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Friday November 20th, 2009
10:34pmAg Football Preview: Lowly Baylor
See Ya Next YearThis was supposed to be the year. Baylor was supposed to break loose and become the most hyped 6 win team in the history of college football. They beat Wake Forest on the road to start the season but then lost to UConn at home before throttling Northwestern State (who?) at home.
That game against NWS was the beginning of the end and their savior, QB Robert Griffin, tore his ACL and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. They were able to muster a victory over Kent State before starting Big 12 play and per their normal fate they have stunk it up. They shocked the conference when they somehow beat Mizzou in Columbia two weekends ago but the rest of the Big 12 has been unkind to the Bears (they are 1-5 in Big 12 play).
BU O TAMU D ========== ========== 102.1 (106) RUSH 164.8 (85) 245.5 (37) PASS 263.4 (112) 347.6 (81) TOT 428.2 (104) 23.3 (90) SCOR 34.0 (108)Other than their 40 point output in Columbia, the Bears have yet to score more than twice in a Big 12 game. Losing Griffin was a crushing blow to Coach Briles. Nick Florence has had to step in and has thrown for 1609 yards on 144-of-235 passing (61.3%) with 6 TDs to 7 INTs. His top targets are Kendall Wright (57 receptions/654 yds/4 TDs) and David Gettis (44/576/3).
The run game, is terrible, but it lets everyone participate. Six players have more than 20 carries but Jay Finely (53 carries/274 yds/5.2 ypc/1 TD), Jarred Salubi (45/260/5.8/2), and Terrance Ganaway (61/174/2.9/5) lead the team....but watch out for Kendall Wright on the reverse (he has 24 carries for 123 yards and a TD).
TAMU O BU D ========== ========== 172.0 (42) RUSH 167.0 (89) 280.4 (17) PASS 230.0 (75) 452.4 (8) TOT 397.0 (86) 33.0 (20) SCOR 26.9 (79)This is a defense that we should be able to put big yards up on. They are led by LBer Joe Pawelek and S Jordan Lake. Beyond them there isn't much to talk about.
This is a game that we should win going away but I still go into it with some reservation because we have laid some big eggs. This is also, in my opinion, a game that Sherman HAS to win. We got waxed in Waco last season and a revenge victory would be nice. The Bears haven't won in Kyle Field since 1984 and this win would put us in a bowl game. I don't even care which bowl game, I just want to go to a bowl so we can have an extra month of practice and we can see some improvement from 2008. If we lose to Baylor, we aren't improving.
BTHO BU! WHOOP!
Thursday November 19th, 2009
9:59pmAg Football Recap: Ags Go Backwards, OU Romps, 65-10
Owen Field at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial StadiumMichael and I showed up at Owen Field at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday night but we were disappointed that the football team didn't.
I really thought we were past embarrassments like this. We saw it against KSU but then turned around and shocked texas tech and soundly beat ISU and it made us all think that KSU was a fluke. Then it struck again. This 55 point loss was largest margin of victory against us since that 2003 OU game. I want to stop getting embarrassed.
This was my view for most of the evening as my head was in my hands.
Heading up to Norman I had checked the weather and each of the three days leading up to the game Weather.com gave me a different high temp ranging from 74, to 66, to 54. It was really, really cold. Michael's iPhone said it was 54 but that was the coldest 54 I've ever experienced. We even stopped by Academy and I picked up a pair of gloves and a set of thermals....and I was still shivering.
It wasn't my first time in Norman, but we had just stopped for dinner before (when Sean and I were driving to Lincoln). Let me just tell you this....every year I always hear fans complain, "How can A&M compete for recruits when the kids go visit Austin and Baton Rouge....College Station can't compare." They haven't been to Norman. Clearly, winning brings recruits.
The first thing we did was grab a bite to eat. At first we tried to go eat at The Diner but they close at 2pm (yeah, even on game day) and we showed up just right at 2pm. From there we set out in search of The Mont, which was really good....we sat outside so it was cold....but good. From there we went to Academy and then back towards the stadium to find a place to park.
Oklahoma's Heisman ParkThe only thing I had on my list of things to see was Oklahoma's Heisman Park. There are very few schools that could have a park filled with larger than life Heisman winners. And Sam Bradford wasn't even out there yet.
We wandered into the stadium to find our seats at the tippy, tippy top of the endzone. There was one row above us.
Overall, this game is winnable but we're going to have to stop the run on defense and get it going on offense and not turn the ball over. We can't afford to give up scoring opportunities against a defense that is so stout.
- Me in my OU Preview
The game started off pretty badly with Christine Michaels fumbling on our second or third snap (although it became clear in the days following that C-Mike's face mask was grabbed without a flag. The fumble was returned for a TD and before we even got settled in our bleacher seat we're down 7-0. We got down 14-0 before battling back to 14-10. I really thought, hey this team is responding....haha. Before we knew it the score was 28-10 then 35-10 then 42-10....and thankfully the half came and the Fightin' Texas Aggie band got to take the field.
OU's defense swallowed us up. Our only TD drive came on an interception that we returned inside the 10. Their DL manhandled our OL and Jerrod was running for his life.
The offense was bad enough that we punted NINE times but for an average of only 33.3 ypp with a LONG of 40 yards. Eww.
On defense we got smoked. We gave up 640 yards. Landry Jones had a career day throwing for 392 yards and 5 TDs and DeMarco Murray lit us up rushing for 80 yards and a TD while receiving another 143 yards and 2 more TDs. 3rd string RB, Jermie Calhoun, led the team with 94 yards rushing.
I don't think that the team quit....just watch Trent Hunter flying down the field trying to catch DeMarco Murray on a breakaway in the 3rd Q. We just completely unravel when things start going bad.
And why the heck aren't we throwing the ball to EZ? The guy has 5 catches in our last three games....after averaging 3.6 receptions in each previous game.
We also got to see Ryan Tannehill under center for his first real drive of the season late in the 4th quarter. He moved the ball down the field on 3-of-7 passing for 56 yards but once we got into a 1st & 10 at the 11 yard line.....well, we ended up missing a FORTY EIGHT yard FG on that drive.
As if the game itself wasn't bad enough we got a visit during the fourth quarter. The OU band marched themselves up the steps....all the way to row 82 and hung out for a while playing that most annoying song ever...."Boomer Sooner". Over. And over. And over again. The view of my boots was more enjoyable than that.
After the game we headed back to the car and decided, that since we didn't have hotel, that we'd start the drive back towards Texas and just stop when we got tired. We didn't get very far....but we cut the Sunday drive down by about 40 minutes.
Had a great time but I do wish the football team would stop crushing me.
In Remembrance
November 18, 1999
2:42 amEarly morning on November 18th marks the the date that Texas A&M suffered it's most tragic event. Ten years ago the Bonfire stack collapsed with approximately 70 students on it and with many more inside the perimeter of the Bonfire area. Twelve students lost their lives that night or in the following days due to injuries sustained.
I cannot believe it has been 10 years. The students who lost their lives should be approaching or in their thirties now.
I was a senior in high school that fall, and I had A&M on my short list but that event and the outpouring that followed it sealed the deal. Texas A&M was the school that I wanted to be a part of...or more so, I wanted to be a part of me.
It not only changed the lives of those directly involved but it changed the course of my life. There was no other option - if I didn't get into A&M....well, I didn't let that happen.
The following fall I was very upset that there was to be no Bonfire, but I kept hope that the following year I would be able to experience, what I believe to be, Texas A&M's finest and most important tradition.
I remember going out to the Polo Grounds in the freezing rain at 2:00am with all of my friends to participate in the Memorial Ceremonies. I remember seeing Reveille VI being carried by her handler out to the location of the tragic event because all of the grass had been worn away to mud after thousands of students had walked over it in the rain on their way to remember the fallen Aggies of a year ago.
This was one of my first experiences with the true Aggie family. I remember people embracing others, comforting strangers who could not keep all of the emotions inside of them. I say stranger, but there were no strangers....everyone out there that night was part of a 44,000 person family in mourning.
People shared umbrellas as the rain kept coming down, which was very fitting in describing the mood and feelings that went through the crowd. I remember that I could not see what was actually going on with the actual ceremony because there were too many people in front of me and I was so far back. I remember people passing flames from candle to candle....thousands of little lights across the Polo Grounds. I remember hearing the beginning of "Amazing Grace" being hummed softly, and hearing it grow louder and louder....and I remember not being able to control my emotions any more and hugging the person next to me.
That night, I learned what it meant to be an Aggie, and I knew then and there that I had missed something very special. I know that if there was a Bonfire stack being built, I would have been on it in a heartbeat.
I was not given the opportunity to participate in Bonfire the following year, and I don't think any future Ag will with the consent of the school. Since I arrived here on campus in the Fall of 2000, I have seen the true spirit of this great University slip away year-by-year, as the unity brought to our campus by Bonfire slips further and further away with each graduating class. Even though I never saw Bonfire burn, and never took part in building it, I will always remember that night out in the cold rain my freshman year.
This year there will be many news stories and newspaper articles debating as to whether or not Bonfire should be brought back to campus. I just ask that you take this time to set all of that aside and keep the twelve fallen Aggies in your thoughts today and do not ever forget about them or their love for their school....
- Christopher David Breen '96
- Jeremy Richard Frampton '99
- Jamie Lynn Hand '03
- Christopher Lee Heard '03
- Lucas John Kimmel '03
- Bryan Allen McClain '02
- Chad Anthony Powell '03
- Jerry Don Self '01
- Nathan Scott West '02
- Michael Stephen Ebanks '03
- Miranda Denise Adams '02
- Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr. '03
If you do want something to read, go out and pick up a copy of this month's Texas Monthly. It has an article on Bonfire told by those who built it, loved it, and were there when it fell. I read it on the way home from the Colorado game and it brought tears to my eyes thousands of feet in the air.
The Bonfire Memorial has been erected and was dedicated in 2004. During the dedication Chip Theil, who was injured in the collapse, gave a speech that brought tears to the eyes of even those who had never experienced Bonfire.
Five years ago I stood on top of the world perched atop 4th stack with 3 dear friends of mine watching Aggies build what is one of our greatest traditions. Suddenly, in some unforeseeable twist of fate, my life changed, the life of every Aggie that came before and after me changed. Texas A&M changed.As a natural result Texas A&M has to adapt to a life without bonfire on campus. As we celebrate the memories of 12 Aggies whose lives were cut short as they willingly participated in this university's greatest tradition, I would like to reflect on the contagious spirit of a tradition left behind.
My favorite time of year comes in the fall, when the northern air arrives to push the humidity down to a reasonable level, to turn leaves brown, and to remind me and Ags everywhere that it is bonfire weather.
Many current students do not know the meaning bonfire weather and many former students have let the memory fade. Bonfire weather is the time of year when Aggies unselfishly sacrifice time, grades, and everything in between to cut, load, transport, unload, and stack a forest full of trees to create the largest bonfire in the world.
It was bigger than necessary and defied reason and possibility, but we would not have it any other way. While it would have been more efficient to use modern technologies and equipment, we chose to do it as it was done for 90 years; with sweat, blisters, grunts, groans, teamwork, axes, machetes, ropes, chains, wire, over-sized nails, pliers, steel toed boots, carhartt jackets, generous donations, left handed sky hooks, FFE semis, muddy pick-ups, muffler less tractors, scarecrows, and perimeter pole fires.
Then just before the fightin Texas Aggie football team squared off against the ladies from Austin, we burned it in an arrogantly flamboyant ceremony that said, "We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we." While 10s of 1000's gathered annually to witness the big fire, the cadets, non-regs, O.C. hogs, brownpots, yellowpots, butt-pots, crew chiefs, centerpolepots, pink pots, redpots, bonfire buddies, blacks, women, asians, men, whites, latinos, and randoms who had invested 1000's of hours of sweat equity in that stack of wood knew that the only reason we burned it was to clear the Polo Fields so that we could do it all over again next year.
I would now like to take you back to a day prior to Nov 18, 1999 to enjoy what many Ags enjoyed...a common day at bonfire. Not to diminish the memories of the fallen, but to burn into your memory why they were here that night. If you would like, go ahead and close your eyes and take a nostalgic journey back to the good ol days.
As you make your way to the polo fields, first you hear it. It's dark outside and you are walking across a sleeping and studying campus. Steel toe boots clunking along the sidewalk. A chain jingles at your side that is taped to your pliers. Your pot rattles a little. The first sounds from the field emerge as the buzz of chainsaws, tractor engines, and then some faint music. A nearly worn out Jerry Jeff tape moans out "desperadoes waiting for a train..." Then you can hear the shouts and your pace quickens. "1-2 halfway up, I need a log right here, gimmie some wire, I want my chain back, headache!, I need a heave." all mixed with the proper expletives.
Then you can see it. A home made flag waves atop an oppressive hulk of a structure lit by old beat up gas lights atop leaning perimeter poles. A chill of Aggie pride runs down your spine. A mass of people are there; some working, some watching. A huge crane lifts another log and swings it gently into place.
Then you can smell it. Smoke from perimeter fires, mud or dust depending on the year, chainsaw mix, cigar smoke, stale coffee, non-reg's grodes, sawdust and fresh cut hardwood.
Then you can taste it. You flick a dead bee off an old donut and wash it down with coffee that tastes like it was made last week. On your way to the stack, you put in a dip of Copenhagen...no less than a third of the can.
Finally you can feel it. A chilly north wind, oaky bark, cold wire, metal pliers, a 2x8 for a seat in a swing on third stack, perimeter ropes nearby. You survey your quadrant and agree with your ground man where you need to concentrate. You spy a penny nail a few logs in. You get it and stick it through the hole in the sleeve of your jacket so you can use it later. Then you shout with all of your might I NEED SOME WIRE AND A LOG UP HERE RIGHT NOW!!! Again sprinkled with expletives.
At the end of the shift, the sun is peeking up over the oak trees. You work your way down the stack. Your voice is spent. You walk back to the dorm joking with your friends...probably your friends for years to come. All of you tired, but proud to be Aggies and united by the fire.
That is the Bonfire I knew, that is the Bonfire I miss.
God Bless America and the Soldiers that defend her.
Gig 'em Chip Thiel '00
Bonfire Links of Interest
1999 Aggie BonfirePictures
Click THIS LINK to see the archive I'm putting together for pictures that I have come across of past Bonfires. I've got lots more I just haven't had the time to put in.