Monthly Archives: August 2018

Thursday, August 30, 2018 – Here We Go, Jimbo! Getting Prepared

Thursday, August 30, 2018 – Here We Go, Jimbo! Getting Prepared

Okay, Jimbo, as a Former Student, Class of 1985, and nearing age 70, I want to see some of that 75 million in action tonight. WHOOP!

 

I have been waiting for this since 1967. That is when I first wanted to go to Texas A&M University. As usual, I was slightly ahead of my time. My dear, departed Honeyboy told me that I could attend “any college in the state of Texas except that long, haired, hippie, Communist school in Austin.” I am pretty sure he was not referring to St. Edwards.

But through a long and winding path from the Piney Woods of East Texas at Stephen F. Austin, and the Davy Crockett Forests of Sam Houston State, I finally made it to Texas A&M University. Once you drink the Kool-Aid, your blood turns maroon.

Tonight opens the Jimbo Fisher era and as always there is hope and promise of championships on the minds of every Aggie. The Aggies are prepared and you should be prepared for watching the game on the SEC Network at 7:30. Here are my handy, dandy suggestions for watching Texas Aggie football. One must have the following readily at hand:

  • The four basic food groups – Sweet, salty, alcohol and chocolate – are within twelve steps of access.
  • All screens, including phone, are charged or plugged into recliner. I only have six this year; I sold the TV on the patio.
  • Ensure all apps are up to date: Twitter, ESPN, ESPN Watch and all the Aggie apps.
  • Musical little football that plays War Hymn is near.
  • Dammit Doll is close for slamming into recliner or throwing toward the television. Try not to scare the cat.
  • Windows and doors to patio are closed so neighbors do not hear you sound like the sailors on shore leave in a bar with dancing poles. Now you know why I do not have a TV on the patio.
  • Should not be a factor tonight, but I always ensure I have a paper bag near in case of hyperventilation and YouTube video for self CPR in the event I stop breathing. This is only necessary in close games.

Here is a note of local flavor when watching the game tonight. One of the quarterbacks for Northwestern is from Navasota, Texas. That is just down Highway 6 a piece from College Station. Shelton Eppler was all-state QB and took his high school team of Rattlers to state and won the championship. Watch for him. He is number five and will be on the ground under an Aggie linebacker. Seriously, I hope he plays well and makes Navasota proud.

BTHO Northwestern

Wednesday, August 29, 2018 – Time to Start Getting Ready! Be Cool!

Wednesday, August 29, 2018 – Let’s Get This Party Started! Be Cool!

What are you wearing to the Aggie game tomorrow? I will be wearing a maroon T-shirt and shorts and tennis shoes. I will be sitting in my air conditioned living room on my high tech recliner. To accessorize I will be holding a maroon and white Texas Aggie Coozie fitted with an amber glass bottle of liquid. I hope I have enough amber bottles to get through the Fourth Quarter.

The Aggies will take the field tomorrow evening at 7:30 against Northwestern State University. Temperature in Kyle Field should have fallen into the lower 90’s by kickoff. It is going to be hot. Hot and muggy. Welcome to August in Texas.

However, The Aggies will be cool thanks to Adidas and their technology. “Jerseys are body-mapped for a refined fit.” I am not sure what that means, but it sounds like the jersey fits perfectly on the player. Jerseys have these ribbed knit patterns that are engineered mesh panels. These mesh panels channel a feature something Adidas made up called Climacool. It provides breathability and cooling zones to the players. The inside of the jersey features silicon grip patterns on the shoulders to lock the jersey in place over the shoulder pads.

Climacool? Cooling zones? I wonder if that cooling feature comes in something my size?

As long as it comes in his size, keeps him cool and running away from defenders toward the goal line, I do not care about the high tech ribbed patterns.

Stay Cool! BTHO Northwestern

Trayveon Williams waving to ME!

 

 

Tuesday, August 28, 2018 – First Yell and Aggies We Will Yell For. (For whom we will yell?)

Tuesday, August 28, 2018 – First Yell and Aggies We Will Yell For. (For whom we will yell?)

It is the eve of the First Yell. That is meaningful to Texas A&M Aggies. Here is a partial translation for the uninformed others.

Texas A&M Midnight Yell is set for

10 P.M. Wednesday, August 29, 2018.

If the game is early (Thursday) then Midnight Yell is early at 10 P.M.

You read that correctly. The Midnight Yell will be at 10 P.M. I don’t care how much earlier it is, I’m not going. Ms. Navasota and I are still looking for our cowboy boots left somewhere in the mud in 1983 on the way to then called Midnight Yell Practice.

For the Northwestern fans and other uninformed, Midnight Yell is when as many as 30,000 people stand in Kyle Field usually at midnight (and usually drunk) and practice the yells for the coming game.

Here are two of the Texas Aggies we will be yelling for.

Signing my Fan Card at Fan Appreciation Day. Photo by me.

Starting quarterback Kellen Mond.a 6’2’/210 pounds from San Antonio, but high school is IMG Academy in Florida.

Trayveon Williams-a 5’9″/200 pounds; Running Back; from Houston, C.E. King High School.

Me: a 5’8″/not 200 pounds; Running Backwards; from Magnolia, Magnolia High School.

Trayveon Williams signing my Fan Card. Photo by the 15 year old I handed my phone to. To whom I handed my phone????

BTHO NORTHWESTERN!

Monday, August 27, 2018 – Me and Beto

Monday, August 27, 2018 – Me and Beto

Here is my picture collage from the Beto O’Rourke rally last Saturday at the VFW Hall in Navasota, Texas. The Texas Congressman from El Paso is challenging Ted Cruz for the Senate seat.

I love taking pictures of history happening. All photos by me.

Regardless of your political viewpoints, it was refreshing to hear an articulate, issue-focused, non-blaming individual speak and LISTEN to the issues facing Texas and the nation.

I was impressed by many things, including his charisma, his energy and even his worn brown desert boots. He is very unpretentious. However, I was most impressed when Beto took a long question in Spanish from an audience member. He then responded with an equally long answer in flawless Spanish. He then translated the question and his response in English. And if that ain’t enough, the man played guitar on stage with Willie Nelson at Nelson Fourth of July picnic.

Happy Monday. Here is a shout out to a faithful reader who had a scary happening this weekend. Thankfully all is well. However, Alabama Staple Head could be your new nickname.

Next week will be the first of My Monday After College Football Awards.

Sunday, August 26, 2018 – RIP John McCain – For Whom the Bell Tolls

Sunday, August 26, 2018 – RIP John McCain – For Whom the Bell Tolls

Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions

MEDITATION XVII.

By John Donne

NUNC LENTO SONITU DICUNT, MORIERIS.

Now this bell tolling softly for another,
says to me, Thou must die.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The full text of the meditation can be found here. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/meditation17.php

Friday, August 24, 2018 – The Snark Officially Arrives

Friday, August 24, 2018 – The Snark Officially Arrives

How many schools were mentioned in yesterday’s HWIT? While you are thinking, I shall Snark Onward through the Fog.

But let’s back up. Santino Marchiol – a redshirt freshman who transferred to Arizona in June claims Texas A&M mishandled his ankle injury, provided money for recruits on unofficial visits and ran summer workouts that exceeded the maximum time allowed. The NCAA is investigating.

Marchiol played his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It is a private boarding school for athletes to improve their abilities in various sports such as tennis, soccer, golf and lacrosse. It fielded its first American football (as opposed to soccer) team in 2013. Standard tuition for one year of boarding at IMG Academy is $68,500 plus a team sport competition and training gear fee that ranges from $3,750-$4,250 depending on the sport. A single semester costs $39,400.

Here’s what I’m thinking.

Dear Transfer Student Marchiol – AKA Whimp, Wuss and Lady Body part! Quit being an elitist whiney crybaby.

Just so you can transfer and play immediately without sitting out a year, you selfishly decided to try to throw your previous team under the bus. You took the money so that makes you complicit in your allegations.

Your claims include too long for practice sessions and films sessions exceeding the eight hours allowed a week by the NCAA. Did you have a stopwatch and were keeping time?

I do hope your transfer to Arizona is a better fit for you. I am glad you recognized that you are not tough enough to play for the Aggies or any school in the SEC. I really don’t think you could succeed at any school in the Big 12, ACC or a 6A high school team in Texas, Alabama or Georgia.

The Aggies have experienced teams under Kevin Sumlin. Even old ladies like me could have played linebacker better than some of Sumlin’s defenses. Good luck, especially in the fourth quarter. You may think it is hot in Florida or Texas, but you ain’t seen nothing like the heat of Arizona.

It seems to me that it is you versus the entire Aggie Nation. We shall see what you bring. However, those do not seem like good odds to me. Anyway, I hope you like Drake played during practices.

Sincerely,

The Snark

This weekend marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Harvey.

PS – Ten schools were mentioned. Texas A&M, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, THE University of Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State.

 

 

Thursday, August 23, 2018 – One Week and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – College Football Begins

Thursday, August 23, 2018 – One Week and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – College Football Begins

Follow the bouncing football and sing along to my version of It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Click on the arrow for the instrumental.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year;

The Aggies are Gigging,

The Cowbells are ringing,

The Tigers are here!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s the hap, happiest season of all;

The Hogs are a rooting,

The Gamecocks are roosting,

The Gators are tall,

It’s the hap, happiest season of all.

They’ll be tailgates for hosting

With brags and such boastings

From bowl games from long, long ago.

There’ll be Nick Saban stories

Of tales of past glories

With Championship Rings just for show.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

The Horns are a Hooking,

The Bears are a looking,

The Cowboys are feared,

It’s the most wonderful time …

It’s the most wonderful time …

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018 To: The Person or Persons that wrote on the statue.

To: The Person or Persons that wrote on the statue.

From: Me, Texas A&M, Class of 85

Re: Here’s What I’m Thinking about it

Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2018

  • How dare you vandals desecrate ANY statue, building or structure by writing or painting graffiti?
  • How dare you write racist graffiti on the statue of Sul Ross on the Texas A&M campus?

    Lay those pennies and Lawrence Sullivan”s feet for strength and good luck.

  • If the person(s) who did this are indeed Current Students, you should leave now. There is a reason the Aggies say “Highway 6 runs both ways.” Just saying, but I would leave before the Corps of Cadets gets your names. As the saying goes they will be “kicking ass and taking names.”
  • The person(s) are obviously under-educated and overly brainless. Had you gone to orientation, you would know the history of Sul Ross and Texas A&M University. The Sully statue is the oldest on campus and has been a fixture in front of Texas A&M’s Academic Building since its 1918. It stands for Sul Ross’ contribution to higher education, not for his Confederate military service.
  • Last year when Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said the statue would remain on campus, he also said, “Lawrence Sullivan ‘Sul’ Ross is honored on our campus as a former president of the school. Without Sul Ross, neither Texas A&M University nor Prairie View A&M University would likely exist today. He saved our school and Prairie View through his consistent advocacy in the face of those who persistently wanted to close us down.”
  • Disrespect and stupidity runs rampant among the classless.

Monday, August 20, 2018 – Remembering

Monday, August 20, 2018 – Remembering

I thought this might cool us off a bit. My neighborhood last winter.

Friday, August 17, 2018 – Snarky Friday

Friday, August 17, 2018 – Snarky Friday

Come along and be my party school; Come along and be my party school; come along and be my party school and I’ll flunk out with you.

Twelve thousand (12,000) Aggies move in this weekend. That is the estimated amount moving in to live on campus. This does not include off campus residents. Classes begin on August 27. I do not know why the first day of classes is not August 30. Might as well add to the total transportation and confusion on campus with Reveille VIII’s internment, freshman ticket pull, the SEC trucks setting up, tailgating and the season opener for the football team.

Snarking onward through the fog…

See where your alma mater or your school of support lays on this grid of Academics and Partying. I am confident the research done by Barstool Sports is accurate, reliable, and valid. I can speak from experience that research conducted in bars becomes louder and less reliable as the tequila shots become more abundant.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/barstoolu/an-advanced-analytical-look-at-the-academics-partying-college-chart-going-viral/

 

Here are my interpretations. I see most of the SEC conference in the Most Party/Least Academic quadrant, including Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Of course the Texas Aggies are Most Party/High Academic. Remember that an often forgotten attribute of why the SEC wanted the Aggies was – to raise the GPA of the SEC. Georgia in the same quadrant as the Aggies? Really? You host the Largest Cocktail Party when you play Florida!

From the Big 12 I see Texas Tech as Most Party/Least Academic. Of course if I had to live in Lubbock I would have to party 24/7. I see Baylor as Most Academic/Least Party. The surveyors obviously did not interview members of my family regarding the party aspect. Oklahoma State appears to be Most Party and Low academics. Again, if I had to live in Stillwater, I would do the same as if I lived in Lubbock. THE University of Texas at Austin in the High Party/High Academic. TU, just because you are in the same quadrant as Stanford, you cannot compete with them academically. Smart people versus super smart people.

I see BYU as the Least Party/Most Academic. Those Mormons don’t even drink Dr. Peppers! The Most Party/Least Academic “honor” goes to The University of West Virginia – Moonshine University where they burn sofas and couches when the football team wins.

I hope you can find you school of support. It appears many lie bunched around or on the axis.

It is indeed time for colleges and universities to move in and start to party. As the adage says “College is a fountain of knowledge where kids go to drink.” But don’t drink and drive.