I suppose it's appropriate that we learn about this "saw 'em off" story on the day that we had reserved for the announcement of our winner of the BON Enemies of the Nation Tournament. Our two finalists, after all, are both Aggies.
202 votes were cast in the finals, and the final margin was razor thin: Kellen Heard received 52% of the votes cast, to Eric Pedersen's 48%.
"Congratulations" Kellen Heard! You're the biggest fucktard of the 2006 season!
I thought it would be a close race, because the question was such a difficult one. Which was worse? Kellen Heard's obscene late hit of Colt McCoy? Or the classless, petty column written after the play that glorified Heard's late hit, while demonizing the victim?
I noted that I thought you could make a great case either way, and many of you did.
My vote went for Eric Pedersen. Kellen Heard is a thug of a football player who has no control over himself or his actions. He's an embarrassment to a fanbase who, at the very least, value good sportsmanship.
At least for the most part. Eric Pedersen's column was the most shameful, small-minded, and tasteless piece of garbage I've read all year. It was a sick piece of "journalism" that the student newspaper's editors never should have let see the light of day. As an argument, it was more porous than OJ Simpson's defense case.
I go way out of my way to demean Texas A&M in general, and Texas A&M athletics in particular. I poke fun of Aggies, their traditions, and their general athletic ineptitude. I fully expect the return treatment from Aggies, and am never disappointed. Trash talk and snickering about each other's differing cultures is part of the game. A damn fun part of the game.
I never, ever, though, celebrate injuries or revel in serious misfortunes that befall opponents. Pedersen's commentary epitomized the worst kind of Aggie - the self-loathing, envious little bitch who's constantly, desperately, trying to invalidate the University of Texas. Glorifying a late hit on the opposing team's quarterback is the lowest of the low, and I hate Eric Pedersen for it.
It's most disgusting because it represents the antithesis of all that is actually good about Aggie tradition. For all the mocking and needling we do, their core values of citizenship, comraderie, loyalty, and sportsmanship are highly commendable. This nastiness from Eric Pedersen openly mocks those traditions and gives a horrible name to an otherwise high character fanbase.
I wrote extensively about Robert Gates and Texas A&M's behind-the-times culture, and while their obsession with being the antithesis of the University of Texas seems misplaced and frightfully dated, the values that define the Aggie nation are, at their core, good ones. Eric Pedersen's column, especially in that light, was all the more repulsive.
Eric: fuck you and the sheep you rode in on.
--PB--