It's a 5 page article all about the A&M-OU disaster last year. This is kind of embarassing, I was hoping to put this behind us.

I disagree with your perception. I think the article was accurate and paints a pretty good picture of the 12th Man. It gives perspective on why our players choose to come to ATM and validates their choices despite a bad season. I liked it and after reading it....I was quite proud to be an Aggie.

IYACYAS '95

Here it is from Sports Illustrated (long):

It Was an Ugly Day: Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 0

By John Ed Bradley

It was an ugly day, exactly as forecast. A steady mist was falling; the air was cold. The thing about football is, nobody worth a damn ever ran out on the field believing he couldn't win.

Terrence Murphy, a junior receiver for Texas A&M, believed with utter certainty that the 4-5 Aggies were destined for the biggest upset in college football since they had defeated an unbeaten and No. 1- ranked Oklahoma team the year before, spoiling the Sooners' national title hopes. Murphy, who'd caught two touchdown passes in that game, was sure that history was going to repeat itself on this day, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003. All week long, in practice and in meetings, players had vowed to shock the world with another upset of the Sooners. Their coaches, on the other hand, were experienced enough to avoid such grandiose predictions. They said instead that the Aggies would surprise some people, which is the most optimistic assessment of his chances that any coach with half a mind is ever likely to give.


[Please remember that reprinting copyright material on this board is a violation of the user agreement. While a link and short excerpt will usually be permissible, wholesale reprodcution simply is not permitted--Texags.com Staff]


[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 8/12/2004 1:57p).]

man, that's a hell of an article.

Actually, that is a terrific article. None of us were happy about the beating in OU but this puts some perspective around it. The 12th Man gets some real props here as well.

I'm really impressed more and more each day with Murphy. This guy is a class act all the way. And I really like the glimpse into Coach Fran's life in this article.

Also, it shows me just what nut-jobs some of the Bama fans are. I'm sure we'd be upset if a coach left us after 2 years but jeez, for someone to actually hope that Coach Fran and his family die in a plane crash?

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It's a 5 page article all about the A&M-OU disaster last year. This is kind of embarassing, I was hoping to put this behind us.

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You obviously didn't bother to read the article.

I cringed when I saw the article this afternoon, and then I read it. It reminded me of how proud I am to be an Aggie and what Aggie Spirit is all about. Some of my favorite sections of the story:

[Sorry, but without a link, that had to be deleted. - staff]

[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 8/13/2004 10:38a).]

For the life of me, I can not figure out how a team that finished 4-8 losing 77-0 to a team playing football as well as it has ever been played at the time, and playing on the road was even marginally worse than a team that finished in the top ten losing 65-14 at a neutral site in its own state.

To the extent you bring up the A&M game, you have to put it in context with the t.u. game as well.

To the first poster: please read the article before condemning it.

I wish everyone we are recruiting would read that article. Great piece of writing.

Yea, that's a pretty positive piece. Very flattering for the leaders of our program and Aggies in general.

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John Ed Bradley has been a staff writer at the Washington Post, is a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated, and has written for GQ, Esquire, and many other publications. He is the author of Tupelo Nights, The Best There Ever Was, Love & Obits, Smoke, and Restoration. He lives at historic Coliseum Square in New Orleans' Lower Garden District.

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For a minute there I thought that it might be Mike McKenzie's OTHER name he uses for writing. The author had some great, inside details about that terrible day from Coach Fran's perspective.

Murphy will always live with that 'what if'.

What ever the team does sucessfully this year will be contrasted with that game - no doubt.

Actually one of the best articles I've ever read on A&M in a national publication.

i find it nothing but complimentary..surprisingly so.

Three weeks and two losses later Dennis would come home with the same look on his face. The team had fallen to 4-8, Dennis's worst record in 11 years and A&M's worst in 31. This time the house was full of guests, and Dennis followed his routine, walking to his room, removing his tie and sitting in a chair by the bed. When he didn't come out to talk to the guests, his son, Brad -- himself a coach, at Bacone Junior College in Muskogee, Okla. -- went in to check on him. Kim soon followed. "It's been a tough year," Dennis said. Then he broke down and wept as he hadn't since the day they buried Kim's father.

"I know it's because he wants it so bad," Kim said later. "He wants to win and make the people who love A&M proud of him and proud of their team again. And he feels like he disappointed people, like he let them down. I think the cumulative effect of the season finally just got to him."

To me, that is a great quote! Some of us level headed Longhorns know ya'll got a great coach and will get things to where they should be (hopefully Texas and Texas A&M fighting for 1st place in the Big XII!) Here's to a great season for both of us.

Awesome article, I'll remember standing in the cold and rain right behind the band that day for the rest of my life. And I've never felt more proud to be an Aggie than that day because at the end of the third quarter I looked around and we were all still there, and we were all still standing.

I think we all took a hit that day. However, that is the first piece that Ive read on the loss that allowed me to feel the pain of the players and coaches. That is a good article and like some of the above posters have already mentioned, it reminds me of why I am proud to be apart of this family. I never really new the past of coach fran and his family but from this article I am convinced that he is the right guy for getting us where we want to be and am proud to have him with us.

This is a must read!!! I am even more pumped for the coach that we have leading our program.

fan-freakin-tastic article, imo

That was a freaking amazin article.

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At Alabama, Franchione's top two defensive squads ran the 40-yard dash in an average time of 4.7 seconds. At A&M he inherited a team whose top 22 defenders averaged more than 5.0 seconds in the 40.

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This should tell all you need to know. It was just painfully obvious that we were extremely slow on defense last year. Thanksfully that is being changed rapidly.

That was a little more than I really wanted to know about Fran's personal life. Great article though. I hope the FBI prosecuted the psycho bammers.

Wow! What a GREAT article. It brought a lot of memories back and had good insight into the man behind the slick PR profile of Coach Fran. We forget sometimes, because he seems to always say and look and do the perfect, PC thing, that he is a human with incredible drive to suceed and produce a National Champion. He is a class act who is, I believe, proud to be an Aggie.

Another great piece of work is Charley North. This past winter I learned that I needed major surgery that would require casts and immobility for approximately two months. With our home in New England and surgeon in B/CS, we knew it meant two months in a hotel with all the paraphenalia that accompanies immobility.

we chose Spring Practice as the time to be there. For our first outing, my wife was pushing the big wheelchair across the practice field when we were approached by a "bald, heavyset man with a powerful presence."

He reached out to shake our hands, "Howdy," he said, "I'm Charley North, glad you could be with us today." We talked and he gave us his card and invited us to call if we needed anything or wanted a personal tour of the Bright complex. He talked about the future of the program and smiled as he ruminated on the possibilities for Aggieland. He spoke simply. He spoke straight. He spoke of honor.

He is a wonderful ambassador for the Aggies and is truly proud of our football program. The wife and I are counting down the days til we fly to B/CS for our fall infusion at Kyle and we'll be looking around on the field for Mr. North and are glad that he is part of us.

Gig 'Em!

Embarassing? I don't think you are seeing the big picture here...

That was one great article.

THE Best article I've ever read (outside of Texas) about our football program and the pride that our fans and team has for the school.

I'm buying a copy of SI today.

We will be back...

Bring on the flutes!

Awesome article. Proud to be an Aggie and proud to have Coach Fran and staff.

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For the life of me, I can not figure out how a team that finished 4-8 losing 77-0 to a team playing football as well as it has ever been played at the time, and playing on the road was even marginally worse than a team that finished in the top ten losing 65-14 at a neutral site in its own state.

To the extent you bring up the A&M game, you have to put it in context with the t.u. game as well.

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I couldn't agree more 91. With tu having a top 5 team, numerous recruiting NC's, "the legend", big 3, vince, "El Ced", blah, blah, blah.... We were a 4-8 team that got pummeled by Okie State in our own stadium for heaven's sake. Good article though.

GNMountain - I've met Charley North also. Played a round of golf with him. After 4 hours with him, I too was impressed. He is very staight forward when it comes time to talk football. He's been through the routine. He told me point blank that A&M will return to dominance.

The article is done very fairly, and I think it's more positive than negative.

ttt

Amazing article. Read it here while you can, and then go buy the issue anyway. This is one to save, and writing this good deserves your $$$ support.

Great Article! Boy am I proud to be an Ag. Thanks for posting the article!

After reading that, I really feel as though Utah has no chance.

As a Texas fan, I will say what an amazing article. I am shocked any of you have concerns about it. It looks like most of the replies are agreeing with me.

I know a few of you are trying to take solace in the fact we lost 65-13 to the same team. Sorry guys, we both got our butts kicked. Both losses sucked. If us losing big gives you comfort, I think that is a bad comment on the state of your program.

Honestly, it reminds me of what a few dumb horn fans would say to you in the early 90's. They used to make fun of you for losing the Cotton Bowl despite the fact you were beating us 10 of 11.

If that makes you feel better, so be it, but it must still be a hollow feeling. Been there done that!

The truth of the matter is this will end up being a rallying cry for the next 5 or 6 years and when you do get over the hump, all of you can look back and remember this game and a few others as when the bottom fell out and the team started to rise again.

Sucks to go through it, but things generally get worse before they get better.

Fran is a good coach and it appears he is a good man. Time will heal the wounds of this memory, but a big win over OU, or UT, or a big XII title will erase most of the hurt. I think Fran will get you there assuming you let him push through the bad times.

we took 16 walk-ons to Norman that day, and a traveling party is only 55 - 60 players. Better days are ahead. Fran will get us there, believe it.