Tbou and the Tigahs
A Series — A look at our SEC opponents one visit at a time
Texas A&M - College Station, Tx— A community steeped in tradition
First, let me take a moment of personal privilege to thank the Beddingfield family for their kindness for including my family and me in their Aggie traditions and sharing their stories of their days on the Aggies campus.
Travis, Shannon, Coleman, Mitchell, Lila and Claire, thank you for not rubbing in your victory although I would have completely understood and accepted it. I hope you all shared in yells of delight, high fives and other forms of excitement after Cindy, Katie and I headed back to the hotel to join Teddy (first grand baby) in sleeping the night away. Again, the excitement is well deserved. The Aggies victory happened because they were the better team that night. The Aggies were the team that wanted the game the most and it was visible from the start. The12th Man was also a big help. I’ll share more on that and other traditions a little later in this column.
LSU fans, don’t hang your heads too low because our Tigers are 9-3 and SEC West Champions!!!!! I've said it before no one expected an SEC West Title for LSU in 2022. Although, we as fans have the right to be upset with the team for the way they played. The Tigers were unprepared and uninspired to be competitive. The offense played like Tiger fans are used to seeing in the first half. The second half started strong but the fumble scoop and score changed the mojo not only for the offense but the defense as well. The defense after two three and outs fell apart in the second half and they became the biggest disappointment of the night from the coaches on down.
LSU fans, put Saturday night to rest and get ready to cheer on our Tigers this weekend in the SEC Championship game against Georgia. A game no one thought possible back in January when LSU was crushed by Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. No one thought possible in January when LSU only had 39 scholarship players left on the team for that bowl game. They had even less after the Texas Bowl. But Brian Kelly and the staff have done a helluva job turning the Tigers around practically overnight. We have every reason to keep our heads high as well as our expectations for years to come.
Now back to Texas A&M, Kyle Field, College Station and the weekend with family for which I am thankful
Background note, it’s always been a dream of mine to attend an LSU away game at every SEC school. My wife Cindy (LSU Alumnus) is in on the dream. We went to Vanderbilt during the 2019 campaign. I plan to write about that trip in a future column. A&M was extra special because the Beddingfield family I mentioned earlier is our family now. Our LSU daughter Katie married A&M Aggie Coleman Beddingfield whose mother, father, brother (his wife), sister and grandparents all attended Texas A&M. We were supposed to attend the 2020 game at Kyle Field but COVID kept us out. So, we put the dream on hold for two years because we wanted our next SEC away game opponent to be Texas A&M. In reality, nothing could have ruined the weekend, not even the loss. A victory would have made it sweeter than the s’mores crepe we had Saturday morning at Sweet Paris Creperie located in Northgate off University Drive. A must do breakfast/brunch with mimosas to kick start the day.
Northgate is the area most students go for their morning, afternoon and night life activities. It’s where students and Aggie fans go after their tradition of Midnight Yell practice.
Midnight Yell practice
The roots of the Aggie Yell practice date back to 1913 while A&M was an all-male military school. The Midnight Yell practice tradition didn’t start until 1932 when a couple of freshman asked the yell leaders to move the practice to midnight to help fire up the Aggies for the University of Texas game. That first MYP was held off campus because the midnight time wasn’t sanctioned by the school. Eventually it would be sanctioned and MYP the Friday before a home game was moved to Kyle Field. The MYP goes on the road with the team and is also held the night before away games. The MYP brings the Corps, the Fighting Texas Aggie Band, students and fans together to practice the cheers used during the game. The yell leaders, a group of five students elected to one year terms by the student body lead the cheers, tell stories, jokes and this past Friday night they thanked the student body, their families and others for the experience. The seniors were saying their goodbyes because this was the Aggies last home game of the year. This was the last game of their yell leader career because the Aggies didn’t win enough games to qualify for a bowl game. So the next Midnight Yell practice is scheduled for the fall of 2023.
Tom Bouchie
446Sports.com
Midnight Yell practice
The 12th Man legacy lives on through the Corps Cadets (Keepers of the Spirit) and the student body
Beddingfield Family: (Left to right) Shannon, Mitchell, Travis, Coleman, Claire) Showing their Aggie Rings another Aggie tradition.
The legend of the 12th man goes back 100 years to January 1922 when the Aggie football team found themselves light on players because of injuries. The coach at the time was looking at his roster and noticed the name of E. King Gill, a squad member, who spent his games in the press box helping reporters identify players on the field. Coach called him down and told him to suit up which he did in the uniform of the Aggies' injured running back. The Aggies pulled off one of the greatest upsets of college football at the time as Gill ended the game on the sideline as the only player left on the bench. Gill stood ready to serve his coach and team and that willingness to serve has been handed down by every Aggie generation to the next.
Now, the 12th man is the student section which incorporates the entire east side of the stadium. The students stand together the entire game following the Yell Leaders instructions. The power of the 12th man is echoed in the unity, the loyalty, and willingness of Aggies to serve when called to do so. I see and hear it in the Beddingfield family.
Beddingfield Family: (Left to right) Shannon, Mitchell, Travis, Coleman, Claire) Showing their Aggie Rings another Aggie tradition.
Aggie Land is certainly worth the trip to watch the Tigers play. Hopefully, next time the outcome will be a better one. Until then I’ll take my win when I get one. There was absolutely no traffic to deal with leaving campus!