Texas A and M University - Aggieland Yearbook (College Station, TX)

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Division 15

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THE NEW GENERATION Editor: Lisa Kastensmidt Aides: Lisa Johnson Yollie Lopez Denise Moehl Preparing to start elephant walk, senior red pots lead the seniors in a yell in front of the Academic building. 14 Division

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1985 SEASON SWC CHAMPS Texas Aggies make their first cotton bowl ap¬ pearance in 18 seasons ot-ton . . . cot-ton . . . cot¬ ton . . . !” began the season’s first yell practice, but little did the Texas Aggies know that their annual hopes would be fulfilled. In spite of the team’s starting loss at the hands of Ala¬ bama or their upset against Baylor, the rough-tough Texas A M football team en¬ cored in Dallas for the 1986 Cotton Bowl. Bonfire had fallen after midnight, fore¬ telling an Aggie victory when the Aggies encountered Texas. This meeting was the showdown to determine who would carry the Southwest Conference title. On Thanksgiving Day, 77,607 eyewitnesses loaded the bleachers and temporary seats of Kyle Field. Forty-two years ago that day, the same teams met to determine the championship. The crowd also celebrated another 42nd event, the birthday of Texas A M Athletic Director Jackie Sherrill. Aggie devotees and standing 12th Man created a sea of white each time the Ma¬ roon scored. The towels just flew up “in gleeful celebration” wrote Dave Campbell in the Waco Tribune Herald, but not at all “in surrender!” Cotton balls flew every¬ where — that is, if they were not dangling from the ears or fingers of many. The Ag¬ gies beat the Longhorns again with a 32 point margin, just to freshen the memory of the 32-point Aggie margin in last year’s scrap with the Orange and White. The defeat sent Texas (and Bevo) away with their tails tucked under to play the Air Force Academy in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Two weeks after the t. u. game, some¬ thing unusual happened on campus. The “Bowl facts” were that 8,000 tickets were available to students at $20 rather than $25 (a Sherrill-requested discount); the best tickets were endzone and 10-yardline seats; and FINALS were the following week. The latter must not have weighed too heavily on the minds of students as Camp Cotton was established in front of G. Rollie White Coliseum two days before tickets sales began. Camp Cotton had almost all the com¬ forts of home for the Twelfth Man. In front of the six ticket windows, campers set up sleeping bags, lawn chairs, tents, Christ¬ mas trees, B-B-Q grills and television sets. Video cassette recorders even played “Ghostbusters,” “The Exterminator,” or better, the A M vs. Texas game. Foot¬ balls, volleyballs and frisbees flew over¬ head during the balmy afternoons; and by night, teddy bears, popcorn and blankets took precedent. When asked about the beer drinking going on, senior electrical engineer major Barry Meyer, replied, “No comment,” while Kevin Sherman, junior landscape artchitecture major, admitted, “Well, the only studying I do is when I study the girls.” And by Tuesday morning, survivors were treated to coffee and donuts, which Jackie Sherrill had arranged to be deliv¬ ered. In “thanks”, one clever group humped it and yelled, “Beat the hell outta the Dallas Times Herald!,” who earlier in the semester made allegations against particular team members. Still, whatever happened then or that night in front of G. Rollie White didn’t matter anymore be¬ cause the Aggies were going to Big D. Nothing could stop them — not even Bo 16 Life