Double Team

The bad part about loving a sports team is you set yourself up for very few highs and a lot of lows. When you're passionate about a team you're going to get your heart broken. I've been a Razorback fan all my life. When the Hogs went to the national championship in basketball in '94 I was eaten up stupid with Hog Wild pride. During March Madness that year, I would get so wrapped up in the games I would have to run outside and shoot free throws to help them win, which I'm sure really helped. I also remember wearing a Razorback cap in the bathtub the night they played for the national championship against Duke, because I thought I would jinx them if I took it off before game time. Hey, I was 11, give me a break.

Basketball was my bread and butter then. Now it's college football.

It's safe to say I will always be a Hog fan first and foremost. And, all Hog fans can agree, we've been through some ups and downs emotionally over the past couple of years. But we keep on keepin' on. Many fair weather fans have long since jumped ship, but the rest of us hold on in hopes of the team that will bring us back to glory.

Since I sought higher education at two universities (Arkansas and Texas Tech), I was faced with the struggle of whether or not to root for the latter. When I first started graduate school out here I went to several Red Raider football games. Yes, I was entertained by the "air raid" high powered offense that usually put 50 plus points on the board, but there was a part of me that just wouldn't allow myself to feel the passion I felt while calling the Hogs. I'd like to call it loyalty, others might call it stubbornness.

However, after re-immersing myself into Raiderland, I've taken on a 60-40 sports perspective: 60 percent of my heart calls the Hogs while the remaining 40 percent puts it's guns up. I do feel a loyalty to Tech since I went to school there, but my alma mater will always win out when it comes to my loyalty if the two schools play each other (which I pray never happens for relationship purposes - I can be very hard to tolerate when winning and losing and pride and bragging rights are on the line.)

Needless to say, being a Razorback fan was miserable during this year's football season. However, being a Red Raider fan was like a crazy roller coaster ride that got me through the season. It was kind of like having your cake and eating it, too, then having it completely taken away from you. The Hogs sucked, but Tech went undefeated through 11 games.

I was at the Texas game when Tech beat the then No. 1 Horns in Lubbock on a last second pass to the best receiver in college football. It was the most amazing sports moment I will likely ever witness in person...or on TV for that matter.


Lubbock was on fire with that same hype I remember from Fayetteville when the Hog basketball team was ripping up the nation, and I was feeling it, too. I think a few other Arkansas fans back home even put their guns up this season, because there wasn't anything better to do in Hog country.

Then Tech got their national championship hopes crushed after going into Norman, Okla., as the No. 2 team in the country - the highest rank in Tech history. The stupid Sooners took us to the trash can. Lubbock felt like someone had let the air out of the city the next day. That also kind of goes back to the whole West Texas football craziness that exists out here, too. The region's hopes and dreams rest on what happens on Friday and Saturday nights during football season.

Since Tech was one of three one-loss teams in the Big 12 South, we were thrown into a tooth and nail fight for a spot in the Big 12 championship. We didn't get in, but we got into the Cotton Bowl. The idea of Texas Tech getting no national respect is a whole other blog topic, but non-Red Raiders just don't like the idea of Texas Tech being in the national championship picture. They've never been there, so they need to stay out of it, apparently. Jerks.

So, on to the Cotton Bowl we went. I was there last year as a Hog fan and got my heart broken. Bad. We got thrashed my Missouri. Despite have a terrible New Years Eve, New Years Day 2008 was worse.



But this year I went as a Red Raider. We were to play Ole Miss, who is now coached by the Arkansas-loathed Houston Nutt, who did his best to destroy Arkansas football before he left. I couldn't decide what I wanted worse - Tech to win or Houston Nutt to lose. I realize those are the same thing, but they were actually tow different things in my head.

Apparently, I am terrible luck to any team I support when I attend their away games. I went to a Tech game in Austin a few years ago - lost that one. I went to the Cotton Bowl last year when the Hogs played there - lost that one, too. I went to see Arkansas play Texas in Austin this year - lost again. And, now this year's Cotton Bowl...

Unfortantely, we lost. I hate even typing those words: "We lost". It hurts me. And, I feel comfortable saying "we" when referring to Tech.

Tech's cinderella season came to a disappointing end at the last game ever to be played at the 73-year old Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which was a lot bigger this year than it was last year for some reason.

I hate losing, but I did get to throw a tortilla at kickoff - a time honored Texas Tech tradition that somewhat finally made me feel like a real Red Raider.

I am now content with me a double teamer. Does that make me a Red Hog? A Razor-raider? Or a Raider-back? At least the colors are similar. That makes things handy.