Farmers Flight!
Texas A&M’s decision to ditch the Big 12 (and those teasips in Austin) for the SEC set off a frenzy that seemed to touch everyone, from students and sportswriters to a certain former yell leader. But when the Aggies and Longhorns square off on Thanksgiving for the last time ever, a lot more than pride will be on the line. It will be the final chapter in a bitter rivalry that started with the constitution of 1876—and has defined the state of Texas for more than a century.
16 comments
Sunday, November 27th, 2011, 8:38 pm
Omar G. Rivera says:
This was a sharp, historical treatment of the game’s effect on the larger issues in our state’s heritage, right up to the point that Mr. Burka claims “…the differences between UT and A&M grow increasingly less significant with every passing year.” As a former Aggie and cadet, (still reeling from Thursday night’s football game) it is difficult to accept that this is an easily forgettable rivalry. Partiality aside, his treatment of the final match-up game does not hold up as evidence of a dwindling rivalry insomuch as both colleges’ research expenditures are becoming more indistinguishable. That is, it exists on paper alone; on their financial statements to be exact. Otherwise, the income and geographic differentials Mr. Burka offers understate the chasm between two innate but opposing ideas about what it means to be a Texan. Collective identity affirmation this expansive is hardly found in other in-state rivalries except…maybe, Alabama. These differences, while somewhat indefinable, are not so easily forgettable. These differences after all, manifest themselves each fall for the last 118 years in a physical battle where representatives of the school, (our players), were charged with carrying out our collective desire to beat the hell out of another human being while remaining free of prosecution. It meant our approach was the better one. Suggesting these emotions will be diluted by the recruitment of a homogenous class of suburbanites is as flawed as stating that southerners were happily absorbed by The Union at the end of the Civil War. The loss of the game does not mean loss of rivalry, and does little to affect the complex, divergent paths that two people of relatively similar backgrounds choose to take. While it may affect the historical and socioeconomic elements that sustained this rift in the first place, it will do little to close it. If this alone were the cause then the term “house divided” is weightless, and my younger brother would have followed me to College Station and the Cadet Corps instead of graduating from t.u. and later, the Peace Corps. He texted me just after last Thursday’s game. It was hardly consolatory. I responded that I didn’t want to speak to him. I still haven’t. Visiting cousins said it’s just a game. I said it’s Texas.
Sunday, November 27th, 2011, 4:17 pm
Val says:
I will miss this game, but perhaps it is time for A&M to define itself in some other way than as the resentful younger brother, and seek an identity based on its own values rather than as against UT. The football rivalry was an aspect of the obsession with UT and from what I have seen there is a lot of ugliness around that which is codified in so many things, it might be nice to see what A&M could become if it wasn’t a hymn to its own sense of injustice, repression, and being the step child. They are no longer farmers and don’t need to fight for their place in the world - Bonfire was a tradition whose time had run out and maybe the end of the rivalry in general will allow A&M to move in a positive direction and not just grow, but grow up.
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011, 11:29 pm
Scott says:
I grew up with this tradition and it kills me to see it go. It seems nothing is sacred anymore and is a reflection of our society. If a school that is so steeped in tradition, and it’s entire identity is built around obsessing over UT, finds it expedient to break with that tradition, then what does that say about us as Texans, and the things we value? The two schools were like brothers that will now be forever estranged. I suppose I should resign myself to the fact that this is no longer the state where I grew up. With the changing times, a once great and unique state is gradually becoming indistinguishable from the rest of the country. I guess they call that progress, but I want none of it. So, I say so long to the tradition that I used to watch at my grandparents house on Thanksgiving. And not unlike my grandparents passing away, and their house being sold, another part of real Texas dies. Baylor ’94
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011, 2:20 pm
Christopher Landrum says:
I won’t miss this tradition getting thrown in the trash. It’s too bad all the world’s religions can’t be bought & buried for a mere $300 million a pop, but since this is Thanksgiving, it’s best not to complain for the plate we’ve been handed. UT BA ’06
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011, 5:18 pm
Kevin says:
Although it is sad that the tradition is ending, I am personally happy that A&M will not have to play the Longhorns anymore. My son was in the Fightin Texas Aggie Band for 4 years and the Longhorn fans treated the Aggie Band with nothing but disrespect, throwing objects at them, vandalizing their buses, etc. Traveling to Austin was always the most dreaded trip of the year for the Aggie Band. Its time that these schools try to respect each other as two fine Texas institutions.
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011, 4:49 pm
Chris says:
My entire childhood till now has been shaped by Thanksgiving following a drive with family to College Station or Austin for this game. While its sad that such a long standing tradition will end, its also a new chapter, and a very exciting one I might add. In my mind there is no better way to end this saga but in College Station with all my Aggie friends. Gig’em and BTHO t.u.!
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011, 3:34 pm
Debi says:
To be clear, and with all due respect to the author, Texas A&M was created in 1876; t.u. followed in 1883........I’ll be at the game (again) this year, and as an Aggie, I’ll truly miss the games and the rivalry. But I’m ready to move on to the SEC. I do, however, agree with a previous comment that both A&M and Texas need to get over their hurt feelings and find a way to keep this tradition going. Thanks & Gig ’em!
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011, 2:29 pm
D. Clapp says:
Thank you for this Thanksgiving slice of history and perspective, Mr. Burka.
Monday, November 14th, 2011, 3:55 pm
Dan says:
Thank you Mr. Burka for an excellent history lesson and summary of what the rivalry is all about.
Sunday, November 13th, 2011, 7:41 pm
Laura says:
I just graduated A&M in May. I didn’t grow up partial to either side, but my senior year in a huge suburban Houston high school all the talk was A&M or UT amongst me and my friends. I was prepared for Alabama, my dad’s school, but I soon found myself in Aggieland and in the Corps of Cadets. Though most of our traditions focus on Beating The Hell Outta t.u., it was more than that. Aggie and Longhorn jokes are thrown loud and clear everywhere regardless of actual location, Aggieland or Austin. Aggieland on Thanksgiving is an amazing thing to see when the campus is alive with an emotion that only t.u can bring out in us. As a senior marching down Congress Street in my boots with my saber, the Capitol building in my line of sight always, it’s not the "I am better than you" that you think of, it’s the history. Yes, A&M and UT have rich histories alone, but together the two schools have formed a foundation of our state and how we play a role in society, economy, politics and more. Thanksgiving is a time to get together and give thanks and remember where as a country we came from and how we started out. For Texans, it’s the same thing, just seen around a TV or football stadium watching two aspects of our state’s culture square off for bragging rights for a year. I am hard pressed to see A&M or UT completely give each other up. We may not play on the grid iron ever again, or it may be a decade, but in that break, A&M and UT will always mentally be trying to one up each other. Either side, our two schools are intertwined for a long while and it won’t be forgotten easily. I hope to see the rivalry regained, but in a new light. At the end of Thanksgiving day, we are all fat on turkey, a little happier thanks to our own personal drinks of choice and proud as hell to be Texan, as well as a little sad to see the end to one of the greatest college rivalries within the nation. Thanks and Gig ’em!
Friday, November 11th, 2011, 8:24 pm
Mike says:
Went to my first UT-A&M game in 1974- Longhorns won 32-3 at Memorial Stadium It 40 degrees with a 20 degree win chill Texas leads the series Even if A&M wins on Thanksgiving, the Longhorns will always be the. I can’t watch the game anymore since it’s so intense and I can’t control my emotions.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011, 12:21 pm
Kate says:
Edit to my previous statement, Paul Burka is not a Texas A&M alumn, I should have stated that this article reads in the voice of an Aggie.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011, 12:15 pm
Kate says:
This story, while explaining the tradition of the UT V A&M rivalry, is clearly written by an Aggie. That is not a problem, but I think some parts were skimmed over about what Texas means to A&M athletics. On the first page, a paragraph reads, "To understand the significance of the UT-A&M rivalry, a good place to start is the school’s fight songs. UT’s, titled “Texas Fight!” begins “Texas fight! Texas fight! / And it’s goodbye to A&M,” while the “Aggie War Hymn” goes “Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck. / Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck. / Goodbye to texas university” (both lyrics, of course, seem freighted with a double meaning now). These songs are sung at all games, no matter the opponent." A&M lives for this Texas rivalry and sings about Texas at every game, but Texas does not even mention A&M unless it is the Thanksgiving day game. In fact, Texas will mention OU before A&M. Texas does not depend on A&M to fuel their fire for competition. I, for one, will miss this tradition, perhaps more on the Texas side, but still it was a great game that was looked forward to every Thanksgiving. Best wishes to the Aggies in the SEC, but hopefully they have someone working on new fight songs! p.s. "Teasip?" I had to look that up on urban dictionary. Perhaps, a slightly dated term.
Monday, November 7th, 2011, 8:38 pm
Roben says:
I am a Baylor grad, but my father went to UT and my husband is an Aggie, so I feel close to both these schools. As proud as I am, as an ex-pat Texan, of my home state and its schools, I learned so much about the founding of these two mighty schools and the story of their rivalry from this excellent article. I’ve lived in Alabama for over 20 years now, and witness the fierce Alabama/Auburn rivalry daily. I understand the passion but have never felt a part of it. I’ll be watching the final (maybe) football match up between A&M and Texas, and fortunately I’ll be in Texas for this historic game. Burka’s article has made me a little less sad while even as I feel more connected to my own history. Lisbeth Ash Dothan, AL
Saturday, November 5th, 2011, 8:41 am
D says:
As a UT graduate, I thoroughly enjoyed Paul Burka’s “Farmers Flight”. It brought back many memories of Thanksgiving dinner at my grandfather’s house with the game on the radio or a black-and-white television set – my father a former UT student and my uncle an Aggie, each taking turns in agony as the teams’ fortunes changed during the game. So it is disappointing to hear that the two schools may not continue their annual game. It would be like Thanksgiving without turkey. In Florida, where I have lived for 35 years, it took pressure from the Legislature to get the University of Florida to play football against the upstarts from Florida State University. Their annual game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is now everything in this state that the UT-A&M rivalry is in Texas. And the two schools have never played in the same conference. Playing in different conferences is nothing more than a scheduling challenge. UT and A&M need to get over their hurt feelings and find a way to keep their storied Thanksgiving tradition alive. If the two schools are the intellectual powerhouses they like to say they are, they will find a way. David Powell Tallahassee, Florida
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011, 8:49 pm
Kevin says:
I hate to see the "City Slickers vs Sod Busters" Thanksgiving Day classic go. Plenty of good reasons, money being the dominating reason, but still a statewide tragedy for college football in Texas.
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