Young Alums, Mack Brown, and a Decade of Dominance

I remember where we came from, and was happy when we…

Tied #6 ranked Syracuse in 1993
Played #4 Colorado close in 1994 (I think they won on a late field goal)
Tied for 1st in the SWC in 94 (thanks to Aggy on probation) and won the freakin’ Sun Bowl
FINALLY beat those Agros in 1995 and won the SWC outright

And I was crushed at the UCLA game in 96. I stayed the whole game.

Douchebaggery permeates all life, and just because someone wears burnt orange doesn’t mean they deserve to wear it.

Wait a minute, scratch that — I’m starting to sound like Aggy.

The quickest way to solve such a problem is to have the team go out and lose to Rice. No matter what lofty heights our beloved Longhorns reach, I will always have that bitter memory to ground me. In fact, I’m feeling a little nauseous right now thinking about how someday I’m going to have to explain to my five month-old son that, no, Texas doesn’t always beat Rice. Gah.

That said, I think my experience probably makes me more prone to “constantly belittle the other teams in the conference,” because I remember exactly how much it hurts. And those jerks deserve it.

So not only do I remember the “lean years,” I remember SouthWest Conference lean years! I’m old enough to have John Mackovic’s autograph.

I got a chance to meet and interview Mack Brown about a month after the 2005 national championship and I made sure to tell him how thankful I am that he’s restored a sense of pride to the alumni. More than that, he’s helped make Texas a national power and a national BRAND in a greater way than ever before. When I came from the Midwest to go to school at UT, I’d tell people “I go to Texas” and they’d say, “Oh, you mean Texas A&M?” True story. People don’t do that any more.

So I’d say to the recent grads: Appreciate where you are. Because it definitely wasn’t always that way. It takes years and years to climb the mountain, and only a moment to fall back down.

+1 to everything in your post.

heavy lies the crown, but one thing that has kept Texas ‘humble’ has been playing in the roughest sub-conference in football. Imagine if ou were in a different division/conference….

That being said, the football humility I have been subjected to pre- Mack was ridiculous. Some of the things witnessed first hand: Route 66, ‘The Tie’ in 1985 (followed by 4 straight losses), losing at OSU in 1997 in Ricky’s junior year, Miami destroying us in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s day, 1991 (which didn’t help my hangover at all).

In some ways it was a simpler time: upsetting ou four straight years with Gardere felt euphoric. Upsetting Nebraska in the first Big 12 championship, orgasmic.

But nothing felt better than Pasadena in 2006, and frankly, that is the candy I want.

As someone who sat through many of the games of the bad old days referenced above, I think it’s important to keep in mind how good we have it right now, not just in football but generally across the board.

It amazes me sometimes to see how the game threads on BON for games we win by three or four touchdowns can turn into absolute toxic waste dumps from all the delusional fans unhappy when we don’t win every game by five or six touchdowns. A 20+ plus win over anyone in the 90s would have been cause for celebration, not bitching.

Enjoy it. It won’t last forever. Nothing does.

I’m guilty of saying “F* firing GD, fire Mack!”.

I started following UT during the Applewhite/Simms era, and was bitter about the series of losses to OU that I had attended.

But then again, I lacked perspective, as I didn’t know the history. Now, I’m probably the most ardent Mack Brown supporter, but still have to evangelize him to people from my class despite recent success in the RRR because he’s still only 50/50 in that game.

The newest grads don’t even know about Mack’s 50/50 record in the RRR, and take winning THAT game for granted. Also, having a successful team doesn’t generate assholes, it just allows them the platform to come out of the woodwork. They were already there.

All this being said, you can’t be surprised that when you’re successful, douches show up. Also, don’t be surprised if younger people than you say dumb things. And don’t be surprised if you look back on some things you said, and now think that was pretty dumb too.

and enjoy it. Having grown up immersed in Horns fandom and experiencing a long period of mediocrity challenges, it is a freaking blast to see such recent success. I also grew up a Braves fan and in the ’80s began to wonder why it was that I was a fan. I stuck with my team(s) and it paid off.

It seems that after the OU game in 84, things went to $&!T. That was also the time when the Agros started to become relevant. It was a hard time to put up with their delusional arrogance. I always hoped it would never get to the point where Horn fans would get that bad. I guess it has. Living in Oklahoma for the past 10 years has made sure I don’t get too full of myself. First 5 years cemented that. I know I will be leaving the land of thieves soon for new job (just don’t know if it will be Texas or Mississippi), I just hope this 40 something, burnt-orange bleeding SOB, can represent my great University will (I hate the word) Class. I just hope the younger generation will start doing the same.

Any time a winner emerges, you get a lot of needy people who try to identify so they can feel better about themselves. The boorish behavior has nothing to do with Texas sports, apart from it providing an easy vehicle. I mean, you don’t have to work too hard to follow the Horns and you get to play the favorite most of the time. Remember all the vitriol post-MNC? It was these same folks, jonesing because they didn’t get their fix that day.

So to everyone offended by these jerks, the rest of us are just as much embarrassed as you might be offended. At least we might all take some consolation in the observation that college sports is a fairly benign outlet for such behavior and that some fun can be had from watching it at a distance.

To see a lot of longhorn fans show a bit of humility, and I’m walking away with a bit more respect for the fanbase as a whole. BON users have mostly been pretty gracious to my presence. The Texas fans that live in my area, however, are the most obnoxious, entitled fans I’ve ever met in my life. Right now, it really is how most people view your fanbase. Hell, my girlfriend notices it even more than I do. Most fans are guilty of falling into their generic fanbase annoyance, I’ve been guilty of “7 national championships and 5 heismans” myself. What I’m getting at here, is that right now, the longhorn fanbase, including alumni old and new, are certainly not the most humble, but after reading a few testimonies here, it’s good to know that there are quite a few fans that stay a bit humble and are willing to have football conversations with us, “lesser” programs.

I hope they will grow out of it. I’m 38 about to turn 39 later this year, and I was there in the early ‘90s with McWilliams and Mackovic. Because of those tough times, I know I will never take this run for granted. On a quick aside, I ran on the field at then Memorial Stadium in 1990 after we beat #3 Houston. It was and still is one of my most cherished memories of my college career. A part of me feels bad that students these days won’t have that joy in their college experiences.

has a lot to do with the jackass behaviour recently. The a-hole analysts on TV cause the fanbase to demand not only wins, but destructions of opponents. When the current fanbase logically realizes that a 7 point win over team “A” vs. a 30 point win over team “A” can literally mean the difference b/w a national title opportunity and just another nice bowl game, I can understand the young folks’ anger – and that some of the older folks may see it as immaturity or lack of perspective.

I graduated UT in 1990 and remember the truly dark ages of Texas football. The end of the Fred Akers career where all the students would yell out the play as it began because the offense was so predictable. Apparently having Earl in the beginning of his coaching career led him to believe we should run the draw play on every long yardage situation.

The David McWilliams era was not much better, we won the SWC in 1990 and were ranked number three in the country and got to play Miami for a chance at the National Title. The build up was whether the team could wear black shoes Ala Penn State. We were destroyed in the Cotton Bowl. Miami out-swaggered from the moment they walked onto the field until the final gun. The only consolation is we were not shut out.

So having Mack coach this team to so many consecutive 10 win seasons is fantastic, but as the author pointed out, we only have one NC to boast of. Until we secure a second crystal ball we need to keep some humility. We have done well, we need to do better, but Mack gets to keep the reins for many years to come. Muschamp will get his chance once Mack is no longer having fun coaching this team.

Until then, Hook em and beat the hell out of OU and they rest of the Big 12!

and is having to deal with struggles now, go look at Tomahawk Nation.

There are writers on there who came of age during FSU’s decade of dominance in the ‘90s, and don’t now what to do now that the dynasty has ended. The absolute hatred they have for Bobby Bowden, a man who created the very reason for their overinflated sense of entitlement, is astounding.

I don’t think texas fans will ever come to that point (doubtful any coach who wins two national titles at texas will also stick around forever, like Bowden has), but it is a good example of how things can go bad.

As to the OP, I don’t think John Cooper’s tenure qualifies as a down period for Ohio State (two Big Ten titles, multiple Bowl Alliance and BCS appearances), and LSU has never had a significant history of winning for any time to be considered a down period. This past decade, with two BCS titles, is as good as it has ever been for LSU.

originally from Ann Arbor with parents that went to UM, i grew up a Wolverines fan. my family settled in texas almost 30 years ago, and i ended up at UT. I had the misfortune of being there for all 5 of the losses to OU in the early 2000’s. (that’s rite, UT was the best 4.5 years of my life :D )
it was hard letting go of the UM-brainwashing, esp during those years, while UM was still a contender, but i’ll never forget the Rose Bowl i watched in Ann Arbor with a house full of Wolverines. i attended a Pistons-Lakers game the night before and a stranger said “ur from texas? no offense but F***-you”. as VY had his way against michigan, i smiled to myself, knowing at that moment, things had changed for UT. when i meet new-grads that assume BCS success, i’m baffled. i’m grateful for chris simms and the torture he relentlessly subjected me to. i am now able to appreciate the good times that much more. oh, and i absolutely remind my family about 2005.