So I got to go to significantly more games this year, so I'd thought I'd give it a whole year before deciding what things I liked/disliked about the "game atmosphere" stuff at Kyle this year.

Pre-game Stuff

1. There's a Spirit video this year: things I both like and disliked about it, really didn't like the "the day they played the Aggies" line, you can't say that line ever without immediately invoking "Remember the Titans"

2. Singing the Spirit just before kick: 1000% yes, never change this again, always keep it there forever.

3. There may be a little bit too much, a couple of times they didn't hardly have time to do the intro for the team right, or do the War Hymn.

In-game Stuff:

1. Playing music at kick-off: I'm semi-ok with this, we're just playing the music too long, need to cut it off sooner for the "Gig 'Em Aggies" yell. Also don't think we need to do this every kick off.

2. Playing music on third down: Really don't like this on every third down, on huge third downs when the crowd is into it, forget the music just let the 12th Man do what they do.

3. The 1st Quarter song: I don't think hey quite found the right one yet if they are going to keep doing this, "If you're gonna play in Texas" worked ok, I don't think any other song they've played since has been much better.

4. The Jimbotron-DJ-Yell Leader-Band balance: I do think the DJ gets a little too much time, but overall in most games the balance worked ok for crowd momentum.

5. Post-game "Road Goes on Forever" after a win: Keep this forever, I think it's great.

Bonus:

New Army, you do so many things incorrect but one just gets me for some reason: Locomotive. The "train whistle" portion is a senior "Whoop" not a "wwwwooooooooooo" noise. It's a senior privilege in the Yell. If you don't know the yell, don't say anything. (gets off front porch)

Overall, I think this year was better than last year, just cut back the music some on kick-offs and third down plays and give more deference to the crowd and I think it could all work really well.

Edit: Fixed jimbotron

-5 pts because it's now called the Jimbotron but otherwise...I'll allow it.

I totally agree

Way to much hype music. Though sometimes it works. Gotta find a balance.

The spirit right before kickoff forever, but they definitely need to find a better pace, the War Hymn feels so rushed.

And I love REK after the game.


And the Locomotive yell has never recovered from when they tried to introduce the sky rocket yell. That's probably never getting fixed

Nonregdrummer09 said:

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New Army, you do so many things incorrect but one just gets me for some reason: Locomotive. The "train whistle" portion is a senior "Whoop" not a "wwwwooooooooooo" noise. It's a senior privilege in the Yell. If you don't know the yell, don't say anything. (gets off front porch)

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As a student I agree with a ton of what you've said, but this part about the locomotive yell is actually news to me. Yes, I've regularly attended midnight yell practice and I'm surprised they have never mentioned this. They continually correct us on some things and tell us that on some yells like A-G-G-I-E-S not to draw out the "S" and it sounds way better when it is kept sharp, same thing with drawing out the "fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight" in Farmers Fight yell. These never change since most the students are not at midnight yell to learn this.

Oh, and if you want to be a proper "old" around here, you've gotta comment something about how the first down yell is blasphemous

When did "hump it Ags" get added to the Spirit of Aggieland? I'm ok with most new army stuff but that really rubs me the wrong way. Yes I am old. But seriously I would be interested in the answer.

Roger Metzger said:

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When did "hump it Ags" get added to the Spirit of Aggieland? I'm ok with most new army stuff but that really rubs me the wrong way. Yes I am old. But seriously I would be interested in the answer.

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It was being done in 2007 when I got on campus.

I started to notice it some time around my sophomore year, so 2004ish

Nonregdrummer09 said:

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New Army, you do so many things incorrect but one just gets me for some reason: Locomotive. The "train whistle" portion is a senior "Whoop" not a "wwwwooooooooooo" noise. It's a senior privilege in the Yell. If you don't know the yell, don't say anything. (gets off front porch)

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Generally agree with everything you said, great job. One thing I want to add to this one. New Army, stop singing the war hymn when the band is playing at halftime! I can't even tell if you're singing the whole thing, but "sounds like hell" by itself in the middle of the band playing just sounds horrible.

Quote:

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New Army, stop singing the war hymn when the band is playing at halftime! I can't even tell if you're singing the whole thing, but "sounds like hell" by itself in the middle of the band playing just sounds horrible.

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Was done as far back as the late 80s...go find a few videos of the FTAB and you'll hear it quite clearly! Also people back then wore a lot more white to games...

Wow, I remember being specifically told not to in the 90s. I have noticed it before, but I always assumed it was fish that didn't know better, and it died off after 2-3 games so was never worth mentioning, but this time it seemed like more and more people joined in. I will still say it sounds weird if you don't hear the rest of the song and only hear the "sounds like hell" part.

Attended my first game in several years this weekend and don't ever remember there being so many overtimes.

Main changes that stuck out: I liked the music on third downs, especially later in the game, and I wasn't at all a fan of the current "there's a spirit" video. It just felt very generic and didn't capture the grit of Texas A&M.

92-97 we never sang the war hym at halftime with the band

BigOil said:

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92-97 we never sang the war hym at halftime with the band

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Maybe you didn't sing it but i bet you probably heard "sounds like hell" a lot...I sure remember it during that exact time...I sure yelled it a lot myself

Roger Metzger said:

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When did "hump it Ags" get added to the Spirit of Aggieland? I'm ok with most new army stuff but that really rubs me the wrong way. Yes I am old. But seriously I would be interested in the answer.

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Thank you. It sounds so stupid. If the yell leaders scold the student body on holding out the "s" and not about this, I don't know what to say.

Generally agree with OP, only off by degrees. Totally there on the Spirit. Thank God it's back right before kick. The Spirit video this year is not very good, and yea, the line "remember the day" is cheesy. But I love the in game hype music now. The first year of the redevelopment it was bad and distracting. But with the changes to bring back more control to the Yell leaders and band, it works great.

And Road Goes on Forever.... yes please, but only after monumental wins. It will get old quick if they do after every win.

Will add:

Yes, stop singing the War Hymn when the band is on the field.

The "first down" thing grew on me, we're all about crowd participation and during the LSU game even the alumni olds were into it.

Yell Leaders need to work on reinforcing senior privilege in the yells so underclassman stop guessing at the yells.

Roger Metzger said:

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When did "hump it Ags" get added to the Spirit of Aggieland? I'm ok with most new army stuff but that really rubs me the wrong way. Yes I am old. But seriously I would be interested in the answer.

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Totally agree. The way it's done now gives the impression it's apart of the song lyrics.

ITS NOT APART OF THE LYRICS. EVERYONE KNOWS TO HUMP IT FOR THE YELL PORTION OF SPIRIT. JUST STOP ALREADY.

**takes see breath** ok, Gig 'Em.

Aggie_Journalist said:

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Attended my first game in several years this weekend and don't ever remember there being so many overtimes.

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Is this where I can complain about the high school 4 finger salute to the 4th quarter?

Hump it Ags started gaining traction in the early 2000's

It was about that same time that numbskulls started singing the war hymn when the band played at half and always looked bewildered when they cut off to play a different march.

Aggie_Journalist said:

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Attended my first game in several years this weekend and don't ever remember there being so many overtimes.

Main changes that stuck out: I liked the music on third downs, especially later in the game, and I wasn't at all a fan of the current "there's a spirit" video. It just felt very generic and didn't capture the grit of Texas A&M.

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I like the "Spirit" video itself, but the voice over sounded like a junior high boy. We need a powerful voice doing this stuff. I dont care if its male or female, just needs to be powerful. The point of the Spirit of Aggieland is that it causes things to happen...it causes other to fear and respect the Aggies. It's not about, "come hang out with us because we are all so welcoming." Get a better voice over.

When did this whole thing with doing an extra "YOU!!" At the end of "...The eyes of Texas are upon you" in the War hymn?

Sounds like soldier boy and it's ****ing stupid.

Alpha Texan said:

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Nonregdrummer09 said:

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New Army, you do so many things incorrect but one just gets me for some reason: Locomotive. The "train whistle" portion is a senior "Whoop" not a "wwwwooooooooooo" noise. It's a senior privilege in the Yell. If you don't know the yell, don't say anything. (gets off front porch)

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As a student I agree with a ton of what you've said, but this part about the locomotive yell is actually news to me. Yes, I've regularly attended midnight yell practice and I'm surprised they have never mentioned this. They continually correct us on some things and tell us that on some yells like A-G-G-I-E-S not to draw out the "S" and it sounds way better when it is kept sharp, same thing with drawing out the "fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight" in Farmers Fight yell. These never change since most the students are not at midnight yell to learn this.

Oh, and if you want to be a proper "old" around here, you've gotta comment something about how the first down yell is blasphemous

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1000% this. This new abomination is homo AF.

Dr. Horrible said:

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Nonregdrummer09 said:

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New Army, you do so many things incorrect but one just gets me for some reason: Locomotive. The "train whistle" portion is a senior "Whoop" not a "wwwwooooooooooo" noise. It's a senior privilege in the Yell. If you don't know the yell, don't say anything. (gets off front porch)

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Generally agree with everything you said, great job. One thing I want to add to this one. New Army, stop singing the war hymn when the band is playing at halftime! I can't even tell if you're singing the whole thing, but "sounds like hell" by itself in the middle of the band playing just sounds horrible.

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Current student here. Agreed

Old Ag here. Agree with most everything that's been said.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned. I did go to one Midnight Yell this year. During the "Squads Left, Squads Right" yell, most of the students were shuffling left and right during that portion of the yell. Don't know if that was just a Midnight Yell thing or if it goes on during the game as well. Looked terrible.

I now know how my dad felt when he complained about things changing between when he attended and when I attended.

1) Need to get back to the 2010 There is a spirit. Always left me with chills.
2) change intro song of Power.

I am actually glad we stopped during bugle call moments. Always seem to occur during a key moment

I can handle most of the new stuff. As stated the locomotive yell kinda grinds on me, but by FAR the thing that drives me NUTS is people, especially cadets, NOT yelling on 3rd downs. If you have a voice left today, at all, you're doing it wrong.

Locomotive got screwed up by sky rocket because the hand symbol is the same. They have tried several times over the last decade to correct it to no avail.

And I thought the same thing about singing during halftime until I saw a video from 80s Where the crowd was clearly singing the War Hymn along with the band. They stop when the band changes songs. We still have the best damn halftime show and participation anywhere.. It's fine.

There's a Spirit video needs to be outsourced to Cold Chedda

-5 more points for beginning a sentence with "So"

Does that bug anyone else?

It has spread like a Cali wildfire in the past couple of years!

So what else bugs you?

I'm good with the DJ playing on big downs. Why not have the 12th Man + music? It has to be louder. I often felt like this season the band and Yell Leaders allowed a lot of silence in the game. (Maybe intentional to give the students a break.) The DJ would wait a few seconds of silence to see if there were yells or songs, and then play something.

Other pre-game things to eliminate: the pre-game prayer.


I haven't figured out the right song yet, but is there a song out there with lyrics the FTAB could play and students could sing a long to after the 1st quarter? Something like Yellow Rose of Texas or Deep in the Heart of Texas.

TexAg1987 said:

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There's a Spirit video needs to be outsourced to Cold Chedda

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Done.
Thread can end here.

Nonregdrummer09 said:

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The "first down" thing grew on me, we're all about crowd participation and during the LSU game even the alumni olds were into it.

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I guess we're ok copying Baylor now. This is the maybe the worst of all the new crap at Kyle.

The Spirit video was NOT an improvement, definitely a huge let down.

The entry song needs to change.

The team is entering WAY too late this year. They literally have been coming on the field with barely 30-45 seconds to spare while our opponents are generally out there for at least a couple minutes for last minute warm-ups.

TLDR; A&M needs to stop hiring temporary people without teaching them about the stadium. I could not get any help from stadium officials in trying to get my disabled son into our seats.

I'm not sure if anyone from A&M will see this, but maybe it's worth a shot posting it here and maybe it will get someone's attention.

I have a disabled son who is in a wheel chair. We were sitting way up in section 416 so my plan was to get him up there in his chair by taking the ramps and then fold it up and carry him up to the top of 416. When we got to the north end zone entrance, i made the mistake of getting in the wrong line and getting into the 'stairs only' section.

When we got to the front, i asked the bag checker if there was a way I could get to a ramp with his chair. His response was "I don't know, i just check bags."

We then go to the ticket taker and I asked if there was a way to get to the ramp. He responded "I don't know, i just take tickets".

A sherriffs deputy who saw my situation was kind enough to come and grab me and my family and take me through the crowd and hand me off to a lady. She pointed me through to an area underneath the east side where the press elevator was. She told me to go down there and try to take the elevator up. I tried that but was immediately stopped by a new lady who told me that I didn't have credentials. After explaining that I was just trying to get up to the zone, she said "I don't know, but you can't come here."

Finally I just broke down my son's chair and carried him up the stairs. When I got to the top, the guest services booth also didn't know anything about disability access in the zone, but was at least able to point me to the ramps.

When i got up the ramps, I finally found a student who was working the guest services booth who was kind enough to help me find a place to stash the chair for the game and help me get going to our seats.

It's crazy to me how literally everyone knew nothing about the stadium and couldn't help me with pretty basic instructions. A&M needs to fix this. We've had amazing experiences with friendly and knowledgeable staff at Reliant and MinuteMaid, so it's a shame that my alma mater is just so bad at this frankly. It makes it really tough to bring my son to see the game that he loves so much.