Oct. 28, 2009

Have you ever had a song keep running through your head and you can't let it go? Well Sunday morning, I kept hearing the words to "What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours" running through my mind. What a difference a day makes, and for that matter a week. 

It was a terrific win for our football team in Lubbock. I could not be more proud of our players, coaches, and staff for how hard they worked and focused on the game plan. I've heard from Aggies located around the world saying how proud they are of our team's performance. I agree. To the 400 or 500 of you who gathered at the Bright Complex at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning to welcome the team back, thank you. You will never know how much it meant to our players and coaches to see that sort of welcome when they arrived back on campus.

One of the things I knew going into our game with Texas Tech was we matched up with them well. We have more speed and athleticism this year than last, and while very young, our athletes are maturing. Tech started off throwing lots of screen passes to take advantage of our aggressiveness. I'm sure many of you thought we were crazy to have the game start with us on defense. And then when they scored, your worst dreams were likely confirmed. But Mike Sherman and his staff had a plan, and it worked.

It's games like this one that remind us why you don't give in or give up. Our players and coaches never stopped believing in themselves. We played inspired football for 60 minutes which inspired Aggie fans everywhere. Even though we won the game in convincing fashion, it's not all about performance. I can't say enough about the attitude everyone associated with our football team showed during practices last week, and that attitude translated in a great way on game day. 

This is a big week for us. Iowa State is a lot like Kansas State. They have a power rushing game and good linemen. They will be sky high, after beating Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time since God was a child. Our offensive and defensive lines are going to have to play very well again for us to come out ahead.

Speaking of youth, it looks like the largest number of true freshmen we have ever lettered in Aggieland is 15 back in 1980. We're on pace to letter as many as 18 this season. Our media relations staff tells me we lead the nation in the number of true freshmen to play a game (18) and in the number of true freshmen who have started a game (9). That's unbelievable. 

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It's a big week for several more reasons. We have our friends from the state capital coming to visit in volleyball and soccer this week. The State Farm Lone Star Showdown in volleyball is tonight at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match will be televised nationally by ESPNU, so let's have a big crowd. On Friday, the State Farm Lone Star Showdown in soccer will start at 7 p.m. at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. It will be the final regular season home game for our No. 20 soccer team. We will honor seniors Cydne Currie and Emily Peterson prior to the game. You can purchase tickets for volleyball and soccer by clicking here.

I'm pleased to hold the State Farm Lone Star Showdown champions trophy for a second year. I'd like to keep the special trophy case our friends built for this big trophy empty for another year. It really fits better here in Aggieland.

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Good luck to our cross country teams as we compete in the Big 12 Championships being held in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday. Our men will run an 8,000-meter course, while the women will race 6,000 meters. Last year, our men finished fourth with 95 points which was our lowest tally yet. Like golf, the objective in cross country is to post the lowest score. In addition to a pair of Big 12 Championships, there is a pair of points at stake in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown.

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Many of you have asked about seeing a replay of our win in Lubbock. FSN Southwest/Houston showed a condensed version of the game earlier in the week. Tomorrow at 7 p.m. they will show a two-hour version of the game as part of their Big 12 Instant Classic series. Check your local listings.

Like we do after each game, we make the full game available via our free video viewer at AggieAthletics.com. You can click here for our online video archive, which will feature the Texas Tech full game video once it's available. Plus, our 12th Man Productions staff has exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the locker room celebration and other highlights by clicking here.

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Our game against Iowa State will start at 2:30 p.m. at Kyle Field and will not be televised. You can listen on the Texas A&M Sports Network. Click here for a list of stations carrying the game. In Houston, fans can listen via 740 KTRH-AM, while fans in San Antonio can hear us on 760 KTKR-AM. Those of you with Sirius Satellite Radio should tune in to channel 154. Don't forget we offer a free internet audio feed at AggieAthletics.com, while PDA users can go to RadioAggieland.com for the game.

We are offering half-priced bleacher seats for the Iowa State game by clicking here.

Our game at Colorado on Nov. 7 will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. central time (11:30 a.m. mountain time) and will be televised by Fox College Sports. This is the same network which televised our game at Kansas State a few weeks ago. It is primarily a cable-only channel, so please check your local listings to see if the game will be available in your area.

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We are looking forward to Military Appreciation Day this Saturday at Kyle Field. Our staff has worked closely with several military related groups and have some special activities planned. At halftime, we will recognize approximately 600 currently enrolled Aggie Veterans. Plus, the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band will play America the Beautiful during their performance. Before the game, the Spirit Flag will be raised by Silver Wings, which is a student group on campus. Silver Wings is a national service organization that develops leaders through involvement with military appreciation and support projects in the community. Our staff at 12th Man Productions has created several video moments to highlight and honor all veterans, as well as currently enlisted service men and women.

Today, we welcomed folks from the US Army to The Zone Club for a swearing-in ceremony of approximately 100 officers.

I am pleased to offer all veterans, and currently enlisted servicemen and women, half-priced tickets in the best sections available for this week's game by clicking here. In addition, the folks at Aggie Locker and the Texas A&M Bookstore are offering a 20 percent discount on all merchandise purchased Saturday to those with military ID.

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The Aggie Fan Zone will open at 11 a.m. and feature autographs from our women's golf team and our defending national champion men's golf team. Our honorary captain this week will be Corey Pullig '96, the winningest quarterback in school history. Corey, who is a JAG lawyer in the Army, will be signing autographs in the Aggie Fan Zone from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our Kids Yell Practice will start at 11:45 a.m. and will be followed by our team Spirit Walk at noon.

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Tickets to our football game with our friends from the state capital on Thanksgiving night at Kyle Field are available. You can click here or contact the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE to purchase.

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Letters, we get letters. Let's answer some of your email.

I've had several of you write saying how disappointed you are that I don't personally respond to your e-mails. I'd like to be able to do that, but candidly, there are days when I receive over 500 e-mails, and with the other responsibilities I have, it's physically impossible to respond to each piece. I do try to address the issues you raise in this column, but sometimes I know you want it to be a more personal reply. I'll keep trying.
  
Several of you have written that we need to bring back the 12th Man Kickoff team, saying it will attract more students to our contests and the student body will more closely identify with the football team. There are several good reasons we don't make this a regular practice. The first is we just finished our annual Title IX audit, and A&M continues to be part of the national trend of more women enrolling in college. With almost half of our undergraduates being women, we won't be adding more men to our rosters so we can stay in compliance with the proportionality requirements of Title IX. The second point is we do have walk-ons on the football team, and when appropriate, we do use an all walk-on kickoff team. We just are not making it a common practice.

I've heard from many of you disappointed we have not been on TV very often this year.

There are several reasons for that, but the biggest is over the last few seasons we have been outscored in a big way early in some televised games, and our ratings have been less than the network executives want. We have to win our way back into their hearts.

Previously, I've said similar things in several of these columns with no backlash, but when I said the same things to a writer for the Houston Chronicle, I heard from several of you that I needed to be more politically correct in my answers and put a more positive spin on the issue. After all, they said, "you're the spokesman for the athletic department and you need to put things in the best possible light." I'm tempted to introduce those e-mailers to the ones I hear from who urge me to "tell it like it is" and quit being such a Pollyanna, or in some writers' view, a "sunshine pumper" after games. I'd never heard "sunshine pumper" until I moved to Texas, but I think I prefer Pollyanna. The other doesn't have a good feel to it.

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Our men's swimming and diving team finished second in the inaugural Southwest Collegiate Plunge last weekend. Junior Balazs Makany won the 200-yard freestyle by .03 seconds for our lone victory. We had several runner-up finishes during the meet including the 400 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay.

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Play finished today in the 2009 Wilson/ITA Texas Regional at the Mitchell Tennis Center. Our doubles team of juniors Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo won a three-set match over a team ranked No. 28 from Texas Tech to win the doubles championship. The duo earns an automatic bid to the ITA National Indoor Championships next week. Austin and Jeff are the fourth team in school history to win the ITA Regional doubles title, and it's the second straight championship for Austin who won the event last year, too. Jeff, who transferred this season from Florida, reached the semifinals in singles. It's the second straight year for us to host this tournament.

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Our No. 9-ranked men's golf team finished the fall schedule with two straight tournament wins. After winning the Lone Star Invitational last week, we successfully defended our title at the Baylor Invitational Tuesday. Freshman Cameron Peck finished second overall after shooting a 4-under par 209 during three rounds. Senior Andrea Pavan finished fifth.

Rain shortened play for our No. 15-ranked women's golf team earlier this week in San Antonio. We finished in second place which was three shots out of the lead. Senior Julia Boland and freshman Sarah Beth Davis finished fourth overall. We close out the fall portion of our schedule beginning Monday at The Challenge at Onion Creek in the state capital.

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Our No. 6 equestrian team will host No. 7 Baylor on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Brazos County Expo Complex in Bryan. Admission is free.

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I hope you will join us at Kyle Field on Friday night for Maroon Madness. It's a unique event which allows our men's and women's basketball teams to be recognized around Midnight Yell Practice. Coach Gary Blair and our women's team will take to the temporary court on the east sideline of the stadium at 11:20 p.m., while Coach Mark Turgeon and our men's team will be introduced at 12:25 a.m. It's a terrific event and a unique experience for our student-athletes. I appreciate the Yell Leaders including us as part of their Yell Practice.

For those of you who will be on campus Saturday, our teams are conducting Maroon and White games on the main floor at Reed Arena. The women will start at 9 a.m. and the men will follow at 11 a.m. Admission is free. Our football game day parking plan will be active, so please park in your designated lot or visit the West Campus Garage.

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Basketball season starts next Thursday when our men host an exhibition game against Texas A&M-Commerce at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. The women will host Oklahoma City University in an exhibition game on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. A reminder, season tickets for men's and women's basketball are on sale now. Sales for women's basketball tickets have already surpassed last year's record number. Season tickets for women's basketball start at $85, and we open the season by hosting Duke on Nov. 15 at Reed Arena. Tickets for the Duke game are sale now. We are also accepting group ticket requests for the Duke game by clicking here.

Season tickets for men's basketball start at $200. Now is the time to select your seat before the best seats are gone. Our men will open the regular season against Angelo State on Nov. 13 at Reed Arena.

You can use our new interactive ticketing website and select your specific season ticket location. It's very easy to use. Click here to Experience the Spirit of Aggie Basketball with season tickets.

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Last spring I mentioned here we would be evaluating the success of our student ticket lottery system for men's basketball games. What we discovered is the implementation of the lottery system correlated with a decrease in student attendance. We've worked with the student leaders on campus to find a solution. Last Wednesday night, the Student Senate voted to eliminate the lottery system for student ticketing for men's basketball games. Students will now be able to pull a ticket in advance which will permit them early admission. Students can also scan their ID at the entry if they were unable to pull a ticket in advance while space allows. With that said, we will reserve the right to implement a football-style ticket pull based on seniority if needed for specific games. I'm proud to say we've never turned away a Texas A&M student with a valid sports card from attending a basketball game at Reed Arena. No matter the size of the crowd, we've always found a place for every student who wanted to watch us play.

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I've said many times how we strive to host NCAA national championships on our campus. Over the last several years, we've hosted national championships in soccer, tennis, swimming and diving, and indoor track and field. By hosting these championships on our campus, we give our student-athletes an unbelievable home advantage, plus we are able to gain national exposure for Texas A&M University, because these events are all nationally televised.

I'm pleased to report we have been selected as the host for the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championship which will be held at Traditions, and today we learned we will be hosting the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Speaking of indoor track and field, season tickets are now available for our upcoming season. Coach Pat Henry has put together a schedule with some impressive teams coming to Aggieland. Top programs from the Big 12, SEC, Pac-10, and Conference USA will highlight the schedule which starts with the Texas A&M Reveille Invitational on Dec. 12 at the Gilliam Indoor Track. To purchase season tickets to indoor track click here.

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And finally, I never get tired of sharing examples of the terrific work our student-athletes do for our local community. The latest example is our participation in the Second Annual Hard Hats for Little Heads. Members of Aggie Athletes Involved, representing football, men's and women's basketball, equestrian, baseball and softball went to local schools last Thursday to visit with second graders after the students' field trip to Kyle Field for the event was cancelled due to rain. Our athletes promoted the importance of wearing a helmet when bicycle riding. All 2,100 second graders in Bryan-College Station received a bicycle helmet thanks to generous contributions from our local community which exceeded $15,000. We hope to be able to reschedule the field trip soon.

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I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend on campus.