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MrPhlegm

By MrPhlegm
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Alien Octopus

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19 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

There are good (not great, but good) restaurants in Bryan. There are also interesting people who work at aTm. They didn't go there, of course, but they exist. There's an oceanic archaeology professor who lived two doors down from us who has the most remarkable collection of colonial and Revolutionary War era muskets (he went to college in Vermont). And College Station is quite literally two hours in any direction from something interesting. It may suck as a destination, but it is a remarkably convenient starting point.

Hell, just 15 minutes up the road in Hearne is a WWII prisoner of war camp that is one of the better historical sites I've ever visited. And you can stop at Penny's Diner (converted airstream that is a perfect 50's style counter burger joint) on the way back.

You couldn't pay me enough to move back there, but if you want to live a life worth living, it is, in fact, possible to do there, just like it would be if you were living somewhere decent.

How does it compare to the Dixie Cafe? Less klanny?

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Cairn Horn88

Cairn Horn88 8,165

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“The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.”

Part of a USA article today.  Boondoggle U, it is.

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DaggerHorns

DaggerHorns 3,058

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8 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

“The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.”

Part of a USA article today.  Boondoggle U, it is.

Quoting for repetition and entertainment value.

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40,730

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8 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

“The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.”

Part of a USA article today.  Boondoggle U, it is.

That’s giving boondoggles a really bad name.

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TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17,386

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10 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

“The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.”

Part of a USA article today.  Boondoggle U, it is.

Link?

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Enchubben

Enchubben 5,509

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11 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

“The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.”

Part of a USA article today.  Boondoggle U, it is.

Winning like Missouri would be a complement. At least they have won their division in the last 20 years.

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Deej

Deej 76,546

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If you look at Fisher’s tenure so far...his 18-9 record is mostly filled with fluff. 

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...this is not a program with a history of competing at the highest level of the sport.

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a fake trophy may be the only one Fisher ever accepts. 

I smell a boycott coming.

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'stache

'stache 21,765

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50 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

Winning like Missouri would be a complement. At least they have won their division in the last 20 years.

Seriously, they’ve played in four conference title games and finished in the top five twice in the last 20 years. Aggy would love to have that level of success. 

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77horn

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At this level, three years in is enough time to figure out an answer. When Fisher was offered that contract, what he had built at Florida State was no longer a national championship-level program and already in decline. Had he stayed another year, it’s doubtful anyone would have offered $75 million to a coach who had gotten lapped by Clemson within his conference.

That article is just brutal....brutally honest.

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Walden Ponderer

Walden Ponderer 12,639

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On 9/30/2020 at 7:54 PM, Randolph Duke said:

Couldn't do it, personally. But I do find it fascinating how intellectual individuals end up in College Station, Texas.

aggy culture erases unpleasant truths and exaggerates positives, enforcing all as dogma (with physical violence at times). I couldn't live in a community or culture that doesn't allow academic integrity or intellectual honesty, and instead enforces the "supremacy" of white, male privilege above all.

I get enough death threats from those immersed in aggy culture as it is. No way in Hell could I live there. And, as I said, with the wife being Asian, I would never put her into the racist sewer that is College Station, Texas. She has earned the right not to ever have to interact with aggy.

I wish more people were spared having to tolerate aggy culture. I find Texas A&M an embarrassment to the reputation of the state of Texas.

The people of Texas deserve better than Texas A&M.

I actually know a lot of mixed race couples in College Station. It always boggled my mind that they would choose to live there, but several of them came from smaller towns, so by comparison, I'm guessing they found the fetid swamp of aggy culture preferable to the slimy sewer of Brenham or Hearne culture.

That's not including the New York Jew married to the daughter of North Korean expatriates, of course. I have no idea what their rationale might have been, other than him not being able to get a job at a real university. Their kid is brilliant (U. of Chicago economics, the whole nine yards) but I'm willing to bet she won't call College Station her home town when interviewed for her biography some years hence.

The big key to keeping your sanity there is to either lay low (my way of coping) or alternatively to just not give a flying fuck about offending (and thereby drawing the ignorant ire of) the unwashed masses.

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Randolph Duke

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12 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I actually know a lot of mixed race couples in College Station. It always boggled my mind that they would choose to live there, but several of them came from smaller towns, so by comparison, I'm guessing they found the fetid swamp of aggy culture preferable to the slimy sewer of Brenham or Hearne culture.

That's not including the New York Jew married to the daughter of North Korean expatriates, of course. I have no idea what their rationale might have been, other than him not being able to get a job at a real university. Their kid is brilliant (U. of Chicago economics, the whole nine yards) but I'm willing to bet she won't call College Station her home town when interviewed for her biography some years hence.

The big key to keeping your sanity there is to either lay low (my way of coping) or alternatively to just not give a flying fuck about offending (and thereby drawing the ignorant ire of) the unwashed masses.

I think we have already established my level of concern over my possibly offending aggys.

You mention Brenham. I am in the process of learning more of the activities that occurred in and around Brenham in connection with the infamous "Sul Ross election." Corpses hanging from the end of a rope in the town square, people doused with kerosene as they slept and set on fire. All kinds of events, all in the make of "traditional values." I'm looking to better understand the families of those responsible and what else they may have done in and around Brenham over the years (possibly where they went to school).

At least for a while, Brenham seems like it was quite a place to live.

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tejas60

tejas60 3,526

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43 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Another turning on Jimbo story... cracks in the aggy wall...

 

for those that don't want to give Bwent the clicks:

 

Spoiler

 

COLLEGE STATION — Alabama coach Nick Saban is 19-0 against former assistants, including 3-0 against Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher (including one game when Fisher was at Florida State).

It will take a big-time upset for those numbers not to be 20-0 and 4-0 by Saturday night, especially after what A&M fans witnessed last weekend in the No. 13 Aggies’ 17-12 edging of oft-woebegone Vanderbilt.

I’ve been at this about a quarter century, and I can’t recall so much fan disinterest this early in a season on the A&M front. The reasons are multiple, starting with senior quarterback Kellen Mond and a few other A&M athletes over the summer protesting the Sul Ross statue on campus, a sculpture near and dear to a lot of Aggies.SUBSCRIBE

Ross was a Confederate general in the Civil War and is credited with saving the university from closing in the late 1800s as one of its first presidents. A&M chancellor John Sharp has told Aggies only the state can relocate the statue, and, as Sharp said, that’s not happening.

Also, Aggies are big on loyalty, and the summer opt-outs of veteran players like receiver Jhamon Ausbon, linebacker Anthony Hines and cornerback Elijah Blades prompted some fans to wonder what in the world is going on with Fisher’s program (never mind that opt-outs are happening all over the country).

Finally, Mond has been an average to just above-average quarterback over his career as a four-year starter, and played below average in the narrow win over Vanderbilt. Combine that with his unpopular (to many) protests, his oft-stoic approach in leading the program and Fisher’s longtime stubbornness in giving another quarterback a shot, and the disinterest is palpable.

Oh, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly jumbled what was once a promising schedule for the Aggies, with the SEC adding SEC East contenders Florida and Tennessee. One way for the overall interest to jump in the span of a few hours? An upset on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

 

Based on the way Alabama played in its opener (38-19 at Missouri) and A&M looked in its first game, few expect that happen. On to a handful of questions, as always some edited for brevity and clarity:

Q: … Am I wrong that we were a few mistakes away from a very comfortable victory? — Maximillius

BZ: Certainly if Mond had not fumbled three times and his receivers had caught more of his passes, the Aggies would have won by at least a couple of touchdowns.

Easy to say, not as easy to do, and as referenced above, thousands of A&M fans seem to be on wait-and-see mode more than ever with Fisher’s third team.

Q: If the Aggies have a positive turnover margin, what are their odds of winning? — Matthew Loerch

BZ: Depends on the margin, but to your point, the Aggies have been one of the worst teams in the league in turnover margin dating to last season, and they lost it again against Vanderbilt (primarily because of Mond’s miscues), and felt fortunate to come out with the win.

 

Captain Obvious Alert: That’s got to change in a hurry if A&M intends to compete for its first SEC crown.

Q: What will Jimbo be for Halloween?

BZ: He’ll be wearing a headset, I know that. The Aggies host Arkansas on Halloween night, which has got my kids in a tizzy — tizzier than usual I should say because it might impact their door-to-door operations. On another October note, will there ever be an A&M Halloween moment that tops Johnny Manziel partying in Northgate as Scooby Doo in 2012?

Q: What’s it going to take to move on from Kellen Mond this season? — Name withheld by request

BZ: 1-3 with consecutive lopsided losses to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi State would seem to put Fisher’s mind on the future at the position — freshmen Zach Calzada and Haynes King — but naturally most A&M fans I know aren’t pining for a 1-3 start. Plenty would like to see what another quarterback could do, however, regardless of the early record.

 

 

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TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17,386

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36 minutes ago, Deej said:

The silver lining to COVID is it eliminating their OOC schedule and exposing the fraud that is aggy football to those who weren't really paying attention. 

It really is kinda aggy's worst nightmare.  Their schedule this year was tailor-made to make them look much better than they really are.

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msucolt45

msucolt45 3,989

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Every year, each SEC team’s schedule is created to make them look “better” than what they actually are. Don’t forget the usually mandated FCS “cupcake” home game, usually reserved for end of OCT or early NOV. Plus let’s start at least 6-8 in the Top 20, so they can have “quality” wins/losses.

Except this year is, oh my gosh 10 games of all SEC opponents! Thanks COVID!

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Walden Ponderer

Walden Ponderer 12,639

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8 hours ago, Randolph Duke said:

I think we have already established my level of concern over my possibly offending aggys.

You mention Brenham. I am in the process of learning more of the activities that occurred in and around Brenham in connection with the infamous "Sul Ross election." Corpses hanging from the end of a rope in the town square, people doused with kerosene as they slept and set on fire. All kinds of events, all in the make of "traditional values." I'm looking to better understand the families of those responsible and what else they may have done in and around Brenham over the years (possibly where they went to school).

At least for a while, Brenham seems like it was quite a place to live.

I know fairly closely a prominent Brenham family who are as tightly connected politically as a family can be -- of course, my friends in that family are the black sheep lesbian daughter and her wife, so those connections never impressed me quite like they had hoped.

Anyway, the tales I heard from them regarding their Brenhamite neighbors were of a town where "practically everybody who's more than two generations Brenham is the product of incest."

I suspect their neighbors know the contempt in which they are held, but I also suspect that, howsoever much exaggerated, there is a kernel of truth in the accusation.

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Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10,752

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/dan-wolken/2020/10/01/jimbo-fisher-texas-am-alabama/5883655002/

Opinion: Three years in, it's time for Jimbo Fisher to earn his pay at Texas A&M with top-notch wins

Dan Wolken USA TODAY

Shortly after Jimbo Fisher’s decision to take Texas A&M’s mega-offer to leave Florida State, there was a cringeworthy moment that had nothing to do with cowboy boots or the numbers on his contract. Instead, it was on stage with John Sharp, the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, who handed Fisher a replica of a national championship trophy with a date to be filled in later. 

“I hope I fill in a couple!” Fisher responded, drawing uproarious applause from the audience and chuckles from many corners of college football. 

The unearned arrogance with which Texas A&M carries itself has long been a subject of fascination and ridicule among its rivals. Nobody in the sport is better at spending like Alabama while winning like Missouri, and the decision in late 2017 to throw a 10-year, $75 million contract at Fisher was either going to change that narrative forever or be remembered as the biggest boondoggle in the history of college sports.

More than two years in, though, maybe there’s a new bar for Fisher that would be fairer and more informative than a university president handing over a fake trophy: Are you a threat to Alabama’s supremacy in the SEC or not?

Let’s be real. The answer to that, as the two programs prepare to play Saturday in Tuscaloosa, is not. And it doesn’t seem particularly close.

In Fisher’s first two seasons, the Aggies lost to Alabama by 22 and 19 points, neither of which were competitive at any point in the second half. Despite Texas A&M’s current No. 13 ranking in the Amway Coaches Poll, it will enter this year’s meeting as roughly an 18-point underdog. Until proven otherwise, Texas A&M is just another garden-variety SEC opponent for Alabama, not a rival like LSU or Auburn or even a danger like Ole Miss a handful of years ago under Hugh Freeze. For those of us watching, is it even considered a big game? Since Johnny Manziel’s turn as a temporary disrupter, the cumulative score of the next seven meetings stands at 252-107.

Most of that isn’t Fisher’s fault, but he knows he’s being paid handsomely — some would argue grotesquely — to fix it. 

"You know what they’ve done, who they are and we have to go play ball,” Fisher said this week. "We have to keep recruiting well and keep building on the process we have. We have had two great young recruiting classes I’m very excited about, got some very good young players and our older players are developing. It’s always a measuring stick when you play Alabama as far as where you stand in the national scene because they’ve been on the top of it for so long.”

But at some point when you’re guaranteed $75 million to coach football, the measurement has to tell you that the gap is getting smaller and that progress is being made.

The recruiting rankings would suggest that it could happen. The Aggies’ current group of freshmen was ranked No. 6 by 247 Sports, and the class of current sophomores came in at No. 4, which on paper is the kind of year-over-year quality elite programs need. By any measure, Fisher and his staff have been among the small handful of programs recruiting at the very top level. 

There’s a difference, though, between hope and results. And at a $75 million price tag, the results need to start coming. 

By any reasonable standard, including the one set by his predecessor Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M’s quality of football under Fisher hasn’t been particularly impressive. Sumlin’s tenure was far from perfect — it’s why he ultimately got fired — but he had enough quality wins over his first four years to keep things afloat. 

If you look at Fisher’s tenure so far, there are more good-looking losses than good wins. Besides the epic seven-overtime win over LSU in his first season, his 18-9 record is mostly filled with fluff. The Aggies weren’t a top-25 team last year, and their 17-12 struggle against Vanderbilt in the opener raised concerns about how much progress they’ve really made. 

It’s certainly not what they’re paying for.

But maybe Texas A&M’s willingness to spend so much of their financial largesse on football is their only real path to relevance. Besides a claimed national title in 1939 and a fairly consistent run of top-10 finishes from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, this is not a program with a history of competing at the highest level of the sport. The confluence of joining the SEC followed immediately by Manziel Mania gave Texas A&M a unique opportunity to invest big in facilities and coaching salaries, and at least the Aggies can tell themselves they no longer have any excuses for failing to compete for titles. 

But they’re not immune from the same question as everyone else: Did they make a smart investment?

At this level, three years in is enough time to figure out an answer. When Fisher was offered that contract, what he had built at Florida State was no longer a national championship-level program and already in decline. Had he stayed another year, it’s doubtful anyone would have offered $75 million to a coach who had gotten lapped by Clemson within his conference. 

Texas A&M may have more money than Florida State and all the in-state talent you need to win, but it's a tougher job because of how many more obstacles you need to clear to get to the top. If it’s not Alabama, it’s LSU or Auburn not to mention Georgia, Florida and the rest. In the SEC, somebody’s got to lose.

In a few months, we will have a pretty good idea of whether Texas A&M’s money was well spent. In fact, by Fisher’s third season at Florida State, he had won an ACC title and built the foundation of a roster that would win the national championship just a year later. The timeline may not exactly line up this time around, but if the Aggies are really as underwhelming as they were last week against Vanderbilt, we can start to call his tenure a disappointment. 

Until we start thinking about Texas A&M-Alabama as one of the SEC’s big games — and it certainly doesn’t feel that way this time around — a fake trophy may be the only one Fisher ever accepts. 

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