Monday
December 4, 1995
The Battalion
Opinion
Yell leaders make joke of Aggie Spirit
D o we demand too much?
After all, the name pretty
much sums up the job de
scription: Yell leader.
Of course, we all think yell
leaders are more important than
their name implies.
Melane Reynolds, chair of
Traditions Council, said, “They
are representatives of the Uni
versity — they represent our
spirit; they represent how we
feel about A&M. They show
class above and beyond the oth
er schools.”
Maybe this is why the yell
leaders disgusted me so much at
Saturday’s football game. They
failed to represent the spirit of
A&M in any positive light, and
they showed a lack of class that
rivaled the low level the Univer
sity of Texas set.
After uninspired perfor
mances at the first few football
games, most people’s criticism of
the yell leaders centered on
their silence at the games.
They did only a few yells
during the games, and content
ed themselves with primarily
performing those bizarre ges
tures that look like they are
throwing a boulder or splash
ing water on their faces. “More
yells,” Aggies cried, and the
yell leaders delivered.
Unfortunately, they went
overboard at Saturday’s game.
During halftime, the Long
horn band took the field and
played a march, making forma
tions similar to our own band.
Apparently, some people took
this as a shot at our band.
But, instead of allowing our
own band to show them how to
form straight lines and play a
march with energy, the yell
leaders felt the need to take ac
tion themselves. They led the
apprehensive crowd into a “beat
the hell outta t.u.” yell. Many
people followed; others didn’t.
To many of us in the crowd,
the thought of interrupting a
band during its performance
with a derisive yell is tasteless
and completely disrespectful.
Whether or not people liked
what the band was doing was ir
relevant, especially since it was
n’t clear it was trying to make
fun of our band. The issue
should have been how Aggies
behave, and never should Aggie
Spirit be confused with rude,
childish behavior.
Still, the yell leaders
weren’t finished.
Following the game, Texas
fans rushed the field. Although
no one could condone that be
havior, particularly after they
were asked politely to stay off it,
several hundred members of the
Corps of the Cadets approached
and started beating a few of
them. At best it was silly; at
worst, it was assault.
In addition, a few of the
yell leaders got involved in
the brawl. While some of
the yell leaders
were doing
their jobs
by lead
ing
the
de
jected
crowd in
yell prac
tice, one was
being forcibly
separated by
the police from a
guy carrying the
Longhorn flag.
True, the
Longhorn fans
were behaving in
appropriately on the
field, and to see
drunk and obnoxious t-
sips belittle Kyle Field
enraged us all. But vi
olence was not a fit
ting response.
Here was a
chance for
the yell
leaders to
take the
high road
and to show the 70,000 fans at
Kyle Field which university has
more class. As our elected repre
sentatives at football games, they
have a responsibility to show
what A&M stands for. Hopefully,
that does not include bad sports
manship in defeat.
Rather than being the
noble men on
Kyle Field,
they re
peatedly
ac
cept the
low stan
dards the Uni
versity of Texas
set throughout
the game.
For me, it
made a sad ex
perience even
worse. This was
my last game as a
student, and for the
first time, I saw our foot
ball team play a game at
Kyle Field it did not de
serve to win.
Worst of all, based
on the behavior of
the yell leaders
and members
of the audi
ence, our
University
didn’t de
serve to win, either.
Jason Brown is a senior
economics major
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Two Wrongs ...
Fighting after the game was an
embarrassment to Aggieland.
As the most heated rivalry
in Southwest Conference histo
ry, few things could overshad
ow the Texas-Texas A&M foot
ball game Saturday.
But something did.
When the game drew to a
close, Urdversity of Texas fans
celebrated their victory by
storming Kyle Field, despite re
peated requests by the public
address announcer to stay off
the field.
Although the actions of the
UT fans were inappropriate,
the response of many A&M
students was inexcusable.
In a display of bad sports
manship, several members of
the Corps of Cadets chased the
Texas fans and then physically
abused them.
Initially, members of the
Corps made a noble attempt to
prevent the Texas fans from
walking onto the field and
trampling an A&M tradition.
However, after being unable to
restrain them peaceably, some
opted to tackling and hitting
the Texas fans.
Violence is rarely warrant
ed, especially when the targets
themselves are not being vio
lent. True, many A&M fans
were frustrated by the game,
and the obnoxious and disre
spectful behavior displayed by
the Texas fans did not help
matters.
However, the assault of the
Texas fans was an embarrass
ment to Texas A&M and con
tradicted the true meaning of
Aggie Spirit.
The violent behavior dis
played by members of the
Corps does not represent the
entire organization, however.
Many cadets tried to restrain
their unruly colleagues, shout
ing, “Do not fight. That’s not
what we’re about.”
Unfortunately, many of the
76,000 spectators will have a
negative impression of the
Corps and A&M because of the
barbaric actions of a few.
While attempting to up
hold the sacred traditions of
the University is a noble and
just cause, it must be done
appropriately.
In the future, similar situa
tions could be avoided by ex
plaining the meaning and tra
ditions associated with Kyle
Field, instead of just requesting
that everyone stay off the field.
If more fans understood the
significance of the tradition,
fewer would attempt to chal
lenge it.
If walking on Kyle Field is
disrespectful, fighting on it
should be even worse.
Aggies right to beat
the hell outta t.u.
Once again, we showed the t-
sips which school is better. This
time, however, it was not in the
usual way of beating them at foot
ball. We showed our superiority
by our ability to lose with dignity.
I would like to commend the 12th
Man, and the Corps for their out
standing show of support after
Saturday’s upset.
The Corps did an excellent job
beating the ever livin’ crud out of
the t-sips as they disgraced Kyle
Field as for the 12th man, the
postgame yell practice showed
t.u. that you might be able to beat
us at football, but you will never
beat us in school pride.
Jared White
Class of ’98
* It was a sad day in Ag
gieland December 2nd when we
experienced our first loss on
Kyle Field in 31 games. However
it was an even sadder day when
we were forced to defend our
field from our opponent’s fans.
I would like to commend our
Corps of Cadets for their behav
ior at Saturday’s game. As the
t.u. fans attempted to trample
onto Kyle Field, all members of
the Corps moved down to the
field to protect and stop the t-
sips from getting on the field. I
was extremely impressed as to
Mail
how well they quickly formed a
human blockade to stop those ill-
mannered fans from dishonoring
Kyle Field.
I was just as impressed with
the manner in which the yell
leaders kept the remaining Ag
gie fans in the stands from join
ing the chaos on the field by do
ing several yells.
I just transferred to A&M this
semester and I have never been
so glad to be an Aggie as I was
yesterday when everyone came
together to protect and honor
Kyle Field. We should all give
them a huge pat on the back.
I would like to extend my
warmest thank you to the Corp
and the yell leaders. You should
all be proud of yourselves. We
may have been outscored but
we still beat the hell outta t.u.
Thanks for keeping the tradi
tion alive.
Kara McElhone
Class of ’97
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Fight shows poor sportsmanship
Postgame antics proves Aggies aren't what they pride themselves to be
D istinguished alumni, I
weep for thee.
As the Texas-A&M
football game ground to its
grueling close Saturday
evening, ending both our
Kyle Field winning streak
and our unquestioned domi
nance of the now defunct
Southwest Conference, the
people I felt the most sorry for were not even
on the field.
After all, our football team had fought
the good fight. In the future, I just think
they should try to get the ball to the guys
who happen to be wearing the same colors
as themselves.
And the offensive coordinators should make
a note that sending Leeland McElroy up the
middle seventeen times in a row probably
gives the opposing team a good idea as to
what play they should be defending against.
But hey, you win some, you lose some. And
believe me, we did lose. We weren’t outscored,
and we didn’t run out of time, as some have
insinuated. These categories do not exist, un
less they reside somewhere in our own little
Aggie-ized minds.
But it’s not the end of the world. The Uni
versity of Texas doesn’t suddenly gain the
right to shut down our campus and deport us
all to Siberia as slave laborers.
We just lost a football game. There are
greater tragedies in the world.
Maybe we should work on keeping that in
mind in the future.
Alas, some of the more motivated and less
intelligent members of our student body and
the Corps of Cadets decided to show the na
tion what they were made of after the game.
As they dogpiled unsuspecting Texas stu
dents and beat them senseless because they
had happened to violate some relatively ob
scure tradition concerning Kyle Field, I could
n’t help but think that our students were liv
ing up to their assigned roles.
But, I’m not that idealistic of an Aggie. I
don’t expect much more than this sort of be
havior from the majority of the
student body. Of course they
are going to get into a fight and
get revenge for their athletic in
feriority complexes if they lose.
It’s either that or confront
the fact that our hated rival
Texas was the one who “beat
the hell out of” somebody on
Saturday.
As I cheered on with the rest of the un
ruly mob that had become the Texas Aggie
fan club after the game had ended, I hap
pened to look up and catch the eye of the
woman standing directly in front of me in
the stands.
By this point in the day, I almost approved
of our embarrassing behavior. I was thor
oughly brainwashed.
I had spent the last five hours balancing on
one foot in the six inches of bleacher room that
had been allotted to me, wincing as my face
baked slowly in the sun.
I had suffered several heat strokes and
burst two blood vessels in my forehead.
I was still afraid to sit down, lest I be
slapped with the dread label “two-percenter”
and cast from the ranks of Aggie favor.
Yet, as I humped it for the three hundredth
time, weak with hunger and ready to sign my
organ donor card and step off the wood one
last time in order to die in peace, the Aggie
faithful and their ideological machinations
had me firmly in their grasp.
I wanted blood. I wanted our football
team to pulverize the Longhorns. I was a
convert, a disciple and a believer in the
maroon and white.
I was an animal, plain and simple.
The lady in front of me and I had a con
frontation earlier in the game, when the an
nouncer told the class of ’96 that they could
join the Aggie yell practice being held at half
time if they gave the field officials their “Aggie
word” that they were in fact seniors.
I snickered when the announcer said
this and announced in my typical cynical
manner that the Aggie Code of Honor did
n’t mean a whole hell of a lot to a whole
hell of a lot of people.
She responded with a five-minute lecture
on what the Aggie Code of Honor did in fact
stand for. I ended the conversation by stating
that I didn’t think she and I would ever be in
complete agreement.
Adter all, wasn’t she being a bit too idealis
tic in her conception of what made up the typi
cal Aggie student?
As we watched our own little Aggies fight
ing with the Longhorn students, punching
women in the face and generally wreaking
havoc, I almost felt satisfaction.
Not only did I approve at the moment, I
had been proven right. These Aggies might
not have been lying, cheating or stealing, but
they sure weren’t behaving too honorably.
Then I happened to notice that the woman
in front of me was not upset by this apparent
violation of her dearly-held Aggie ideals.
She was smiling as well, and cheering on as
the fighting continued and got even uglier.
If an Aggie graduate can deliver a tearful
lecture on the Aggie Code of Honor to those of
us who have gone ideologically astray as she
cheers on the Aggies fighting on the field be
fore a national television audience, what the
hell does that say about us current Aggie stu
dents and our hopes for the future?
Regrettably, not too much.
I came to my senses after the game and re
alized what we were doing on the field after
the game was stupid, immature and just plain
poor sportsmanship.
She was able to spout off Aggie platitudes
that obviously meant almost nothing to her
while looking on with delight as we made a
mockery of our school and its reputation.
Maybe this is what happens after you have
been indoctrinated for too long.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be weeping for the
alumni after all.
Instead, I think Ill just worry about what’s
going to happen to me.
Chris Stidvent is a senior
English and philosophy major
Chris
Stidvent
Columnist