Come Early. Be Loud. Stay Late....I wish.

After the Kansas-Texas basketball game this past Monday, I came away with a sour taste in my mouth. It wasn't the loss that put this taste in my mouth, but the Longhorn fans at the game. After spending all week pondering the state of Longhorn fans and sports fans in general, I planned on writing a piece about the sad state of Texas fans. But halfway through writing it, while flipping through 100 Things Longhorns fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, I decided this was a topic that merited more attention than the short rant I had pieced together.

What intrigued me were these two quotes I ran across:

Jane Weinert Blumberg wrote this in the 1930's about UT students, "...students were reluctant to express too much enthusiasm because that would not have seem sophisticated."

Joe Frantz had this to say in the 1970's, "Lord, I wish Texas audiences would arrive on time and remain in their seats until the game is over!"

I have never felt Texas fans have lived up to the t-shirt slogan: Come Early. Be Loud. Stay Late. But now I want to find out the history behind why a university with one of the nation's premier athletic programs has such crummy fans.

Now don't get me wrong, being crummy fans doesn't mean Longhorn fans aren't highly knowledgeable and very passionate about their teams. But this alone does not a good fan make.

In my next piece(s) I'll give my definition of a good fan, why Texas fans are not good fans, where this comes from and how I wish Texas fans would act.

'til then,
Hook 'em.