Posted April 20th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Football
While discussing upgrades to Kyle Field and Olsen Field, Aggie Athletic Director Bill Byrne let loose one of my favorite quotes of the year:
Byrne also addressed the Aggies’ move last year from Nike to adidas as the department’s apparel provider.
He said he met with a Nike representative and requested the same deal as A&M’s chief rival, Texas.
Byrne said he was offended when the rep told him, “You’re not as good as they are and you’re probably never going to be.” That statement made Byrne’s decision to switch to adidas even easier, he said, in addition to what was a more lucrative deal.
That’s right, the Nike representative put Texas A&M in their place right to their AD’s face. You will be seeing that quote in Texas fans’ signatures on forums for the next year. I’m not sure why Byrne would ever actually admit that Nike said that, all it does it brings up that a major national company thinks you’re somebody’s little brother.
As pretty much everyone, other than Aggies themselves, knows the Longhorns are a class above the Aggies. On the field and in sporting goods stores Texas outperforms Texas A&M year after year. Because of their consistent top tier performance, the Longhorns are on national television many more times per year in both football and basketball. In recent years the university has led the nation in licensing revenue and set a royalty records after the 2005 national championship season.
Bill Byrne is perfect there, only an Aggie would expect to get the same deal and be proud when it didn’t happen.
reply to #1
Richard
April 20th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Who won the last two football games between the Aggies and the Longhorns?
Addidas may be something Mack Brown should look in to.
reply to #2
Brian
April 20th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Who finished the last two seasons ranked higher and with a better ranking? When is the last time the Aggies finished ranked at all? (Pssst… it was 1999.)
You’re right though, A&M is really rolling now thanks to those two head-to-head wins against Texas. Only 37 more in a row and you’ll be even!!
reply to #3
Hook'em Horns
April 20th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
That is one of the biggest put downs I have ever heard. An aggie would go out and make them look like even more of a fool. I cant wait for this years lone star showdown. I really hope some part of the student body tries to do a little something other than the stupid hex rally, IT DOES NOT WORK!!! .We need to have a black out in the stadium ( black t shirts) and there will be 90,000 plus, its perfect. That should be a new tradition, and remove the hex.
If you really think about it, the hex is suppose to guarantee a “win” for us, but it obviously doesnt. If we have lost 36 times.
reply to #4
John
April 20th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
I still mostly enjoy coming here, but this site has turned into something different over the past few months. There are more posts on here about a&m than there are about current sports at UT. Like you know, baseball. Remember that?
reply to #5
Richard
April 21st, 2008 at 7:16 am
I agree with John.
Have you visited aggieyell.com?
One thing about the addidas wearing farmers, they have a classy web site that is focused on Texs A&M atheletics and recruiting.
Bevosports is a step or two behind the times, usually 3 to 4 days outdated and has no focus.
Chalk one up for the Aggies.
reply to #6
Brian
April 21st, 2008 at 7:59 am
John I’m not sure how anyone could pass up posting this, it was pure gold. There hasn’t really been more anti-Aggie or anti-Sooner stuff here lately, just unfortunately less other content mixed in. I’ve been incredibly busy at work and trying to get a redesign of this site done (by August) so I haven’t been able to post as much. I’m working on adding some additional writers (turning this from a one man show into a site with 3 or 4 people) which I believe will really improve the site. I will be covering the NFL Draft pretty heavily this week, so hopefully you enjoy that. Keep reading the site, it’s only going to get better.
As for baseball in particular, it’s always been tough for me to cover. The games aren’t on TV so I don’t get a chance to see the team play more than a couple times per year. It’s difficult to provide intelligent opinion on what is going horribly wrong with the team when you’re not in Austin. I’d love to have a writer on staff who got to go to most of the games.
Oh and the Aggie (Sooner?) Richard agrees? Surprise surprise. Compare AggieYell to Orangebloods, not to this blog (currently) run by a single person. Orangebloods trounces it in every way. AggieYell is owned by a billion dollar company dude.
reply to #7
Richard
April 21st, 2008 at 10:14 am
Once again, you have taken good insight and turned it in to an anti aggie / anti sooner issue.
Dude?
You are a ****** idiot.
Probably never played or excelled at any team sport in your life, but feel you can write about one.
Did your parents have any kids that lived?
Did
reply to #8
Richard
April 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am
…too busy to keep up?
I didn’t think McDonalds let their employees work double shifts.
reply to #9
Brian
April 21st, 2008 at 10:26 am
Calm down there chief and clean up your language.
I’m not sure what “good insight” you think you provided. I responded to John’s comments thoughtfully and pointed out how off your point was. You’re the one who made it an Aggie/Longhorn thing (“Chalk one up for the Aggies.”) not me. AggieYell has probably at least three full time writers and you pay $10 per month to read their content, if you can’t tell the difference between that site and this one I can’t help you. Why don’t you point out how much less content this site has than ESPN.com?
And did you really have a problem with someone using the word dude in a blog comment?
reply to #10
Hook'em Horns
April 21st, 2008 at 11:12 am
I am not sticking up for anyone, but you have to give brian a break. If he wanted to he could make this site one that you would have to pay for. If it were up to me I wouldnt be sharing to much valuable information on here about UT, since there are so many aggie and sooner people that get on here and check this site out. This is the only site I know of that does not charge and I can still get enough info. to keep up with UT.
reply to #11
John
April 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for the response Brian. I certainly understand and I really appreciate your efforts on this site.
reply to #12
nik
April 25th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
At the bottom of this page, the word “longhorns” is upside down. I’m not sure why the publisher of this website would ever actually recognize his own school’s name upside down like the inverted hook ’em sign. And they make jokes about Aggies! I’ve got a UT wife, two kids at A&M, and I’m from SMU, so I AM neutral here. Putting stuff like this on your website will just remind everyone who is the REAL stepchild in Texas that has LOST to that ‘other’ team the last two years in football; maybe I should have waited till after the baseball series. I’ll get back to you! Besides, I’ve never owned any nike stuff, but have had lots of Adidas! I’ll let nike know about this in case they care about half the state of Texas being alienated by junk like this. Real smooth! Judging from the posted comments, it seems like your readers don’t even care for this type of junk. Hey guys, may be worth paying for it. Grow up and be positive about your team! Wasted time…get on with it! No need to respond. This was sent to me by a UT fan/friend, so is my first, and last time here I should say.
reply to #13
Brian
April 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Nik, it’s an end zone… the words always face the field.
reply to #14
John
April 25th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Wow Nik. Just wow.
reply to #15
TexasFight
August 30th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
This quote will be in my sig until the end of time.
reply to #16
saxman_13
December 24th, 2009 at 1:30 am
Texas blows chunks!!! A&M leads the series in the last 20 years!! GIG EM AGGIES!!!
reply to #17
Jen
April 11th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
I guess it’s funny. Really, all this means is that Nike should fire its rep. That’s not good business, regardless of how you feel about any team. I mean, seriously. Regardless of how anyone plays football, A&M is backed by lots and lots and lots of money. It has the largest alumni network in the world and they are loyal and give a lot of cash to the school. So, honestly, football scores aside, it’s Nike burning itself in the end. A contract’s a contract.
reply to #18
Adidas
December 7th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Is Nike still proud of that move to piss A&M off? Heisman winner and sec team in position for national championship in the next 2 years. Can we say exposure? Nike screwed the pooch on this one.
reply to #19
AgSooner
June 19th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Bill Byrne absolutely FABRICATED this story to bamboozle TAMU brass to snuff out the Nike relationship in favor of whom Bill Byrne was in bed with from his Nebraska days………Adidas!!!