favre - I think you're missing the big picture. The best part is that we're talking about swimming at A&M. We've been doing that for several years now.

For some reason though it seems someone with a thin skin gets upset because we ask questions why/how things are done around here.

If you had been following this board as long as some here have - you'd know we were happy as hell with last year's finish. Most of us are happy with the Texas-heavy freshman class.

And what's wrong with asking about a mid-season invite?

Well put, Spice. For the most part, we're asking for the sake of learning and curiosity, because it seems to be a unique strategy. If we can't discuss it, then what fun is following it? We know that a lot of you current/former team members post on here, and hope to be enlightened as to the theory behind it. Likely, some of us will agree with it, and some will disagree with it, but we all know that nothing we post here will affect the future of the team, so who are we hurting?

If the swimmers are going to get upset by this sort of thing, then they should probably stay off of Texags (which I'm sure they've been advised to do by the coaches).

Care to offer an explanation for the layoff?

Like I said before I doubt it's part of any grand plan...and it's only one more week off than last year...I don't think it is really much different than year's past other than not contesting an invite (which they never rested for anyway).

The men have looked great in their two weekends of meets so far and, if history is any indication, that means things will only get better from here. I'm really looking forward to the SMU dual (even if the Ponies do a slight rest) and meeting Mizzou at Big 12's.

Between the large freshman class contributing, the entire team competing well, and next season's recruiting buoyed by one of the best signees in school history I think the men's program is in terrific shape. Kudos to the coaches for what they have done. I'm sure it hasn't been easy.

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 11/17/2009 2:18p).]

I'm sure there aren't many if any current swimmers on the message board. All I was saying I am fine with talking about the concerns but also as an Aggie I feel like credit is due when any team does well. Personally I don't think the layoff means anything. I'm sure the scheduling that the Coach Homles/Boyd and the AD did just fell that way. I wouldn't read to much into it

i would think budget has something to do with it, but that's nothing new for 2009. looks like the guys will be swimming mizzou twice, texas twice, smu twice, and lsu. Apart from teams spending money to come to their house (Auburn) there's just not enough incentive to spend the thousands it would take to go to another meet. as was pointed out in another thread, there just isn't enough teams in the region to support a 7-8 dual meet season.

It also speaks to how good men's swimming in the region is too. Every one of those teams frequently appears in the top 25 and most, with the exception of Texas, are all teams that are somewhat close in talent and ability to each other. It will make for some great racing.