sought-after women on campus, look on.

"It's all part of what we do," senior John Magruder said. "Smile, take pictures, kiss babies, just be ambassadors for the school."



It's one of the most hotly-contested positions on campus, with hundreds of students campaigning, thousands more voting and a mere five left standing in the end.



"Next to actually playing on the team, the only thing that can really rival it is maybe student body president," said Lowe, the former head yell leader. "Everybody knows who you are. You get all the girls. I remember I used to have a different date come down every weekend. I couldn't keep them straight."



continued....

[AggieBob]

.....

If that isn't unique enough, there's Reveille, the school's collie mascot. A five-star general, Reveille is the highest-ranking member of the Corps of Cadets. She attends class; and if she barks during a session, university policy is that class be dismissed.



When Reveille VI died last month, she was put on the cover of the A&M program for the game against Kansas -- under the headline, "Farewell to a First Lady." Some 3,000 people showed up for her funeral, which included the playing of taps and a series of eulogies from her former handlers.



The Corps buried Reveille VI just outside of the stadium, where all former Reveilles are buried, so they can keep an eye on the game. When a recent stadium expansion blocked the gravesite's view to inside the stadium, A&M put a mini-scoreboard on the addition's outer façade. That way, the buried Reveilles won't miss any action.



But perhaps nothing is more Aggie-like than Midnight Yell. When the clock strikes 12 on the night before every home game, some 20,000 fans -- almost triple the average attendance for an A&M basketball game -- file into Kyle Field to practice their yells.



From students and professors to grandparents and babies, all die-hards are there. It isn't a rah-rah-ree, kick-'em-in-the-knee, rah-rah-rass, kick-'em-in-the-other-knee sort of pep rally. It's a series of precisely-choreographed hand signals, leg kicks and arm motions to accompany the same yells that have been going on since the first practice in 1913.



"People call it a pep rally and we get ticked off," Magruder said. "It's not a pep rally. It's yell practice."



During the yells, everyone leans forward, resting their hands above their knees -- "humping," as they call it -- because it supposedly makes the yells louder. Every mention of the opposing team is greeted with a "hiss," while a mention of the Aggies is followed by a "WHOOP!"



And then, there are the yells:

Squads left, Squads right!

Farmers, Farmers, we're all right!

Load, ready, aim, fire, BOOM!

A&M! Give us room!



You haven't felt alone -- truly alone -- until you've stood in a stadium with 20,000 people, every single one of whom is bent over, flashing hand-signals and roaring about fighting farmers, while you're standing upright with a notebook in your hand. It's like going to church for the first time in six years and having no idea what's going on, while the entire congregation knows what to say and when to say it. You're clearly the guy who doesn't go to church.



In this case, you're clearly the guy who isn't an Aggie.



Said one fan, apparently noticing the giant "I don't belong" sticker on my forehead: "Hey -- are you from Kansas?"



Practice ends when the stadium lights go out, the end zone cannons are shot off and everybody makes out with their date. (Those without a date flick on a lighter in hopes of finding another dateless soul). Believe it or not, this, too, has a direct correlation to the game, as a true Aggie supposedly kisses his girl after every A&M score.



And the wildest thing is that come game day, every single member of the student body, better known as the 12th man, does all these crazy rituals. They scream the various yells. They rock during the War Hymn. And they stand for the entire game, supposedly because they're waiting to be called upon if they're needed "in battle." Every game, a walk-on represents the student body by wearing No. 12 and participating in kickoff coverage.



On this weekend, the Aggies win; and the freshman cadets (better known as Fish) carry the yell leaders off the field, across campus and dump them into a icy fountain as part of another tradition. Here, another impromptu yell practice is held, to begin preparations for next week's game.



But this time, I wasn't the only outsider.



"I have no idea what's going on, either," said Samantha Dryden, attending her first Aggie football game with her brother and sister-in-law. "I can't believe that all these people know what all this means."



It isn't by accident. Incoming freshman go to Fish Camp, a three-day session 100 miles north of campus to learn the Aggie Way. They're taught the yells. They're taught the traditions. And they're taught the stories behind them.



The importance of it all has even hit home with first-year head coach Franchione, who, during two-a-days, assigned to each position an Aggie tradition to teach to the rest of the team.

"I heard the guys didn't take it real seriously at first, and he ripped into them," Lowe said. "He understands that there aren't many places like this. Maybe the Citadel. Maybe VMI. Other than that, this place stands on ground all its own."



So what's to make of all these rituals? Aggies preach about the love, loyalty and pride they have for their school. If you're an insider -- a fanatic member of the maroon-clad Aggie clan -- you think the traditions are spectacular. You think it fosters a unique sense of belonging, a feeling of one with the football team, the corps, the student body and the yell leaders. You think this is what college sports is all about.



But if you're an outsider (or a Longhorn), you can't help but think it's overdone. You peek in the bookstore and see children's books titled "Reveille's 12 Days of Christmas," and you grow skeptical. You hear that the Aggies never lose (they were either outscored or ran out of time) and laugh. And you see the yell leaders running around in their auto-mechanic jumpsuits without any skirt-wearing female sidekicks, and you wonder how A&M missed the "21st Century" memo. Truth be told: You're not alone.



"You can't explain it. You can't put it into words," Magruder said. "I try explaining to people what we do; and no matter what I say, it sounds corny. We go to Nebraska and walk down the street on our way to yell practice, and people are like, 'Hey, there's the Amish.'



"I guess in order to understand, you have to be an Aggie."

[AggieBob]

The Web Site (http://www.swaggersays.com/Articles/2003-12-23_REALSchoolSpirit.htm)

[big daddy russ]

That's a great article. That's also the reason I love A&M so much, it's everything college football and school spirit should be about. Every other college in the nation, and especially every other college in this great "football loving state" of ours (or so they say) could take a few pages from the books of your school, AggieBob.

[stallion02]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Excellent post. That nails it. I really hope all of the people on this site take a sec to read this and get a better grip on what A&M is about.

[PurpleHart]

Bob get a life! From an old classmate.

[sinton66]

We've heard it all before. All I can say is don't get too caught up in your own press clippings.

[rhs78]

great article,but i'm still a Longhorn fan, have been for over forty years, The Aggies and their trad. are great. I have a bunch of aggie freinds and like everyone of them and pull for aggies until day after thanksgiving then all love is lost for about three hours or so.!!!!

[District303aPastPlayer]

the one thing i will never understand, is why they are so enamored with UT. . .

[3afan]

Originally posted by AggieBob

And the wildest thing is that come game day, every single member of the student body, better known as the 12th man, does all these crazy rituals.

interesting, altho i doubt the above is even close to being true .....

[PurpleHart]

Acutully the student body is like a cult there. They look like there own little army.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by PurpleHart
Acutully the student body is like a cult there. They look like there own little army.

and tahts about as close to bein a part of the military they will come to. .

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
It was just another example of how mind-blowingly fanatical the Aggie fans can be. And how much they hate the University of Texas.

The 11-line verse that rocked Kyle Field to its foundation? The repeated bellowing of "Saw Varsity's Horns Off," a knock on the Longhorns.

Of the 37 lines in the Aggie War Hymn, 16 of them -- in some form or another -- refer to the Longhorns. (No other school is mentioned once.
What a shock?:eek: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
Visit tradition-rich A&M on a home football weekend and two overwhelming themes stand out: 1.) No big-time program has more off-the-wall, age-old rituals to support its team; and 2.) Everything revolves around beating Texas. It must be great to have school spirit and tradition revolve around such hatred of another university. What a great thing to teach our children.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
It must be great to have school spirit and tradition revolve around such hatred of another university. What a great thing to teach our children.

and then ppl wonder why professional athletes are full of hate. . it is glorified at the college level

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
...there's Reveille, the school's collie mascot. A five-star general, Reveille is the highest-ranking member of the Corps of Cadets. Someone please tell me that this is some sort of sick joke. If not, that's just plain ignorant. What a disgrace to our men and women in uniform.:mad: :mad:

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Someone please tell me that this is some sort of sick joke. If not, that's just plain ignorant. What a disgrace to our men and women in uniform.:mad: :mad:

no joke. . .

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
Some 3,000 people showed up for her funeral, which included the playing of taps and a series of eulogies from her former handlers. Another slap in the face for our military. Taps is reserved for those brave men and women that serve our country, not an animal.:mad:

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
And then, there are the yells:

Squads left, Squads right!

Farmers, Farmers, we're all right!

Load, ready, aim, fire, BOOM!

A&M! Give us room!



LOL...now that's funny...Fightin' Farmers...

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Another slap in the face for our military. Taps is reserved for those brave men and women that serve our country, not an animal.:mad:

and i agree with this post. . . VETERANS and SOLDIERS WHO DIE IN COMBAT get this treatment. . . what the hell has a damn dog done to deserve this

[rhs78]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
and i agree with this post. . . VETERANS and SOLDIERS WHO DIE IN COMBAT get this treatment. . . what the hell has a damn dog done to deserve this

my feelings are the same, that is very strange!!!

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
A feces-collecting wheelbarrow that follows the school's mounted cavalry around the field is painted burnt orange with a white "TU" on the side. Really classy...

[District303aPastPlayer]

truly sad

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by AggieBob
"It's pretty simple. They look down on us and we whip their ass," said Ted Lowe, an A&M yell leader in 1958. I guess letters aren't the only thing some aggies get backwards...70-34-5

[Bullaholic]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
no joke. . .

Well, since you brought it up.....let me offer this on this UT/A&M rivalry debate. It's Thanksgiving---maybe all of you young guys could be thankful that while you are trading "jabs" and "insults" about each other's school traditions, there are a lot of young men and women your age trading bullets with terrorists in the streets of Fallujah. I am thankful that all of you have the opportunity to pursue a higher education at two of the finest educational institutions in the world, and enjoy their huge legacies of athletic history and competition. Use this tremendous opportunity to the full, and enjoy every minute of this experience.

[JasperDog94]

Yes, I am very thankful that I don't root for a school that has tradition after tradition based upon hatred and envy of another university.

On another note, I have noticed that no aggies have come on here to defend Reveille and treating a dog like a war hero. That is the ultimate slap in the face considering the hell our troops are going through right now.

[crimson blood]

it seems that what the aggies call 'tradition' the rest of the the world calls arrogance, narcissism, stuck-up, self-serving...:doh:

[fb_gurl]

Each and every school has some sort of traditions. Why is A&M the only school that is being critised(sp?) for what they do to show support for their team?

[shellman54]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Yes, I am very thankful that I don't root for a school that has tradition after tradition based upon hatred and envy of another university.

On another note, I have noticed that no aggies have come on here to defend Reveille and treating a dog like a war hero. That is the ultimate slap in the face considering the hell our troops are going through right now.

i just refuse to have a debate with someone like you. every word out of your mouth has downgraded A&M. and it makes me sick. come back at me all you want with your insults, it won't hurt me at all. i have higher standards than that. All i want to say is thank god i do live in america, that there are troops over there protecting our freedom. but A&M's traditions have nothing to do with mocking the military, and it appalls me that you would say something like that. but, i've come to expect it from you.

gig'em aggies, BTHO the horns

[Rabbit'93]

All you aTm people....quit it....we all know how wonderful A&M is.


All you UT people.....get over it....you're never convince the A&M people to think any differently.

The same argument has been on this board for years. Maybe the aTm people would stop cramming all the traditions down your throat if you UT people would just let it go. I'm beginning to think the UT folk like to hate the fact that they have someone who hates them so much. Kinda sparks the arguments. :thinking:

[big daddy russ]

shellman, there's no reason to argue with JasperDog. He hates A&M more than anyone else, and yet says that A&M is a university filled with hate. Almost every word he's ever posted about TAMU has been full of spite. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single positive blurb he's ever uttered about the Aggies.


Originally posted by JasperDog94
Someone please tell me that this is some sort of sick joke. If not, that's just plain ignorant. What a disgrace to our men and women in uniform.:mad: :mad:

JasperDog94, let's ask some of the men and women that actually serve in the military their thoughts before serving sentence on Reveille and the rest of the Aggies' traditions.

IHStangFan, you served in the military for what, six years? What are your thoughts on having a funeral and taps for a morale-building mascot of about 5,000 future military officers? Is it such a sin that we should do away with it?

Apparently, the future leaders of our great military who actually attend this university don't have a problem with it... and neither does Annapolis, West Point, Colorado Springs or the Coast Guard Academy. The companies in each of our four major military academies do the same with their mascots, although the mascot represents the company itself and not the school as a whole. Even the Citadel and VMI (which are schools very similar to A&M... they aren't directly tied to any particular branch of the military but serve a mission to educate future officers) don't seem to have a problem with it. The only disgrace is your ignorance to the morale and the spirit of those great people.

When you can speak of the university and their traditions respectfully, then I will respect your opinion. But until then, you have absolutely NO RIGHT to degrade the traditions of an institute of higher learning well-renowned for its TRADITION of supplying our armed forces with more officers than any other university in the nation.

I'm not an Aggie, but ignorant and spiteful comments like yours make me proud to stand up for them and their so-called "silly" traditions.

[crabman]

I think the traditions at A&M are appealing to former and current students because they are so constant. So what if they are corny. It is like an old pair of Levis or an old shotgun. You just like the comfortable way something makes you feel. Anyone who knows any Aggie knows that they don't HATE t.u. It is just fun to talk about it in jest. As far as the Aggie War Hymn being the same verse repeated twice, have you ever seen the other verse. It kinda sucks.
I took several of my sons freinds who are longhorn fans to some games over the last two years. All of them said the same thing when the stadium started swaying. "I don't care who you are, that's cool". There is not a single tradition that is harmful or hateful. As far as playing taps for Reveille, that is not reserved for military only. It is just a sign of respect and a tribute to a fallen comrade. That is all Reveille is. A friend. It is okay to joke that she is a five star general. Everyone knows she isn't really a general. It is a joke. A tribute. Get over it.

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by Rabbit'93
Maybe the aTm people would stop cramming all the traditions down your throat if you UT people would just let it go. Come on now. You and I both know that would never happen...

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by shellman54
but A&M's traditions have nothing to do with mocking the military, and it appalls me that you would say something like that. So you think it's okay to give a dog, a lower lifeform, the same honor at a funeral service as our men and women in the armed forces?

[JasperDog94]

Having said all of that, all you A&M fans must not read very well because I have said positive things about A&M. The biggest problem that I have with A&M is that a lot of their traditions revolve around their bitterness towards Texas. I sound like a broken record, but school pride should be just that. Pride in your school. Pride doesn't come from degrading another university. I don't condone that coming from Texas fans either.

Now please read carefully:

Texas A&M is a fine university. I respect the fact that they are a great institution in the great state of Texas. I think it's neat that you guys have some traditions. (just not the ones that make fun of other universities)Best of luck this Friday. I know you have a good team this year and it should be one heck of a ball game.

[CDF]

Get a life JasperDog and 303a, let it go!

gig'em aggies!!!!:cheerl: :foul: :cheerl:

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by CDF
Get a life JasperDog and 303a, let it go!

gig'em aggies!!!!:cheerl: :foul: :cheerl: Certainly...as soon as A&M stops with the incessant bitterness towards UT.:)