Note from the Webmaster, 1962, Pig, ,Roger Williams, Rowing, Perfection

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A Note from the Webmaster

After the TCU loss, I was shocked at the venom spewed from Longhorn football fans on social media sites. Criticizing boys turning to men playing collegiate sports by name in any fan social media format is WRONG! Longhorn Facebook sites are the worse.

Please don’t misunderstand me; criticism about the team, offense, or defense play is necessary, but ultimately it is the coach’s decision who plays and who does not. Don’t blame the player for a Coach’s decision. Here is a quote that I hope will remind those who openly use mean-spirited remarks to players in the arena that ALL collegiate athletes are brave men and women.

THE MAN IN THE ARENA BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds: who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

On another note, Professor Carlson and yours truly will post a special edition to the TLSN newsletter on Thanksgiving Day to share some of the traditions and games played when the Aggies were in the SWC and Big 12. During those years, many traditions started, and all ended when the Aggies finally admitted defeat to the Longhorns and moved to another conference.

Does anyone know when the Aggie supper tradition started? Also if you have any memories to share about the Aggie Thanksgiving tradition, please send to Billydale1@gmail.com for inclusion in the special edition.

The 1962 Football Season by Professor Larry Carlson

This writer, then a nine-year-old fourth-grader in San Antonio, lived and breathed Longhorn football. Beating Arkansas was foremost on my mind. But I can readily recall being nervous about the fact that my parents were suddenly stockpiling large jugs of water. Our elderly neighbors, Daisy and Ted, already had a bomb shelter dug into their backyard. I was pretty sure there would be no room in it for the Carlsons, and that caused me a bit of a nervous stomach.

Local newscasters were speculating about the Cold War becoming hot, some saying the Alamo City would be one of the communists’ top five targets in America. My hometown, sometimes also called “Military City,” was home to three Air Force bases plus Fort Sam Houston.

The sports pages, though, were still dominated by coverage of Longhorn football, and Daddy had told Mom, my two sisters, and I that we would drive to Austin on Saturday and try to get tickets for the big game. Calmed by my parents, I tried not to worry too much that week except about those danged Razorbacks.

Click on the link for the rest of Larry’s article about the 1962 football season.

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/1962-by-larry-carlson

The Story of mascots-It is not what you think.

THE ROAD TO “BEVO” IS FILLED WITH PEAKS, VALLEYS, AND 180-DEGREE TURNS THAT ELICIT DEJA VU MOMENTS.

A Longhorn as a mascot met an ignominious death in 1916, and “Pig” the dog supplanted the Longhorn as the mascot. After Pigs passed, The local paper said:

“Gloom Pervades University Campus: Students and Faculty Mourn Death of Mascot; To be Buried with Honors. “

The Cowboy organization members were the pallbearers.

From 1923-1935 Young Boys, not Longhorns, were the team Mascots.

These boys attended the games with the players and were pictured in the Cactus team photographs. Their names, such as Runt and Stubby, certainly would not pass the politically correct name test in 2022, but that is another story.

I believe that in the history of Longhorn sports, only one mascot ever played sports for the University of Texas. In 1925 Roger Williams was the team mascot and seven years later, in 1931 was a star for the Longhorn baseball team.

For the full story of the evolutionary road to BEVO click on  

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/bevo

2012-2013 Rowing

Ranked 15th in the nation and Big 12 champion.

Coach Graves was selected by her peers as the 2012 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.

Pursuing perfection is a liability, not an asset. Psychologists say seeking perfection leads to a fear of failure that thwarts an individual’s mental and social development and reduces their quality of life.

Athletes who strive for perfection and are not happy with a score assessed by the position coach after a game rating of 9.9999 instead of 10.0 are setting themselves up for a miserable and pressure-filled life.

Augie Garrido said winning should never determine your self-worth. He noted that athletes whose “character is forged in failure” are usually more prepared for college baseball than high school recruits who have only experienced winning. Augie says failure can be as positive as winning. His book “Life is Yours to win” states that failure has benefits. “If you handle failure with the right attitude, it can lead to success.” Making mistakes is how we learn lessons.

On the TLSN website, there is an article that discusses the problems with perfection. Here is the link. THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY OF OVERACHIEVING (squarespace.com)

TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.

The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful, sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.

TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.

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