A Heart Divided

Before we bled maroon and white, we bled orange and blue.

Before we said Gig 'Em Aggies, we said Go Miners.

Before I sported my Aggie Ring, it was a UTEP ring on my finger.

Before building our lives in Aggieland, we met "out in the west Texas town of El Paso."

Julian and me as Orientation Leaders (and die-hard Miners) in 2004

So you can only imagine how I am living this week with "a heart divided." I never thought we would see the day where A&M and UTEP went head-to-head on the football field. But when the 2013 football schedule came out, I was stoked to see these 2 on the same field!

When we think back on UTEP football, it takes us back to a different time 9 years ago...man, so many great memories! Julian and I were lucky enough to go to UTEP when the football program was on the upswing, with then-new coach Mike Price. Our last year at UTEP, we actually had a winning record and Julian and I took our first road trip together to a bowl game in Houston (it was on that road trip that we first said "I love you" to one another).

The football culture at UTEP was different than here at A&M.  El Paso is more of a basketball town (steeped in our winning basketball tradition with the 1966 Miners, still the only team in the state of Texas to win the NCAA Championship, as seen in the movie, Glory Road), but while we were there, El Paso came to love the football part too.  The football players were actually our friends...they sat next to us in class, or for me, they were the same guys I had seen play football since we were in middle school together.  It wasn't hard to get front row seats at the games and our friends/star players on the team would come celebrate with us after the game. The Sun Bowl is a gorgeous setting for UTEP football, a stadium nestled into the mountain side, holding around 51,500 fans.

That's us on the front row, with our friend, star player, Thomas Howard (who now plays in the NFL)

You can imagine how different football was for us once we got to Aggieland. Here, the football players are treated like celebrities/kings. College Station is definitely a football town, and with good reason as Aggie football has had a perennial powerhouse program. Front row seats are reserved for the biggest donors or the red ass Ags who camp out for days to pull for tickets on the first deck. And as for Kyle Field, well, you and 82,000 of your closest friends get together and yell your asses off, standing as the 12th Man, and it is definitely a site to see. 

Us at our first A&M game in 2005

Truth be told, I already know what the outcome of the game will be... 

UTEP's football glory days are gone.

And A&M has Johnny Football.

Julian and Johnny Manziel

But for me, it doesn't change the fact that my alma mater is going up against my alma mater. And my heart is divided.

So this upcoming Saturday, don't be surprised if you see me sport both my orange and blue and maroon and white. I'll support both my teams and honor where I came from and where I am now, too. 

Go Miners and Gig 'Em Aggies!