Goodbye to Texas University...

On October 19, 1894 the Texas A&M Aggies came to Austin for the very first football game with the University of Texas.  The two schools have played 116 times since then, but now we sit on the brink of what may be their last meeting for quite some time.

As the Aggies prepare to embark on this new voyage to the SEC, most of what I hear from College Station is excitement about joining this "superior" conference mixed with a little Longhorn Network sour grapes... and that's fine, I suppose.  The thing is - my Aggie friends have told me for years that what I "don't understand" about A&M is that it's a culture based on tradition and it's that tradition that makes the Aggie experience so rich.

Why, then, is so much of that tradition being cast aside so casually by my friends from College Station?

It's no secret that the Longhorn fan base dismisses much of the "Aggie Spirit" as some sort of cult-like fanaticism.  Especially when you consider paragraphs like this one from an online explanation of Aggie traditions:

Vocabulary is also restricted by class. Freshmen may not say the word "Pisshead", a nickname for sophomores.  Juniors are known as "Serge Butts", so neither freshmen nor sophomores can say any form of either word. Juniors are also the first class to be allowed to say "Whoop!" Seniors, known as "Zips" for the black and gold braid on their garrison caps, which resembles a zipper, have reserved the word "elephant" and all forms of the words "death," "dying," "shoot," or "reload" in reference to the traditions surrounding Elephant Walk.  However, saying the phrases "pass away," "decease," "fire," "load again," etc., are all acceptable substitutes.

Man, and I was REALLY hoping to say "elephant, whoop" a lot this semester. I know.  It staggers the imagination.

But there's so much more than just words, and a striking amount revolves around the game over Thanksgiving with the school's biggest rival.

We hear a fight song that's all about Texas.  We hear tales of their biggest community event of the year - a bonfire built every year for a century - representing their "burning desire to beat the hell outta'" our team.  Seniors perform the "elephant walk" every year as a farewell to their college days... always taking place the week of the game with the University of Texas.  Hell, they won't even SAY "the University of Texas."  They refer to the school in Austin as "t.u." as some sort of insult, claiming that it's not THE Univesity of Texas... it's just some texas university.  In so many ways it's a part of their very identity.  Football season in College Station exists primarily for the pursuit of beating Texas.

But now, all that goes away.  UT has their Longhorn Network and the Aggies are picking up their toys and going to a new home.  Forget for a moment that Texas offered A&M a partnership in the Longhorn Network.  Forget that there's more than a century of history and cooperation between the two schools in the classrooms and state legislature.  No, the Aggies would rather leave Austin, Lubbock and Waco behind in favor of places like Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Oxford, Mississippi just so they can put an end to playing second fiddle in their own back yard.

But in the end this is really just a "biting your nose to spite your face" move.  I wish this rivalry would continue, but it's hardly devastating to the Texas football program.  Ask any Longhorn fan and they'll tell you that it's been at least a decade since this was the biggest game on the Texas schedule.  Look at the all-time record and it's clear that Texas/Oklahoma is a much better rivalry than Texas/Texas A&M.  But not in College Station.  In College Station there's only one game a year that really matters.  I've heard Aggie friends say "I don't care if we go 1-11 this year as long as we beat t.u."  That's really saying something.  And what it says the most is this:  the Aggies need this game a LOT more than Texas does.

What happens when the Longhorns are nowhere on the A&M schedule?  When the Aggies are playing a game against Vanderbilt next year will they still fire up their fight song with "Goodbye to texas university... so long to the orange and the white?"  Will they call Tennessee "t.u." or is it ok that the folks in Knoxville name their own institution?  Will they still sing the part where they quote OUR fight song when they make a big play against Kentucky?  "The eyes of Texas are upon you."  They ACTUALLY sing that.  And perhaps the most important question: where will all that hatred go?    There are an awful lot of Pissheads and Serge Butts who need to direct their insecurities at someone.  Get ready Arkansas - I bet they're looking at you.

No matter how Thursday's game turns out, the Longhorns will walk away having won twice as often over the history of the series... and next year will roll around with the OU game still circled on everyone's calendars.  And don't cry for us on Thanksgiving.  Texas Tech is frothing at the mouth to jump into that spot on our schedule.  We've played them for more than 80 years, too.  Don't get me wrong - I am actually sad to see the Texas/Texas A&M tradition go.  There's a lot of history there, and it seems like it was thrown away far too easily by the folks in College Station... especially considering that I'm constantly told that history and tradition mean so much more to Aggies than they do to the rest of us.

So cherish this last installment... because one of the great rivalries in college football is being cast aside simply because the largest inferiority complex in the history of sports has finally bubbled over.

Say It Ain't So, Joe

I know how I'm supposed to feel.

You tell me that there was a child molestation sex scandal involving a college football program and I immediately want everyone who in any way had any involvement or information about it to be gone.

Black and white.  Plain and simple.

But what if one of those people is Joe Paterno?  What if one of those people is that lovable grandpa of college football - a guy who for over 60 years embodied all that was right about a game that occasionally went so wrong?

Penn State University is one of only four schools in the major conferences that has never had a major NCAA violation.  Never.  In a world where linebackers drive Escalades, safeties are dealing drugs and quarterbacks are "making it rain," Joe Paterno's program shined as an exception to the rule.  When they are finished playing football, Penn State kids are ready for the world, posting graduation rates around 90% when some programs hover in the 20's - and they didn't sacrifice relevance to do so.  Penn State is one of the elite programs in the sport.  800 wins, two national championships (both under Paterno) proving that "win" and "clean" are two words that actually CAN go together. 

But now, all that has changed.  If it's true that one bad apple can spoil the bunch, then Jerry Sandusky just took down the entire North American crop.

I have no confusion about what should happen to Sandusky if these allegations prove to be true.  The man is a monster.  The rest of his life should be spent in a cell.

But what about Paterno?  At best, Joe Paterno is guilty of not doing enough to put an end to Sandusky's behavior.  At worst he is complicit in a coverup that directly led to the rape of dozens of children.  We don't know what he knew and when he knew it.  We DO know that he knew enough to have done more.

One mistake doesn't erase 60 years of good works... but 60 years of good works don't allow you to look past a mistake like this.  Joe Paterno dedicated his life to doing things the right way - a longtime motto of his teams is "success with honor."  He helped mold thousands of young men, teaching them to win with integrity... but when that moment came for Joe - that "practice what you preach" decision that would mean so much to so many - Joe did the minimum.  Joe dropped the ball.  Maybe it was to help a friend who he thought would change his ways - maybe it was to protect a program and a legacy that suddenly seemed so fragile.  It doesn't matter.  It was just plain wrong.

So this is how Joe Paterno goes out?  Fired in an horrific scandal - one small piece of controllable justice while we wait for the real hammer to fall.  So why does my heart break a little to see him go?

I know how I'm supposed to feel.  I'm supposed to be glad he's gone.  But I've spent my entire life being SO glad that he was there.

Game 6

One strike away.

4 days ago the Texas Rangers stood one strike away from a World Series title.  Twice.  It was a meltdown of epic proportions.

The emotional roller coaster the fans were riding was previously unthinkable.  You know why?  Because what we just witnessed is the single worst moment in Dallas sports history.

The previous generation will talk to you about Jackie Smith - the Cowboys tight end who dropped a pass in the end zone.  He was all alone - nobody there to make a defensive play - and the ball hit him right between the numbers...  in the Super Bowl.  They had to settle for a field goal and Dallas would end up losing Super Bowl XIII by those 4 points.  But that play wasn't as the clock ran out.  There were 28 points scored AFTER that happened.  No contest.

Cowboy fans also would be remiss if they didn't mention "The Catch."  In January of 1982, Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone on a heart-wrenching TD play in the final minute of the NFC Championship game.  I'll say that again - the NFC Championship game.  This wasn't the Super Bowl and this was simply a good play by the other team, not a disaster.  Next?

The Mavericks had a meltdown of their own in 2006.  Their first trip to the NBA Finals and they were rolling over the Heat.  Dallas had won both games at home and was dominating in Game 3 in Miami when suddenly it all collapsed.  The Mavs blew a 13-point lead in the final six minutes.  They didn't win another game.  If that had been game 4, we'd be in the same stratosphere here, but the Mavericks had plenty of time to right this wrong.

No, the Metroplex has never seen this type of heartbreak and they never will again.

Because it's impossible.

Sports gives us incredible drama and wonderful moments.  But only baseball gives us this.  The game was over.  A fly ball off the bat of Ryan Freese was in the air and going to land in the field of play.  If Nelson Cruz gets over there and catches it, the Rangers are World Series champions.  He didn't... and they aren't.

This is a Hail Mary jump ball TD as time expires in the Super Bowl.  This is a full-court heave at the buzzer of NBA Finals game 7.  But this is worse, because there's no clock to force this action... only white-knuckle, nail-biting eternal moments that only the national pasttime can provide.

This is the reason true fans love baseball so much... and also the reason they hate it.

It is impossible to come any closer to winning than the Rangers did.

So take some solace here, Dallas sports fans - it will never be worse than this.  It literally can't be.

Home Field Disadvantage

The Texas Rangers will play game one of the World Series tonight, but they’ll play it in St. Louis.  Texas had a better record than the Cardinals…  six games better.  The Rangers are a divisional champion…  St. Louis is a wild card team.  So why do the Cardinals get home field advantage for the final series of the sports’ season?  Because the commissioner overreacted.

In 2002 the MLB All-Star Game was a wonderful mid-summer spectacle.  Barry Bonds, fresh off a record-setting season, had a home run stolen over the wall on a gem of a play by Torii Hunter.  Then he belted a 2-run bomb later in the game to get his revenge.  The National League went up 4-0.  Then the AL stormed back and led 6-5.  In the 7^th inning the lead changed hands twice and finally in the 8^th inning Omar Vizquel tripled in the tying run to make it 7 to 7.  This one was headed to extra innings. 

All-Star games are designed to get everybody in the game.  Folks in San Diego don’t have a lot to cheer for – they’d like to see Trevor Hoffman get in there and strike somebody out.  The American League used all 9 of their pitchers.  The National League had 10… all made it into the game.  But the score was still tied.  This IS an exhibition and nobody wants to see guys overused or get hurt, so Bud Selig made an executive decision:  after 11 innings, he called it off.  7-7… a tie… in a baseball game.  The fans in Milwaukee let him have it and Milwaukee is ground zero for Bud Selig.  This was HIS town.  Popular opinion started raining down – the All-Star game wasn’t what it used to be... it didn’t matter anymore...  it was SO inconsequential that the commissioner didn’t even care if it ended in a tie.

So the following year, Selig started a bold experiment.  Whichever league won the All-Star game would get home field advantage for the World Series.  It made no sense.  It was a desperate attempt by the commissioner to win the fans over – to loudly shout “I DO care about the All-Star game!”  So much so that he tied a VERY important piece of the World Series to an exhibition game often decided by a guy off the bench.  The fact that it happened once was laughable.  The fact that it was renewed twice and made a permanent part of the game is a disgrace.

 
Of COURSE the higher seeded team with the better record should have home field.  And this is no small thing.  This means an extra game where the pitchers have to hit (an area in which the Rangers are not well-versed)  Plus there was no American League team better at home this year than the Texas Rangers.  So far this postseason the Rangers are an .800 team in Arlington.  4-1.  That all-important extra home game has been taken away from Texas.  Why?  Because the commissioner put his own popularity ahead of the sport.  Ironic considering his popularity was never much to start with.  The steroid era took shape, blossomed and even flourished under his watch.  A few years ago Selig announced that he would retire after the 2009 season.  Then he didn’t.  Now he says he’ll retire after the 2012 season.  Let’s hope this time it sticks… and the new regime retires this home field travesty along with him.

Below Average

Last night was arguably the greatest regular season night in the storied history of Major League Baseball.  But not at Citi Field in New York.  And really, it could have been.  While playoff spots were being won and lost all over the country, a different race found its epicenter out in Queens: the National League batting crown was on the line. 

Entering the night Jose Reyes of the Mets was hitting .336.  The Brewers’ Ryan Braun was at .335.  These are the statistical battles that make baseball unique – a game that normally wouldn’t mean that much suddenly takes on new life as the drama unfolds and people watch the scoreboard and do frantic math. 

Reyes led off the game for New York with a bunt single.  His average went up to .337.  Reyes did some math of his own and knew that Braun would have to go 3-for-4 against the Pirates to top that, so Reyes took himself out of the game.  In Milwaukee, Braun played out his final game, but went 0 for 4.  Jose Reyes wins the league batting title. 

September 28^th was also the 70^th anniversary of an amazing baseball moment.  On this very same night in 1941, Ted Williams was on the brink of history.  It was the final day of the regular season and his Boston Red Sox had a doubleheader scheduled against the Philadelphia Athletics.  Williams had a batting average of .39955 heading into that day.  It would round up and go down as a rare .400 season.  Very few people in the modern era can claim that feat.  So manager Joe Cronin visited with his star player and told Ted that he didn’t have to play.  The Sox weren’t going to the playoffs.  This day wouldn’t change that.

Ted Williams refused to sit.  He said that if he didn’t hit .400 the ENTIRE season, then he didn’t deserve it.  Then he went out and tore it up.  8 at-bats.  6 hits.  By the end of the night Williams had NOT hit .400 after all.  He had hit .406.  You know how many people have hit .400 since then?  Try zero.  Not one.  That’s how big a deal this was.  But Ted Williams’ respect for the game wouldn’t let him sandbag it.  If I can’t do this all the way, then I don’t want to do it at all.

Mets fans booed their own player when he came out of the game last night.  Reyes’ answer?  “They have to understand, too, what's going on. They have to feel happy about it if I win the batting title.”  They don’t HAVE to, Jose.  Not when you do it that way.  Jose Reyes was a coward.  He saw an easy path and he took it... and in the process he disrespected the game and showed a complete lack of confidence in himself.  He already had a hit!  I want the guy on my team who says, "I'm gonna' win this batting title by a boatload!  I'm gonna' get three more hits today and run away with this thing!"  Instead the Mets have a guy looking for the path of least resistance.

Ryan Braun’s reaction was full of class.  “I'm not going to judge him. I respect whatever decision he decided to make.” 

Respect.

Ted Williams had it.  Even Ryan Braun had it.  Hard not to lose a little of it for Reyes today.

Tony Award

Tony Romo is a warrior. 

Let those five words soak in. 

It wasn’t too long ago that the Cowboys fan base didn’t agree.  In fact, it was two weeks ago.

In a world that measures your success against Aikman and Staubach, Tony Romo has had a rough go with the fans.  It started in January of 2007 when he bobbled a snap on a field goal that would have won the Cowboys a playoff game in Seattle.  Never mind that this guy had taken over mid-season for an anemic Drew Bledsoe.  Never mind that he had come out of nowhere to lead that team to the postseason.  He bobbled the snap.  He was the goat. 

The next year he threw for over 4200 yards, took the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, but they lost in their first playoff game to the Giants.  The story?  Tony Romo went to Cabo during the team’s bye week .   He took a two-hour flight somewhere to relax?  How COULD he?  Never mind that he didn’t miss a single day of practice.  Never mind that many of his teammates also left town.  He dared to go someplace tropical… and with Jessica Simpson!  Off with his head!

After that playoff loss, Tony didn’t do himself any favors with his postgame remarks.  “If something in sports is the worst thing that ever happens to you, you’ve lived a pretty good life.”  Gentlemen, start your engines.  Romo was now saddled with the reputation that he didn’t care enough - that he didn’t want to win badly enough.   Tony hadn’t yet learned a very important Dallas lesson: for many of his fans a Cowboys loss IS the worst thing that’s ever happened.

From there it snowballed.  Every single move Tony made was under the microscope.  The guy is a scratch golfer who kept those competitive juices flowing in the offseason by trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.  Nope.  That just means he’s not concentrating on football.  Strike 3.  He’s out.  When he got hurt last year and the season was in the toilet, they made a coaching change.  It just so happened that Jon Kitna was quarterbacking when this new breath of life came into the team.  People actually suggested that Kitna should replace Romo this season.

Then when Tony made a couple of bad mistakes in a tough opening loss to the Jets this year, the whispers started again.  Romo isn’t a winner… and more ridiculous – Romo’s not even a good quarterback – not in the top half of the league.  Tony took week one’s loss hard.  There were reports that he sat in the locker room with his head down for too long.  Apparently now he cares TOO much. 

Then last week with two broken ribs and a punctured lung, Tony Romo came back into the game and led his team to victory.  The national media made a darling of Tony and for good reason.  But I think last night may have been even more impressive.  Quarterbacks don’t win or lose games by themselves… but they certainly have the most impact.  Last night, Romo came as close as you can to winning by himself. 

Still hurting with his ribs, he took a team decimated by injury and inexperience and simply WILLED them down the field.  The Redskins blitzed mercilessly.  They threw everyone in Washington at him.  I swear I saw a tobacco lobbyist in the backfield at one point.  Tony was hit… he was harassed… and he had very little help.  He was breaking the huddle and explaining to his receivers where to line up.  Why?  Because they were clearly clueless.  It was as if Romo was the only one who had been issued a playbook.  He had a center who three different times snapped the ball to an unsuspecting Romo after being fooled by the defense.  Facing 3^rd and 21, Tony literally pointed and yelled DURING the play, telling Dez Bryant where to go and throwing it there to set up the winning field goal.  Tony Romo won that game because Tony Romo flat out refused to lose.

Romo says all the right things.  “Criticism comes with playing this position.”  Unfortunately for Tony, he plays in Dallas. 

Everyone loves him today after that performance.  So much so that it’s easy to forget the way they’ve treated him the past 5 years.  But one bad interception at the wrong time and the rumbling will start anew. 

He’s a great golfer, so he golfs in his free time.  You would, too.  He dates fabulously famous and beautiful women.  You would, too.  And at the end of the day, he’s easily one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL and there is an argument that he’s top 5.  He wants to win as much or more than anyone on that field and to insinuate otherwise is pure folly.  Cowboys fans are lucky to have him.  Too bad that it will take a championship for this spoiled franchise to realize it.

Maybe later... but definitely NOT Sooner

The Big 12 appears to have life after all. 

The news this week is that the PAC-12 will not be expanding and so at least for now the “Big 4” of the Big 12 are staying put.  Oklahoma started this latest storyline, expected to take Oklahoma State and leave for the PAC-12 and essentially force Texas to split off or bow down, bringing Tech along for the ride.  OU - finally after all this time - flexing their muscle and saying, “We don’t follow Texas anymore.  Texas can follow us.”

But a funny thing happened.  Texas refused to tear up their $300 million Longhorn Network deal.  No, Texas decided that if that’s how it would have to be, then they would pass.  “Good luck, Oklahoma.  We’ll miss playing you, but we understand you have to go if you have to go.”

Then a downright HYSTERICAL thing happened.  The PAC-12 rejected OU.  As it turns out, the PAC-12 didn’t want the Oklahoma schools without Texas.  That’s gotta’ sting a little.

The reason I’m taking delight here isn’t that I want to prove Texas dominance over OU.  A 59-41-5 record against them does that.  It’s because they crowed about it.  If Oklahoma had quietly gone to the PAC-12 and inquired and it hadn’t worked out, I’d feel legitimately bad for them.  But that’s not how it went down.

Three weeks ago when OU President David Boren said “There is no school in the Big 12 more active than we are right now” and “I don’t think OU is going to be a wallflower when all is said and done” he was declaring independence from Texas.  He threw out veiled threats like “"I think we remain a very influential member of the conference. I'll just put it that way.”  When Bob Stoops then said that the Texas-OU game wasn’t necessary the gauntlet had been thrown.  He apparenlty wasn't going to be a wallflower, either.  The Sooners forgot one thing, though… they weren’t invited.

Texas hasn’t done this.  Texas has a concrete offer from the ACC to come be the flagship football program of their conference and keep the Longhorn Network as it is.  You don’t hear the Longhorns shouting it from the rooftops.  Texas has never publicly talked about leaving the Big 12 and for the most part have kept quiet while everyone else blames them and says they should share the LHN wealth.  Well, thanks to a failed Sooner power play, DeLoss Dodds can be clear.  "I don't think our network is in play," Texas' athletic director said Wednesday. "Our network is our network. Anybody can do one.”  You know WHY anyone can do one?  Because the Big 12 schools VOTED to let anyone do one.  Get over it and find a way to make it work for you.  There’s a lot of TV money out there, people.  Quit whining and start working.

So now it appears that Oklahoma’s chest-puffing days are behind them.  Maybe it’s temporary.  Maybe a time comes when the rivalries get torn apart and the teams go their separate ways.  OU overestimated their pull.  That’s forgivable.  Doing it in public isn’t.  Say what you will about the Horns, but Texas isn’t running up the score.

The Sooners were the so-so girl that the PAC-12 was talking to in order to get to the hot chick.  That invitation “back to their place” just didn’t hold up for OU when the prom queen wasn’t interested.

You know who that makes you at this dance, David Boren?  A wallflower.