Published: October 24, 2009 11:53 pm      

Red River rilvary football game weekend

College 401 column

PALESTINE — College is all about the experiences, right? That's what you hear, and I've been trying to take full advantage of that saying during my time at UT. I'm in my senior year, although I might be here for much longer (grad school, another story for another time). Last weekend, I added another meaningful experience to my list when I attended the annual Red River Rivalry football game between UT and the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Aside from the three and a half hours it took to get from Denton, where my girlfriend and I stayed with her sister Friday night, to the stadium, it was an amazing thing to be a part of.

Our seats pretty much were awful as well. We were on the lower level, but the very last low of that lower level, meaning we were under the overhang of the upper deck. All this leads to us practically being able to see only the field and nothing above it, coupled with the presence of a very large pole directly in our line of vision. But still, minor sacrifices, right? The Longhorns it seemed did everything they could to lose the game, and quarterback Colt McCoy was off, just like he's been all season, but thanks to a defense that is almost unstoppable this year, we pulled it out. And I was there. My biggest complaint from the game was how much our particular section lacked spirit. Sure, we were under the overhang, and since we were in the shade while everyone else basked in the sunlight, it made a little more difficult to get excited, but still, this is one of the biggest games of the season every year, and the atmosphere was electric. That didn't stop the majority of the people in my section from staying quiet as a mouse during much of the game, only yelling if something huge happened. Rather than being as loud and as raucous as possible to show support for the Horns, they stayed quiet, politely clapping for almost every play but very rarely getting excited. It was a shame really.

Afterward, we stayed in Dallas at the State Fair, since our ticket to the game also allowed us entrance into the fair. After purchasing an inordinately small amount of tickets for an inordinately large amount of money, we set off to enjoy the fair. First up, one of my professors told me that if you're at the fair, you have to get a Fletcher's corny dog, because it's a delicious requirement. So, off we went to procure them. After downing the overly salty food item, I was disappointed by the complete lack of satisfaction it gave me.

I headed to the coupon booth to purchase a very small amount of extra tickets so we could ride the ferris wheel, and ended up in front of a father and his two children. The guy was holding a beer, and his son was grabbing on his arm. The father warned the boy, “Watch out or you're going to get beer on your head,” to which the child replied that he wanted beer. Keep in mind, this kid was no more than five years old. But, being the great father that he is, he handed the cup to his son and let him take a giant swig out of it. I could spend this entire column ranting about how misguided and irresponsible such an action is, but I'll let you rant to yourself about that.

After that, I witnessed something that restored my faith in humanity. Not surprisingly, the line to the bathroom was enormous, but in that line were two older gentlemen, one a Longhorn fan and the other a Sooner, and wouldn't you know it, they were politely discussing the game. Each was listing their particular team's faults, and they were joking and laughing. It's something that most students should take note of, rather than the disrespectful displays that usually come from both sides.

The rest of the day consisted of the ferris wheel ride and then exiting. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough coupons to try any of the fair's typical popular items, like fried Oreos, or this year's spectacle, fried butter. That was probably for the best. We headed home with another experience under our belts. It was a worthwhile trip and one that I won't soon forget. Of course, the fact that we won helps tremendously.

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Robert Rich is a senior journalism major at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from Westwood High School in 2006. He can be reached via e-mail at robert.rich@mail.utexas.edu