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Texas A&M fans need to stop moving the finish line

By Matthew Bartlett

Sep 3, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; The east stands of Kyle Field with SEC logo on chains during a game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the UCLA Bruins. Texas A&M won in overtime 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; The east stands of Kyle Field with SEC logo on chains during a game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the UCLA Bruins. Texas A&M won in overtime 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Battered Aggie syndrome has reared its vengeful head again and Texas A&M fans are running for the hills. Take a deep breath, it’s going to be okay.

On Tuesday the Texas A&M baseball team was eliminated from the postseason by a familiar foe, TCU. The streak of winless College World Series appearances under head coach Rob Childress continues. That’s frustrating, but Aggie fans need to take a deep breathe before wailing and bemoaning the state of Aggie Athletics in 2017.

Aggie baseball began SEC play 0-5 with a 17-3 road loss to Vanderbilt. This was a young baseball team that was going to have to work to make the post season. Midway through the year the expectation was to make the field. We as fans can forget that. When the regular season was through the team did just enough to squeak into the postseason as one of the “Last Four In”.

When the Aggies made the NCAA Tournament, a College World Series trip was a dream, not an expectation. And now some are out for blood. This team exceeded expectations. Calling this season underwhelming is blatantly disrespectful and erroneous.

It’s not just a baseball problem

The move to the SEC was met with mixed emotions in 2012. On one hand it was seen as a springboard for the entire athletic department. Playing in the nations’ premier conference against the best teams was going to elevate the Texas A&M brand. Yet it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Aggie fans had a real fear that a program that had struggled in the Big 12 was going to become the doormat of the mighty SEC West.

Texas A&M football wasn’t expected to be mediocre in the SEC. No, treading water to some degree was the goal.

Then Johnny Manziel happened.

An 11-2 season and Cotton Bowl win catapulted the expectations for this team through the roof. After that magical year it was assumed that the Aggies would always go toe-to-toe with traditional powers Alabama, LSU and Auburn.

Texas A&M has never fired a coach that went 8-5 or better in school history, but the rumor mill is making that notion more believable every day. In 2011 most Aggies would have taken 8-5 in the SEC in a heartbeat. Now it’s not enough.

Let’s be honest. I want to win just like you do. It’s no fun to see the Aggies knocked around on the national stage. But don’t forget where this school has come from. None of the major sports have been perennial national title contenders. That’s the goal, but it doesn’t happen over night.

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You are allowed to be frustrated. You are allowed to throw things at the TV and be upset. But don’t forget that the Aggies are moving in the right direction and there will be better days ahead.

***Sports Reference, SEC Sports***