This post is dedicated to the re-evalutation of the fan base at Texas Tech.
The truest testament of being a college football fan in Texas is growing up as a Texas A&M Aggie fan, especially in the Austin area or in West Texas. The other author of "the Barbed Wire" would probably describe his first FBS football experience as being cold, sick, and hoarse at a game that was too close between Texas A&M and Florida International... but I'll let him tell you that story. Here was my FBS attendance story growing up:
1999 - My first college football game - Texas A&M @ Texas Tech - Tech wins, goalposts come down.
To me, it was all big and new, and I enjoyed the experience.
2001 - My second college football game - Texas A&M @ Texas Tech - Tech wins, goalposts come down, Aggie fans start beating the snot out of Tech fans. Rivalry begins. Tech no longer my #2 team.
2002 - My third college football game - Texas Tech @ Texas A&M - First game at Kyle Field - Tech wins in OT - classmates give me grief for months - I now hate Texas Tech.
2003 - My fourth college football game - Texas A&M @ Texas Tech - Aggie band escorted by police into stadium, fans boo louder than the Aggie Band during "Spirit of Aggieland," Tech obliterates A&M, fans act like an absolute terror to the Aggies. I now reeeeeeally hated Texas Tech, and my dad, (A&M Class of '83) would never take us back to Lubbock.
In 2006, when looking at where to go to college, I became impartial to Texas Tech, seeing as how they had a good program in what I wanted to study, and Texas A&M didn't even have the program at all. I ended up at a college in Central Texas, surrounded by t-sip t-shirt fans, and I pulled for the Red Raiders any time they played Texas.
In 2008, I was a Texas Tech fan the night of the Harrell-Crabtree play that upset Texas in the famous "Blackout" game in Lubbock. It would've been a drag NOT to be on Tech's side that night.
In 2009, I supported Ruffin McNeal in the Alamo Bowl game against Michigan State, because, even as a Texas A&M diehard, you must admit that firing Mike Leach was ridiculous.
Which brings us to the reformation and redemption stage. With the absence of Mike Leach, the Tech fans have been rumored to have toned it down a bit. Supposedly, the fans have quit replacing "Hit 'em Wreck 'em Texas Tech" in the fight song with profanity, people are actually singing "the Matador Song," and fans are remembering that the Red Raider itself is not a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. And, of course, Tortilla Toss is supposedly back. But the only evidence of this, aside from rumor, when living hours away from Tech is YouTube.
In 2010, while attending the A&M vs. Tech game at Kyle Field (and finally witnessing an Aggie win over Tech after waiting over a decade), the best seats I could get on StubHub were on the border between the Aggie fans and Red Raider fans. But, to my surprise, the Tech fans at Kyle Field were actually a pleasure to talk to that day. They were about as friendly as the A&M fans I was surrounded by. But I shrugged it off and assumed it was because they were getting their butts kicked. After the game, bot fan bases celebrated in the Dixie Chicken as Baylor beat Texas. It was almost like the two were having some sort of love/hate bonding time. Weird.
In 2012, with A&M bolting for the SEC (and winning the Heisman, beating Alabama, barely losing to anybody and all that jazz), I still wanted to follow the Big 12 (come at me, TexAgs), but I had no team. It had to be a Texas team, which narrowed the search down to TCU, Baylor and Tech. I wanted a school with good traditions, both on gameday and with the school itself. That knocked out TCU, and nearly knocked out Baylor. At that point, I went with the hometown favorties: the Red Raiders. After all, Baptist High? Really? (You're welcome, Aggieland Outfitters)
Pulling for Texas Tech in 2012 had ups and downs. Being the grandson of a cotton farmer who left Texas Tech to keep the farm going for the family, I especially enjoyed the Texas Tech "Salute to Cotton Farmers" game. And I loved the upset of #5 West Virginia. But one question remained: have the fans really toned it down?
Last night, I attended my third straight bowl game in Houston at Reliant Stadium. Four of us attended the game in red and black and sat in the poor man's seating (nosebleed). We were in the general public seating, so many fans were only there just to say they were there. But I paid extra attention to the bottom section, where the Texas Tech diehards sat. Horse Music - everyone did the responses. Fight Raiders Fight - people knew the words and yelled the original "You will HIT 'EM! You will WRECK 'EM! Hit 'em, Wreck 'em TEXAS TECH!" The fans responded to the Saddle Tramp Bell Circle, and the volume at Reliant was Kyle Field/DKR level when the Masked Rider rode in.
And, lo and behold, TORTILLA TOSS WAS BACK!
Every Tech touchdown meant high fives with the people around us, and I experienced one of the things that I enjoyed about A&M games: random conversation with people I'd never met. Tradition + High Volume + Good People + Working to prove TEXAS is a better state than anywhere else = what college football is all about, Charlie Brown. And when Tech sealed the game with an interception and a field goal, the volume was comparable to Kyle Field or DKR stadium without a doubt.
And as we walked down the side ramps of Reliant Stadium, the echos of "Raider! Power! Raider! Power!" continued until we were across the parking lot and in our car.
TECH TECH RE-EVALUATION:
Tech has tradition
Tech has better fans than they used to
Tech has a better college football atmosphere than the Texas Longhorns
GIG 'EM, then WRECK 'EM
-The Barbed Wire
Just an FYI, in 2013, Texas Tech fans ARE singing the profanity-laced fight song again.
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