The Game

A little time has passed since the Texas / Texas A&M game this Thanksgiving.  As I predicted, it was a battle of mediocre giants...fueled with highly charged emotions and bitter feelings.

There were a ton of small moments that made the game a memorable and wonderful one.  Aside from the overt happiness of winning, here are some highlights from the day.

Early on in the day, I had a feeling it would be great.  How did I know?  Because somewhere outside of College Station, Debra was loosely accused of shoplifting at a gas station.  Of course, it was a complete misunderstanding, but Kacie and I were not helpful, and as the forgetful/skeptical employees questioned Debra about if she was planning to pay for her treasures (cowboy hat, Santa Clause belly ring...) we both yelled "THIEF" in unison.  Heh.  Still, what you expect when you're a rival in College Station?  Especially a ....

... Longhorn.  About an hour into the tailgate, a trailer pulled up with a Longhorn inside.  After a few initial moments of EXCITEMENT, we noticed the trailer and car were all A&M'd out.  It was then that as a group, we felt fear.  And anger.  We immediately assumed that these Aggies were going to either brand the poor fellow or, even worse, saw it's horns off right there in the parking lot.   We could not let this happen, and wandered over to said Aggies and bovine to find out the scoop.  Turns out it was just an Aggie and his pet Longhorn, Bullwinkle. MLIA.  Bullwinkle was a sweet guy, letting people sit on his saddle for pictures.  While posing for my picture (I chose to stand next to him), Bullwinkle kept turning his head away.  After a few futile attempts to get his attention camera-side, Bullwinkle's wrangler (probably a 12 year old kid) told me, "oh, just pull on his horn."  Oh, honey. In an effort to help this kid later in life, I explained to him that this is NEVER okay to say.  Much less do.  Aside from some decorations, Bullwinkle was not subjected to anything that would land him at ....

.... McDonald's.  Particularly the McDonald's in College Station.  The poor, open, one-worker McDonald's, where we spent, I'm not kidding you, at least 45 minutes in the drive thru line.  Happy Thanksgiving to you, overwhelmed/overworked McEmployee.  After ordering an insane amount of food, Debra insisted that she also receive her Coca-Cola holiday glasses.  I kind of felt bad for him until we realized he didn't bother to give us enough straws.  Luckily, Debra keeps 3 foot long straws in her car, and Kacie had scissors.  After settling in for a sleepless night at America's Best Value Inn, we merrily consumed our McMeals, including McHoliday ...

.... Pies.  And turkey and all the fixins'.  I was so surprised when we pulled up to the tailgate and the whole crew was there!  We'd had some doubts, after the last terrible game at home, as to weather the CATI crew would come out, but they were there in full force with a Thanksgiving feast.  It was such a nice time with the peeps, enjoying gobbly goods and playing flip cup.  It was the perfect pre-cursor to the perfect ...

... win.  Yes, I know, I've gone on and on about how both teams were mediocre, but a win is a win.  Especially a win at Kyle Field.  Especially a win at the last Lone Star Showdown as we know it.  Especially a win that the Aggies wanted SO VERY BADLY.  I secretly felt that the Aggies were doomed from the start, as they were all wearing shirts with the date on them.  This is bad luck, as we learned the hard way at the Ohio State game in Austin a few years back.  There were a variety of shirts, some of them were amusing.  One was very confusing:  on the back it said "Texas isn't big enough for the two of us."  Wait - what?  Is one of the schools LEAVING TEXAS?!  This is new and geographically disturbing news.  Despite Aggie confusion over the difference between a STATE and a CONFERENCE, overall we were in good company.  No fights broke out in our section, even after that glorious field goal soared through for the win.  As I stood in silent exhilaration, most Ags chose not to yell obscenities at me.  Though there was a lot of ....

... hissing.  What is that all about?!  When I asked on Aggie in my section what was up with the hissing, he went into this long explanation about how they were like rattlesnakes who were mad and hissed.  This was followed with "We don't boo, we hiss."  Hmm.  If this is the case, isn't hissing just the same as booing?  I don't understand.  I suppose normally when the Texas band exits the field, the Aggies hiss at them.  Of course, this year, after Texas played "Thanks For The Memories" while handing over the A&M Big XII flag, and A&M made a giant Bevo on the field and then proceeded to "saw it's 'Horns off", the Ags would have looked even jack-assier had they done so.  "That wasssssss a nice show."  Of course, hissing was abound after the game, mostly aimed at the ...

... referees have had a tough season in the Big XII.  Of course, the Ags are certain the refs had it out for them and rigged the game.  Now, I'll agree...there were some bad calls.  And I felt like there were bad calls on both sides of he ball.  I get it....I can feel the Aggie pain, But I also wasn't too upset about it.  The two Texas games prior to A&M were also riddled with bad calls, mostly on us.  So while I acknowledge it sucks, I don't feel to sad for them.  I also don't think that game (or the two prior I just mentioned) was decided by calls.  That rarely happens.  Unless you're Nebraska.  At least the Ags had something to grumble about as they left ...

... Kyle Field is an interesting stadium.  It has four entrances and four bathrooms.  The poorly designed tunnels have staircases that lead directly into concession stands.  Also, you have to enter and exit the stadium though what I refer to as the Aggie Rape Tunnel.  Once you exit the Aggie Rape Tunnel, you are immediately stopped by the police, as the Aggie Rape Tunnel exits directly into the only exit of the parking  garage.  Not logistically smart.  All I know is I didn't pee for about seven hours, because I didn't have eight hours to wait in line to pee.  Another strange thing about Kyle Field is that you can just go out on the field after the game.  In fact, sometimes to get to your seat, you are forced to walk on the field.  Very bizarre.  Regardless, as promised, the CATI crew met on the 50 for a celebratory picture.   What you may not know, is that after the picture, Debra, in an effort to take a little Kyle Field Magic home with her, squatted down to take a little grass from the field.  In doing this, she stopped immediately in the route of a kid who was playing catch with his dad.  I didn't see the actual tackle, but I turned around and Debra was sprawled out on the field on top of a little boy.  I immediately did a 360, looking for Chris Hansen.  When neither he or Sandusky were in sight, I turned back to the scene.  Debra had gotten herself up and was towering over said boy-holding-football.  When he just stared at her, she got crazy eyes and yelled "CHILD!" before boy-holding-football's father intervened and apologized. It was about 90 seconds of hilarity that can never be reproduced.

As you can see...a successful trip.  Too bad it wasn't the last game of the season....because I'm tired of losing to Baylor.  But of course, that's a different Adventure.