When I was a little girl, I asked my daddy for a pony. (His name was Coco the Wonder Horse and he provided us many, many hours of father-daughter bonding.) When I grew up, I asked my daddy for tickets to see the Aggies and the Longhorns play football on Thanksgiving Day for the last time. Since Texas A&M is moving to the SEC, this would be the last match up for years. Maybe forever. And since I fell in love with the Aggies when my daddy took me to this very game in 1991, I thought maybe he would have compassion on this old (but still oh-so-young) Ag.
And he did. Thank you, Daddy!
Curtis and I enjoyed a low key Thanksgiving lunch with our kids, my parents and grandparents before the two of us set out for College Station. We got there early and had time to walk around campus. We saw my old dorm on the south side - Krueger Hall.
We walked through the Commons. It looked exactly the same. Here's the hallway leading into Krueger. This is as far as we got.
This is the window to my old room. We were on the first floor facing Bizzell, right next to the stair well.
Then we met up with some friends from our church who had set up a Thanksgiving feast in the shadow of Kyle Field. They did it up right with long tables, centerpieces, candles, and all the traditional foods.
This maroon pumpkin is not very traditional, but there couldn't be any orange now, could there?
We watched the band and the Corps of Cadets march in. I took everything in, even the very powerful and pungent smell of the Parsons Mounted Cavalry. Then it was time for the game. We sat down low on the student side. The band was close by, the yell leaders were right in front of us, and it was perfection.
We sawed Varsity's horns off, stood as the 12th man, kissed when the Ags scored on the field, twirled our white towels in the air, and did all the yells. We gave a few horses' laughs to some bad calls.
The Horns gave a nice tribute to the rivalry by forming a "Thank you A&M" formation during half-time. The Ags did a traditional "sawed off horns" formation during their performance and got some flack for not "being classy." The Horns took the high road, people said. Well, the Aggies took neither the high road nor the low road, but the same road they've been on for 118 years. Aggies are nothing if not traditional.
A 118 year rivalry came down to the last 20 seconds of a football game and a field goal. The Aggies ran out of time and lost by two heartbreaking points. What is more heartbreaking is that these games are over.
Goodbye to Texas University
So long to the Orange and the White
Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies
They are the boys who show the real old fight...
23 comments:
O my word - I just watched a YouTube video of the "sawing off the horns." THAT. IS. AWESOME. I love love a good college tradition. Happily welcoming A&M into the SEC where traditions are a well loved and respected part of every team here. Can't wait for you to experience Tiger Walk at Auburn! Nothing like it!!
Love ya, friend!
Thank you for sharing that, Amanda, you look so cute in your Aggie shirt. I am from the north (Washington originally, and now Oregon), and i dearly love yours and your moms southern style. Yours are the only blogs I read - my favorite bible teacher and my favorite young mom! I am a mom of a 12 and 9 year old. They grow up fast, so enjoy the early years. I prayed for you in Ecuador. Love and blessings to you and yours, Amy Hawk, Hood River, Oregon
I ♥ this post. You look fantastic in your A&M shirt. Your Dad is a keeper - that's for sure! :)
Welcome to the mighty SEC! Lots of great traditions, great rivalries and the best college athletes in the country. Hold on tight, enjoy the ride.......you'll be glad you came....and we are too!
Go Dawgs!.......True Maroon.......#HailState
Don't you just LOVE great Daddies?! I have one, too. :)
And by the way, you look cute as bug in a rug in your jersey. We bought my Carolina Panthers one some years ago...I sometimes whip it out for Sunday games as my man yells for Pittsburgh while I scream for my Panthers. You can probably hear me yelling for Cam Newton all the way down in Texas!
So fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
SO, I'm a total SEC fan have no allegiance to either A&M or Texas but this post me a little teary. The MS State Bulldogs are thrilled to have another Maroon/White team join us!
Actually it was two points :) Just saying...haha! This Texas fan will absolutely miss the rivalry. So sad :(
Great recap gal! Such a good game! I did not hear anyone calling us not classy over Sawing the Horms off... But you said it well it was just us doing what we do! I pray its back sooner than later but so glad I was there for this last one!
For me, there's nothing more emotionally loaded than Aggie gameday. This one was exponentially more loaded. I was a section above you! Wouldn't have missed it for the world
We were right there with you and 86,500+ Aggie Fans! It was a memorable night, and those last 20 seconds lasted FOREVER! I love our TRADITIONS here in AGGIELAND and look forward to learning about traditions of the SEC.
Gig'em Aggies!
My word it does look the same!`I was there a few years before you, but it looks the same. Your friends' feast looks lovely! I think this is one, if not the only, game I wanted to cry about. For days!!! So glad your daddy blessed you.
Oh, I was heartbroken ALL weekend over this game!! Sweet side story: one of the little girls I nannied in college is a sr. at A&M and is engaged to a fellow sr. in the Corps. So fun that they're a part of this historic year! :-)
Another funny note. Her sister, who I nannied too, goes to OU. Guess where their parents are alums?? tu. Lolol! :)
I lived in Mosher but remember the Commons and Krueger well! What a fun game to go to!
From a Georgia Bulldawg, Welcome to the SEC!
I watched the game on TV and was pulling for your Aggies. Heartbreaking loss at the end. I'm glad you were able to go to this final game. Bittersweet, I'm sure.
I think Brad was sitting in the same section as you! (I let my brother in law have my ticket!) Glad you guys made it for the last texas game. It sounded like lots of fun!
Amanda, I feel like crying! So glad you were able to go to the game. Gig 'Em, my fellow Ag.
As a lifelong Kentuckian, I'm much more well-versed in college basketball than football, but we welcome A&M to the SEC. The TU-A&M games sounds like the Kentucky-Tennessee rivalry, although I hope it's not been nearly as lopsided as ours has been. :)
Your parents are incredible, Amanda!
Oh, how fun!!! I wish my old campus looked the same! It's completely different. Only a few of the buildings left. They were redoing the entire Student Union Building when I left and the dorms I lived in have been torn down and newer bigger fancier dorms have been built in their place. So sad! My memories destroyed almost it seems! I have no where to visit to remember my college days. Even here in Moscow, me and Josh's first apartment building is now a parking lot!!! Why does Idaho have to change so many things!!! So sad!!!
I'm a little late to this party, but welcome to the SEC. I'm a life long BAMA fan but the great Bear Bryant coached at A&M. We lived in San Antonio for 10 years and we always cheered for the Aggies when BAMA wasn't involved.
So wished I could have met you there! Teary!
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