Old Aggies
still at home
in Kyle Field
They laughed, screamed, yelled, and whooped ’til the
Richter scale hit six. Folks, the former students are back in
town. These eternal Aggies led the cheers and struck up the
music at the Alumni-Varsity football game, Saturday. And
they had a ball doing it.
Their hair may be flecked with gray, and their belts are let
out a few notches more, but their eyes tell the story best.
“We’re home.”
Words like spirit, tradition, great memories and just plain
great popped up repeatedly in conversations with the
former yell leaders and former Aggie Band members
strutting their stuff at the afternoon game.
“We’re putting up a great fight,” bragged former yell
leader Joe Mackler on the play of the Alumni team. “I just
enjoy seeing all these guys play again. It brings back great
memories.”
Gerald Betty, Class of’73, a residential builder in
Lubbock, silently mouthed the words to the Aggie War
Hymn as he led the cheer. Smiling, and breathing a bit
heavy, Betty said he couldn’t remember when the arm
movements changed in leading the cheers. The older yell
leaders swing their arms straight up and down.
“I think the old way is harder to do,” Betty said. “I guess
some Ag got tired of waving his arms and sort of changed
the cheer by accident.”
Betty ran out to his position for another cheer and yelled
over his shoulder, “this year we’re going to the Cotton
Bowl.”
Joe West, Class of’54, is one of the old guard. He leaned
against the front of the stands and chatted with friends
sitting nearby. A bead of sweat trickled down his face, but
West looked ready for anything.
“Its been 30 years since I did this,” West said,“so I’ve had
to re-learn my cheers. We had a dry run before the game,
and we were all reasonably close.”
On the student side of the field, approximately 118
former Aggie Band members fiddled with their instruments
or studied their music sheets between songs. Dressed in
white T-shirts and matching white ball caps emblazened
with the former student’s association emblem, these Aggies
really stood out from the crowd.
David Marion, class of ’65, steadied his bass drum with his
knee and smiled. The game had ended but Marion seemed
reluctant to leave. As the other band members gathered up
various instruments and relatives to leave, Marion stood
there thoughtfully.
Jim Adams, class of’62 and ’86, stood a head shorter than
Marion but smiled just as widely.
“The only time I play,” Adams said with a smile,“is when
the Aggies play.”
Marion watched the swarm of people on the field after
the game and seemed to be drinking the whole experience
in.
“This is the best experience in the world,” Marion says
softly. “The heartbeat won’t ever quit in Aggieland.”
Story by ED CASS A VOY
Photos by DEAN SAITO and PETER ROCHA
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