re: I've got battered wife syndrome.

It can and will happen again.

I remember as a kid when we moved back to Texas to stay and my Dad bought season tickets in '83 (he has only missed 1 home game since btw) and we started going to games. That year we had a team that had some young talent but a lot of holes. They played with fire and Kevin Murray won SWC Offensive Newcomer of the year. Then I went to my first Texas game and they came in undefeated and ranked #2. I remember A&M going out to a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter but then Texas simply out talenting us the rest of the game and we lost 45-13. It just felt like A&M had a lot of spirit but we just weren't ever going to be on that level. We hadn't won a SWC Championship since '67, before I was born. The next year we were hopeful but Murray went down in the 3rd game with a broken ankle and we were 5-5 going into the Texas game in Austin. Then we shocked the world and beat them like a drum 37-12 highlighted by a block field goal that was almost run back for a score. Still, we were a 6-5 team and didn't know if it was a fluke.

Then came 1985 and everything changed. We started off a bit slow but optimistic at 4-2 with a loss on the road at Bama and a loss at Baylor (which was still a very good team back then). Then we won a tight one with SMU at Kyle followed by another tight one with Arkansas around pastings of Rice and TCU. Low and behold we were tied with Texas and they were coming back to Kyle for all the marbles. It was Thanksgiving Night, Jackie's birthday, and whomever won got the SWC Title and a trip to the Cotton Bowl which was a huge deal. Realize they still had a parade back then and the Cotton Bowl was the largest event in D/FW on an annual basis ahead of the RRS and Cowboys games.

I remember walking in to the stadium with my Dad, I was 14 at the time. He bought me a "Thinkin' Cotton" sweatshirt on our way in as it was a cold night. The electricity that was there was still something I have never experienced to this day. There was so much angst and anxiety and excitement all at once. Could this really be happening? Could we actually not only beat Texas but go to the Cotton Bowl? The game was insanely loud from start to finish and after a slow start we crushed the sips 42-10. The highlight and still one of the greatest moments in Kyle Field history imo when Stafford famously pouted until the crowd would quiet only to have it explode at the snap and to watch him go down for a huge sack. It was pandemonium after that. Cotton started flying everywhere like snow. The stadium was physically moving beneath our feet and I was on the former student side. We BELIEVED from then on and when we played Bo Jackson and Auburn in the Cotton Bowl there was no doubt we would beat them no matter what the analysts said. Then we came in and crushed them 36-16 and famously stuffed Bo on 4 straight downs at the goal line. Then the streak continued on.

I want so badly for that feeling again. The feeling of KNOWING we were going to crush other teams. The feeling that WE ARE TEXAS A&M and to hell with the rest of you, we are going to kick your arse, hide the women and children and whatever you do don't piss off Jackie because he will run it up on you. Jim Wacker was stupid enough to try to down talk Jackie and he put up 53-6 on them in Fort Worth and went for an onside kick after the last TD. Then he 74-10 hung on them the next year at Kyle. That is who we are guys and we shouldn't settle for less. Our rightful place is at the top, we just need to believe in it and not accept mediocrity. It won't all happen overnight but if we believe and invest it will happen and sooner than you young Aggies can imagine.

If it makes you feel better I can say without question the satisfaction of winning in '85 was by far the sweetest of them all, and we only lost 1 game at Kyle and won the SWC twice when I was in school. It was sweet because we had struggled so long to get there and no one believed in us but ourselves. That feeling is coming once again. I don't know if it will be this year or next, but it is coming. Believe Ags. It's fine to realize our shortcomings and where we need to improve but never let someone get in your head that being an Aggie is anything but being the best.