January 12, 2005
What we need is some Aggies
By Jim Dallas
One of the mysteries of the last few years for me is why R.C. Slocum doesn't get more respect in football circles. He did a pretty good job at A&M, had a few rough years, and got canned. Nonetheless, he still sports a pretty good career record - 11 bowl games, a .721 win-loss percentage, etc.
In the ultra-competitive world of college football, though, everyone - particularly those everyones who are members of the 12th Man Foundation - is a critic. And after losing enough times to Texas, it was just inevitable that he'd lose his job.
In the "bizarro world" of Democratic politics, of course, things aren't so cut and dry. Amy Sullivan now joins the gaggle of grassroots gurus who are calling for the heads of the Consultant Class.
Why? Well let's just say that if Bob Shrum had R.C. Slocum's win-loss percentage (or alternatively, if Democrats had as much self-respect as the A&M alumnis), we'd be living in a much different country.
P.S. Of course the same principle (sortof) applies to Mackovic, but that was longer ago, and if I'm going to use a metaphor, it'll be one that's easier to remember.
Posted by Jim Dallas at January 12, 2005 08:33 PM
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R.C. did well when A&M was beating up on a weak SWC (and on Mackovic), but his teams always came up a little short of their potential (mainly due to R.C.'s complete inability to coach an offense).
I wanted to see him go because I was tired of seeing a good-but-not-great team every year, and was willing to go through a few down years to have a shot at being a great team.
That's precisely what I'm talking about -- I'm a Democrat whose tired of getting 48 percent ("good-but-not-great") of the vote in every election. :)
Jim, I'm sorry, you're stuck with that 48%.
You're not making enough NEW Democrats anymore. Look at the birthrates in blue states verses red states. 25 out of 26 top birthrate states voted for the President, 16 lowest for Kerry. Combine that with abortion rates, 2.18 for Dems and 1.75 for Reps. Your numbers are shrinking, your only hope is newly minted citizens. You're not going to convert very many Republicans anymore. And your registration percentage is falling, 2000 39/35/26, 2004 30/38/31. In 1979 it was 51/21/28.
To restate, you're aborting yourself into the minority. 40 to 50 million abortions to date from Roe v. Wade.
Really, peter, I have nothing but contempt for the "you're aborting your future Democrats" argument. I wasn't aware that feti had political preferences. Moreover, it is clear from the data that the impact of the deaths of older voters (who traditionally leaned Democratic by large margins) greatly outweighs any Roe effect.
Yes, abortion is a national problem, but at least pretend to be an idealist.
Slocum can burn in hell for all I care. I have never been so happy as when they fired him.
The one memory I have of Slocum that will stay with me forever: When Bonfire fell and there were still students trapped alive under the logs, the football players wanted to come and help with the recovery effort. He told them "No", and said we were having practice regardless of what is going on at the other end of campus. Some of the players walked away from practice and went to the Bonfire site regardless of Slocum's orders. That is when we as students ran into the players and they told us what happened. They were concerned about being kicked off the team, but it was only secondary in their minds to getting out there and helping however they could.
As Mack Brown is on the television mourning our dead students, Slocum is demanding football practice. A&M prides itself on being a school of character (whether it's true or not is arguable), and I have never seen a larger lack of character.
Slocum could never get the big picture ON or OFF the football field. All the fans of A&M football saw that he didn't have his priorities straight while watching television. The students of A&M got to see that he didn't have his priorities straight on a field that had nothing to do with football.
