Texas Tech is kind of a rival of Oklahoma State. I mean we don't have a long, storied history or anything, but the last decade has provided some exciting contests between the two schools and I think most of us look forward to this game each year. And with the two school's football teams being viewed similarly by the nation/media (as upstarts), and both competing for the same goal (3rd fiddle in the South and to sneak out a few South and Big 12 titles here and there), the schools and fanbases have naturally begun to look at each other as rivals of sorts. Maybe not in the traditional "we have played each other since the 40's" sense, but more rivals in that we are competing for the same space. The problem is, since this pseudo-rivalry is so new it has no identity, and little definition. That is where this post comes in.
A series between two schools needs two things to be considered a rivalry, hatred and respect. Right now I don't think that us OSU fans have enough of either in regards to Tech. So if this thing is going to be a "pseudo-rivalry with rivalry potential" (what a catchy name!), then let's take a look at what we have available to hate and respect about Texas Tech in a few categories... feel free to add your own as well.
note: This is only the view of things to hate and respect about Tech from the OSU side, let them figure out what to respect (Garth Brooks) and hate (Garth Brooks) about us.
The list after the Jump
School History
| What to Respect | What to Hate |
|---|---|
| Texas Tech started as an Ag and Engineering school. We have to respect that. |
Texas Tech was originally called " Texas Technological College". Technological? Isn't that a word the old guy at your office uses to refer to anything IT related? |
| They have a Will Rogers statue on campus that is positioned so its ass faces directly at College Station. I'll always respect a universities decision to say "FU" to a rival. | Will Rogers is Oklahoma's favorite son. Seriously, Will Rogers is as Oklahoma as anyone has ever been Oklahoma. There weren't enough Texas icons to chose from for your ass pointing statue? |
| John Denver | Pat Green |
Players and Coaches
| What to Respect | What to Hate |
|---|---|
| Wes Welker. The dude practically invented the undersized white slot receiver position that Josh Cooper is thriving in. Honestly, at this point, if a receiver is white, under 6'2", and at least halfway decent, they are going to get the Welker comparison. |
BJ Symons That MFer that "shushed" the Oklahoma State crowd after throwing for a TD that brought Tech to only 2 TDs down. That guy seemed like a huge prickface. I was happy to see that when I went looking for video of his premature celebration in the 03 game, my youtube search returned this result:  |
| Zach Thomas Dude was an animal, and I'm pretty sure I remember him once wearing a half-jersey that showed his mid-drift during games... and for some reason I respect this.
Getty Images
|
Every quarterback that has ever played for Tech. What is it with them and recruiting unlikeable quarterbacks? Taylor Potts being the latest and terrible-est example.
Getty Images
|
| Mike Leach Brought the Playstation offense into the mainstream. |
Mike Leach Looks like Vince Gill, and by all accounts is a major league asshole. And yes I could be convinced that both of those traits should actually be in the respectable column. |
Fans
| What to Respect | What to Hate |
|---|---|
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Traditions and History
| What to Respect | What to Hate |
|---|---|
| We can thank a Texas Tech grad for the tradition of Bullet. Dr. Eddy Finley, a Tech grad who was a professor at Oklahoma State in 1984, thought an Ag school should be represented by a working ranch cowboy and horse. Inspired by the masked rider tradition of his alma mater he suggested the idea of Bullet and it soon became an Oklahoma State tradition. |
Many Tech fans have taken Dr Finley's gesture, his passing of a good idea to a new place, his homage to his Alma Mater, and have twisted it to infer that Oklahoma State has stolen every tradition from Tech. An Example: Do you remember when you were 4 years old and first started making a gun with your index finger and thumb? You thought you were so creative and original with your finger gun didn't you? Well that is fine because you were 4 and didn't yet know shit about shit. Well apparently some Tech fans never had the realization that EVERY kid did this and that the finger gun isn't all that original, because many of them honestly believe that they invented this gesture. Seriously. When you are in Lubbock this weekend, do the gun thing to some Tech fans and see what they say. I wrote about this in more depth and in a much more asshole-ish way over the summer. |
| Texas Tech has not had a losing record since 1992, making them the only Big 12 team to not have a losing record since the formation of the conference. |