In 1990, when I was a freshman living in Jester (just around the corner from Butch Hadnot), Texas won the Southwest Conference. It was glorious- so much smack talking to aggy especially after we beat them.
Then Miami beat us badly in the 91 Cotton Bowl. So so miserable. That loss took the wind out of Longhorn sails going into the off season, when at least a close game would have resulted in more bragging about winning the SWC that year- all conversations just came back to that a--kicking by Miami in the Cotton Bowl. It totally ruined the offseason, and to this day I still hope for the opportunity to play the Hurricanes again and completely beat the crap out of them.
This phenomenon repeated itself when Texas lost to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl in the early 2000s.
This past year, I've noticed a total lack of bragging from TCU fans. This is very unusual, given that my law firm offices are in downtown Fort Worth, and normally they take every chance to tout themselves and run down Texas. That last game against Georgia just hangs over everything they did last year like a giant lead cloud, Hornfrogs just don't even speak of last season. A couple have told me they still have PTSD over the Georgia loss.
So how much can a bad bowl loss derail an otherwise successful season?
Then Miami beat us badly in the 91 Cotton Bowl. So so miserable. That loss took the wind out of Longhorn sails going into the off season, when at least a close game would have resulted in more bragging about winning the SWC that year- all conversations just came back to that a--kicking by Miami in the Cotton Bowl. It totally ruined the offseason, and to this day I still hope for the opportunity to play the Hurricanes again and completely beat the crap out of them.
This phenomenon repeated itself when Texas lost to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl in the early 2000s.
This past year, I've noticed a total lack of bragging from TCU fans. This is very unusual, given that my law firm offices are in downtown Fort Worth, and normally they take every chance to tout themselves and run down Texas. That last game against Georgia just hangs over everything they did last year like a giant lead cloud, Hornfrogs just don't even speak of last season. A couple have told me they still have PTSD over the Georgia loss.
So how much can a bad bowl loss derail an otherwise successful season?
