there was excitement in 2013. SEC. something new. getting away from problems.

What we had to be excited for has passed and we're being passed.
All the bulleting points we said are coming back to bite us.

It's easier to just ignore it and walk away.

BaileyAg said:

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I was just saying this the other day.
Never seen it so quiet.

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Taking a giant **** on national TV EVERY SINGLE YEAR for decades will do that...

SunrayAg said:

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A combination of the SEC stabbing us in the back and allowing espn to buy their precious a spot in the conference, and the players going from recruits to hired guns, has caused me to be less interested in college sports than at any point in my life.

It's not a matter of bas. It's a matter of being disgusted with the new era of college athletics.

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EOT

Texas A&M is one of the richest universities in the country, and our fan base is one of the richest fan bases, if not the richest, in the country. The age of NIL is perfect for the Aggies to emerge from their slumber. Paying players in all sports is legal. The fact that we're not taking advantage of this new circumstance is an indictment of our leadership and nothing else!

If we had the right leadership, we would be emerging as a new powerhouse and not being punked by the sips who are taking advantage of the exact same circumstances I've outlined. This leadership failure is what we should all be pissed off about not whining about some BAS.

SEC backstabbing A&M
NIL / Portal = no player loyalty; it's essentially a low level of pro football, but without contracts
Obscene coaching salaries, and no coaching loyalty at any level
Games at Kyle Field are way too expensive for the product
Our yell leaders dance around and act like gay dudes
The fact that we haven't even won a conference title in over 25 years!
A lot of things have changed over the years but, except for a couple years, our program has sucked for a quarter century.
Always a lot of talk, but the program never gets better results -- after watching almost 50 years of mediocrity, it just has beaten me down.

It's just TV networks, schools, coaches, players, etc. all fighting over the billions of dollars created by the college football viewers; and as long as they're all making money, records/success doesn't seem to matter to A&M.

DWren said:

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Moderation and deleting of threads and post to make sure everyone follows Texags criteria has gotten worse and worse. And it's on every freaking board on this site.

Why many don't post here or post less and less and why they don't attract new audience

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Spot on. The moderators have gotten horrible. Instead of just removing posts, they spout off some smartarse comments. That completely turned me off so I am on another SEC site that is 100% better with a ton more traffic

TyperWoods said:

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Levy situation sums it up

Everybody hates them
TAMU does nothing about it, nor even acknowledge it

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Well, this dude told me a while back that if it keeps on raining,
the levee is going to break.

maroongoon95 said:

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I have never seen the boards more quiet in the off season. I started posting on Texags in 2000. Was banned after bashing Slocum too much in the early 2000's. Regret it now. Wish Slocum was never fired. I think he would have turned it back around sooner than later. Back to the topic. I'm going to have to blame the lack of interest on Battered Aggie Syndrome. BAS as u see it on the message boards. OR .... could it be something else. Has BAS finally beat us down to a point beyond hope? Are we done? Do we have hope? Next year Nuno....are you there? Chime in bro. Drinking since 1430

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Years of BAS has finally taken its toll on me. For well over 50 years of me closely following A&M sports, I am pretty much done with the living and dying with all things involving A&M. We see copious amounts of kool-aid and sunshine pumping on this site (its good for TA business) only to see pretty much the same result as Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. I had season tickets for several years only to see annual increases in the required TMF donation be routinely paired with a subpar season, year after year after year.

We have built new facilities, changed conferences (SWC to BDF to SEC), changed coaches, changed players, bought players, changed AD's, changed university presidents, and on and on and on only to pretty much get the same mediocre results.

I have come to the conclusion we have a pervasive culture problem at the university with respect to athletics. The law of averages say we should have more success than we do but we don't for {insert excuse here} annually. You can only be the proverbial sleeping giant for so long but alas, we remain in a dazed and confused state. Anytime that we do have a modicum of success, we get all giddy and turn those events into galactically stupid contracts and raises only to find a way to **** the bed - again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Seriously, we do less with more than any school out there.

On the positive, I have found many other things to do and its actually OK to not be consumed with aggie athletics. It took me awhile but I am finally at that point.

Winning will cure a lot of ills. This coming football season, after we make it into the playoffs, all sorts of Ags will be riding high and posting. The Sleeping Giant will be awoken!

Fanatic15...Drs2B! said:

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I think it is just realism.

Nobody here (I'm talking football forum) thinks we have the coaching or the talent to be anything better than what we've been.

Mediocre. 8-4 or 7-5.

Until proven otherwise.

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Absolutely ! We're just getting ready to start on year 86 of mediocrity !

I think part of it is generational. Younger folks aren't on these types of forums as much as the old guard. And that old guard sees the same ole **** every year.

PeekingDuck said:

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I think part of it is generational. Younger folks aren't on these types of forums as much as the old guard. And that old guard sees the same ole **** every year.

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Exactly.

New younger generation doesn't come on here.

Older generation thinks premium $11.99 a month or whatever it is is good enough disposal income to stay out of the 'zoo.'

Premium board is now the zoo on crack with ridiculous takes

This board loses traffic

Normals who still came around notice slowdown in traffic and ultimately move on

This board rots out unless it's game week.

As I've noted on here several times, we've never gotten serious about a coach. When we hired Elko we were acknowledging our quest for mediocrity. When have we ever taken a chance at trying to lure away/land a big name head coach ? Again, I've pointed out several times recently that we need to hire a professional search firm to get us a coach with a real chance at a Natty.

Speaking of taking chances on coaches, look at Belichick...... 6 Championships and a 24 year-old girl friend under his belt. Who hires him ? North Carolina. Would we have taken a chance on him ? Not only NO, but Hell NO ! And you can all guess what response the zoo would have had to even considering him. Just wait and see, North Carolina will be better than we are (not a high bar), likely this year.

So, it's not just BAS, it's the fact that in the last 86 years we haven't been serious about getting the best head coach, and assistant coaches, possible. Until that happens, sit back and enjoy year 86, and don't worry about the zoo.

Here's A&M's core values:
Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service. They do not include winning in athletics where leadership is highly questionable.

They removed the illusion of the student athlete. That was the connection most of us had with the sport. Now that that has happened, we don't really care anymore.

Furthermore, most middle class and higher educated adults are weighing the pros and cons of "making your son into a man" and chronic brain injury. Less of them are playing.

I played HS FB and while it wasn't something I was going to do in college, it changed me and prepared me for life. But the facts are coming out…it's not healthy. My line coach who played for tu when they won a MNC in the 70s died a horrible death from his brain injuries.

The WRs and CBs are not the ones that face repetitive jarring head hits. It's the linemen and linebackers that are getting serious hits (and encouraged and allowed to do so) every single play. But the rules only protect the skill players. Theres no rule that won't ruin the sport that will fully take brain injury out of the game. At some point, we are going to ask ourselves whether it's moral to watch.

NIL and the portal have exacerbated the detachment. Football is living on borrowed time.

Bosco said:

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HECUBUS said:

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TexAgs died when politics became bigger than sports for the majority of posters here. Strange days indeed.

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At least with politics I've felt like I've had some big wins recently.

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America has had some big wins recently.

We are finally giving up…

Zero interest

For me, it's a combination of BAS coupled with NIL and the portal.

My interest is at an all time low... but come the fall. I'll more than likely be drinking the kool-aid setting myself up for a major letdown... yet again.

fla_agfan said:

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For me, it's a combination of BAS coupled with NIL and the portal.

My interest is at an all time low... but come the fall. I'll more than likely be drinking the kool-aid setting myself up for a major letdown... yet again.

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I thought I would last year, but for the first time, I didn't care. I watched our games (except maybe one or two), but I didn't care about the outcome at all. Seeing a bunch of paid randos running around with A&M uniforms on doesn't evoke any feelings of loyalty from me. And it's only going to get worse as the years go by.

vander54 said:

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The Collective said:

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I think premium has most of the football discussion.

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Only discussion allowed on here is negative discussions. If positive at all you are attacked

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Not sure how that has become a thing. Certain posters to blame. But absolutely idiotic that you can't talk about the program in a positive light without the insecure throwing their venom. It's weak and obnoxious.

Its because we suck at everything and will be for the foreseeable future. We don't have the right coaches at the helm in football, baseball, and basketball to be optimistic.

TAMU Athletics: Nobody does less with more

This board was alive after 2020, the last time Aggie fans had hope of being elite. But it has since faded, Jimbo took it down. If Elko can take us back to 10 wins or more, it might come alive again. But what I'm thinking is that the football board will turn to a board like basketball and baseball, where the passionate congregate and the laymen are not as common.

Disagree it's on all forums. It's mainly just this forum. But this forum has always been pretty average to begin with.

The baseball and basketball forums are the same as they have ever been.

What has happened in this specific forum more, it's impossible to have any real discussions. Trolls, BAS, whatever takes over most topics quickly so it's waste of time to even try.

Following recruiting is not the same as it used to be for several reasons. A few of those reasons: transfer portal, constant coverage that just dulls the senses, certain schools control a lot of the coverage, etc.

Myself, I have not followed the football offseason in a long time bc A&M spring sports are solid and great to follow.

And the older I get, I have placed following sports in the proper perspective.

All that being said, it's easy to see for many A&M fans their perspective revolves only around the sips. And mainly football. Which we lost, so for many they just cannot handle it.

Oh

And I have been a TexAgs member since the very beginning.

Well said.

I agree with you on the wealth and richness of our graduates/alumni. Aggies have a tradition of integrity, intelligence, leadership and great knowledge and success in many endeavors.
Aggies did not get to where they are financially and otherwise by making bad decisions, business or otherwise. Perhaps that is why most know that throwing millions, if not billions of dollars at kids that have little to no loyalty to our school just to have a sports trophy in a display case does not make much sense.
More than half of t.u.'s success is due to manipulation and politics, arrogance and ego….and all that that entails. I think Aggies are above that and thats what separates us from other schools. Maybe that's good leadership in the grand scheme? I dunno.

the most cool guy said:

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I think most of us have seen enough over the last 10 years to know we're never going to win an SEC championship, especially now that the blue blood schools can openly pay players. Following and caring about this program is an absolute beating that is not worth enduring.

Also, at least speaking for myself, players becoming hired guns now means I don't know or care who most of our players are. And the ones whose names I do know can just transfer whenever and be playing against us next year, so none of this **** is worth my time or energy.

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fify

We can't blame our lack of interest and excitement on players being hired guns and playing for money because that hasn't caused a lack of excitement at Ohio State, or Texas, or Michigan, or Notre Dame etc...That doesn't cause a fan base to lose interest if the product is still successful and competing for championships.

It is a lack of success, over and over and over in major sports...PERIOD. People get tired of making all of the different types and levels of investments as fans, whether it be emotional, financial, time (like posting on boards), only to never receive the payoff.

We can tout our school to others in lots of categories (and we all know that and take pride in it)...but athletic success is NOT one of those categories and people have stopped believing in a narrative that just isn't factual.

Most of us have changed to the guy at the office that says, "I love my school and watch the games, but damn, we aren't ever going to win anything."...and when people hit that point, they don't post a lot of excitement and anticipation on forums.

The idea that message boards aren't frequented by Gen Z in favor of social media is probably spot on.

As for NIL, I don't think that would have any negative effect if we were winning more games. Like in any other era, fans like to blame the losses on any "crap" from "this day and age." Back in the day I'm sure many Ags were stomping mad about the forward pass being introduced, or freshmen being allowed to play. A&M has the means to be a major player in the NIL era. If anything, I think that should benefit us.

The one new thing I think that does stymie discussion is the rapid roster turnaround. In the past, everyone's favorite player at any given position was the 2nd or 3rd string guy whose potential seemed more enticing than the current guy's production. We all remember their recruitment and how excited we were when we landed that prospect. In the last 2 or 3 seasons, I've struggled remembering who the 2nd and 3rd string guys even are. In a sport like basketball, I don't mind the idea that every player is a 1 or 2 year rental. In football, it takes the air out of depth chart debates.

As for BAS, that could be taking its toll on some. I think last year's team showed enough to give us hope, but also showed enough for us to know better than to make bold proclamations. The SEC as a whole was down last year. It's very hard to predict moving forward.

My interest is a fraction of what it once was. Like others, it's a combination of accepting that we will always be mediocre and just being fed up with the current state of CFB.

The kids barely use texags or any forum online really outside of tiktok comment sections

TyperWoods said:

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Levy situation sums it up

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Thanks bud, appreciate the shout out.

SunrayAg said:

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A combination of the SEC stabbing us in the back and allowing espn to buy their precious a spot in the conference, and the players going from recruits to hired guns, has caused me to be less interested in college sports than at any point in my life.

It's not a matter of bas. It's a matter of being disgusted with the new era of college athletics.

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It's both for me.

BAS is ever present - it is like time itself. It may be distorted on occasion like time and light get when they get too close to a black hole - like last year with the baseball team - but inevitably we always find ourselves back in the doldrums of Aggie sports. A slightly-better-than-mediocre program across the board with the occasional blip of greatness that lasts 1 season before we slip back into the comfort zone of slightly-better-than-mediocre.

The transition of college sports into essentially a Bakaara Market where players transfer more than they are traded in MLB, NFL and NBA combined, where loyalty and commitment to a school and a brand is long forgotten and a relic of the past has only cemented the growing apathy for college sports in general.

I spend more time following softball and women's tennis than I do anything else lately. They aren't completely corrupted as men's major sports are. Yet.

At least we can get back to measuring the success of a season by how we do against tu again, so there's that tradition. Or something.

It's funny, the offseason used to be soooo long and I'd count down the Summer days until FB season started again. My Fall weekends would revolve around the Aggie schedule and I'd be bummed on Sunday after yet another disappointing loss. If I had to record the game I would go great lengths to go radio silent until I could finally watch the DVR'd game.

It's freeing now, not planning my weekends around what some 20 year olds are doing on the field. I'm no longer emotionally invested. Sure, I'll still watch or follow the games but it doesn't dictate what I do on Saturdays. And when we lose it doesn't ruin my weekend.

maroongoon95 said:

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I have never seen the boards more quiet in the off season. I started posting on Texags in 2000. Was banned after bashing Slocum too much in the early 2000's. Regret it now. Wish Slocum was never fired. I think he would have turned it back around sooner than later. Back to the topic. I'm going to have to blame the lack of interest on Battered Aggie Syndrome. BAS as u see it on the message boards. OR .... could it be something else. Has BAS finally beat us down to a point beyond hope? Are we done? Do we have hope? Next year Nuno....are you there? Chime in bro. Drinking since 1430

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Slocum was never going to turn things around. We were on a downhill slide with him and had we kept him we would probably be in worse shape than we are now.

The only redeeming quality about keeping him is that we may not have gotten He That Shall Not Be Named as a head coach.

But inevitably, we would have still sucked and still would be without a conference championship. Odds are we wouldn't even be in the SEC had we kept him.