From: retrac@vesuvius.cs.rice.edu (John Carter)
Subject: Re: Aggie Riot (was Re: Best marching band)
Organization: Rice University, Houston
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 03:49:17 GMT

cobarruvias@asd2.jsc.nasa.gov writes:
>JIMMY MILLER writes:
>>swanger@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:
>>>Thomas Reid Scudder writes:
>>>  
>>>>BTW -- the Stanford band may have gotten booed by a whole crowd, but have
>>>>they ever managed to be the targets of a riot?  Then again, antagonizing
>>>>an Aggie crowd on a day when the Aggies lose is a bad idea.

>>> Riot?  What riot?  I guess this is an old story that I've missed.  Would
>>> someone please post the details (Tom?  Goobster??).

>>Not them, but I'll do my best.  One year (I don't know when) the MOB came
>>up to play for the A&M-Rice game (they don't always).  As to the conduct of
>>the game itself, I have no idea, but according to legend, the MOB formed up
>>in the shape of a fire hydrant and played "Oh Where, Oh Where, Has My
>>Little Dog Gone?".  The problem with this was that was the year that the
>>Aggie mascot, Reveille (who is a dog) died.  Given this factoid, it is
>>little wonder that the mood suddenly turned ugly (and if Rice was indeed
>>winning the football game, that would just have made matters worse), as Rev
>>is very well-liked on campus.

>Well I heard it a bit different. The mob was imitating the Aggie Band, with
>some members even wearing Aggie uniforms. This, of course, really pissed off
>the band to a point that fights broke out. The mob has never been invited back
>for this reason. 

Sigh, this shouldn't surprise anybody, but as per usual, the Aggies couldn't
get the story straight (although I'll give half credit to the first answer).
[This conference-ly love thing can only go *so* far, so be prepared for a
little sarcasm below. :-)]

Here's what happened.  The game was AT RICE that year.  This is only
slightly relevant, since even in Houston, there seem to be more Aggies in
the stands than Owls.  The most recent version of Reveille was indeed
pushing up the daisies at one end of Kyle field, an event that rates in
Aggie-land up there with the death of a President.  The general feeling
around Rice, and most places, was a deep-seated feeling of compassion, best
described with the consoling phrase "Get a *grip*, guys!  We're talking
about a DOG!"  Trying to help them get said grip on reality, the MOB decided
to have a little fun and did indeed form into the shape of a fire hydrant to
play, among other things, "Oh Where, Oh Where, Has My Little (DEAD) Dog
Gone?"  Teasing an Aggie mascot is somehow the equivalent of declaring war,
hitting their sisters, or refusing to greet people with a hardy "Howdy!"
during Howdy Week because you think it makes you sound like a "goob" (no
offense intended to THE goob).  The immediate reaction of any paramilitary
organization like the Corps is obvious (and doesn't involve any of the
Christian ideals of forgiveness or turning of one's cheek) -- they stormed
the field and chased the MOB into the locker rooms, where the MOB was forced
to hide behind locked doors until Rice food service trucks were summoned to
get them away from the unruly goosesteppers.  The presence of (e)aTm(e)
formations was nothing out of the ordinary, as they appear at all Rice-A&M
functions (it used to be more fun until somebody explained it to them,
probably some damned T-Sip proud that he'd figured it out himself :-).
Angered Aggie fans did a decent amount of damage around campus that day...

To give non-SWCers a little perspective on Aggie thought processes, this is
the same place where a member of the drill team once chased an SMU
cheerleader around the field with a DRAWN SWORD (!!!) for the heinous
offense of... (this is really heinous, I warn you to avert your eyes or hit
`n' now if you have a weak stomach) ... performing a TUMBLING RUN on sacred
Kyle Field after a Mustang touchdown(*).  This fine young officer-to-be and
defender of the faith was eventually restrained by his fellow members of the
Corps before he was able to make Mustang-kebabs.  The constroversy the next
week was pretty funny, as Aggies all over the state lauded the man (!!!) for
his bravery and such not, while the rest of the state just laughed and
dusted off some of their favorite old Aggie jokes.  One good thing that came
out of the incident was that at the next Rice game, coincidentally against
SMU, the MOB put on a great show: Samurai Cheerleaders!  Ah, the good old
days when every skit included a shot at A&M (making the MOB popular amongst
both the Owl's fans and those of their opponents)...

To llustrate how bad things got, I remember one year when I travelled to A&M
to watch a game.  The MOB, apparently trying to tone down their anti-A&M
rhetoric, put on this disgustinly sappy Christmas show that included Santa
and a bunch of bells and reindeer and the lots of saccharine sweet Christmas
carols.  The Aggie fans LOVED it, and cheered loudly, while the small pocket
of Rice fans were booing at the top of their lungs, facing away from the
field (a dishonor normally reserved for boring enemy bands), and chanting
"SELL OUT!", "SHAME!", and such not.  Aieee...  The beginning of the end.


(*) To add just a *slight* amount of fairness, the cheerleader accidentally
tumbled into the guy, but STILL.  Oh, and one of the standard excuses is
that Kyle Field is a memorial to all the Aggies who've died in combat, so
only the teams and bands (and dogs) are allowed to touch the sacred ground.
Seem arbitrary and/or just plain silly?!?  Ah, you're catching on fast...

-- 
John Carter  -*-  Rice University Computer Systems Lab  -*-  retrac@rice.edu

Thesis hacking Owl, soon to be Ute.  Move over Salt Lake, here he comes!
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college