John Sharp: The Longhorn Network Didn't Drive Us to The SEC

Words unspoken:

“Our subtle forms of militant racism and traditional celebrations of animal husbandry, Gap braided belts, and the adherence to a diet of fried foods all add up to making us a natural fit with a league that permits at leat one game in the states of Alabama and Mississippi every year.”

An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do*.

• unless there’s some possibility any or all of those things will help our football program.

“We switched conferences because Texas was so greedy” (But the move was because they wanted millions more in television revenues).

“We wanted to be in a conference where revenues were equally shared” (But the SEC doesn’t share revenues equally).

“We moved because of LHN” (But LHN wasn’t the reason they moved).

“We want our own identity and not to have to be associated with UT” (But we want UT in our schedule every year).

“We switched conferences because it was more fitting with our culture” (Ok, this one might be true. SEC schools are in the most poverty riddled section of the country, the endemic racism of a&m is so bad they passed on a chance to get Kevin Sumlin as coach and took the Sherminapper instead, academics means ZERO to SEC schools other than Vandy which is, ironically, the one SEC school where football means nothing).

“Tradition is what we at a&m are all about” (But their ’War Hymn" will no longer be sung, their sacred bonfire means nothing and their tradition of losing to Texas Tech is not on the trash pile).

ad nauseum, ad nauseum….

Oh, you mean it was about money? I’m shocked.

This needs to be stricken from the record. Out of aliment with talking points of Texas is greedy because:
1) They should have started the LHN and distributed the revenues evenly… you know like ABC does when teams play on their network.
2) Keep less of the revenue they generate for the Big 12 and give the other 9 teams more of their profits.
3) OU is really running the show and Boren has a leg to stand on in the new Big 12.

Next they’ll be saying Nebraska wanted out from under the partial-qualifier limit.

But everyone knows it’s all about LHN. Everyone.

No exceptions.

Wait…what’s wrong with braided belts?

Really, cheap and unfounded accusations of racism do little for the discussion here.

I’m beginning to shift my position on playing the Aggies. Now, I say screw ‘em as so much of their fan base is blaming UT (while denying it’s UT) and rolling out their usual tired delusions of their own manly manfulness compared to our effete fagginess. They want to run and call it courage, let ’em run and be done with them and their institutionalized lunatic hatred.

But the more I hear from their officials as well as their fans about them wanting the game, the more I have this vision of some punk running away and looking over his shoulder and talking shit. It appeals to my own emotions. I want to spread my arms and say “bring it, bitch.”

I don’t think it is likely that they will reap a great recruiting benefit from joining the SEC because that really isn’t that much of an addition to what they already offer. On the other hand, if they do reap a benefit, kicking their ass 7 out of every 10 years may diminish it.

I am sick of the Aggie way of lying about their own history (they’re the victims in every riot they’ve caused) and the Aggie way of delusion. Can’t decide if it’s worth putting up with for the pleasure of shutting their mouths on the field or cutting them off and just putting up with what will be their permanent state of moral victory: “Sure we lose, but we lose in a better conference than you’re in!! Whoop, sippie!”

Hard to decide.

To the large number of sane Ags out there: I don’t mean to lump you in with the fanatical and insufferable element of your fanbase. I refrain from saying things like “typical Aggie.” I’ve got family and friends who are great people and Aggies.

Read Phil Bennett’s statements. An aggie gets it. They left for recruiting purposes only. I also didn’t realize that bowtie was hired in 2010 right before they started flirting with the SEC. This decision was most likely spearheaded by McKinney and other BOR who probably wish they owned a sports team, but made a disastrous long term decision for the Aggies.

bigdukesix:

Cheap, maybe. Unfounded, not unless you consider Robert Gates an uncredible source: http://theaggieinsurgency.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/are-aggies-ready-yet-for-a-critical-examination-of-the-gates-administration/

“Wait…what’s wrong with braided belts?”

I’m sporting one right now. Retract your comment toadvine. Retract!

When Saban creams them, it’ll be Texas’s fault.

When “The Hat” wins with 10 seconds on a “what was he thinking” play, it’ll be Texas’s fault.

When Coach Boom smothers them, it’ll be Texas’s fault.

But please play us each Thanskgiving!

Nordberg – obviously there are exceptions when it is being used in an asphyxiation “session”. Carry on.

“We didn’t leave because Texas had the LHN. We left to divert attention from the fact that we passed on the network. And the lemmings have bought into it. Can you believe it? Easiest job I’ve ever had.”

Arrogant and smug. He said being in the SEC would help their recruiting. I say he’s wrong…winning will help your recruiting. And that is something they have not been doing. Losing hurts your recruiting.

 On playing with the “big boys,” (as he calls it) well they are going to do that again on Saturday and I’m thinking Arkansas Razorbacks are going to pin their ears back, like LSU did last year. He’s a smart aleck, playing with Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri and Okie State is playing with ranked teams—they are the big boys. He’s so lame he reeks.

Sounds like none of you want to lose the A&M game either. Then it is agreed then? We need to start spreading this around the internet.

Whatever. I seriously care not about A&M anymore. They will soon be irrelevant to all us of soon.

I’m not sure the southeast is ready for the exportation of the A&M brand.

The aggy move will work out for the best for all as long as we never play them again in my lifetime.

So, the Texas A&M has a culture that is more in line with the deep South, Arkansas and Florida rather than Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, OK State and the other mid-west programs. I truly beg to differ and call BS on this.

I’ll admit to a certain fondness for John Sharp, and this may not be an altogether popular view. However, it seems to me that the point of his comments in the video is exactly what many Texas fans (on this board and others) have been saying that A&M should do. Namely, leave the “TU is Evil!” rhetoric behind and focus on how and why the move to the SEC is good for Texas A&M.

Texas, by just about every account, handled the high-school-content and conference-game-on-LHN issues poorly. A&M, at least by Texas fans’ account, handled the PR aspects of their move poorly. In my view, Texas made an effort to make up for its blunder by yielding two key concessions at the cumbaya meeting earlier in the summer. While that received some coverage at the time, it’s rarely (if ever) acknowledged in the on-going narrative of Texas’s role in all of this, which has been a source of frustration among Texas fans. Sharps’s comments seem to be A&M’s first shot at “fixing” their public remarks, and we Texas fans should endeavor to give him/them credit for that.

Put another way: If the key gripe is not that A&M left, but rather how they left, then we should acknowledge and applaud the comments Sharps made in that video.

“Any place, any time”…..ok, Austin, Thanksgiving, LHN, every year.

We’ll see over the next few years what the impact on recruiting will be for the Ags. I suspect it will be heutral at best, and negative for all but East Texas recruits. One of our commits/recruits mentioned “wanting to play in the Big XII South” as a reason for choosing UT the other day. Hard to imagine many high school players saying they want to play so far from home that their parents won’t be able to see any road games.

The only way Aggies recruit better is if they return to their cheatin’ ways. The LHN should be able to fund quite a few private investigators to keep tabs on all $EC recruiting in Texas. If we make it clear that if you come into Texas and try to buy recruits, we ARE going to catch you and we WILL turn you in, that should slow down the cheating.

We get it aggy. Blah blah blah…Texas is bad…blah blah blah…Texas is greedy. Just shut up and move already. Stop justifying it to yourselves. You wanted away from Texas and that’s what you got. You’re not our little brother anymore.

But now who’s going to stop those other kids at school (like Bama and LSU) from picking on you?

I sincerely hope you lose every damn game in that new conference of yours. Trouble is I won’t even bother to keep up with your scores.

or neutral, at best

bigdukesix -

The fact that the old tradition aggies vetoed the hiring of Sumlin is something that angers the younger generation of ags who don’t care what race their head coach is, as long as he can win. Its no secret in farmville that there won’t be a black head football coach until there is a generational change amongst the power brokers at a&m.

I will give the Aggies a hat tip on this one. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then and they did trip upon an acorn. If they get $4-5 million more, get into the best football conference in the nation, and it gives them some differentiators to get out of the giant Longhorn shadow – this makes sense for them.

Am I the only one who thinks the recruiting advantage resulting from aggies leap will be negligible? I mean, they seem to think they can get more highly rated kids just by playing teams like Alabama and LSU every year, but if those kids are better than the recruits they currently get, wouldn’t they be recruited by teams like LSU and Alabama? The “staying close to home” argument isn’t going to bring this plethora of four and five star recruits in my opinion. Those kids want to play for big time programs with a winning tradition and a chance to win a national championship, and aggy can’t offer that……yet. They couldn’t get those recruits playing in a weak big 12. Winning is the single most important aspect of recruiting…..regardless of conference, and until aggy stops giving up 17 point leads at home, they’ll never get the cream of the crop. “Hey kid, come play for a aggy – you can get your ass beat by LSU, Bama, and Florida every year…..whaddya say”. I guess that’s sexier than Baylor, Okie St, and KSU

tx2step – agreed, but this came far too late in the game to correct the damage done.

Eventually, everything in college football comes down to winning. If you win you recruit better, your alumni give more money, you’re on TV more so you have more exposure, you can pay your coaches more etc.

I personally think it will be more difficult for ATM to win in the SEC. (It would be more difficult for us to win there too) consistently. But there is a chance that ATM might become Alabama or Auburn if things fell exactly right. I think the odds are against it, but they certainly aren’t losing anything by trying something new. They know what the results were with UT in the same conference and it wasn’t good. From our stand point, I’d rather have them move to the SEC and stay within the (admittedly lose) SEC rules than go all Jackie Sherill again out of desperation.

“What are my chances 1 in 100?

I’d say more like 1 in a million.

So you’re tellin me there’s a chance! Yeah!"

On the other hand, if they do reap a benefit, kicking their ass 7 out of every 10 years may diminish it.

Dealing with the three of 10 is just a huge pain, and the benefits of the seven are hard to find.

I’m kind of the opposite of you. I could live with playing or not playing, but allowing A&M to blame Texas the whole way and yet give them what they want most is only encouraging bad behavior.

agy is as agy duz

yawwwwnnnnn… eyelids… sooooo… heavy…

zzzzZZZZZZzzzzz…

“Thank God and Greyhound you’re gone.” And, please, NEVER schedule them again during the season.j

Did he say T. Boone was the one drinking?!? If Sharp hasn’t just come back from a three martini lunch, I’ll be shocked…

“tx2step said: September 30th, 2011 at 9:40 am

I’ll admit to a certain fondness for John Sharp, and this may not be an altogether popular view. However, it seems to me that the point of his comments in the video is exactly what many Texas fans (on this board and others) have been saying that A&M should do. Namely, leave the "TU is Evil!" rhetoric behind and focus on how and why the move to the SEC is good for Texas A&M."

Except that he has been appointed as the guy to politic for us continuing to play them. I gave my views on Sharp in another post based on a lot of experience with him as a person and politician. What he is doing now is overtly political, period. He is the newly appointed “why can’t keep playing each other?” mouthpiece and will stir that pot until we officially kick it over and it seeps into the East Texas soil. That is what this interview and his bullshit comments earlier in the week are all about—-nothing more and nothing less.

What Newy25 said. Aggie = irrelevance. I do not intend to waste another letter, number, or symbol saying anything else about aTm after the period.

Wait until the SEC fans start cutting up that thin aggy skin.

“Put another way: If the key gripe is not that A&M left, but rather how they left, then we should acknowledge and applaud the comments Sharps made in that video.”

Attempts to put lipstick on a pig deserve acknowledgement only through disdain and derision—-with no applause

Jake Lonergan – Couldn’t agree more and, on top of it, he is a smug asshole!

Here is where aggy recruiting will make a difference. The SEC allows two semi-literate, low grade morons a year – the Big 12 doesn’t.

This doesn’t seem like many unless one of those neanderthals is 6’4’, 235 lbs. and can run a 4.3 40.

If Sharp were testifying, I wouldn’t believe him because he continues with the “any place, any time,” when we know if Texas offered a 10-year contract of games in Austin that it would not be accepted.

As a long time Longhorn season ticket holder I hate to admit that A&M won this one. If Ags play their cards right they will be able to skim the cream of Texas recruits with the promise of playing in The big league. They will make more money. And the Big XII, XX, IX is the weaker for it and may yet fold. I wish Texas would ask to be invited to the SEC before we lose our chance and the Sooners beat us to the punch.

This doesn’t seem like many unless one of those neanderthals is 6’4′, 235 lbs. and can run a 4.3 40.

Oooh! Oooh! Does two outta three count? If I can reverse the last one, I’m your guy – I’m pretty sure I can run a 4.3 in 40… I gotta pretty good hitch in my giddyup, and my knees are 68 years old… but, less than 5 yards in under a minute – hell, yeah, I can do that. Neanderthal, not so much, but wunna my great grandfathers was named Gunnar and wunna the others was named Leopold – will that work?

“As a long time Longhorn season ticket holder I hate to admit that A&M won this one. If Ags play their cards right they will be able to skim the cream of Texas recruits with the promise of playing in The big league. They will make more money. And the Big XII, XX, IX is the weaker for it and may yet fold. I wish Texas would ask to be invited to the SEC before we lose our chance and the Sooners beat us to the punch.”

Socks are fun.

Sharp’s ‘purpose’ wrt preserving the Texas game as described by Jake above underscores the large value and importance of the Texas game to A&M. The fact that Sharp is out politiking it is evidence of this. The ripple effect of not playing that game is difficult to quantify, but even in a least worst case scenario, A&M appears to be quite aware of the void it leaves for them. The dwindling die-off effect on A&M may take years to be fully realized.

I still think about the difference in perception had A&M asked Texas if we’d preserve the game or not BEFORE they announced their intent to bolt. I’d understand if they chose to leave for the SEC in the event of us giving advance notice of unwillingness to play with that outcome, but it clearly puts the onus on them, where it resides. Screw them for taking the game for granted. Sharp talks about all the other cross-conference in state rivalries, but he fails to make the distinction that A&M is the only school of all those mentioned willfully wreaking havoc on the conference of another.

The number one thing we can do to slam the lid shut on this quarrel is to initiate a new out conference annual game with a traditional program, like the Fighting Irish, to make the decision a no brainer. The number two thing would be to ignore them.

It doesn’t surprise me that the aggies are whores, but it does surprise me that the aggies are such cheap whores. A&M betrayed the other Texas schools for a measly $4 million per year. The rivalry with Texas alone is worth more than $4 million per year to the aggies.

Bowtie Loftin and John Sharp keep talking about 100 year decisions as if they were Moses leading God’s people to the promised land. And the aggie fan base is foolish enough to fall for it. If aggies weren’t stupid, they wouldn’t be aggies.

No matter what transpired, I’d still like to watch Texas play A&M every year around Thanksgiving.

I’ll duck now.

triple, I think we’’ll do exactly what you described schedule wise, along with possibly moving Tech there if need be. And being able to ignore Aggy is a sweet consequence this move that they unilaterally intitiated.

Not to go completely overboard with the undressing of John Sharp, but he used to gleefully use a particular slogan when describing those who purport to advocate changes in public poilicy but only if said changes would have absolutely no negative side effects on them. He’d always trot it out right after issuing one of his performance reviews. The slogan was “everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die”. Aggy politicing for continuance of our rivalry as they exit stage right is the personfication of your favorite quote, John. Live (or die) with it!

Oh, and nordberg ftw, as usual.

So, someone with A&M (the chancellor, no less) finally comes out and says what we’ve all said A&M should be saying, and the response from Texas fans is to deride it as either (a) too little too late, (b) "purely political," or © both? I personally don’t give a shit what Sharps’ motives are. The thanksgiving-or-no-thanksgiving thing will be what it will be, irrespective of what John Sharp tells Evan Smith in a video. My point is, this entire 3-ish month saga has not been good PR for UT; and we now have the Chancellor of A&M on record saying that LHN specifically and UT generally had nothing whatever to do with A&M’s decision. That’s of course what a large number of Texas fans has said all along, but it’s exactly counter to previous A&M comments, as well as to the re-a-fucking-lignment narrative as a whole.

Even if you think there is indeed something funny about peace-love-and-understanding, it’s immediate and relevant troll fodder across a wide range of fan blog sites (OU, a&m, MU, NU, etc). Why should we as Texas fans be anything other than giddy about that?

Alabama ignored AUburn for about 40 years to the detriment of Auburn. Legislators mandated the series resume in the 40’s. Now of course, by their own admission, its the biggest rivalry game played.

i honestly want to punch both of these douchebags in the mouth. i never want to play aggy again, i never want to hear from another aggy. all i want to do is continue to laugh at the punchline of college football from afar…

When Sharp was talking about non-conference in-state rivalry games, I think he started to say Alabama-Auburn but then stopped himself when he realized his folly. I’m sure the Iowa-Iowa St rivalry people were flattered to be compared with UF-FSU and UT-A&M.

He looked like an old 60 to me. That interview was just fun and games, not really much probing and follow-up. If you’re going to ask about LHN, at least bring-up what the Byrne wrote to back up your question.

"any place, any time,"

I say we propose an ironclad contract with no withdrawal provision setting the game for 10 years on the LHN and on the same Saturday as the SEC Championship Game.

“Really, cheap and unfounded accusations of racism do little for the discussion here.”

Totally agree. A&M’s hypocrisy regarding the free enterprise system is so blatant, to have to pepper-in unfounded racism charges really weakens and diverts the conversation.

Racism this. Racism that. Racism, blah blah, blah.

The fact that such a conservative school would leave the conference because there is not enough wealth re-distribution from the earners to the freeloaders is the huge story here. The tired old cries of racism are unnecessary, put us on the same level as TAMU, and, frankly, give the casual observer more reason to hate UT.

Didn’t John Sharp go to Texas? I know he has a son there when I was there.

I want spell check

Sharp talks about all the other cross-conference in state rivalries, but he fails to make the distinction that A&M is the only school of all those mentioned willfully wreaking havoc on the conference of another.

This is what they don’t get. All of the other n-c rivalries have been stable relationships for a long time.

The number one thing we can do to slam the lid shut on this quarrel is to initiate a new out conference annual game with a traditional program, like the Fighting Irish, to make the decision a no brainer. The number two thing would be to ignore them.

There’s an e-mail going around from an editor of an ND board saying that a move to add BYU, TCU, Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia would destroy the football Big East and perhaps convince ND to place non-football with the B12. ND would agree to play three B12 teams per year — one of those presumably would be Texas. That’s all in line with what has been posted here regarding Texas’s relationship with ND. So that might actually be happening.

A&M really loves the state of Texas. The past 10 seasons they’ve played a whopping 4 non-conference games against teams from Texas.
2011 – SMU; 2010 – SFA, 2005 – SMU, Texas St.

Texas has played 16. Including roadies at Rice and UTEP.

TCU will be coming on board since Deloss dropped the no new Texas teams deal. Its all about TV revenue and TCU is a bigger draw than Aggie on TV. That is a fact, their national TV ratings are higher on nationally televised games. Aggies are the ones that left the conference, if they wanted to continue playing Texas they should not have left. I predict John Sharp will be fired in 3 to 4 years after the Aggie alum wake up and see what he did to them.

Sharp is a conniver alright, but Gene Stallings was the lynchpin of the aggy decision.

Stallings loathes the Longhorns to the core of his being!

If we can’t schedule an annual game with ND, Texas and TT should reschedule all of their future games to Thanksgiving Day starting in 2012, and get ESPN to confirm they will be broadcasting the game. Pronto.

Nordberg,you are funny, my aggie friends use exactly the same spill. I remind them how many Texas players play in the NFL. Your team cant hang their recruiting hat on a conference, if they could, TCU would not have been better than the aggies over the past 10 years.

The General sez: I want spell check

Why? It wouldn’t have helped – not one of those words was misspelled. Here’s my favorite demonstration of that problem (special bonuses: it scans and it rhymes).

Dim worts is awl spilled rite eye no, mi spilling chicken tolled mi sew.

The Aggies will do anything to curry favor over the next few years to show how they really aren’t newcomers, that they always belonged in the SEC, that it was those commies from Austin that were so mean and evil. They’ll be offering free steaks and blowjobs to fit in as the new guy. Only one problem, they’ll soon figure out by year two that steaks and blowjobs are compulsory once the illusion that they were actually giving them by choice disappears.

free steaks and blowjobs

Both of these may require use of doggie bags.

Re: “There’s an e-mail going around from an editor of an ND board saying that a move to add BYU, TCU, Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia would destroy the football Big East and perhaps convince ND to place non-football with the B12. ND would agree to play three B12 teams per year — one of those presumably would be Texas.”

Don’t know if this is the thinking, or who all the players would ultimately be, but an annual fixture with Texas plus games against 2 other Big12 teams on a rotating basis would be pretty mutually beneficial to ND, Texas, and the conference as a whole. Also just wondering how much ND would be interested weighting their slate of games to the state of Texas to increase visibility to revive those old recruiting lines Holtz had tapped. A fixed annual with Texas alone may suffice for such a wish.

Re: “The Aggies will do anything to curry favor over the next few years to show how they really aren’t newcomers, that they always belonged in the SEC, that it was those commies from Austin that were so mean and evil.”

I cringe every time I see Aggies refer to Saban as Nick Satan. Like they’ve been in a tussle all along. Or had him as an MNC-winning coach only to deal with him later becoming the HC their chief division rival.

I say work the pragmatic side. Do not consider what is best or worst for aggie. Take them out of it and assess like any other game.

If we consider the game a net benefit to us, schedule it. If not, then don’t schedule it.

Pretty simple really.

Didn’t John Sharp go to Texas?

Nope. B.A. at A&M. Masters from what is now Tx State.

http://www.answers.com/topic/john-sharp-texas-politician

“tx2step said: September 30th, 2011 at 1:02 pm

So, someone with A&M (the chancellor, no less) finally comes out and says what we’ve all said A&M should be saying, and the response from Texas fans is to deride it as either (a) too little too late, (b) "purely political," or © both? I personally don’t give a shit what Sharps’ motives are. The thanksgiving-or-no-thanksgiving thing will be what it will be, irrespective of what John Sharp tells Evan Smith in a video. My point is, this entire 3-ish month saga has not been good PR for UT; and we now have the Chancellor of A&M on record saying that LHN specifically and UT generally had nothing whatever to do with A&M’s decision. That’s of course what a large number of Texas fans has said all along, but it’s exactly counter to previous A&M comments, as well as to the re-a-fucking-lignment narrative as a whole.

Even if you think there is indeed something funny about peace-love-and-understanding, it’s immediate and relevant troll fodder across a wide range of fan blog sites (OU, a&m, MU, NU, etc). Why should we as Texas fans be anything other than giddy about that?"

You didn’t say anything about giddy. Your post suggested we somehow should give him credit for it like what he is doing is some grand act of benevolence. It isn’t!

Jake

Benevolence was neither assumed nor required, though I will say that blaming a politician for having an ulterior motive is something akin to blaming a compass for pointing north. Or, depending on your world view, blaming a scorpion for using its tail.

The general pattern of the posts prior to mine was "Same old BS from the same old aggy.’ The point of my post was to say, BS or not, it’s nowhere near the same as what we’ve heard to date, and it’s beneficial to Texas on the PR front. Whether you see it as a sincere attempt to bridge the gap or a cynical ploy to get some other thing, the narrative difference is worth acknowledging.

“The game does not belong to Texas A&M. The game does not belong to the University of Texas. The game belongs to the people of Texas.” [paraphrase]

No wonder the Aggie athletic department is in hock. They’ve been giving away their product for free.

Oh, and If “exporting the state’s football brand” justifies them going to the SEC, it should also justify us playing a better, more nationally-respected team on Thanksgiving. Notre Dame, come on down…

2step:

No offense, but why is it worth acknowledging? Your best line is your first one. A&M blamed Texas for “instability” and contributed more of it exponentially. What Sharp said can’t be categorized as a backtrack.

A&M burned the bridge. If they want the game that badly, they’ll either rebuild it or apologize for burning it. Neither of those is happening.

If the aggie minions are mad about the supposed control that Dodds/UT had on the Big 12, they are really going to be pissed when they figure out a Longhorn is controlling the way their school is being run (this doesn’t include at least 22 Distinguished Alumni of A&M). It’s interesting that they aren’t going ape-shit over it.

“tx2step said: September 30th, 2011 at 5:24 pm

Jake

Benevolence was neither assumed nor required, though I will say that blaming a politician for having an ulterior motive is something akin to blaming a compass for pointing north. Or, depending on your world view, blaming a scorpion for using its tail.

The general pattern of the posts prior to mine was "Same old BS from the same old aggy.’ The point of my post was to say, BS or not, it’s nowhere near the same as what we’ve heard to date, and it’s beneficial to Texas on the PR front. Whether you see it as a sincere attempt to bridge the gap or a cynical ploy to get some other thing, the narrative difference is worth acknowledging."

I never failed to acknoeledge the narrative difference. I just pinted it out for what it is a

“tx2step said: September 30th, 2011 at 5:24 pm

Jake

Benevolence was neither assumed nor required, though I will say that blaming a politician for having an ulterior motive is something akin to blaming a compass for pointing north. Or, depending on your world view, blaming a scorpion for using its tail.

The general pattern of the posts prior to mine was "Same old BS from the same old aggy.’ The point of my post was to say, BS or not, it’s nowhere near the same as what we’ve heard to date, and it’s beneficial to Texas on the PR front. Whether you see it as a sincere attempt to bridge the gap or a cynical ploy to get some other thing, the narrative difference is worth acknowledging."

That clearIy wasn’t your point and if you are as aware as you say of how politicians manipulate, then why were you trying to exalt what he said beyond what it was. I didn’t blame him for being a politicianor doing what they routinely do. Nor did I fail to “acknowledge” the difference in the narrative. In fact it was at the core of what I posted. Unlike you however, I didn’t offer up praise for it or suggest that he should be applauded for it or have been given credit for it. I simply recognized it for what it is. A new tactic by a new mouthpiece to make us the bad guys on another plane, which is not playing them anymore which has now become their more immediately expedient target, having successfully lied all the way out the door heretofore about their reason for leaving—-that reason being the mean old Longhorn Network

Here’s what you posted:

“Sharps’s comments seem to be A&M’s first shot at "fixing" their public remarks, and we Texas fans should endeavor to give him/them credit for that.”

"Put another way: If the key gripe is not that A&M left, but rather how they left, then we should acknowledge and applaud the comments Sharps made in that video."

I only applaud people for things that they do or say that are worthy of applause because they are remarkable in a positive way or are, at the very least, honest and sincere. And I only give them credit when I believe they’ve done or said something because they think it is right, not because it’s to further a political agenda—-in this case against the University of Texas.

I don’t get what your problem is? You’re clearly in backtrack mode here. You said what you said and now you’re trying to take a different tack to rationalize it. If that works for you, cool.

For Sharp to say that LHN had nothing to do with the SEC move is ahem, a bit deceptive.

Sharp is citing that A&M will make 4-5 million more in the SEC. That’s not mostly from increased TV revenue. Nearest I can tell, that revenue shouldn’t go up by more than a million or two per year. Thus most of that revenue difference must be projected increases in donations, ticket sales, and apparel. Mullets are pumped. And why is Aggieland jonesing so bad to go to the SEC? One of the biggest reasons is A&M’s official response to the LHN. The Aggy brass made an cantankerous fuss about it and got their fanbase deeply riled up over it. They’re not realigning, remember, they’re “SEC-eding”. From us. Over LHN and other (undefined, non-existent) instances of bullying. That’s been the overt angry narrative for months.

I’ve been saying this whole time that A&M’s motivation had nothing to do with Texas or the LHN. But their the LHN had everything to do with the Aggy brass’ behavior. If John Sharp was really being honest, he’d be giggling and saying, “Psyche”.

He was giggling. But now as the front man in an effort to sell the Horns on maintaining the game, he’s had to come clean and admit the LHN had nothing to do with the decision.

Thing is, even if UT wanted to maintain the game, until the Big12 mess that the Ags created is settled by bringing other teams, I don’t see how Dodds and Co could even address the issue. Also, as the non conference schedule is set for several years, it’s hard to imagine how an OOC Thanksgiving game could be scheduled.

If, as rumored, TCU enters the Big12, it would make more sense to play them, or possibly even Tech, as it maintaining the instate recruiting exposure while denying it to the Ags, now resident in a competing conference whose other members obviously want their conference exposed on Texas TV’s. . We need to help and reward those of our friends within the conference, not reward those who sought to destroy it.

He was giggling. But now as the front man in an effort to sell the Horns on maintaining the game, he’s had to come clean and admit the LHN had nothing to do with the decision.

Thing is, even if UT wanted to maintain the game, until the Big12 mess that the Ags created is settled by bringing in other teams, I don’t see how Dodds and Co could even address the issue. Also, as the non conference schedule is set for several years, it’s hard to imagine how an OOC Thanksgiving game could be scheduled.

If, as rumored, TCU enters the Big12, it would make more sense to play them, or possibly even Tech, as it maintains the instate recruiting exposure while denying it to the Ags, now resident in a competing conference whose other members obviously want their conference exposed on Texas TV’s. . We need to help and reward those of our friends within the conference, not reward those who sought to destroy it.

Jake

My problem is that you and other seem so invested in hating aggies that you’re refusing to see the board in front of you. Which is so very, well, aggie. Even if Texas fans aren’t going to be better than that, I do expect them to be smarter than that. Let me try to explain this way:

Let’s say it’s you and I at the poker table; you pull pocket aces. You raise the blinds, I call, now the flop comes A-A-K. I immediately go all-in. Now, am I bluffing? Does my bet push you all in or do you have the chips to cover? The answer, of course, is that neither matters, since neither will change how you react. If I’m bluffing you have me beat for sure. If not, the best I get is 4 K, which you still beat. You call the bet, take my money and that’s that.

My point here (that I’m frankly surprised to have to spell out) is that Texas fans should “acknowledge and applaud” Sharp’s remarks as if they’re sincere because it’s good for Texas either way. If he is sincere, and the remarks are embraced as such, then a bridge is built; a fence is mended; Europe gets its act together; the economy turns around; and everyone lives happily ever after. If he’s not, we still have a video record of the chancellor flatly contradicting what the AD and president have said, similar to the OWH article on Nebraska’s leaving.

If you set aside all of the petty we-hate-them-because-they-hate-us nonsense, and you set aside whatever personal dislike you have for Sharp, iow if you look at this in a clear-headed adult-like way, you’ll see that there is no circumstance under which Sharps’s remarks are anything other than good for Texas. OR, you can react the way a stereotypical aggie would, and refuse to take a path that’s good for you, simply because it might give “them” more credit than they deserve.

I guess if that works for you, then cool.

Re tx2step: “If you set aside all of the petty we-hate-them-because-they-hate-us nonsense, and you set aside whatever personal dislike you have for Sharp, iow if you look at this in a clear-headed adult-like way, you’ll see that there is no circumstance under which Sharps’s remarks are anything other than good for Texas.”

Don’t lose sight of the fact that while this thread is about Sharp’s comments, the heart of the matter is about A&M’s actions. What Sharp says really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if he’s bluffing or not because A&M kicked the table over and forfeited its seat.

I’m not an Ag hater or interested in acting out of malice. But am motivated in our best interest.

It’s true that Sharp’s comment are good news, as they remove the BS argument that the LHN was the driving factor in their move. That said, I clearly see that the Ag’s and SEC brethren want the exposure and dough this game would provide, and I can’t see where that is in our interest.

Should we be able to play some other in conference team with a little national appeal, such as TCU should they be in the conference, we retain the income, recruiting value, and reward a fellow Texas conference member.

I appreciate there are lot of families with Ag and Horn mixes and the tradition of the game has merit, but it isn’t in our interest to drag the SEC camels nose under our conference tent.

I skim most of these posts because the whole subject bores me.
A&M has made their move. Good for them. Fuck them. They’ll fail in the SEC at least as well as in the Big 12. How many SWC titles did they win? Not many. It won’t get better for them here on out.
Exciting times are ahead for UT. That’s what I’m interested in.
The chips will continue to fall in the near future. Texas will be fine. Exactly how that plays out is the interesting question.
Buh-BYE, Aggies! Don’t let the door hit you in the arse. On second thought, who cares if it does?

Tx2Step – If the aggies were sincere about mending fences, they would call a national press conference where Bowtie Loftin apologized for blaming the LHN and running Texas’s name through the mud. The aggies aren’t sincere. A&M only admits the truth in minor media interviews that they know will get zero play in the national media. And at the same time, the aggies are supposedly trying to make up with Texas, John Sharp is still running his mouth insulting our conference mates and saying that the SEC is stable and will be around 100 years and that the Big 12 won’t. This is just more aggie bullshit propaganda. The aggies have proven themselves to be liars. Don’t take anything they say at face value.

sec will be around a hundred years,it will be 101 years before aggie gets a championship

Since the SEC allows semi-literate morons in their conference, they will always have an recruiting advantage over the aggies – as they have more of those, per capita, in that part of the country then there are in Texas.

“Beware fork-tongued devils, for they are but wolves clothed as sheep on the hillside.”

- J. Hypercleats, 1977