The Frogdebacle

I live in Dallas, so SMU and TCU should kind of be the hometown teams that I rally around in addition to my own school. In the case of SMU, I’m on board. The school is charming and June Jones has helped raise that program from the ashes. The fans are just excited to be a part of something exciting. I love me some SMU. Pony up!

Then there's my less supportive side.....Remember The Blind Side? There’s a scene when Sandra Bullock walks into the room and sees Tennessee playing football on TV and asks “Who’s winning.” “Tennessee,” they tell her. “Ugh, who are they playing?” she asks and is told “Clemson.” At that point Michael turns to SJ and asks, “Does your mama root against Tennessee no matter who they play?” And she replies: “Uh, Yes I do. With Gusto.”

I feel this way about TCU. I don’t like them. It’s not very nice, but it’s true. I don’t find TCU charming, their fans are generally not nice and I very particularly do not care for Gary Patterson, who always has someone else to blame when the job isn't getting done.

A lot of times people will ask me what my beef is with TCU, so I’m just going to throw it out there once and for all...

The Fans: People talk about Texas fans being arrogant – if that’s true, then TCU is right up there with us. Especially for a team that was practically obsolete until 2007. It’s one thing to do some trash talking at a game, but when TCU last came to Texas they were absolutely among the nastiest fans I’ve ever seen (that’s saying a lot, ehem, Texas Tech). TCU came in ranked #19, Texas was #7. At halftime the Frogs were up 10-0, and seeing those fans walk around our stadium, throwing ‘Horns down and heckling people just trying to get a corn dog was pretty ridiculous. When the game was finally over and Texas had won 34-13, it escalated. “Texas cheated,” “Texas got unfair calls,” “TCU could win anytime if the game was fair,” “[Expletive] you, [expletive].” This last gem was said to my mom, who was trying to ward off a heckler with the soothing and neutral comment “There’s still a lot of football left this season!”

I know I can’t judge the entire Horned Frog fan base on these few experiences, but it’s hard not to. Every time a college football conversation with a Horned Frog starts up, all they do is cry about how they are constantly overlooked for the BCS Championship Game. My only response can really be “well, be ranked #1 or #2 and you’ll get to go…?” “Don’t play pansies and expect to be ranked higher than SEC teams..?” Your 2011 schedule has one ranked team on it. I hope Portland State doesn’t give you too much trouble.

Inevitably, the Frogs will say that they’ve “Beaten every Big XII team they’ve played.” Uh, I have no idea about the other teams, but I do know they  haven’t beaten Texas since 1992 (before the Big XII) and before that the last times the Frogs took down the ‘Horns was 1967…four wins out of 37 over the last 50 years does not a more dominant team make. Going back further, Texas leads the series overall 61-20-1 since 1897. Come talk to me when you crack out of that 25% win margin.

That’s usually when blood starts shooting out of their eyes. Hey, at least now they’ll probably stop taunting me about how much it sucks to lose to Baylor. Bwah ha ha.

Equally annoying is that even though there are all these "fans," TCU has only managed to sell out Amon G. Carter Stadium (capacity 44,358) six times...in 81 years!  One of those times was against Texas and it was filled with OUR FANS.  Now TCU is spending $105 million dollars to renovate the stadium to "enhance the fan experience."  Uh, how about you use that money to buy seats to sell out what you've got?  Just saying.  

Um, but I do like those uniforms they have that have the helmets that look like blood is spurting from their eye area....?  No, really, I do.

The 2009 Season: I have a big problem with the reaction of the fan base and coaches to the 2009 season. Yes, TCU went undefeated (against powerhouses like Air Force and Colorado State).  Yes, you were highly ranked.  But stop blaming Texas because you didn't go to the big show.

So, TCU didn’t get to go to the BCS National Championship game because the Texas BIG XII Championship win over Nebraska pushed them up to #2 in the rankings, placing them in the title game against #1 Alabama? 

No...

I find it irksome and puzzling that TCU blames not getting to go to the title game on Texas. You would think that the Longhorns had gone to Fort Worth and stolen all the cleats from the TCU locker room minutes before a game, forcing them to play shoeless and badly, thus “stealing” a shot at the BCS Championship from them.

(Side note: To add kerosene to my raging fire of disgust about this misdirected blame, I read an article after the Big XII Championship about Gary Patterson’s reaction to it:

The Longhorns took over at their 40-yard line and quickly drove down the field. Once they reached Nebraska's 26-yard line with less than one minute left, Patterson couldn't take anymore. He left his home near the TCU campus and walked down the street -- without shoes.

“I had to walk outside,” Patterson said. "I didn't even say anything. I walked out in my bare feet, walked down the street, it was cold and I didn't even feel it. What else was I going to do? You get so close, but yet you're so far away."

Uh, Gary, I think you need to step away from football for a few minutes and get a little perspective. I maybe wouldn’t be so irritated by this very pitiful statement if he hadn’t been so adamantly cheering for Texas to lose:

Patterson cracked a door in his home as Nebraska prepared to kick a go-ahead field goal against No. 3 Texas.

"We might be able to hear the whole city of Fort Worth cheer if they make this kick," Patterson told her.

Nice one, Patty.   On the other hand, maybe he thought he was wearing shoes?  Maybe those creepy toe-shoes?)

Look, I get it.  I understand that TCU fans and players were upset, but his reaction to this Texas win rallied the fans in a misdirected pity party that Texas had somehow robbed them of something. To make matters even more ridiculous, TCU didn’t even end up with a final ranking of #3…so even had Texas lost there was no guarantee that they would have been in the title game with Alabama. 

It's just nacho-year, Frogs...it has nothing to do with Texas.   

On top of that, TCU ended up getting beaten by #6 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.  But ask any Frog and he'll tell you that "TCU Could have beaten Alabama" if they'd had gotten to go to the game.  Enough already! 

TCU (at the time of this post) is 581-512-57.  That means they've won just under half of the games they've played.  Why bother playing the game?  Just stop at the coin-toss - your odds are better that way.

Since Gary Patterson came on as coach in 2000, they are 101-29-0, which is way better, at 78%.  The Frogs under Patterson have won 2/3 of their post season bowl games, which is also great.

TCU is always saying they want to play with the big boys and will play anyone to prove they're worthy competitors. Then why, with three games left to schedule for 2011 did TCU turn down a re-match with Wisconsin? "Logistical conflicts" was the TCU party line. Really, TCU?

Of course! TCU has a big hang up on logistics. Wasn't it 2003 when TCU - just one loss from it's first BSC Bowl bid, turned down the GMAC Bowl against Miami-Ohio? Yes, it was. Instead they played in the Fort Worth Bowl where they lost (hahahaha) to Boise State. A direct quote from AD Eic Hyman was

 "I can't do that. I have to be sensitive to our young people. They are student-athletes, but they are also students, and they are coming to school to get an education. We cannot disrupt their exams. It's not fair to them." Also, the gem "This is bigger than a bowl game."

Oh, Honey. Come on now, why don't you just bundle that up with the Longhorn Network and try to sell it? It would be seven years before TCU actually made it to their first BCS Bowl (which, thank goodness, did not interfere with finals) where they were promptly defeated by...Boise State.

I also can't help but find it ironic that TCU had no problem traveling to games that fell within TWO DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. I'm just saying...between the "Texas" and the "University" part of TCU (you know, the University part indicating the academics that are so important to these football players...?) is the word CHRISTIAN. Come on now, TCU! Let's get all of our bases covered!

Look, I never said I was nice.  I also never said I wasn't petty.  My beef with TCU may be childish or whatever, but I just can't feel bad for a team who's always pouting about not being treated like a traditional powerhouse when...they're not a traditional powerhouse.