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Tell Me About Texas a&m

MrPhlegm

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Transcript of the link above, from the BC:

Most cultures, modern and ancient, have ghost stories. Even cultures that do not have an afterlife in their religious cosmology are concerned about the restless spirit, kept from its deserved rest.
 

The great secret that the young do not know, but those older do, is that death in itself is not to be feared.

  Death is the natural end of things, and we all become better acquainted with it as we age.  The great tragedy is leaving unfinished business when dying- the promises not kept, the important message unsaid, the blessing not given.  That is why the deaths of the young are so hard to accept.

 There are two major competing narratives of the events of late November, 1999.  The first is that the Aggie Bonfire, one of their dearest traditions, had grown beyond sound engineering design and industrial safety principles, and had tragically collapsed, killing 12 student volunteers and injuring a couple dozen more.  The next week, the Texas A&M football team defeated the Texas Longhorns in a football game, 20 – 16.  This game gave comfort to the Texas A&M campus, but in no way lessened the magnitude of the prior week’s tragedy, and indeed these were two separate and unlinked events.  During the game, there were formal recognitions of the loss, but this was more of a function of the game as the next major university collective event than the possibility of gaining any redemption from the game.  Going forward, it is understood that the best way to honor the dead is to remember them, how and why they died, and to never again let the students undertake such a task without proper supervision and controls.
 

 There is a second narrative, suppressed 10 years ago, but coming to the forefront now.  This telling says that the bonfire had deep spiritual significance to all Aggies, and that its value was too high to surrender.  The claim here is that the kids died doing something they loved, and that should be respected.  Here, the Aggie win is seen as a victory for the spirit of bonfire, inspiring an underdog Aggie team to victory.  Per this telling, the best way to honor the dead is to use their memory as an inspiration in the annual football game with Texas.

 Think I’m exaggerating?  That no right thinking person could think that a football game can “make up” for the deaths and maimings of dozens?  Guess again.  That view is gaining more and more hold among the Aggie faithful, supported by some Aggie officials who were not even on campus 10 years ago, and its advance is shameful.

 The 10th anniversary of the collapse was November 18, 2009.  Texas A&M had timely and appropriate on-campus recognitions.  The next Aggie home football game was against Baylor on November 21.  That was not the campus gathering where the tragedy was recognized.  The November 26 game against Texas was the game where the anniversary was commemorated.  When questioned why this game, and not the Baylor game, Ags say it is because the bonfire was for Texas, and not for Baylor.  It is as if the deaths made any imagined link between the bonfire and the game stronger, not weaker.
 

 The TAMU athletics department is selling an inspirational DVD that explores the bonfire history, the tragic, lethal collapse,…and the 1999 football victory.  They previewed this video for the students before Wednesday Yell Practice.  The message?  “It happened 10 years ago, and IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN IF WE GET FIRED UP.”

 Why should anybody care if the Texas A&M AD should do this?  After all, they obviously need all the cash and inspiration they can get.  Longhorns should care, because it is tasteless, classless, and the ideas it inspires are dangerous.  Let’s be clear- in no way did the Aggie win in 1999 lessen the tragedy of the prior week.  No sane person can imagine a parent of one of the fallen finally steeling themselves a week after the funeral, entering the child’s bedroom in order to sort the clothes and belongings to be donated to charity from those to be given to cousins, and thinking to themselves, “At least we won that football game.”  For those who were actually close to the victims, winning the game gave absolutely no relief, just as losing would not have made the burden more difficult to bear.  

 Contrary to what many Ags post on Texags.com and elsewhere, that these students “died doing what they loved” is not a relief.  Nelson Rockefeller also died doing what he loved.  If he had known what the result was to be, he would have instead gone home early an had a cup of tea before getting to bed early.
 

 Neither winning the game, nor bringing the bonfire tradition back, gives meaning to their death.  The sad fact is that 99.99% of humanity will have no meaning in their deaths.  That senselessness adds to the tragedy of their too soon deaths.

 In the years since, an independent investigation revealed some uncomfortable truths (of course, in this world very few truths comfort, and those that do must be held tight) about the role of the Aggie culture and its emphasis on tradition and conformity in causing the collapse.  The university shielded its financial responsibility behind state laws limiting liability.  It built a monument to the 12 that died.  It is a much more meaningful monument than many realize, with stone gates pointed in the direction of their home towns- a silent reminder that this campus is not where their too short lives were lived, but rather where they ended.  It is a natural human emotion to want to find meaning in the deaths and sufferings of those close to us, to see God's hand active for a higher purpose.  Sometimes the actual meaning is that there is no meaning, the pain increased by the needlessness of the tragedy.

 It is now 10 years later, and the Texas A&M athletics department is pimping the memories of these kids, in an attempt to increase the enthusiasm of the fans and the intensity of the team.  It is classless of them.  Texas A&M Athletics owns no claim on these kids, nor their families. 
 

 I know this is controversial.  I thought quite a bit over whether seemliness calls for silence here.  Realizing that Texas A&M is openly joining this issue to the University of Texas, by emphasizing their football game with us as the only appropriate venue for remembering the events, allows us to comment.  Over the entrance to the tower in Austin, it reads “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  It’s fair to talk about what is true, and what is not.

 Texas A&M approached UT about being a participant again in bonfire collapse recognition ceremonies, offering a chance to recapture good will earned 10 years prior.  Wisely, Texas declined.  Mack Brown recognized that any such moments would be far more about raising spirit to win a football game than about sincerely mourning a loss.  Remember, the Texas sideline actually has several coaches that were there for those awful events 10 years ago.  None of the Aggie coaches were (TAMU Recruiting Coordinator Tim Cassaday held the same position.  He is on record as stating that “the Aggie Spirit” won the 1999 game).  I was pleased to see that ESPN only gave a cursory mention to the Ags’ recognition activities. 

 I hope I get some dissenting comments.  I really don’t want to think that the TAMU community is OK with the idea that their school is trying to use this event to help win a football game.  Please, Longhorns, don’t reply with gripes about the Ramada Inn, or penalties.  That’s not what this post is about.  I have to admit that I am very relieved that Texas won.  If the Ags had won this game, we would see this revisited every 10 years, and the myth of the “Fallen 12” helping the team beat Texas would overshadow the real lessons from that truly tragic events.  The actual memorial site would become a prop for future football rallies, its actual purpose pushed to the side and forgotten.

 Please, Bill Byrne.  Let the ghosts lie, undisturbed in their deserved peace.

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TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17553

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9 hours ago, Burnt_Orange_Texan said:

Whenever Aggy starts going on and on about how Aggy is the best thing the world and how Texas is awful. I just remind Aggy about how their engineers couldn't keep a stack of logs from falling in 1999 and their record against Texas. Shut's them down. 

*Shuts

200.gif

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'stache

'stache 21805

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1 hour ago, DFW Horn said:

I'll bet aggy doesn't teach this at Fish Camp either. I assume that prior to 1949, they were colloquially known as the Farmers.

 

I think that's weird since many of the A&M schools went by Aggies early in their history and have since changed when the dropped the A&M. I guess aggy went by Farmers before then? I find it weird because that would mean they were late adopters to the Aggie nickname and is the only major conference school that kept both the A&M and Aggie nickname.

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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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aggys may laugh at others, but the fact still remains that U of H (much like other schools such as UT Austin, Okie Lite, and WVa) has more NCAA championships in just one sport (Men's golf) than Texas A&M has in school history, all sports, both genders.

U of H also has more CWS wins, more Final Four appearances and, since becoming a state university, has as many top 5 final finishes in football as A&M. 

Additionally, the privately funded endowment of U of H exceeds that of Texas A&M.

texags aggy laugh at u of h.jpeg

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Da Fino

Da Fino 2781

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aggys may laugh at others, but the fact still remains that U of H (much like other schools such as UT Austin, Okie Lite, and WVa) has more NCAA championships in just one sport (Men's golf) than Texas A&M has in school history, all sports, both genders.
U of H also has more CWS wins, more Final Four appearances and, since becoming a state university, has as many top 5 final finishes in football as A&M. 
Additionally, the privately funded endowment of U of H exceeds that of Texas A&M.
2069457661_texagsaggylaughatuofh.thumb.jpeg.cf957cf011ae83e7720c1ef0dfbff73b.jpeg

Out of all the ink you’ve spent on Texas A&M, this might be the most interesting.
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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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9 hours ago, markstanco said:


Yea no kidding if you are speaking of the endowment part. That is super shocking if true.

I need to look more closely at recent numbers, but ags have historically donated minimally to support academics. They have relied almost exclusively on publicly-funded (PUF) endowment money. In total dollars, A&M struggles to match the publicly funded endowments of U of H, Tech and TCU. They are nowhere close to publicly-funded endowments of UT Austin or Rice. In per student dollars, A&M is far behind UT Austin, Rice, SMU, Baylor and TCU.

Around 2014, A&M announced a $4B capital campaign. The dollars counted in this campaign included the Kyle Field funding and even monies given to operate the Bush presidential library. At the end of that campaign, their net financial position declined. They raised $4B and on a net basis, had less money after than before. That was because of under-recognized employee retirement liabilities.

&m 2018 net position.jpeg

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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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And for the record, TAMU is still repaying the loan they have owed the academic side since 2006. The $1.6 million annual payment for 2023 is noted here as "FY23 Loan Repayment".

I note this to point out while A&M boosters seem to have plenty of money for NIL, they seem to have less interest in ensuring academics have similar resources.

Additionally, notice the entry for "FY23 Commercial paper." I haven't seen their full short end debt maturity schedule, but as you can see in the bottom chart, commercial paper rates have soared as of late, from about 0.11% late last year to around 2.37% today. I have no idea what rate they projected for their commercial paper debt, but considering the fact expectations of Fed actions to raise short rates have increased substantially just in the past few weeks, we can expect the deficit for aggy athletics to balloon materially from the most recent projection of $7.998 mil for the fiscal year.

aggy budget source: https://www.tamus.edu/assets/files/budgets-acct/pdf/TAMUSFY23Budget.pdf

2023 TAMU athletics debt payments.jpeg

A1 P1 commercial paper rates.jpeg

Edited by Randolph Duke
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Bill Lumbergh

Bill Lumbergh 7171

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I know this isn't the recruiting thread but it deserves to be recognized here (and on aggypedia) as one of the most aggy things ever.

If you don't follow recruiting, a recruits "official visit" to a school is one of the most important parts of a recruitment.  aggy scheduled several high priority target official visits for the end of July.

The problem is, the NCAA forbids official visits in July.  This is not new, it has been the case since at least October of last year, and possibly longer.

Not only did the entire aggy recruiting staff miss that they were scheduling high priority target visits during a restricted period, they just figured that out...today.  They're now scrambling to adjust and predictably blaming everyone imaginable (NCAA, Saban, tu, etc) for some grand conspiracy to hurt their recruiting instead of acknowledging that their staff made a huge fucking oversight.

Never change, aggy.

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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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13 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

I know this isn't the recruiting thread but it deserves to be recognized here (and on aggypedia) as one of the most aggy things ever.

If you don't follow recruiting, a recruits "official visit" to a school is one of the most important parts of a recruitment.  aggy scheduled several high priority target official visits for the end of July.

The problem is, the NCAA forbids official visits in July.  This is not new, it has been the case since at least October of last year, and possibly longer.

Not only did the entire aggy recruiting staff miss that they were scheduling high priority target visits during a restricted period, they just figured that out...today.  They're now scrambling to adjust and predictably blaming everyone imaginable (NCAA, Saban, tu, etc) for some grand conspiracy to hurt their recruiting instead of acknowledging that their staff made a huge fucking oversight.

Never change, aggy.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/recruiting/calendar/2021-22/2021-22D1Rec_FBSMFBRecruitingCalendar.pdf

ncaa recruiting calendar.jpeg

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Deej

Deej 76764

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31 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

I know this isn't the recruiting thread but it deserves to be recognized here (and on aggypedia) as one of the most aggy things ever.

If you don't follow recruiting, a recruits "official visit" to a school is one of the most important parts of a recruitment.  aggy scheduled several high priority target official visits for the end of July.

The problem is, the NCAA forbids official visits in July.  This is not new, it has been the case since at least October of last year, and possibly longer.

Not only did the entire aggy recruiting staff miss that they were scheduling high priority target visits during a restricted period, they just figured that out...today.  They're now scrambling to adjust and predictably blaming everyone imaginable (NCAA, Saban, tu, etc) for some grand conspiracy to hurt their recruiting instead of acknowledging that their staff made a huge fucking oversight.

Never change, aggy.

I'm sure Jimbo would be more attentive to shit like that if they just paid him a little more. 

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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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12 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

Ok, but how do you know the sip librul media didn't just change that graphic after making sure aggy scheduled visits?

Checkmate.

aggys classify reading as one of the Liberal Arts and because aggy claims to be such a staunchly conservative school, people who know how to read are considered by aggys to be undercover sips and they are chased off the aggy campus.

That is why no one involved with the aggy program read the NCAA rule book.

Advantage aggy.

jethro bodine.jpeg

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Foosters

Foosters 17853

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4 minutes ago, Randolph Duke said:

In all fairness to aggy, the dead period ends on July 24 and their pool party is the weekend of July 30, but I can see how not being able to contact recruits up until five days before the pool party does make scheduling and logistics an issue.

May want to re-read that graphic. While its true the dead period ends 7/24, it also says that NO OFFICIAL VISITS MAY BE USED during the Quiet Period of 7/24-7/31

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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Foosters said:

May want to re-read that graphic. While its true the dead period ends 7/24, it also says that NO OFFICIAL VISITS MAY BE USED during the Quiet Period of 7/24-7/31

A quiet period allows in-person contacts on campus. 

As long as the pool party is on campus, what’s the issue? 

Edited by Randolph Duke
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Randolph Duke

Randolph Duke 4034

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19 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

This is just another example of how Jimbo is countering TU's strong recruiting class. When the dust clears, you'll then see the pure genius of Jimbo's recruiting strategery.

He who laughs last, laughs after everybody else has laughed.

Jimbo is an ass. In four years he hasn’t built a program that could put two consecutive years together with winning records in conference play.

When do you seriously think will be Jimbo’s breakout year? Year six? Maybe year eight? If you seriously had to pick the year for Jimbo Fisher’s breakout year at Texas A&M, what would be that year? 

The answer is “next year.” Always next year.

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

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Foggy Notion

Foggy Notion 1202

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53 minutes ago, Randolph Duke said:

A quiet period allows in-person contacts on campus. 

As long as the pool party is on campus, what’s the issue? 

The pool party is usually held at an apartment complex, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that aggy corches scheduled some of these recruits’ trips as official visits, which means that the school was going to pay for travel expenses, meals and hotel rooms for the weekend. They had to contact recruits today and let them know that they now had to pay their own way to get to aggieland and attend the glorious pool party. Some of those recruits are now likely to cancel their trips. One of them just got crystal balled to Kentucky shortly after being informed of the mistake. 

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Steel Shank

Steel Shank 9423

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2 minutes ago, Randolph Duke said:

Jimbo is an ass. In four years he hasn’t built a program that could put two consecutive years together with winning records in conference play.

When do you seriously think will be Jimbo’s breakout year? Year six? Maybe year eight? If you seriously had to pick the year for Jimbo Fisher’s breakout year at Texas A&M, what would be that year? 

The answer is “next year.” Always next year.

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

I'm serious this time, RD!!!! We need to watch out!!!

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JesusSweatDuck

JesusSweatDuck 17781

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1 hour ago, Randolph Duke said:

A quiet period allows in-person contacts on campus. 

As long as the pool party is on campus, what’s the issue? 

It's more that they can't have OVs, only UOVs. So all the recruits have to pay their own way to come to the cement pond party in some shitty apartment complex 

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nnm

nnm 36376

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1 hour ago, Foggy Notion said:

The pool party is usually held at an apartment complex, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that aggy corches scheduled some of these recruits’ trips as official visits, which means that the school was going to pay for travel expenses, meals and hotel rooms for the weekend. They had to contact recruits today and let them know that they now had to pay their own way to get to aggieland and attend the glorious pool party. Some of those recruits are now likely to cancel their trips. One of them just got crystal balled to Kentucky shortly after being informed of the mistake. 

So Kentucky’s now in the BOMC-tu-‘Bama axis of evil?  Those dastardly wildcats!

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