Hear this comment from the B/CS cult more and more. Not really sure what it even means. I own many UT shirts and finished there in '95. I also own several Dallas Cowboy's shirts. Safe to say I never played for or belonged in any way to the Cowboy's organization. I have season tix with friend who never attended The University. His wife cheers for ou, but did not attend. I've seen them both in their respective team colors. He's lived here for over 12 years. No big deal. This whole disparging of anyone who never attended Texas, yet who has the audacity to support the team, attend games and, God forbid, wear burnt orange when they do is ridiculous and is just flat-out embarassing. If this is how the cult separate themselves from us, I suggest they start winning some football games occassionally. Perhaps then Wal-Mart would start stocking some maroon colored apparel once again. Texas 45 - Texas A&M Aggies 13. Hook 'Em!!
It ticks them off that so many people like Texas and no one cares about them, so they invented this idea that unless you went to the university, you can't really be a fan.
It's aggy stupidity at it's finest. Do they realize how many of their fans wearing aggy T-shirts throughout East Texas (my wife's family is from East Texas so I see it all the time) never set foot in a classroom in College Station?
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, there were tons of A&M t-shirt fans. There are also plenty of Tech t-shirt fans up in the panhandle. And the SEC is full of these so-called t-shirt fans. There's nothing wrong with it. People in Texas are proud of THE UNIVERSITY of their state, just as people from Alabama are proud of THE UNIVERSITY of their state. This is just more hypocrisy and jealousy of the aggy fan base.
Since I’m married to an Aggy and my sister-in-law graduated from A&M I hear the whole T-shirt thing more than the normal Horn fan does. I am guessing it’s another ploy to make them the best fans in the world not realizing, or admitting to the fact, that they have a whole stadium full of T-shirt fans. So we get back into the discussion of what makes a fan a fan. Does actually attending a school make you a better fan than someone that doesn’t? I would argue that point. Unfortunately, I have several Aggy relatives/friends and I am obligated to converse with them several times a year and I can tell you this. I know more a lot more about their team than a lot of these people that graduated their own university. Yet I’m the one that is a T-shirt fan? By the same logic, if you have to attend a university in order to be a real fan then how do you get to be an NFL fan? What about being an American? If you don’t serve in the military are you just a T-Shirt fan of the USA? It is of my opinion that the term T-shirt fan is just another way in which they try and help themselves sleep at night. In other words…just another moral victory.
I for one feel there is a distinct difference between actual alumns and these "t-shirt" fans that did not attend or graduate from said University you choose to support. however all the big schools have them... Southern Cal, Ohio State, Bama, ND, & OU
like I've said on this board before. I guess I should have given up that scholarship to Pepperdine and chosen my school based on my favorite football team. Makes perfect sense. if it makes you feel like more of a fan, congratulations!
Exactly and well said above. I guess I should have walked-on Texas basketball team instead of taking my schollie to SFA. Free education is hard to beat. I have spent thousands of dollars traveling to Texas FB, BB and baseball games. Own tons of Texas gear and frankly know way too much about Texas sports, but according to aggy I am a T-shirt fan. My dad too since he spent only 2.5 years at Texas and had to drop out to raise his brother and take care of the family when his dad died prematurely. He has been a season ticket holder since 1976. Stupid aggy.
I feel that if you studied for mid terms and finals @ the UGL or B School, stood in line to draw tickets for sporting events @ Belmont, actually went to classes and lectures on the 40 acres then you have mroe invested in UT. I'm also on the side of the fence that those who donate considerable amounts of money to sit in Sections 4,5,& 6 on the West side have the right to come and go as we please and sit down and enjoy the game rather than stadning the entire time like the aggies will do Thursday night. Noy to mention living in the SAE house for 12 months is enough to make even the most laid back Horn love the football, baseball, abd basketball teams. Plus it taught me to give back to UT in other ways than simply through the LHF. glad you went to UNT and Pepperdine and enjoy supporting UT, I just feel the way I feel.
The only thing I dislike about "T-Shirt" fans is that they are mostly also "bandwagon" fans. They will not be around when the going gets tough. If you're a "T-Shirt" fan that has supported, and will continue to support, The University during thick and thin I'd be glad to call them a fan.
This is one of A&M's more amusing little quirks. They are obsessed with the idea of T-shirt fans and act like Texas has no fans associated with the school. In reality, Texas has more "real" fans (according to their definition) than they do as we have more alumni. We also are not a freakish cult where you have to be brainwashed into liking us, so yes, we have way more fans who didn't go to school at Texas. Texas has a top program and A&M's is ****, so yes, we have more fans who want to be associated with a winner. This is the state of Texas morons and people like college football here. If you are in Alabama, just about everybody is a Tide fan because it's their home state school and nobody thinks it's a weird thing. Why is it such a big deal here? If the sheep farmers didn't suck and weren't such idiots, they'd have more fans too. Texans love Texas. Get over it
What's funnier is that they complain about t-shirt fans, and then they get all bent because their merchandise sales aren't as high as ours are.
I know a lot of Aggie fans from rural areas who did not attend A&M. For example, my wife's dad and two of his brothers went to A&M, were in the corps, and all three served in the US Army. The 4th and youngest brother did not attend A&M because he couldn't afford it, instead he stayed at home and worked the family farm, and his kids have done the same. All of them are still enormous supporters of Texas A&M through season tickets and booster donations. I consider them all to be Aggie fans, not sure what else I would call them? Back in the FedEx Jackie cheating years, the Aggies had more non-university-graduate fans than Texas did, because they were winning and Texas was not. As was pointed out before, this is one of those silly things Aggies do to make themselves feel better. Definitely a moral victory situation for them. I'd recommend just ignoring it, because getting sucked into a conversation with an Aggie on a subject like this one will only result in
I went to SWT (Texas State) 93-96 We didnt have D1 big time football. I started cheering for UT. And yes, they sucked then. If anybody has a problem w/ that I don't give a ****.
I absolutely LOVE this discussion! I've been a huge UT fan my whole life and practically grew up with the program. However, because I went to UNT for 2 years then transferred to USC (where I attend now), I am somehow an inferior fan. Considering I've probably seen more UT games than most people my age (the 1995 season highlight VHS was one of my favorite things to watch at age 7), I learned to brush it off.
I confess - I'm a T-shirt Longhorn. I've been a Longhorn fan since I was a little boy (nearly sixty years ago). I learned "The Eyes of Texas" before I knew the National Anthem. I used to sit by the radio on Saturday afternoon and listen to Kern Tips broadcasting the SWC game of the week. And for those of you too young to remember, there were some miserable years before DKR took the helm. But when it came time to go to college, I had the opportunity to accept an appointment to the Air Force Academy. While at USAFA, I noted that virtually every cadet had another team he supported - his home state university (the school he probably would have attended if not going to USAFA). So it seemed to be OK to be a Longhorn fan, as well as a Falcon fan. My first assignment after completing Pilot Training was at Vance AFB in Enid. Mrs. HHD and I really liked our time at Vance, with two exceptions - (a) the Spring weather, but that comes with the territory when you reside in the heart of Tornado Alley and (b) Sooner fans. Being a Horn fan while living in enemy territory can be a bit challenging, but I stood by the Horns, even as they were losing five in a row to Switzer. Once I separated from active duty and moved to North Texas, I continued to be a T-shirt Longhorn, even as the beatings continued from Zero U and started up with the Sherrill regime at A&M. I continued to support the Horns through the Mackovic years, which you may recall contained some real clunkers (like Rout 66 with UCLA). My middle son went to The University, so I guess that makes me a Horn dad. And as you can guess from my screen name, I also have a son who went to Nebraska. I had a bet with my boss (grad from USC) for the Rose Bowl. That small wager involved the loser wearing a ballcap with the winner's colors for a day. I admit it was great fun giving him my Burnt orange cap to wear the next day! I assume it's OK with everybody if I continue to be a died-in-the-wool T-shirt Longhorn? HHD
my wife graduated from A&M although shes not much of an aggie. For last years game she went and bought an Aggie tshirt at academy to wear to the game Guess how much it cost? $3 So price can't be the reason they don't have tshirt fans. She still laughs/embarassed at how cheap it was
I think this means something different to aggy. Can you tell me that you wouldn't look funny at someone what wants to be affiliated with or put themselves in a position to be confused with an aggie on purpose? I would have very serious doubts about such a person. On the contrary, it makes total sense to me why someone would want to affiliated with The University of Texas as it represents all that is right and good in the world.
A&M wishes they had T-shirt fans. Because the redasses aren't filling their tackle box any more... I'm willing to bet any football team would much rather see their stadium full of t-shirt fans than glistening, empty bleachers in the sun.
I'm a t-shirt fan (hence the name bystander). I went to Trinity University in the late 70's mainly because my Mom thought it better I go to a small school versus the metropolis of UT (I'm from Laredo). I had a great time but have always kicked myself for opting out of the big-time scene of a UT home football game. I've rooted for the Longhorns as long as I can remember and my allegiance/loyalty/admiration etc. was cemented when I moved to Austin in 1994. I do think the "t-shirt" fan insult from Aggies is a clear sign of jealousy. My brother went there and he winces to this day over the cult-like tendencies. I just never "got it" when it came to A&M (though I'm sure it's a great academic school). Texas is my home and the Longhorns are my team (except for my Trinity Tigers who won the play of the year last year, I believe, on ESPN by scoring a game winning touchdown by lateralling there way downfield on a kick-off return). I have a t-shirt; therefore, I am...
And now there's this gem from The Cult's fansite: The Link He's right, you know. Never seen any graduate from The University wear one of those shiny things on their finger. In fact, those who choose to attend, and more importantly, get accepted to Texas as their first choice, don't need to work hard. In fact, they seldom go to class at all. We all just get the degrees handed out to us after 4 years...no sweat. Dream on fake cadet. We very proudly call ourselves Longhorns, not because we are superior in just about everything a first class institution can offer, and not just because of the continued and perpetual state and national superiority we enjoy over your college when it comes to collegiate athletics (women's golf notwithstanding). We call ourselves Longhorns simply because WE can. Deal with it.
The mistake we are making here is allowing Aggies to define the terms. "T-Shirt fan" is a pejorative term coined by them to make themselves feel better about their lack of general appeal and support. Given the state of their attendance and their athletics finances, I know their leaders would love more so-called T-Shirt fans. First of all, they DO have support of many people that never attended A&M. These A&M non-alumni supporters are somehow exonerated for their "non-former student" status on the basis that either you have to be a genuine Aggie to support a program this lousy or that being an Aggie is more than just going to school there. This is usually attended by some mystical concept of what being an Aggie is (from the outside you can't understand it - from the inside you can't explain it). So, they have T-Shirt fans like everyone else, but they simply deny they have them because being an Aggie is just so darn special. The real problem is that they don't have nearly as many non-alumni supporters (aka fans) as The University of Texas. This really frosts them. Since I brought up that word alumni, let me mention something else. The word alumni is the plural form of alumnus or alumna. Here is a definition: "An alumnus or alumna is a former student and in particular a graduate of an educational institution." Aggies act as though the word alumni is a bad word. Part of their theology is that there is superiority in the term "former student" as opposed to "alumni." Specialized language and jargon is one of the identifying marks of a cult. The University of Texas Alumni Association is an association of former students and in particular graduates of the school. Does that makes us ex-Longhorns? No, it makes us Longhorns. Does the fact that they choose to call theirs the Association of Former Students mean that many of them were students but never graduated? This fixation on former students vs. alumni is weird. The University of Texas at Austin is an educational institution that many different people encounter in many ways. Many people are students there. Some graduate, some transfer out, some drop out. Some people work for the institution. Some people know of the school through its work in the research and academic worlds without ever having anything to do with the school. Some people know little or nothing about it. Some students are graduate students whose sports loyalties lie with their undergraduate institutions. Some of the students at UT have absolutely no interest in sports and may even oppose the concept of collegiate athletics. The Longhorn athletic teams are part of the University. The funding is separate, but the teams bear the name of the school and the athletes are students at the school. The coaches are employees. As is true with every college and university in the nation, the athletics teams have fans. These are people who love the team and have some level of investment in supporting and following the team. Texas A&M has fans. UT has fans. We have more, but they have them, too. Follow me here. Fans can be categorized many ways I suppose. For our purposes, we will categorize them all as fans, but point out that some fans are also alumni. I learned my love for the Longhorns from my grandfather who never attended college anywhere. He was a fan of the Texas Longhorns. I inherited my love of the Horns from him long before I ever started college. I chose the Horns. You might say I ratified his selection. Many Aggies inherited their love of Texas A&M the same way. I later earned my BBA from UT-Austin. At that point I remained a fan, but also became an alumnus. I am very proud of that degree, and I love the school, but I cannot say I entered some higher level of fandom than I was before I crossed that stage. To me there was no higher level of fandom than I already possessed as a Longhorn fan. Anytime I hear alumni denigrate non-alumni fans because they never attended school here, I think of my grandfather. He was a Longhorn fan. End of story. To my knowledge there is no rule book laying out the law with regard to who can root for whom. If you are a collegiate athletic team, you want fans who support you and who share your successes and failures. Some of those fans will be alumni and some will not. When Colt circled the field last Saturday night with those other seniors, they were not asking for Texas Exes cards to determine who the real fans were so they could only high-five the alumni. They were celebrating with fans of the Longhorns who support them. As a Texas Ex, I am happy to have so many fellow fans supporting this wonderful institution and its athletic teams, regardless of whether they are alums or not. The more the merrier. So the real issue is that A&M is envious of not having as many fans and as much support as The University of Texas. Rather than admitting this, they simply try to denigrate UT fans. They create a pejorative term, invent Ag Tags, and convince themselves of their superiority. The problem with that, of course, is that by so doing they also denigrate many of their own fans who never attended school there. They inadvertently categorize them as not real Aggie fans. How many more empty seats would there be at Kyle if only their alumni were allowed to attend the games and wear the t-shirts? I have to end this little treatise by saying that as worked up as I can get about this stuff, I have a lot of good friends who graduated from Texas A&M. For the most part they are great people, and we share a lot as Texans. This week challenges our friendship a bit, but most of us keep it in perspective. On the anniversary of the bonfire tragedy I have deep memories of attending the candlelight vigil with both Longhorns and Aggies at the tower. I was proud of the Longhorn Band's stirring tribute at the game that year. I think this rivalry maintains a degree of respect that other rivalries lack.
