The other sport

Sports are kind of a big deal here at UT. Every fall, our football team monopolizes campus life. We hear about nothing but Colt McCoy and whether or not he was robbed of a Heisman trophy. Our bank accounts are a little emptier after buying season tickets, tailgating and participating in post-game celebrations.

In terms of money, though, it all makes sense. According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, our university has an athletic budget of more than $125 million — the biggest in the country. In case you were wondering, Texas A&M’s budget sits at around $69 million. With football projected to make $142 million alone (out of a total projected $170 million in athletic revenues), the athletics department has strong motivation to promote it as if it were the only show in town.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Longhorn football and plan on being at every home game this upcoming season (plus a trip to Pasadena for the National Championship, BCS willing).

However, Texas football isn’t the winningest major program on this campus. Texas baseball is. And along with all of the other Texas sports, it lives in the shadow of Texas football.

Texas baseball has the highest winning percentage and the second-highest win total in NCAA baseball history.  Texas baseball also has six National Championships compared to football’s four, and Texas baseball has won the regular season conference championship almost 75 times compared to football’s 29. Though our baseball program hasn’t exactly been ignored, with UFCU Disch-Falk Field recently receiving an $18 million face-lift, it’s nothing compared to the $176.5 million spent on football’s north end zone project for Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium.

Going into this year’s College World Series, Texas was the No. 1 overall national seed. But until TCU put fear into the hearts of all Longhorn sports fans when it forced a deciding game 3 last week, the general Longhorn faithful didn’t really care about Texas baseball. I have never been to a Texas baseball game, always finding excuses not to go sit in the 90-degree (or higher) heat on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. But I wish I had a Texas baseball shirt now.

Starting now, let’s spread the love more widely. Let’s not forget about our women’s volleyball team, which went to the NCAA Final Four this past year.  Tennis, softball, soccer, golf, swimming and basketball deserve our attention. Come early, be loud, stay late and wear burnt orange.

Winn is a plan II sophomore

Comments

1 comments

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Mon Jun 15 2009 09:55

As a graduate of Texas in the 60's whne football was everything, I understand the writer's intent in this article.

Winn, as a sophmore, your viewpoint is not yet as wide as it will be as you continue to grow with the fine education you are receiving at The University. As we grow older we encompass more and more into our lives, we appreciate things not even contemplated when we were younger.

I was a baseball umpire for 25 years, so I am aware of Texas baseball. And I live and die during football games. But I also travel from San Antonio to Austin for ALL home soccer games. I have picniced watching rowing on the river, and thanks to TV access I see many volleyball and basketball games.

The one thing I find wrong with your article is an implied emphasis on winning. I love to see Texas win. I love to see The Tower bathed in Orange. But I also appreciate and respect the losing efforts of Texas athletes. That we win often is a tribute to the athletic system and the people who run it. But our athletes try no less hard to compete in losing efforts. A 39-37 loss in football to Colorado cemented one player's reputation. I can still see another player carried off the field after a late hit by an overzealous lineman. I am certain you can name the players in both instances. But these games live in our mamories, as well as many games in many sports, becuae we tried. We competed. We let the fild perhaps defeated, saddened, by still proud Texas Longhorn student athletes.

Back to your article. A trivia question for you, which team in the CWS has the higest aggregate GPA?

Hook'em Horns !

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