"Dr. Apathy or How The Aggies Stopped Yelling and Became Fair-Weather"

Where has the famed Aggie Spirit gone? When I attended football games during my freshman year in '99, our fans seemed to yell a lot louder, know a lot more, and care a lot more about the outcome of the game. Now, the noise level only approaches decently loud when the opponent is highly ranked. This year's OU game wasn't even as loud as the one in '00, and we won this year. The fans just don't seem to get into the games as much or even know anything about football. During the Missouri game, I actually heard someone yelling to "Go for it" when the Aggies faced 4th-and-1 from their own 11 early in the game. That is just plain stupid. The only thing to top that was the guys behind me at the Tech game this year who were trying to convince me that a team only gets 4 downs to go 25 yards in college overtime. It is time for A&M to require completion or enrollment in Football 101 - General Football Knowledge for anyone to even attend a game. Then, maybe I wouldn't still have to listen to people blame Slocum for the offensive play calling. Even our yell leaders have become subpar. Their timing of yells is completely awful. More times this year than in any previous year the yell leaders have nearly missed kickoffs or led yells that conflicted with ongoing offensive plays. It has been all downhill since Bubba left as far as I'm concerned. I don't know what has caused this decrease in crowd noise and fan knowledge. I could blame several things- the loss of Bonfire, Abercrombie and Fitch turning men into pretty boys, or just the general apathy that seems to increase with each class. As with any problem, there is rarely a single source to blame, but there is an easy solution. Before you go to an Aggie football game, spend 5 minutes at ESPN.com and get a little background info on the opposing team, spend 5 minutes at AggieSports.com and learn the numbers of at least a few key Aggie players, snort a Keith Richards sized line of coke if that is what it takes to make you yell, and for God's sake show up wearing maroon(Maroon Out shirts cost $5 and if you have a limited budget, don't show up in an Aggie shirt with the color of the opposing team). And when you get to the game, yell like an audible is out of the question, pay attention to the game, put your cell phones down, make Kyle Field a tough place to play every game, and don't forget to have fun.

P.S. For all of you Ags of which none of the above applies, keep setting the example of what the Aggie Spirit was, is, and should always be.


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