The Aggies and Hogs, and their rabid fans, get to hang out in the fanciest facility in the world for football Saturday night. Dallas will be rockin' . Money will be rollin'. Jones will be smilin'.
These two teams will be beginning what they hope will be a series of games that will compete with Texas/Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. That remains to be seen. What is obvious, however, is that the rivalry is heating up. Two of my Aggie "friends" have already called to needle just a bit. One of them, Ross Arth, an employee of A & M,is taking his family to the game! I am already setting aside canned goods and clothes for the family following his payment for the tickets. Deryl Everett just wanted to bet. He started talking points. He knows I gave up gambling when penny punch-boards were outlawed. There are other Aggie "friends" still lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce on me AFTER the game.... if the Aggies win.
My Razorback roots go way back. The first game I ever saw was in Fort Smith when the Freshman football team (remember those?) of Arkansas played the Freshman team of Notre Dame. I didn't know people could be as BIG as those Notre Dame linemen. Those Irish Freshmen would later be National Champions and undefeated.
I hitch-hiked to Fayettville while in High School. It was about 60 miles on a curvy highway through the Boston Mountains. I never failed to get there and back on a Saturday. I never had a ticket but would get in somehow. I saw Arkansas' All-American back, Clyde Scott , in a game against S.M.U. and Doak Walker. By half-time both of them had been injured. It was a great, exciting afternoon in Fayettville.
The Razorbacks have made some real blunders through the years. Losing Lou Holtz was one of them. I am not sure about the present coach or team. There has been a lot of turmoil at the school. A.& M. hasn't exactly been free of coaching and team problems.
We set all of that aside today. It will be a million-dollar game in a billion-dollar stadium. Whooo Pigs! Soooey!
