What if Bonfire still burned?

Over the past several weeks, much speculation has come to the forefront in regard to Aggie athletics.

The Southeastern Conference came calling, or did they? The Pac-10 had an idea for a super conference. Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe seemed fine with losing Colorado and Nebraska, then finally realized that if he didn't do something drastic, he would be unemployed in two years.
 

It was a plethora of fancy offers that created so much excitement and anticipation among Aggies. There were original Pac-16 fans, then the "SECede" riots began and the Big 12 seemed like an afterthought. All this talk, with a new story or rumor popping up every day, and the most climatic of anti-climatic outcomes occurs? Beebe does the unthinkable and saves the Big 12, or the Big 10 (wait, that's taken), the Little 10 or whatever you want to call it. Point being nothing happened, and while we've all had President Barack Obama's "we want change" ringing in our heads, we stood static.
 

Now students, former students and fans are in disarray. How could we do nothing, NOTHING?
 

Well I have a question to ask you. It seemed like we were ready to throw away one of the greatest rivalries in all of college athletics at the drop of a hat, but what if? What if Nov. 18, 1999 never happened? Would we have been so eager to leave our hated rival behind?

I never had the honor of experiencing a "real" Texas A&M Bonfire, but from everything I have heard, it was the best tradition in a school that runs on tradition. Bonfire was a symbol of how much we wanted to "beat the hell outta t.u." It was a metaphor of the burning desire we had as a school to beat the ever living crap out of our foe from the 40 acres. If 12 Aggies hadn't tragically lost their lives on that early morning, would we have been so ready to bolt for the SEC? Could we have thrown away our greatest and richest tradition?
 

Personally, I believe that Texas A&M was a school founded on tradition and if tradition is the heartbeat of A&M, then bonfire was the soul. Aggies gathering in the thousands to prepare to beat Texas. Tradition is why we stand, why we say "Howdy," why we gather on April 21 for Muster and why we mourn on at 2:42 a.m. on Nov. 18 every year.
 

We still honor those Aggies every year, but if that early morning was no different than any other, wouldn't we have been more hesitant to leave Texas? I'm sure the Bonfire argument would have come up, whereas I didn't hear it once. People wouldn't have wanted to let Bonfire go, because it was so special, and to me it still is. Not just the Bonfire, but everything that it stood and still stands for: the Thanksgiving Day tradition, father vs. son, brother vs. brother and two great institutions battling for Texan glory.

 

 I'm not saying we would stop honoring those 12, but I am saying that it's possible the mystique of the memorial could be lost, not because future Aggies wouldn't care, but because they simply wouldn't understand. The rivalry we have with Texas is unlike any other; there is an extreme hatred, but a mutual respect. To those who disagree please re-watch halftime of the emotional 1999 game.

 

If we stopped playing Texas, future generations of Aggies wouldn't comprehend what Bonfire meant and why we honor it today. They wouldn't understand why the War Hymn is all about beating Texas when we don't even play them. All they would have are stories from ol' Ags, about how on that November day in 1999 the words "we're not going to lose this game, I don't know how we're going to win it, but we weren't going to lose it," rang loud and true.

 

So whether you were pro-SEC or not, remember that we are all Aggies and tradition is in our blood. Together we are stronger, and that is why together we fight, cry and pray. It's why so much of that revolves around Thanksgiving Day. So this turkey day I ask you to do one thing, whether you are at the game or watching it on TV with your family, look around and take it all in. Win or lose, it's always an experience. Would you really have been willing to let it all go?