Aggie Land

Last week we were feeling lonely for the friendly confines of Lane Stadium and the color maroon, so we bought cheap tickets to the Texas A&M opening game. So Saturday we watched the first half of the Hokie opener on the computer (not half as good as TV, no comparison to being there) and hopped in our car driving into East Texas. East Texas might as well be its own state, as it differs GREATLY from the Waco area... but most anyplace is better than Waco... But the drive down route 6 was pleasant through great countryside. College Station is actually an hour and a half away, further than earlier reports had indicated (people must drive FAST here... New Jersey drivers are slow in comparison). We parked on the edge of campus and took off in search of the bookstore and Will Call. What we entered was very familiar, meaning that Texas A&M is Virginia Tech on a Texas scale, so VERY BIG. Seeing hordes of maroon clad folks was comforting, as well as walking through a large, imposing campus. The campus felt "right", unlike Baylor's tiny excuse for grand campus planning. Except for the immensity of the place and omission of mountains, we really could have been on Blacksburg on Game Day. The bookstore was conveniently placed adjacent to Kyle Field, which is one IMPRESSIVE structure. We bought Aggie shirts to fit in, and waited to enter the stadium as the corps of cadets marched by. Finding ourselves in the north endzone, we had a view of the field similar to the Marching Virginians in Lane, except the Video Board was gigantic behind us (it was new). The north endzone reminded us of Lane Stadium's new South Endzone, just bigger. The East and West stands mirrored each other with several large decks. We decided that if the fans got into it, this place could really rock (close to 80,000 people showed up for the game against I-AA Citadel). At this point we were really excited and felt normal, until the fans started acting strange. A&M has no cheerleaders, just five male "yell-leaders" who have the power through weird hand movements to incite mass student choreographed responses. The responses were amazing, seeing 40,000 people move in unison, but seemed odd to us. Further, when some Aggie song is played, EVERYONE in the stadium locks arms and sways. We did it to fit in, but felt too much like UVA students. Overall we felt that the stadium was impressive, but not as intimidating as Lane Stadium. Texas Aggie fans were simply not drunk for one thing, the smell of bourbon was not in the air, which of course resulted from poor tailgating. We encountered little tailgating near the stadium, which results in poor cheering. Except that the A&M fans were not drunk so they could better study the game and respond to yell-leaders orders... Thus, the fans do not get loud unless told to. Virginia Tech fans like to get into opponents heads, A&M fans simply hold to traditional movements. However, overall the atmosphere was great and felt like REAL football, especially in connection to Baylor... The Texas A&M football team seemed poorly coached as they had many turnovers and bad execution all game keeping the score surprisingly close. They should not have fired R.C. Slocum. We left after the third quarter when everyone started swaying again, plus we had a late night drive through dark roads to Waco. On the way to the car we were passing the "century oak" where Aggie couples traditionally went to propose. An older man walked by and stated bluntly if we were going to the oak to become engaged... which brings up interesting questions such as, why would anyone ruin a nervous man's proposal? We are already married, thank you. On the way out of town we discovered a Jimmy-Johns and a Kroger... College Station = Blacksburg. So far, Waco = Lynchburg.