Red McCombs: 'A&M and Texas have to play again next year'

Well, if posts on this board are indicative of the average A&M fans attitude, then clearly A&M fans want to keep the rivalry going.

Similarly, if you assume that the posts on longhorn boards are representative of the average longhorn fan, then after doing a survey of 3 longhorn boards, it is clear that horn fans are ambivalent at best, outright opposed at worst.

Also the remark from David McWilliams (former Texas head coach, current head of association of former students) on the attitude of former students is also very telling. Basically he said that former students are also ambivalent at best.

Now, if this game belongs to the state of Texas, but half of those people are not broken up about it ending, then getting political pressure to keep it going will be difficult. How much political capital will pro game legislators (likely to be mostly A&M fans) wiling to expend to keep it going?

I think ultimately it will come down to the rich donors. If they link something like a big donation to Texas back tracking and keeping the game on, it will, otherwise no. Also if no announcement is made by early next year, there will be no game next year.

At the moment it appears that on the Texas side too many forces are against the game. Even Red McCombs can only do so much, he needs support from others like him.

Would Dodds have really gone out on a ledge this way unless he was reasonably confident that he would have some big name support?

Look I want the game to keep happening. But I don't want to pin my hopes on the word of one man, an important man yes, but just one man, when apparently so much is lined up against him.

Basically McCombs has thrown down the gauntlet. His after show conversations with the Texas brass must have been very interesting indeed. Man to be a fly on the wall for those.

Is A&M going to buy out the contract of one of the existing teams on Texas' schedule to keep the game going?

A contract is a contract... and UT's schedule is full for a few years.

Actually Architect changing schedules is not difficult, yes there might be buy out issues to deal with, but if Texas really wanted to, it could with a little difficulty rearrange it's schedule, particularly if McCombs et al are wiling to help with buy out costs.

Strangely, I think that because Texas won yesterday, there is a better chance of the rivalry series going on, than had Texas lost.

"* horns seen as the spoiled brats that they truly are for refusing to play the Aggies not only in football but in any other sport next year and beyond? Check."

not sure where you get this take, no one thinks texas are spoiled brats for not continuing the series. atm caused this series to end by jumping ship, not the other way around. atm obviously wants to play texas more than texas wants to play atm. most texas people are ambivalent about the series now and atm supporters should be the same. just look forward to creating new rivalries in the SEC and forget about us lowly longhorns...

Does anyone know when the 2012 footbball schedule will come out.?

Look at all the really big rivalry games in college football and then look at the series records for these rivalry games. Sorry Aggies, but 76-37-5 doesn't constitute a rivalry. It's a beat down and thanks to your departure to the best conference in the land, you have mercifully ended this shame you call a rivalry.

Roll, your arrogance is showing through your absolutely moronic statement. Record does not dictate a rivalry. Pride, hate, and utter dtermination create a rivalry.

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Look at all the really big rivalry games in college football and then look at the series records for these rivalry games. Sorry Aggies, but 76-37-5 doesn't constitute a rivalry. It's a beat down and thanks to your departure to the best conference in the land, you have mercifully ended this shame you call a rivalry.

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Similarly, if you assume that the posts on longhorn boards are representative of the average longhorn fan, then after doing a survey of 3 longhorn boards, it is clear that horn fans are ambivalent at best, outright opposed at worst.

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Honey, the opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference. And if the sips were truly ambivalent about the rivalry, they wouldn't waste their time, logging on to TexAgs, trying so hard to convince everyone how indiffent they were to it. That's what makes a rivalry so great. Mutual hate. Gotta love it and hope it continues

[This message has been edited by lily_langtree (edited 11/26/2011 6:23p).]

Texas does not want anything to do with A&M. Especially after Thursday. Texas has had the last laugh.

Texas for the last ten years has not looked at A&M as its main rival game. It is OU that Texas considers its main rival.

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Texas for the last ten years has not looked at A&M as its main rival game. It is OU that Texas considers its main rival.

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Texas does not want anything to do with A&M. Especially after Thursday. Texas has had the last laugh.

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Well, there's another one posting on TexAgs. And twice, no less. I believe 'The lady horn doth protest too much'. You've almost got yourself convinced.


[This message has been edited by lily_langtree (edited 11/27/2011 11:15a).]

I am probably a minority opinion but I just don't care that much about playing Texas again for awhile and just can't wait for the schedules to come out so this discussion can end. The loss to Texas hurt, but did not hurt any worse than the losses to Missouri or K-State. Any loss where you are one play away from winning is a tough one.

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Red McCombs doesn't run anything. He can't just waltz into a room and demand this game continue

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Well, yeah, actually he can. Guess you haven't heard of the Red McCombs School of Business at UT. He has dropped enough cash to where he has a pretty loud voice.

Having UT fans posting on an Aggie website after getting in the last laugh Thursday night is certainly understandable. (That was a great game!) Give it some time guys, it will soon be all the SEC fans coming to your chat room to give you grief after kicking your tail. In a few years, you won't be hearing a word from good old UT as they start building toward another National Championship run against an SEC team not named TAMU.

Thumbs up to Red. I am done with the sips, but we probably wouldn't be with more like him around.

The scheduling will be much like a non compete contract w/ an ex employee. I don't see TX or any other Big 12 school scheduling A&M for as long as possible. 5 yrs? Definitely.. 8? Very possible.

When someone threatens your liviehood you squueze them out. McCombs and others are just as likely to get on board with that thought as they are w/ leveraging a change of hearts on scheduling.

No one knows what happen, but I heavily lean towards expecting to not see my Horns play A&M for a decade unless it's a bowl matchup.

Word circulating from some of the ilk out of Austin is that when tu finally has openings on its football schedule in 2018, that they'll make A&M an offer for a 10 year pact, with all those 10 games being played in Austin. Afterward, they'll revert back to a home and home schedule. You can't begin to convince me that this ain't one of Daddy DeLoss's schemes!

cowboy1974

Threw any t-shirts that had anything to do with UTA out with the trash. Don't really care what they do in the Big 12 or in Austin.

I am happy to accept that OU is UTA's rival.
Once upon a time Arkansas was UTA's rival and we all know where the Hogs live now. Maybe the Hogs only thought they were the horns rival. Well that's a recurring theme. Who would be the rival if OU would go to the SEC?

Up until a week ago, I thought t.u. ending the series was shortsighted and stupid. Now, I don't want to play them anymore.

>> the world will be reminded how Texas did not really want to keep the game going<<

This is just BS. DODDS was the one that didn't want to keep the game going, and the only reason is that he's pissed A&M didn't shut the hell up, get back in line, and do what they were told to do. He's got this idiotic complex that he controls things. Anyway, every sip I've talked to, including shirt sips, want the series to continue. Almost everyone else, including those that don't support either t.u. or A&M want the series to continue. Dodds and his few apologists are the only ones that don't want the series to continue.

Well, them an me now. A&M doesn't need t.u.

91AggieLawyer

with all do respect, as a fellow lawyer, but a longhorn one, almost every horn fan i know, not all, but almost all, is very happy that the rivalry is ending. But most of them dont want it ended FOREVER(ok, we like the "we own the scoreboard forever" theme right now but accept that as a fun "gotcha" kind of thing that will pass).
I happen to think that you guys need to move on, establish yourselves in the SEC, and maybe in 2018 or shortly after, this can become a great rivalry again.
I personally think it is great that you are now in a different conference and i think that can make an annual game even more interesting, not less.
good luck. and hope to see you guys in about 6 years

With all due respect, as a fellow lawyer, it is a crying shame that Dodds (YOUR GUY) is allowing his ego to halt one of the great rivalries of sports. You know what this game means in Texas. We told you we want to continue playing. Don't give us this "scheduling" bull s***. Play us or you are a bunch of p*****s. It's that simple.

EVA

good luck to you and the others. i disagree with your view but do wish you guys great success in SEC.

AmusedHorn is right about a couple of things.

Here's what I think happened. When A&M decided to flirt with the SEC notion, the remaining Big 12 schools realized this would be a big loss for the Big 12, because there is no doubt that it is a big loss. But at that point there weren't many options...compromise the longhorn network to appease the aggies which would damage the longhorn brand or match the money the aggies would get in the SEC (wasn't going to happen). So their only bargaining power from the Longhorn perspective was threaten to stop the rivalry. I am positive Dodds did not make this decision alone, it was a calculated play by him and he had support. As much as I don't like him, he's not an idiot and would not go out on that branch without significant support. The miscalculation on their part was that the Aggie culture has changed. Historically, it was all about beating the longhorns. That was the measure of our success...we could go 2-8 but if we beat the longhorns it was a success. But that is no longer our culture. We want (and our winning) national championships in other sports and we want the same in football. Beating Texas may save our coach if we are a mediocre team (like it may have done for Sherman and did for Franchione at one time) but just beating Texas is not what A&M is about anymore. So when they threatened not to play us, it did not make our leadership pause and it did not make most Aggies think twice. Texas doesn't need the rivalry and neither do we. That doesn't mean it isn't a great rivalry and that we wouldn't be happy to have it continue...but the rivalry no longer defines us. I think it is good for us to move away from UT and establish ourselves in a separate conference to help others realize that. My only regret is that rivalries are what make college football great and we are one of a handful of schools that has such a great rivalry. [And I can't help but address roll89roll: comparing the overall record and calling it a beat down is very misleading. It was so one-sided in the 1900-1950 that their is no chance of us evening it up. Check out the last 20 or 30 years and you see the equality. And it's absolutely a rivalry when one horrible team can play a great team and beat them based off the emotion of just wanting to beat that team and that scenario happens again and again].

They made the threat to discontinue and they ABSOLUTELY would damage their brand if they backtracked at this point. To realize that you must understand the Longhorn brand. And that is the attitude that they are better than everyone else, that they can do as they please in their best interest to hell with everyone else, that arrogance is okay. And it sounds negative but it has been very successful for them. It works for them. So to backtrack off the threat and say they do want to play us would damage that image. AmusedHorn is correct: they could easily make changes to play A&M as I'm pretty confident Thanksgiving had already been pencilled in for years to come so the date was open for us. But they can't do so without eating some crow. I think that the game will happen before 2018 by any of the ways that have already been mentioned because while neither school needs the game, it is good for both schools and it is good for the state of Texas.

Finally, the irritating thing about these forums is the need to start calling others names, cussing them out, talking about their mammas. I appreciate Amusedhorn and longhorn 723 for remaining respectful and pleasant despite the attacks. I don't know why you get on an Aggie forum as I've never visited another school's boards but I do appreciate the discussion. Good luck to you guys as well. Maybe we'll meet in a national championship...HA!

agdoc99

first thanks for the kind words.

As to why i would get on an aggie list, it is the same reason a number of aggies and others post on the UT blogs. Interest.
Some horns want to say that we are not interested in the Aggies. Not true. We all have feelings about you, some hate, some respect, just like you guys have about us.

i got on because this has been an interesting time for you guys, and so i started reading TxsAgs about this past sat or sunday. twice i have seen things about which i thought i had something of interest to say, so i posted on those.

like all Old horns, i have a lot of old A&M friends. So i have a great deal of respect for them and where they came from. No reason on my part to be hateful. They all call me a ***** for not playing you guys again, i respond "scoreboard forever". Then we take our wives (my girlfriend, not married---at least now) to dinner and joke and laugh as we always have.

UT and A&M will play again, I think everyone knows that. But i doubt it will be before 2018. But that sounds like a very good year to me.