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Red Wolves top Aggies
By WesBloomquist in The Spiral
August 31, 2008

My phone was silent on Saturday. It sat there all night without a sound, without a buzz and without regard.

That's not unusual on most nights, but on the opening night of college football it's never like that. For the last 40 some odd years (an extreme exaggeration) I have received a call (usually 10 or so) throughout the first day of play from my cousin Junior.

He's a die hard Texas A&M fan and is more loyal to the Aggies than I am to myself. Sure, he may have forgotten to pay his phone bill this month, but I'm suspecting the guy I call Mafia didn't call because of one of the most embarrassing losses the program has ever had.

Who, I'm screaming Who, would ever believe that Texas A&M would ever lose to Arkansas State. The Red Wolves could have kept it close, sure, but a win over the Aggies seemed like an impossibility.

Junior couldn't have seen it coming and I surely didn't. I had the Aggies rolling. I saw them creeping up the polls and being a surprise team this season. I believed in the experience of Stephen McGee and the explosiveness of Michael Goodson. I saw promise in the hiring of the former NFL coach Mike Sherman and I have always had faith in the Aggies defense.

But I sat in disbelief at work on Saturday night, as I'm sure Junior was while listening to the game on the radio while playing pool at home. How could the Aggies, a program with so much potential, prestige and money, fall to a school with the athletic history of a 4-year-old child?

The Aggies can still turn their season around. They'll beat Baylor in conference play and more than likely the Longhorns will crumble in defeat. But Saturday's loss is a reminder that the Aggies are not ready for the national spotlight.

When you play Arkansas State you have to win. You can't keep it close and lose by four and even win by four. It's supposed to be a blowout. It's supposed to inspire and be something you build on. It's not supposed to embarrass.

Even Junior will admit to that.

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