There is room to tone down college rivalries

There is room to tone down college rivalries

College sports rivalries have gotten out of hand. There needs to be more emphasis on “friendly” rivals than “enemies.” Sports reporters thrive on them looking to find a story. These things have a way of getting very complicated, especially in families. Families have enough relationship problems without having another one created for us! Family tensions seem to increase around Thanksgiving when there are a lot of rivalry games on TV.

Many fans need to mature, which is another term for “grow up!”

I confess, now that I am 70, that I was once one of the many immature ones that needed to grow up. I am not there yet but I am trying.

And one thing I learned about this life is that you never know what will happen, who you will marry, and what your kids will do.

There are six siblings in my immediate family. We couldn’t stand UT Austin or its fan base. Two brothers went to Texas A&M, one on a football scholarship. Another brother went to Purdue on a football scholarship. Another brother went to UT Arlington. All brothers earned bachelor’s degrees. My sister is currently working on her bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

I went to Baylor Law school. Then I met my wonderful wife, Victoria, and found out she went to Texas and most of her family did. She went to Houston Law School.

But I had to figure out how this inter-family rivalry would work out, especially at Thanksgiving when Texas and Texas A& M usually played a rivalry game. In those days, TCU did not win much, nor did Baylor.

I found it better to concentrate on the turkey and dressing than the college football games. The Cowboys started a tradition of playing on Thanksgiving.

Years passed and then my sons really made things complicated as one went to North Texas for his bachelor’s, University of Texas for his master’s and he is now at Miami working on his doctorate. The other son is a senior working on his bachelor’s at Texas.

One is married to a woman who went to Costa Rica University and then got her MBA from the University of Madrid. Her father has a master’s in tax law from Harvard University. The folks from foreign countries don’t have such university sports rivalries.

So, the real point here is getting an education. The score of last year’s TCU-Texas game is of great interest to many, but not nearly as important as getting that degree.

When I attended the orientation for parents of incoming parents at Texas, a young man helping put on the program really put it into perspective for me.

He explained the possible conflicts that could arise inside families over a college choice. He told us he was from College Station, home of Texas A&M. He was an Aggie legacy. Generations of his family had gone to A&M. He was taken to Kyle Field and other venues for Aggie games wearing Aggie t-shirts and hats. It was assumed that he would honor the family tradition and go to A&M.

During his senior year in high school he broke the news to his parents that he was going to UT Austin and wouldn’t be an Aggie. He said it caused quite a storm at first but his parents accepted the decision and supported him.

He suggested that if any of us parents in the audience had similar conflicted feelings that we should stop by the university store and buy a Texas Dad hat before the sun set!

I bought one that very day that I proudly wear to this day. I also have a University of Miami dad’s hat and some North Texas gear to go along with my TCU hat and Baylor gear.

We donate to the various colleges’ academic funds. I leave it to others to give to athletics, there are plenty of those.

In the meantime I say Go Horned Frogs! Sic ‘em Bears! Hook ‘em Horns, Go Mean Green! Go Hurricanes! ( Hope I didn’t leave any one out!)