The More You Know, 12th Man?

"The More You Know" is an almost daily antidote for all Penn State faithful regarding their upcoming bout with the the Texas A&M Aggies. As Confucius says, "In order to kill you enemies, you must learn to love them"...or something like that.
The More You Know, Coaching Edition
The More You Know, It's Back!
The More You Know, Thursday Edition
The More You Know, Part II
The More You Know, Part I


Listen to this nonsense. Texas A&M is home of the 12th Man. That's a capital "M" motherfuckers. They are such a strong force, and are so entrenched in tradition, that they registered the tradename and later sued the Seattle Seahawks. Thus pissing off Seahawks fans everywhere:

"Apparently the 12th man thing is big in Aggieland, having been a central part of their football tradition since the 1920s. They even have something called the 12th Man Foundation. I'm not sure what this Foundation does ... perhaps they're charged with raising money to support lawsuits?"

"Yo, Texas A&M, one word for you — chill! Cease and desist with your whining. Get a life. Get 12 of them."

They later settled with no interesting repercussions.

Anyway, the 12th Man is such a big deal at A&M some people go as far as to say it qualifies as the "best tradition in college football":



That's right folks, you just heard the ex-head coach of the Aggies call his three-quarters-full student section "the best tradition in college football." Um, while I still think this is infinitely cooler than a tuba player taking a bow, I have to call bullshit. So let's do a little research, per the ultra reliable wikipedia:

In Dallas on January 2, 1922, at the Dixie Classic (the forerunner of the Cotton Bowl) A&M played defending national champion Centre College in the first post-season game in the southwest. A&M had so many injuries in the first half of the game that Coach D. X. Bible feared he wouldn’t have enough men to finish the game. He called into the Aggie section of the stands for E. King Gill, a reserve who had left football after the regular season to play basketball. Gill volunteered and donned the uniform of injured player Heine Weir. Although he did not actually play, his readiness symbolized the willingness of all Aggies to support their team to the point of actually entering the game. A&M won 22-14, but E. King Gill was the only man left standing on the sidelines for the Aggies. The 12th Man has evolved into an Aggie tradition. The student body, known as the "12th Man", stands throughout the entire game, "ready to help the team".[111]

Let me get this straight, your team showed up to a football game in 1922 against the best team in the nation with, let's say, 15 people. Good start. Four of them get hurt, so now you have, presumably, 11 guys playing both sides of the ball. Then, you point to the crowd of, um, shit I couldn't even guess, probably not very many people. You find a guy who used to play football, he stands next to you for two hours, and, despite there being no subs except this Gill character, he doesn't set foot on the field. The greatest tradition in college football is born.

And that's the more you know.

The More You Know, Coaching Edition

"The More You Know" is an almost daily antidote for all Penn State faithful regarding their upcoming bout with the the Texas A&M Aggies. As Confucius says, "In order to kill you enemies, you must learn to love them"...or something like that.
The More You Know, It's Back!
The More You Know, Thursday Edition
The More You Know, Part II
The More You Know, Part I

I bet you've heard: That Texas A&M (or aTm as their message board faithful call themselves) was one of the many schools that canned their coach this winter. His name was Dennis Franchione. This guy was upset about it:



Unlike Michigan, A&M thought it might be a good idea to fill the open position quickly. He was replaced by Mike Sherman, the OC of the Houston Texans.

You may also remember Mike from his stint as the Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers, he did well there, winning the division three years in a row. He was fired in 2006 for allowing Bubba Franks to hurt himself. He also once canceled a press conference because a cameraman forgot to turn off his cell phone. Good stuff Mike. Very 6th grade teacher of you.

Sherman was offered the $2 million salary of his predecessor but instead, somehow, managed to walk away with $1.8 million. And that's the more you know.

The More You Know. It's back!

"The More You Know" is an almost daily antidote for all Penn State faithful regarding their upcoming bout with the the Texas A&M Aggies. As Confucius says, "In order to kill you enemies, you must learn to love them"...or something like that.
The More You Know, Thursday Edition
The More You Know, Part II
The More You Know, Part I

I bet you didn't know? That this is by far the biggest running back PSU has faced all season. Jorvorskie Lane, named by two parents who love the ESPN analysit known as "Jaws" but are also very poor at spelling, weighs in at 293 pounds. Royster and Kinlaw combined weight about as much as this guys face.

"Jorvorskie Lane, excited to be here since 2004"

He totaled 746 yards this season and somehow manged to get his fat fingers around 9 passes for another 82 yards of positive gain. Lets break it down.

-In A&M's seven wins, they've managed to get this kid the pigskin. He bowling-balled his way to an average of 85 yards on 17 carries.

-In the five losses? Down to 30 yards on just 7 carries...this includes a strange and very embarassing loss to the 2007 Miami Hurricanes where he managed just 2 yards on 2 carries.

I don't think these stats allow us to conclude on anything, but then again this segment isn't called "The More You Can Conclude", it's called "The More You Know", and I'm simply telling you what you already knew: that teams run for more yards when they win, usually.

The More You Know, Part II

"The More You Know" is an almost daily antidote for all Penn State faithful regarding their upcoming bout with the the Texas A&M Aggies. As Confucius says, "In order to kill you enemies, you must learn to love them"...or something like that.

We are all well aware that Penn State, originally titled the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, was later renamed The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania around the same time the school became a Land Grant College. Well, I think we are going to have to add a couple more random pictures and maybe even a cannon or something to this piece of shit:



That's right, folks, A&M can join the party! They were also designated a Land Grant College in 1876. As far as I know, they are not required to play an artificial rivalry...sounds like a good deal to me.

And that's the more you know.

The More You Know, Part I

"The More You Know" is an almost daily antidote for all Penn State faithful regarding their upcoming bout with the the Texas A&M Aggies. As Confucius says, "In order to kill you enemies, you must learn to love them"...or something like that.

Did you know? That Texas A&M was formally known as the "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas"*. Opened in 1876, it was originally designed to be a part of the then-in-progress University of Texas. Ah! But not so fast my friend!


(Corso drops an F-bomb)
The Texas legislature soon redacted their intention, officially declaring A&M an independent school shortly after World War II.


"Texas A&M, just like Penn State since 1876, except flatter"
*Penn State was once named the "Agricultural College of Pennsylvania"...you see, we were a match made in Heaven!