How Aggie Football Ruined My Life

While I was in school at dear old A&M I had what you might call occasional "grade abnormalities". We were just so darn good during that period I couldn't help but watch every game. I guess if there was any upside to what happened to Aggie Football from 1996 to 2009 it was that it allowed me to concentrate on my work at least a little. Yeah, there was the 1998 season in there, but I was living in Wisconsin so I missed it. That's Big 10 country and there's not a lot of Aggie football on TV up there.

But now... Now I'm screwed. I can't concentrate on work and now is not the time for me to take a breather. Not only are the Ags in the pre-season top ten for the first time since 1999, there's also all the drama about leaving for the SEC. In case you aren't completely obsessed with the Big 12 and college football in general here's a quick rundown.

- t.u. struck a deal with ESPN for $300 Million over 20 years for the Longhorn Network.

- t.u. told the conference that they were only going to put one t.u. game on the network each year

- ESPN announced that they were going to air high school football games of recruits that t.u. was targeting.

- everyone got mad and rumors started circulating that we were headed to the SEC

- t.u. said "we didn't know about the high school games" and "we want what's best for the conference" and "ESPN controls all the programming stuff"

- through a Freedom of Information Act request, the contract with ESPN has been made public.

- the contract makes it clear that t.u. always intended to air high school games, always intended to air more than one football game, and has been making plans to be an independent (ala Notre Dame)

- moreover, t.u. has editorial rights over ESPN and ESPN must place them in a positive light.

Drama, drama, drama...

Mostly it just looks like t.u. is out for themselves and can't be trusted. As Gomer Pyle used to say "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise..."

Well, now it appears that the SEC and A&M have been in talks for a few weeks and the scuttlebutt in SEC country is that we're headed that way. Fans from all the Confederate states are talking about it. They seem generally pleased about the development.

No one seems to know what will happen to the A&M / t.u. rivalry if we leave. I imagine all of the other rivalries are dead (Baylor, Tech, OU). t.u. may declare that if we leave the conference we can no longer play t.u. in football. Hard to imagine, but so is a downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt. No one is sure what will happen.

Personally I like the idea of playing Alabama, Auburn, Ol' Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. I think it sounds like a lot of fun.

Anyway, I thought an update was in order so I could get back to work.

The players reported to Fall camp yesterday. They start practicing tonight. It's almost here. 26 Days 'til Aggie Football, Baby!

Gig 'em,

Chuck