100 years ago in 1925, Austin College & Texas A&M competed for the last time. The Aggies hosted the Austin College Kangaroos in basketball. The Bryan-College Station Eagle noted that the Kangaroos were “the fastest quintet in the [conference] last year.” Texas A&M prevailed; the game took place at the DeWare Field House.
50 years ago in 1975, DeWare Fieldhouse was back in the news. Our own Claude Webb Jr., owner/proprietor of the unofficial Austin College bar “The Gar Hole,” was a basketball counselor at DeWare for Shelby Metcalf’s Aggie basketball camp. Before demolition, DeWare was located adjacent to Kyle Field. It is barely seen in a famous Aggie Sports Illustrated (SI) cover from 1975, the year a 5-year-old Marc arrived in Aggieland with family.
The Parrish family was in Aggieland again yesterday to visit Marc’s son, a student at A&M. There was a lot of activity on campus, as the Aggies had announced plans to wear throwback 1975 uniforms and honor that 1975 football team in front of 100,000+ fans at Kyle Field. Marc knew it was all a ruse though. The hubbub was all about Austin College, the rivalry, and the 100th anniversary of its end in 1925.
Austin College & Texas A&M competition dates back to the 1890s, when the two schools were sibling all-male military colleges and the only schools in Texas (other than that little school in Austin) to participate in collegiate athletics. That Roo-Aggie competition lasted 30 years, until the last meeting: the 1925 basketball game at Deware Field House.
Knowing this, Marc provocatively walked into Duddley’s Draw wearing his Kangaroo baseball cap. He braced for the worst. Anger, frustration, taunts, perhaps even Jack Johnson fisticuffs. Marc is not a violent man, but the Roo fandom was flowing too much to not mix it up with those old rivals of Austin College on this special day.
But College Station Marc should have known better. Aggieland is the home of “good bull,” a tradition of hospitality and graciousness towards competitors. Opponents have consistently marveled at how well they’ve been treated in College Station. From an Alabama article soon after Texas A&M joined the SEC Conference:
“Tide fans started to converge on campus and its nearby hot spots this afternoon. The hospitality so far, they said, stands out above all else they’ve encountered. One A&M employee stopped a Bama couple walking across campus and offered them a ride in his golf cart. Another Aggie overheard a group of men asking for the closest bar and stepped in to help.”
“’We stopped at the store and asked where we should go to get a drink,’ said 35-year-old Hunter Allen of Birmingham. “He said, ‘You’re far away. Let me take you there. Then he offered to pick us up tomorrow and drop us at the game.’ Perhaps Birmingham’s Lisa Smith explained it best. ‘I’ve never been ‘howdy’d this much in my life,’ she said. ‘It’s a new world, not being harassed. They are just so welcoming.’”
And so, Marc’s Roo provocations in Aggieland were met with typical A&M politeness and respect. It was almost as if many of them had never even HEARD of Austin College. That couldn’t be the explanation obviously, and I’m sure deep down those Aggies were seething at the sight of a baseball cap featuring their hated rivals from 1895 to 1925. But “Good Bull” always rules the day in College Station.
I’ll probably see Claude Webb next week at the Gar Hole during Austin College homecoming. Claude, I’ll be sure to report on the Aggieland festivities yesterday honoring you, me, basketball, DeWare Field House in 1975, and the historic 30-year Austin College-A&M rivalry that ended 100 years ago in 1925.
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2013/09/bama_fans_marvel_at_aggie_hosp.html