When Dr. Tone Capone notified me of a free ticket and a spot to crash, the early October trip to Kyle Field in College Station was decided. And why not, the Arkansas Razorbacks were travelling south to play Texas A&M, I was curious about all the fuss, all the yells, and all the 12th Man lore. Truth is, I'm an orangeblood from way back, my pops played for Darryl Royal from '60-'62, he was a big dude, strong and mean. Mocked Aggies, hated Sooners, ignored Red Raiders, and didn't trust Razorbacks. He was never really into any of it, mostly jokes, stories, old buddies, and offensive line insights; he was always watching the big fellas.
I never liked the Aggies much for those reasons and others, they seemed incompetent, smug, gullible, and loud, a horrible mix of traits. Sorta stuck up almost, somewhere between pride and buffoonery with a military twist, but somehow, still likeable. Respect the consistency, I suppose, don't want them as enemies, don't want any enemies. Just wanna be entertained, just observing.
Early in the college football season and both these teams are 2-2, on must-win alert, on panic button, on thin ice. The Aggie head coach gets a million dollars per game, he doesn't seem worried. The other head coach just got to town this season and the Hog fans are wearing paper bags over their heads and boycotting games. A two touchdown underdog, their only losses are against highly ranked teams, the Aggies lost to Kentucky. I've done exhausting, extensive research, Hogs got the better QB, take the points.
