"How Texas A&M became our home away from home"

By LINK ]Chadd Scott - click to read entire article

I often compare my experiences as an outsider attending school at Auburn to my experiences as a fan traveling to Texas A&M. In both instances, I was overwhelmed by the welcome, the hospitality, the genuine friendliness. After sharing on Twitter that we’d be attending the game, Kristi and I were invited to a handful of tailgates, each promising to provide more smoky, porky goodness and alcohol than the last.

There may be tailgating as good as that in College Station elsewhere in college football, but there is none better. Brisket, ribs, barbecued chicken wings -– a true delicacy even for a non-wing guy like myself -– meats and sides and sweets fitting every description, all washed down by Shiner Bock. All Shiner beer is brewed in the nearby town of Shiner and if I could pick any beer to drink outside at a tailgate under an unrelenting Texas sun, it would be Shiner Bock.



Before this trip, I was a big stay-at-home-and-watch-every-game-on-TV college football consumer. I’d lock in from noon to midnight, feeling it was my responsibility as a college football commentator to watch and understand everything that happened each Saturday across the nation.

College Station cured me of this habit. It took Texas A&M and Aggies fans to remind me college football is an experience, not a TV show. College football is an event and a spectacle best appreciated in-person, on-campus with all your senses. College football must be eaten, drunk, smelled and heard to be savored, and that can’t be done from home no matter how large your screen might be.