"Classless Clowns" earn their namesake
By: Jim Foreman
11/8/05
While Texas Tech has improved its offense since 2003, they
have decreased
the number of objects thrown by their fans
(only one cup tossed at the Yell Leaders) and increased the
amount of damage done to their stadium during the game
(at least three bleachers were torn from the concrete and
crowd-surfed to the back of the stadium as opposed to only
one in 2003).
Some complaints have been filtering in from Texas Tech fans
that we Aggies are unjustified in our accusations that they are
classless clowns. While it is nice to see they have matured
from throwing goalposts to throwing complaints,
personal
experiences in Lubbock have given me more than enough
ammo to shoot down their objections.
Let's begin with Saturday's game. Seated with the band, I was
fortunate enough to not only be within earshot of half of
Tech's illustrious student section, but I could even see
all of their clever hand gestures like the "
middle finger"
and the "upside-down gig 'em" and even the brilliant "double
middle finger."
When thoughtful chants like "Aggies suck" lost their luster,
Tech fans then turned their attention to the band and
began crying, "Hitler youth." Apparently songs like "God
Bless America" hold a different meaning in Lubbock.
And just in case there were any doubts, the Tech fans proudly
displayed their mastery of the written word by holding up
signs saying "McNeal is a [deleted]" and "
I gig'd your mom"
followed by "me too" and "I got next." In 2003,
one fan held
up a white towel with the words "gig this" above an elaborate
drawing of a [deleted]. I would imagine that had he known
that "to gig" means "to stab with a harpoon-like device,"
he would have rethought his usage of the word.
Honestly, it wouldn't be fair to draw conclusions about Texas Tech
based solely on the actions of
several hundred intoxicated fans.
Hence I will cite the flaws of their student newspaper, The Daily
Toreador, as well.
On Friday, the Toreador published an article called "A History of
Violence" by Jay Langley, in which the writer tries to prove that
Tech fans are no more rowdy than usual at games against Texas
A&M. This was a difficult task considering the swarms of police
officers attending the game and the
mounted police that
escorted the band into the stadium. The article then shoots
off in a different direction as it cites the collapse of the Aggie
Bonfire as something that will never happen at Tech. While
that may be true, Langley's prospective career as a journalist
suffered a major setback when he wrote, "In 2001, the night
before a football game, a bonfire collapsed killing 12 A&M students
..." I'm not sure where Langley gets his facts, but according to
the Bonfire Memorial, the stack collapsed a week before the
game against the University of Texas in 1999. I guess the
time change between College Station and Lubbock is about
two years and a week.
It's times like these that make me thankful that I'm
a Texas Aggie.
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