Texas A&M vs. Texas: Remember This?

They used to be everywhere.

Lurking in the corridors of offices, out rampant in public spaces, leering at you from the corners at parties or family gatherings. Texas fans waiting to spot the smallest patch of maroon so they could pounce on you with torrents of gloating and superiority. Oh, they’re still around, but overall they’re more subdued and formal. Almost polite, even. In return, Aggies are almost dismissive of them.

Not today. Today the Aggies and Longhorns face off at Olsen Field. Tonight, the innate and instinctive hatred between the two factions will rise back up to the surface and boil over in a wild froth of Internet chicanery. There’s a bitterness here that can’t be learned or taught, because it’s rooted deeper than any institution’s marketing strategy or social media campaign. It’s the in-state, prank-your-neighbor, don’t-talk-to-your-relatives-at-Thanksgiving, knock-each-other-down-then-share-a-beer type of mutual grudging hatred and respect that both programs are sorely missing right now.

Even the dismissive blowhards who claim they’ve “moved on” and “don’t need” Texas anymore will join the fray. (In fact, they’ll be among the loudest Aggies to gloat if we win.) It’s basically a meaningless game in the scope of this baseball season, but there will be Aggies and Longhorns tuning in to watch their teams for the first time. Because it’s Texas vs. A&M.

It will be intense, emotional, and chaotic couple of hours for fans watching and slinging insults and barbs online. If the game is close heading down the stretch, national media types will join in. Famous alums from both sides will trade jabs. All during a Tuesday non-conference baseball game.

Imagine picking up that energy, multiplying it by a thousand, and dropping it into the fall months.