Hook 'em Horns!

I had some other blogging in the pipes for tonight but after a much later day at work than I expected, I was busy at home watching my wife's alma mater win the national championship! (Although I managed to squeeze in an interesting discussion at the end of this post during the commercial breaks.)

Hook 'em Horns!

I have a knack for watching historic games, which is good since I watch sporting events a lot less often than most. One such game was the only football game I attended while I was in grad school at Rice: a 19-17 upset of the Longhorns at the hands of the lowly Owls. It was something like the first time in over 20 years that had happened and I swear it rained every time UT had possession and stopped every time Rice got the ball.

Ever since, it has seemed that UT would choke any time it got the limelight. This isn't so amusing when your wife is an alumna. I expected the same old thing to happen when UT met Ohio State early this season. "I guess they'll choke later," I thought, after the Longhorns won that one. Then the Horns amassed an unbeaten record over the course of their season. At some point, I "realized" they were saving their choke for in-state rivals, Texas A&M. Nothing doing. "Ah, but there's the Big 12 Championship." Nope. UT won that one 70-3. Aside from part of the Ohio State game early in the season, I didn't get to watch a single one of these games. Maybe that's why I was so pessimistic....

I went into today's contest thinking that the inevitable collapse might come tonight, but when I got home from work late in the first half and watched them playing, I felt a strange confidence in the Horns. Yes, it was a close one. Yes. USC was frightening in the second half and looked unstoppable, but this game had a different feel to it from past Longhorns games I'd watched. It was all the quarterback. Vince Young was supremely confident and showed great leadership. That game was a pleasure to watch for this pessimistic Longhorns fan and long-suffering Rice Owl.

I may joke about waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I wasn't doing that tonight. But at the same time, this was such a close contest that I would not have been disappointed had Texas lost. Both sides played very well. Nobody choked. There was no disgrace.

-- CAV