ÒI do the very best I know how, the very best I can. And I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me wonÕt amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.Ó

That quote from Abe Lincoln came to mind for me this week after the tough weekend all of us Ags experienced. IÕve been on both sides now of that score in Norman, Okla. The last time I was there Nebraska beat them 69-7.

Since that game Oklahoma has fired that football staff; hired a progressive new athletic director, Joe Castiglione; hired an outstanding young football coach, Bob Stoops, and they are well on the way to investing $150 million in their football and athletic academic facilities. It shows.

Our rivals in the Big 12 Conference would like to see us throw in the towel right now.

They know we are a sleeping giant here that by most standards has under-performed, given our location, climate, size of the University, and number of former students.

We are, indeed, a sleeping giant. WeÕve been waiting until weÕre good enough to ask the same of our fans that the fans at OU, tu, Nebraska, and other places have been asked to do all along.

That hasnÕt worked. So we have changed the paradigm, from Dr. Robert Gates on across the spectrum of Texas A&M University, including and in some ways especially the department of athletics and the football program. Ags are famous for hanging together and fighting through adversity. Now is the time for all Aggies to step up and be counted and accountable for the future of A&M athletics.

We have the right leadership and staff in place to build a successful football program, and to create the same blueprint for success in building champions throughout our athletic department. We didnÕt get to where we are today overnight, and it wonÕt be fully repaired overnight. But many people are working late at night on these repairs every night.

We have put in place a solid foundation of student-athletes, coaches, support staff, and a plan for new and revitalized facilities that will make Texas A&M equal to or better than high-performing programs in our conference and across the nation. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride.

IÕve been through this before, and believe me, the fruits of the labor are sweet, indeed.

* * *

Many emails ask how we got where we are. As weeks go by, I will offer insights here and there into the main factors Ð and there are many. Stability and continuity Ð established by hanging onto good employees and coaches Ð affect recruiting greatly, as do facilities.

And there are so many needs that never make headlines, such as the rise in tuition mentioned here last week, or the annual rental fees of $400,000 each that we pay to use the swimming pool and Reed Arena. Baseball, one of our best-attended and highest-performance sports over the years, projects to lose $400,000 this year.

Football, and most notably football season tickets, pays almost all of the freight for all that. We love having more than 29,000 prime-location student seats at Kyle Field available at half-price Ð far and away the most generous student seating block in the country. ThatÕs why comparison to other schoolsÕ ticket prices and donation structures is comparing apples to rocks, because we have to make up a lot of revenue on our remaining 50,000-plus tickets.

For many years, Aggies have held expectations to compete with our archrival in Austin, with Oklahoma, with Nebraska, with Kansas State, with Colorado, and certainly to exceed Texas Tech and Baylor. Until this season we have been priced in the lower tier, and during the nearly eight years since the Big 12 formed we Aggies stand sixth-best in conference wins (and fifth in overall wins). We are two wins behind Colorado and one game up on Texas Tech in Big 12 wins, and range from six to 21 wins behind the four teams ahead of us overall Ð Nebraska, Kansas State, Texas, and Oklahoma. Texas Tech is just two behind us overall.

You simply canÕt wait until you get really good to charge the going rate for excellence, or else youÕll never get really good.

We will continue to have an open-books policy with you as we steer through the difficult times. The athletic department senior administration and the 12th Man Foundation together consider every increased dollar we ask of you judiciously and painstakingly, and your favorable response has been and will continue to be the greatest blessing that Aggie athletics has.

We have definitely sent a message to the big dogs we plan to run with that we have come down off the porch.

* * *

Without question, the things that make us walk tallest and feel the most gratification from our work with young people is when their successes pour in. And that isnÕt always on the field. Here are a couple of examples. This week, Chris Nelan, an All-American swimmer for us from Keller, Texas, who is a remarkable young man sitting in on senior staff meetings as the student-athlete representative, told the staff about two outstanding ventures.

One is the coat and blanket drive that Aggie Athletes Involved is staging along with the entire athletic department to help keep Texas warm. If you have a coat or jacket, sweater or blanket collecting dust in the back of a closet, bring it tonight or tomorrow night to the menÕs or womenÕs exhibition basketball games, and youÕll be admitted free. The coats and blankets benefit the College Station/Bryan Twin City Mission.

The second project Chris told us about is called Adopt an Angel. Our athletes started this last year, gathering contributions of specifically-designated gifts Ð for instance, a doll for a 3-year-old girl Ð and then distributing them to children who have and receive little for Christmas. This year, the Aggies took the idea to the conference, and the Big 12 adopted it as a conference-wide seasonal project. (The conference works with Special Olympics as its designated community service throughout the year.)

Next, our student-athletes are going to the NCAA with the idea of making it a national project. A tip of the Aggie cap to these young people for their commitment to caring and doing.

* * *

Another tip of the Aggie cap to a groundswell of wonderful Aggies who have rallied to the cause through emails to me, to Coach Fran, to our staff, to the 12th Man Foundation, and on Internet fan sites. Apparently, there is a movement afoot to send the team off to Missouri with a large crowd at the airport. We welcome that, and the players will be grateful. Their buses will arrive at General Aviation, at the dead-end of Bush Drive going west across 2818, at about 1:30ish for their 2 oÕclock takeoff. This is exactly the kind of support the team needs while it struggles to improve and finish strong.

* * *

And while the cap is off, letÕs doff it toward some of our staff, too, who have been recognized for their excellent work Ð our athletic fields manager, Leo Goertz, and our assistant head baseball coach, Jim Lawler.

Leo has been selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association for the TURFACE Field Maintenance Award for outstanding maintenance of infield and turf care. Leo and his crew of four fulltime and five student assistants maintain not only the turf at Olsen Field, but also at Kyle Field, the football practice fields, and the softball, soccer, track, and tennis venues.

Jim has been named the 2003 National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America Magazine. Head coach Mark Johnson hired Jim his first year, 1985, as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He has been assistant head since 1989.

* * *

Oh, and one other huge tip of the Aggie cap to the soccer team, not only for its fine season and seven all-conference players, but for the overall excellence of the program under Coach G Guerrieri that attracted the NCAA to assign one of the 16 opening weekend regionals to Texas A&M.

The Aggies have an at-large bid from the Big 12 with our 12-5-2 record and weÕll take on WAC champion SMU at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Aggie Soccer Complex. Duke from the ACC faces Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin at 5 p.m. The winners play Sunday at 1:30. The second-year head coach at SFA, Nicole Nelson, played for A&M as a freshman before transferring to her hometown Oklahoma City University.

* * *

Two issues brought a boatload of email in the last week Ð parking at baseball games, and children playing on Kyle Field after football games.

Response to the announcement last week of $2 fees collected at the entrance to parking lots at Olsen Field was vigorous, and your voices have been heeded. We are working with the traffic folks to come up with a way for season ticket holders to purchase parking for the season Ð still just for the $2 that is a University fee, but holding you a spot up until the first pitch is thrown. WeÕll announce the plan the minute the details are worked out.

* * *

Many messages arrived stating that Kyle Field is a memorial and that we would be breaking tradition to allow families to bring the kids onto the field after it is cleared following football games.

In senior staff meeting, numerous long-standing members of the athletic department recalled happy times that families of coaches and staff have experienced romping on the field at Kyle. P.E. classes have been routinely held there, track meets, soccer. Somebody recalled the pleasure of watching Randy Matson practice putting his shot in the end zone.

In August, we had a fun, well-attended Fan Day at Kyle Field where people went onto the field and played catch, sought autographs, or had their pictures taken with Reveille and the Yell Leaders. After the Oklahoma State and Kansas games here, there were families tossing footballs and running up and down the yard lines long after the game ended.

This is done at many sites across the country, both in college and professional sports, in football, baseball, and other venues. Who knows what dreams it might spawn for some future Aggies.

We need to make some things specifically clear: nobody will go onto the field until the opposing team, our team, the officials, the Aggie Band, the Yell Leaders, fish, and Reveille are long gone. ItÕs against Big 12 rules to be on the field immediately after the game unless you are performing a function. That means it will not be open for playing around until about 20 minutes after the game ends.

Two, we will have security and chaperones to manage the scene, and they will cut off the activity one hour after the game ends. Finally, this is designed to be a kid-friendly, family fun activity, and pick-up games are not permitted.

* * *

No Detail is Too Small: Objections to the truck commercial on the JumboTron have been addressed. We are no longer running those types of commercials, but we still do not have complete control over the content because itÕs part of the contract with the group that manages the video board, signed eight years ago and with two more years to run.

* * *

WeÕre preparing for a trip to Columbia, Mo., this weekend for our final road trip to face the ranked Missouri Tigers. But already the excitement has begun to build around campus for that last game of the year, the rivalry game with Texas.

Students pitched tents, set up couches and TVs, hauled in groceries, and one even brought his guitar to The Zone starting Monday Ð the start of the ticket-pull line for next Monday. The Yell Practice has been set for 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night at Kyle Field.

We are getting the Byrne household set for the arrival from Phoenix of my dad and mom, Clancy and Velma Byrne, along with my brother Mike. It will be my momÕs first visit to College Station, but my dad hitch-hiked here once from Fort Hood to watch the Aggies play the Longhorns. IÕll save that story for when theyÕre here. My son Bill also will join us from California, and MarilynÕs folks, Joe and Pauline Kent, will come in from Idaho.

First things first. LetÕs beat the hell outta Missouri.

Gig Ôem, Aggies!

Bill Byrne