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KENNEDY
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thebattalion
KYLE FIELD
I
already have enough stories for the grandkids. I get to perch them on my knee and tell them about the old Ag in Tuscaloosa in 2012 — on the Bryant-Denny sidewalk with a half-smoked cigar and five-beer breath — who lost his ever-loving mind after Johnny Manziel toppled the Tide. I get to point to the hole in my wall and say, “My foot caused that, right when Johnny’s Heisman was announced.” I get to remember the side-arm throws no one can teach (because no one would want a quarterback with a habit like that — no one except Johnny). I get to remember the reckless abandon of Year One and the sometimes-caution and pocket poise of Year Two. It’s important we remember these things. It’s important we show No. 2 how much he matters every moment he touches the field. But the time has come to accept that the man who dead-eyed and Twitter-trolled the national media and walked away unscathed will play on Kyle Field grass for the last time. It’s over, and what a run. We’ll still see him in Death Valley and in a bowl game, and there will always be Sundays (looking at you, Houston Texans — I want a Battle Red jersey with “Manziel” across the back). Watching Johnny on TV is scintillating. But watching Johnny in person is a revved-up sports car. It’s the part in old Westerns when the woman is still tied to the train tracks but you know help is on the way. It’s Lance
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Armstrong in 2001 in the French Alps before the Oprah interview and before the stripped Tours de France. Manziel has taken the field at Kyle 13 times. Mississippi State makes 14. That stretch includes the oh-so-close Florida loss when the 12th Man and Kirk Herbstreit were still learning to pronounce his name, the SEC coming-out party against Arkansas, the knee scare in the Missouri thrashing and the 42 points against Alabama. Save those memories and tuck them in a safe place. We’ll have time for them later. And then file into the stadium Saturday and let loose your voice. Give it all you have — it’s your last chance, after all. Show Johnny what he’s done for this town, this brand, this University. Tell him with your presence and your voice that we’re Aggies. We’re irrationally hopeful. We still think there’s a chance he could eye his draft stock and decide another year at A&M would give him a better angle to his goal. He’s been gone since he accepted that trophy in New York, if not before, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept it. As is so often the case, Johnny stole this column — and probably the attention of a few of you. He distracted us from the other goodbyes. Saturday is full of them. After Saturday you won’t again see University President R. Bowen Loftin in his dapper maroon coat and life-of-its-own bowtie. You won’t again see Mike Evans chew the opposing secondary like bubblegum.
Chase Krumholz — THE BATTALION
(He’s gone, too, guys. Sorry. Take solace in the fact it looks like tackle Cedric Ogbuehi will stick around and take the Jake Matthews route. Silver lining, or something like that.) And then there are the seniors: Toney Hurd Jr., Jake Matthews, Derel Walker, Malcome Kennedy, Ben Malena, Nate Askew, Steven Jenkins, Otis Jacobs and more. You won’t again see the Kyle Field monolith in her current form cradle the 12th Man in her belly — all concrete, sharp lines and Aggie character. She’ll be back. Better than ever, they assure us. Some kind of makeover. But you’re going to want to remember what she looked like so you can impress the next generations. MSC and Kyle Field renovations offer — for this iteration of the student body — one of the quickest paths to the grumpy old Ag stage, which I can’t wait for. We get to say we remember the old days. So prepare for a Saturday of goodbyes. Stand and watch The Football, The Hands, The Bowtie, The Shark and The Cash-Out King bookend their Aggie careers. Kyle will close the door behind them.
Mark Doré Managing Editor @Mark_Dore
PAGE TWENTY
Mark Doré: Prepare to say goodbye Saturday to Manziel, Evans, Loftin and more
11.7.13
IS THIS GOODBYE?
INSIDER
CURTAIN CALL
11/7/13 7:25 PM