By the power of greed — and other trends that overall are concerning for college sports but I am choosing to ignore — the Lone Star Showdown is back in 2024.
The anticipation is already killing me and every other Aggie. I’m ready for the drama. I’m ready for the smack talk. I’m ready for ticket pull and all of the Barstool posts that are going to come out of the quest to acquire the one ticket more difficult to obtain than a seat at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
But more than anything else, I’m ready for something other than Twitter to be the main arena of the rivalry.
I’ve grown up in College Station in an environment where the biggest UT-A&M conflicts were the Twitter crusades of fan pages, podcasters and keyboard warriors like TexAgs’ Billy Liucci valiantly fighting against the forces of the burnt orange brigade.
Years of witnessing these online arguments led me to notice one thing that I cannot stand: People trying to convince themselves that Texas A&M has historically been the superior athletic power.
Every argument leads to a Longhorn bringing up historical stats that prove Texas’ superiority in a certain area. And instead of accepting that and moving on, Aggies let it drive them crazy.
And that’s why I’m calling on A&M fans to do the unthinkable: Embrace the role of “little brother.”
I’m not saying that we should quit the petty arguments — quite the opposite. Embracing the little brother role is just something that will tick off the burnt orange faithful even more. To say A&M is historically the better athletic power is absurd, and it just makes it easier for Longhorns to laugh off whatever digs Aggies make.
Don’t come crying to me about how the football series is almost even since World War II, or when A&M finally became co-educational, or any other year that fits a narrative. Even I was alive for Vince Young’s 4th-and-5 in the Rose Bowl. If you were alive for the days of Homer Norton’s tenure as skipper of the Aggies and their 1939 national championship, feel free to ignore the contents of this column.
Let’s use baseball to demonstrate this strategy. The University of Texas has an incredible historical pedigree in that area. They also ended their season by dropping an easy pop fly in their Super Regional against Stanford.
Aggie Twitter had a field day, as one would expect, which quickly prompted Longhorns to bring up their historical record in Omaha, and the same old tired arguments quickly ensued.
I’m asking Aggies everywhere to be annoying. When there’s a fact or statistic that shows Texas’ superiority, accept it and move on. Don’t go scrolling through Wikipedia or Winsipedia looking for the factoid that’s definitely going to convince “AggyTears71” that they’re wrong. Rather, respond with a joke about Silicon Valley-based Stanford having a pop-up blocker, for example (full credit to Good Bull Hunting’s Robert Behrens for that quip).
And when A&M does win? Flex it to no end. No matter the sport. Because there’s nothing more infuriating than a younger sibling being better than you at something.
So go forth and be annoying, Aggies. Be free from the chains of historical statistics and drive every Longhorn up the wall. We’ve still got a year until the battle returns to Kyle Field, and the war of words isn’t over yet.