It stopped surprised me a decade ago that Texas Tech show up to win every time they play my Aggies. They just care more about winning that game than we do. For some reason, the Twelfth Man appears to believe that by ignoring the Red Raiders 364 days a year our first and most sacred rivalry with Texas (“t.u.”) won’t be disturbed.
Now, I know that I’m a bit biased seeing that I grew up in Lubbock and that I now live in “Raider Country”, but maybe it is time to admit that Texas Tech may actually be our closest rival. True, true, the Aggie War Hymn does call for us to “saw varsity’s horns off” (“Varsity” is Bevo for those not in the know), and in “old army” days Texas Tech was never enough of a threat to consider them a rival. I realize that we Aggies don’t like to change our precious traditions, but maybe in light of the lack of sportsmanship of the Raiders we should reconsider.
Saturday’s game was heartbreaking. My Aggies never quit, they fought till the end, and that is what it means to be an Aggie. But alas, the “clock ran out of time” before coach Sherman could turn it around (*wink*), and t.t.u. won the game.
Now, losing in Kyle Field should never feel normal, but taking a stinging loss by the hand the Red Raiders is beginning to feel familiar.
At the risk of sounding like a sore loser I’ll say this, it’s not the loss that has me upset, it’s Mike Leach’s utter lack of sportsmanship. ESPN’s Tim Keown hits it on the head:
With 24 seconds left, Leach called for a replay-review on a play that he thought resulted in a touchdown. The review didn’t agree, so Tech ran another play and Harrell ran into the end zone, ball held overhead, the taunting, conquering hero.
So Tech wins 43-25 and everybody who questions Leach publicly couches it by saying or writing, “That’s just the way Leach is.” Well, he shouldn’t be that way. He’s better than that. Being consistent is no excuse for being classless and inconsiderate. It’s instructive to note the announcers on the game barely addressed the issue, either because they’re afraid of alienating Leach and Tech or because we’re so numb to displays of crappy sportsmanship that it didn’t even occur to them.
(thanks to Fig for the link)
It’s time to change the tone around Aggieland. We cannot let our team to be out motivated by the Red Raiders every year. On January 1st, every year, they open their new calendar and circle the day their team will meet the Aggies. They can no longer be allowed to care more about winning that game than us. We must treat them as an equal (not a pesky younger brother from a remote place), but a true Big XII powerhouse worthy of spending some time and energy to defeat.
And here is a bone-chilling fact: the all time score between our two schools is close to being tied. After Saturday’s game, after 66 meetings, the Aggies only lead that match-up by two games (34-32-1). TWO GAMES!
If it takes inventing a new tradition or digging around for some Southwest Conference era yell. Anything to fight and win against Texas Tech. Anything!
