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October 20, 2005

PreGame Summary: Texas Tech

Presenting this week's PreGame Summary for the Novices. Texas plays Texas Tech at Austin.

Mascot: Red Raiders: The Masked Rider and Raider Red: Prior to the 1971 season, the Southwest Conference passed a rule that prevented members of the conference from taking live animals to non-home games unless the host team had no objections. So Jim Gaspard, a member of Saddle Tramps, created Raider Red from a drawing by the late Lubbock cartoonist Dirk West as an alternative to the Masked Rider when the horse couldn't travel with the football team. Raider Red's student persona is kept a secret from the Tech community. Red is a public relations mascot who shakes hands with the crowds at athletic events and poses for pictures. Raider Red fires his two 12-gauge shotguns using powder-filled shells after every Tech touchdown and field goal. (My note: his is kinda scary looking. His head is real big and he is unshaven.)

Colors: Red and Black

Location: Lubbuck, Texas

Main Rival: A&M. It really came to light in this incident.

Unique Tradions/Misc: GUNS UP -The hand sign of Texas Tech was originated by a Tech graduate who was attending law school at Texas in 1972. It is made by extending the index finger outward while extending the thumb upward to form a gun. The idea is that Raider Red will shoot down his opponents. (My note: if you turn it just right, it looks like an L for loser and it is even funnier if you put it on your forehead.)


Misc: Tech fans used to throw tortillas on the field to celebrate touchdowns or if they got mad. It got so bad that if someone does it now, Tech gets an automatic 15 yard penalty.

Famous Players: Texas Tech senior QB Cody Hodges (Hereford, Texas) was named the SBC Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for his 643-yard passing performance against Kansas State over the weekend. The passing yards represent the fourth best single-game total in NCAA Division I history and sixth-best total in all divisions.


Spread:-16 (If you bet with a spread on Texas, they have beat Tech by 16 points for you to win.)

How they have been playing: Tech is ranked #7 and is undefeated. There is some dispute over them being over rated since they have played easy teams so far. But if you talk to a Tech fan, they are going to beat Texas and are proud to wear this t-shirt.

What we have to watch for: As long as Texas does not give the game to Tech, we will win.

Additional Comments: I am sure you can guess that I do not like Tech that much. We have been to several of the games in Lubbuck and I am always amazed at their fans. They are not as severe as the Ohio State fans, but they can be nuts. I have watch the student section rip their bleacher seats off and pass them to the top of the stadium. After each game, they take down the goal posts to prevent the students from knocking them down. I guess this saves the school money. It is neat to watch the fancy pulley system they use. The first game we went to in Lubbuck, we were waiting for a shuttle bus to take us to where we parked. Texas had lost and many Tech fans were screaming at us, calling us losers. One lady told us "Spend your money before you go!" So for all the future game we went to, we made sure we had enough gas and would not have to buy any in Lubbuck. We went in for the game and left. Our money will not be spent there. (Note: we did buy some beer at a local bar that was sponsoring our tailgate. But that was it!!!!)

And this week all the Tech fans are coming out of the woodwork. Everyone at my company knows that I am a Texas fan. But I learned that there are several Tech fans at my company also. How do I know? They went out of their way to let me know that Tech is going to beat Texas this week. Cocky, eh? I hope we beat them and we beat them bad. But I will take the high road and not rub it in their face. Winning is good enough for me.

Posted by on October 20, 2005 09:09 PM |

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