Country Mike Blog

Texas A&M

Mike Sudhalter  |  June 26, 2007

On Sunday morning, I woke up a Kansas Jayhawks fan and went to bed that night, wanting to yell "Gig 'Em Aggies" in my sleep.

Why the sudden transformation and the reason for my loyalty defecting from Lawrence to Bryan-College Station?

Plain and simple, a song.

That's right, a song. Not any ordinary tune, though.

Here's the story: I've always been a fan of Texas/Red Dirt country singer Granger Smith, a Texas A&M alum. I visited Smith's website and found out about a new song he recorded, "We Bleed Maroon".

Hearing the title, I was thinking that it's probably just another in-your-face, let's tell everybody why our school is way better than yours.

That presumption couldn't have been further to the truth. The song was an ode to the college, and by the end, it had me scratching my head and wondering why I hadn't gone to school there. By the way, it's free on itunes

Let's set the record straight: I'm proud of my degree from the University of Kansas, but my pride ends right there. There were some great professors and classes, but the entire "college experience" was average, at best. You go to class, there's a few mediocre parties.

Either Smith does a great job painting a rosy picture of A&M or it's right on the money. But you get the feeling that A&M is more about camraderie, friendship and tradition than any university in the United States.

There's lots of references to TAMU traditions, but my favorite is "throw your arms around each other and sing "Hullabaloo". I haven't heard that song, but that's got to be cool to hear 80,000 people sing it.

Smith also make reference to the school's football success, but he doesn't take any digs at rival schools, mainly TU (as Aggies call the University of Texas).

I'm going to make it a mission to attend a TAMU football game.

He also honors the memories of the 12 people who died in the 1999 bonfire accident and "all those brave Aggies who never came back from war".

It's a great song, and if you check out, maybe you'll realize why I've been converted from a Jayhawk fan to an Aggie fan.

The next task is explaining to family, friends and former classmates about my change of heart, and looking forward to all the good-natured ribbing with them. Hopefully, this article will tell it all.

Another Texas/Red Dirt Music singer, Roger Creager did a song for the Aggies. He changed the words from his song "Love" to this tune about TAMU football. Hopefully, this will get everybody ready for Montana State on Sept. 1 Check out this video and Gig 'Em Aggies!