Battle of the Aggies

Back in April I found out Texas A&M would be playing Utah State University in football. I have degrees from both schools. When people asked why I was going to A&M, I told them it was a conservation of mascots. While I attended many USU football games during my undergrad years, I was too poor, uninterested, and "skim" (less than 2%) when it came to Texas A&M and it's traditions. However, a battle of the Aggies... I couldn't resist. Plus, knowing some about previous playing abilities and team histories, I thought they'd be fairly evenly matched and it would be a grand game to attend. A star of a friend in College Station was able to swing two tickets and I looked forward to the weekend with more excitement than I usually deem proper for a football game.

The first order of business was the design and creation of a shirt. I decided to go half Aggie blue, half A&M maroon. However, there were no fabric paints that matched my desired colors so I opted for the acrylics and got a textile paint medium to mix with them. The picture below shows just how well the medium worked. The shirt was stiff as could be and could stand up on it's own power. Not only was it stiff, it no longer retained the lovely and necessary stretch cotton fabric has. I tried it on in this state and I couldn't move and rather felt I was wearing a suit of armor.
After washing it in the sink with a mixture of more paint medium and fabric softener, the shirt was run through the wash and put in the dryer with multiple dryer sheets. It came out much softer, and looking very warn and faded, but, at least it was more wearable than before. I used a fabric pen for my lettering and was ready for the game. I realized when I got home that I didn't take a picture of me in the shirt, so the floor shot will have to suffice for now. (I only wrote on the back of the shirt.)

I got up to College Station Friday afternoon and enjoyed seeing old friends. That night I was able to attend midnight yell, or yell practice, an Aggie tradition. Kind of silly, really. At midnight before a home game, any who are interested go to Kyle Field and go through the yells and listen to the yell leaders bash the opposing team. I was quite curious to see what would be said about USU, especially since my grad orientation warned us about going to midnight yell if our undergrad school was the opposing team. I found it harmless. (I would, however, be curious to see what happens at yell practice for the A&M v. UT game.) The game was Saturday and it was pretty spectacular, especially when USU scored the first touchdown. It was quite exciting. It was nerve-racking at times, and although USU lost 30-38, I thought both teams were well matched and I really enjoyed myself. Leaving the game, I ran into a kid with a USU shirt and we got to talking and realized we had been in the same church congregation as freshman at USU. Small world!

Here are some pictures from the game. I was in the student section, on the second deck, near the 20 yard line on the south of the stadium. I was close enough to recognize the white-haired mullet USU coach on the sideline that was coaching while I was at USU.

Half time and the marching band was quite impressive. I'd heard them practicing before in the wee hours of the morning, but had never seen them march. It was really cool to watch. It's a huge band, and they're all cadets and in uniform. They do this counter-step march where half the band is going one way and the other half are going the other and they look like they are falling on top of each other. Pretty spectacular. The picture doesn't do it justice.

To finish, they marched off the field in a "T" formation.

I was amazed at all the traditions and yells and actions and vocalizations that occur during a game. It would take a bit to learn it all. It was a wonderful weekend and I didn't want it to end.