"Now That's What I Call High Quality H2O"

There are 5 seasons in a year: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Football. Corny, but go with it. This is the probably the most "redass" update I will ever give you. This past weekend was the first Aggie football game. These football games are epic. As lame as it sounds, there is nothing like Kyle field. 

I decided to try to explain what this weird Aggie cult is by coming up with a "Top 10 List to Why A&M Football is the Best." Here it goes:

1. The food. Naturally, this is the first on my list. Tailgating at A&M is just stellar. No further explanation needed. 

2. The entrance. This is probably Papa Reilly's favorite thing. They enter with just the Corps of Cadets drum-lines' cadence. The students wave their "12th man towels" as they enter. One of the best, but most annoying things is being smacked in a face every 3 seconds by a white towel.

3. The yells & the yell leaders. Yes, we don't have cheerleaders. They are yell leaders. It's something unique about the university. The yells are also great. My dad likes to make fun of them because they are simple. He calls it "Aggie hooked on phonics." Each yell has a "pass back," or a hand motion to go along with it. The yell leaders do the motion and the student section "passes it back." You then "hump it." Woah, that sounds awkward, right? Don't worry, we keep it PG. "Humping it" is an aggie term (see #4) which basically means put your hands on your knees, making you yell louder and allow others behind you to see. After the yell, you do your "wildcat"-- another weird Aggie term (seriously, see #4) which stands for a hand motion and yell to represent your class year. A&M has been known to have the loudest student section. 

4. The terminology. I am convinced that this is what makes us seem like a cult. 

To name a few: 

• Howdy- The official greeting at Texas A&M. 
• Whoop!- An exclamation of approval and excitement. Only Juniors and Seniors can do this. 
• Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck!- Sound at the beginning of the Aggie War Hymn to represent a cannon being loaded. 
• Gig em.'- It's a thumbs up. It has a long story about how it was coined, but if you are actually interested you can google it. 
• 12th man- This is a tradition symbolizing that at any given moment, a student will step in the game if they are needed. There is a cool story about this also. Google is great. 
• 2 percenter- Aggies who choose not to participate in traditions. 
• Hump it- During a yell, the crowd leans forward and places their hands on their knees to maximize the noise and so that those standing behind them can see.
• Good bull- This is a phrase used when someone is a good Aggie. 
• Hiss- Rather than "booing", Aggies "hiss" to express disapproval. It is supposed to represent a horses' laugh. 
• Wildcat- A noice and a motion that represents a student's class year. 
• Red ass- An Aggie who closely follows traditions and has a lot of school spirit. 

5. The Aggie band. Our band is better than any other band. Not cocky, just confident. Our band is comprised of members of the Corps of Cadets and their routine is focused around military formations. 

6. No one leaves until the game is finished.  No matter what, the student section stays until the end of the game to show support for the team. "I've seen them lose, but i've never seen them quit" is a common phrase. 

7. We do not sit. This sounds brutal, but it is great. It's another way to show support for our team. They only time the student section sits down during the game is when the other school's band is performing. Again, the Aggie band rocks. 

8. Spooning. There are a ton of students. Once everyone gets settled, you usually end up spooning the person next to you because it is so crowded.

9. The oddities. A&M has several things that most people don't hear about unless you are in the student section. 

1. Visor guy. There is a guy that sits in the alum section to the right. He yells constantly for the team and is easy to spot. Let's be honest, there's always one of them. He wears a visor every game. Naturally, we deemed him visor guy. He also has a facebook page. I don't think he is aware of this. 
2. Not only Charlie Sheen can win. Student's have a saying, "Whenever the Aggies score, you score." If you have a date to the game, you get to kiss them. 
3. Memorization. The student sections knows every single word to the videos and will say them in unison. They also know the bands entrance and join the commentator in saying, "Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field, the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band..." Stellar. 

10. The War Hymn. In high school, I will admit to the fact that I never knew the words to our fight song. It was awkward. That's not the case here. Everyone joins in on the fight song. There is a special part where students hook arms and sway back and forth to "saw Varsity's' horns off." During games, you can see the press box swaying from side to side. Pretty darn cool. 

Psalm 126:10. "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'"