It should be common knowledge to anyone who reads APCB with middling frequency (which is about the only kind anyone does read this blog with anymore) that I attended the University of Texas. What might be less well-known is that The Wife went to that Other school, Texas A&M, which never fails to make Thanksgiving weekend an interesting affair at the Vonder Haar compound.
Of late, things have been pretty good for my side. It doesn't matter that Texas is 73-35-5 all time against the Aggies, as with all rivalries, records and rakings go out the window on game day (just ask USC this year), just like it didn't matter that the Longhorns were masters of their own destiny in the Big 12 at kickoff. By the time the final whistle had blown, A&M had won 12-7.
Disappointing? Perhaps, but the Aggies have been suffering since 1999. That was the year, you may recall, that the bonfire fell, killing 12 students. I maintained then, and still do to this day, that the '72 Dolphins wouldn't have had it in them that day to beat A&M, much less the (at the time) #5 ranked Longhorns. Hence, our second most recent loss.
So rather than concentrate on Texas' lack of motivation following the loss to Kansas State, or the disquieting feeling that Colt McCoy might be more Peter Gardere than Bobby Layne, I prefer to think that this year's loss was yet another in a fine tradition of granting pity wins to the Aggies. Sure, you can choose to believe that Fran will stick around to see out his contract, and Jorvorskie Lane won't drop dead of a heart attack in five years, and the Aggies won a game that meant an equal amount to each team. Whatever. Just enjoy it, because it'll be back to business as usual next year.
But wow did McCoy look bad.
Bull shit. The '72 Dolphins wouldn't have had any qualms with crushing the Aggies, post-bon fire. Those guys would have strangled an infant with a lamp cord to go undefeated.