When I started following A&M sports after I accepted my admission, I quickly came to know of Battered Aggie Syndrome, where no matter what, something bad will always find a way to hit Texas A&M like a bomb. I’ve come to accept it as reality at this point. I’ve experienced it in decent amounts in my collegiate experience - from the continued failures in football (looking at you, 2022, in particular) to the more-muted-in-comparison heartbreak in basketball.
What happened Tuesday evening far, far surpasses anything - anything - that I’ve experienced, though, in terms of BAS. And it’s not even close. Not the loss to Appalachian State. Not the heartbreaker against Houston in March. Not even the national championship on Monday.
This takes the cake for maybe the peak example of BAS that I may experience for a long, long time, as well as confirmation to everyone else that yes, it is real. Fitting that it wraps up basically the worst 24 hours I’ve ever had as a sports fan after the natty loss.
I’m a New Orleans Saints fan. I know what heartbreak is and how it impacts you as a person. I’m still not over the no-call in the 2018 NFC Championship. The Minneapolis Miracle, for a time, broke me as a football fan. Losing to the Vikings again in 2019 and the Buccaneers in 2020 was dismal.
Jim Schlossnagle leaving for Texas - fucking Texas - of all programs, after leading the Aggies to a national championship appearance definitely ranks in the top three in worst sports moments of my life. Maybe even top two.
I know it’s been a minute since I’ve published anything here. With life going on, from getting an internship and having the chance to explore a new city to trying to spend time with those I love most, this was kinda pushed to the backburner. To be honest, I lost the passion and drive to write anything in that time. I wanted to experience the success of the diamond sports as a fan, so I apologize for not writing anything during that frame.
I was in the middle of writing an ode to A&M’s 2024 team, trying to get back to it, before this shit popped up on my phone for the first time. That newsletter might basically be scrapped now. And I’ve spent the entire time since then trying to process what in the ever-living fuck just happened. This is more than a bombshell to hit not just A&M, but college baseball as a whole. It is a cataclysmic, seismic event that completely changes the landscape of the sport.
A&M’s positive momentum and state of the program from this past year? Wiped away in the blink of an eye. He had been plotting to leave since April, lying to the 12th Man and leaving his players in the dark ever since, just like how he left TCU. I feel horrible for the guys in that clubhouse, the players who made everything click this year, the squad that will be remembered for a historic run, a run made that much more impressive when considering they were under a coaching staff with one foot out the door the whole time.
At this point, I think the initial shock of Schlossnagle leaving has kinda subsided. Now, I’m just straight pissed at:
The way he left, not even 24 hours after the national championship ended and essentially lying to his players and the A&M faithful in the meantime
How he treated TexAgs’ Richard Zane after he asked a question about his status with Texas A&M baseball post-championship, basically yelling in his face like a child
Who he left to (no explanation necessary)
I have a ton of emotions about the decision. For someone who constantly complained about Blue Bell Park needing renovations and some of the traditions (cough cough trying to get rid of the Rifleman), and cheated on his ex-wife (surprise, I know), I can say that I’m not shocked that he left this way. I’m a little disgusted with myself for supporting someone who has now shown their true colors as spineless and weird. I worry about the fallout from this. And finally, once again, I just feel gutted for the actual players themselves, who were conned like crazy and are now blindsided.
I wish I could tell you what will happen now. I don’t know if/when/how many/which players are going to enter the transfer portal because of this little man’s decision. I don’t know who’s on a shortlist for Trev Alberts to hire as the new manager for this program.
However, I do know this - whoever the Aggies hire is going to have serious financial backing (a renovation that our ex-manager lobbied for), a program that has been experiencing maybe the most successful period in its history, and a fired-up, pissed-off, rowdy-as-hell fanbase dead-set on revenge and making it back to Omaha next spring. Those are absolute certainties.
As for our Texan version of Judas? Aside from physical health, I wish him the absolute worst in his professional endeavors with that school in Austin. There’s a fine line between being beloved and being despised, and he leapt across that line without any care in the world on Tuesday. For that series at Olsen Field… those games may genuinely be war zones when the Horns make the two-hour drive down to College Station from now on. He’s public enemy #1 in Aggieland, and there isn’t a close second.
I’m just basically shellshocked he coached a national championship with his mind firmly set on the Aggies’ archrivals, though. Genuinely baffling to think about. Horrendous disservice to the fanbase and to the players who fought their asses off for a shot at that trophy. Lying to the media, all the empty praise for the fanbase, and having the team find out online that this was happening, not even looking them in the face and telling them yourself. Straight bush league and embarrassing. Zero integrity. The guys deserved so much better after laying everything out for each other and for Texas A&M.
In the end, though, A&M was just done brutally dirty and wrong this week. That’s basically it - a nightmare 48 hours in Aggie baseball after a spectacular season. In classic Texas fashion, they just had to go and make everything about themselves by putting a Tennessee championship and a great finals in the backseat with the timing of this hire, obnoxious and pitiful as always to try and distract their rival from playing in a national championship.
Shameless, soft behavior. He’ll fit right in with that culture.
God, I fucking hate them. The flames of the rivalry have been stoked even more than anyone could imagine.
That was a word vomit, but I’ll wrap it up with this - when looking back on these last few years, don’t think about the manager. Think about the players themselves on those squads. In 2022, with the likes of Dylan Rock, Micah Dallas, Troy Claunch, and Jacob Palisch, that group of guys re-energized the Aggie baseball program. 2023 saw Hunter Haas, Jack Moss, Austin Bost, Jordan Thompson, Trevor Werner, Brett Minnich, and Nathan Dettmer, among others, continue the positive momentum, even if the Ags didn’t get back to Omaha.
And 2024, so many awesome dudes, from the omega-talented Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette, star freshmen Gavin Grahovac and Caden Sorrell, impact transfers Hayden Schott, Jackson Appel, Ted Burton, and Ali Camarillo, super-utilityman Travis Chestnut, one of the best 12th Men ever in Ryan Targac, the best reliever in baseball in Evan Aschenbeck, electric starters in Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin, and Shane Sdao, and Josh Stewart and flamethrower Chris Cortez out of the bullpen, comprised the best team in program history and produced a fairytale season. The players did.
Cortez said it best - “The players make the team, not the coaches… Nothing can be taken away from [them].”
And best believe the 12th Man will have the guys’ backs and appreciate all they’ve done for this program throughout this time. It is always about the athletes, the guys who go out there and play, and that won’t change now nor in the future. If anything, it’s time to support the guys even harder now heading into a new era.
As for SchLoss? Good riddance - don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Karma works in funny ways. It’ll come back.
See you at Olsen; hope you’re prepared for what you’ve awakened in this fanbase.
Gig ‘em forever. I’m going to sleep as much as I can until fall camp starts.
-Sourav