Where I Come From: How I Became A Texas Tech Red Raiders Fan

I grew up in Lubbock, my parents and all my siblings (except my younger brother, who was born in Lubbock in September ‘47) moving there in Summer of 1947. My dad would take us to a game now and then and I attached myself very early, probably sometime in the early 50’s. But I really became a fan when E.J. Holub destroyed the oppososition in the late 50’s. I was hooked at that time, from him through Anderson, Wilson, Parks, Allison, Mooney, et.al.

I was born in Lubbock (actually, Reese AFB). My maternal side of the family all call Lubbock and surrounding areas home (Idalou, Lorenzo, Petersburg, mostly). My dad is from southern Louisiana and was a baseball player at USL, now UL-La. He met my mother when he was stationed at Reese as a second lieutenant.

From as far back as pictures show me, I’ve worn TTU gear. There were two things my parents were convinced of: I’d either go to TTU or LSU, and I’d be a fighter pilot. One out of two ain’t bad in baseball, so I’ll go with that here as well.

I went to high school in Virginia, and was raised mostly in the SE. But Tech was always talked about and the many summers I spent on the back of a tractor spraying cotton in Petersburg and Lorenzo with my older cousins and uncles telling me stories of being a Saddle Tramp pretty much sealed the deal. They were guys’ guys and I idolized them. I really wanted very much to be just like them. I never really considered any other school for some reason. Not even one where where most of my HS friends went (VaTech and George Mason were the two popular choices).

Even though I couldn’t see games (only one before my freshman year at Tech), my grandmother sent my mother the Dirk West clippings from the L-AJ every week for about 15 years, so I naturally got a kick out of those as well. So being a fan sort of came naturally for me.

My dad is an alum, my uncle and several cousins are all alums, and my mother graduated from Lubbock High….So I was born a Raider….all the early pictures I have I have Raider gear on…..And as you can see in my name I have been a Donny Anderson boy since 1964….I grew up in Dallas and still rooted for Donny when he was with Packers/Cardinals,,,,,,I had no other plan than to attend TTU and graduated in 1981 with a BBA in management……I had lots of relatives in Lubbock so I remember games @ the Jones since the late 1960’s……I really have no choice I’m a Life Long Texas Tech Red Raider….Long live the Matadors…Wreck’Em Tech!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She graduated cumme laude in May.
Texas Tech fit better than the other schools.

She didn’t want to go the the Kmart university of Texas. (burnt orange)
Didn’t want to join the cadet cult of Texas. (maroon)
Didn’t want cross the border into party territory (norman)
or go even further into boredom (stillwater)

She (we) made it through without any loans or debt or scholarships.
Her favorite event: The running of the Masked Rider down the football field.
My favorite memory: Beating Texas in 2008.

I became a Double T fan during the whole Leach fiasco, and have been hooked every since. I can see why beer gut spends time at this site. His site is boring.

My Dad and Great Aunt both graduated from Tech (Dad in 46 and my aunt in the 30’s). I can remember sitting in front of the radio and listening every Saturday to the Tech games. Yes, we really did sit in front of the radio. I was there for the Jim Carlen teams with Rodney Allison. I remember him basically going one on one with Wilson Wheatley from U of H. My little sister graduated in ’83 and my son graduated in ’05.

For us it is a family affair.

One of my favorite pictures is of when i was about 3 years old with my guns up. I was born in Lubbock and both of my parents attended Tech. My parents used to sit on the East Side of the stadium in seats that we were actually able to buy back a few years ago and still have to this day. We eventually moved to San Antonio where I continued to cheer on the Red and Black in a land filled with mostly burnt orange and maroon. I only applied to two schools when it came time to pick a college although i could never imagine going anywhere but Texas Tech. I graduated in 2004 and moved to Fort Worth. Even though I’m a few hours a way you can still find me at most of the home games and a few of the away games as well. There’s just nothing better than seeing it live!

Wreck ’em!

I was born in west Texas and lived throughout the state. I was accepted to A&M, OU and Tech. After visiting the campuses I chose Tech because the staff were more friendly, it was closer to home, there was in state tuition, and Tech has a decent and growing engineering program. I did not have much time to go to games. But, I graduated with a bachelors in electrical engineering and have gone on to receive a masters degree. Now I am living far away in Europe. Tech is a great place to call home because of the people!

My parents both attended TTU. My Mom graduated in ‘86 with a degree in Education. My Dad graduated with his Master’s in Geology in ’88.

According to them my first words were “Go Red Raiders. . yucky Aggies!” My mom used to sing The Matador Song to lull me to sleep. Brainwashed much?
In middle school and high school I shunned Texas Tech, because I didn’t want to do what my parents had done. I thought I was going to Baylor. Because of my degree, I decided to visit Tech my senior year “just to say I did it.” Long story short, I never looked back! My parents say they had nothing to do with it. . but we all know they’re lying.

…my junior college mentor’s BA was from SFA, so naturally, after TJC i was off to SFA (turning down, thankfully, a FULL SCHOLARSHIP to ol’ miss.). when i told him how much i hated shangri-la-doches, he said, “why don’t you look into tech?” (he was working on his doctorate in playwriting at the time at TTU).

i went to SFA mostly because i’m a momma’s boy and it’s not that far from tyler. my folks bleed burnt orange and my sister’s entire family are members of the college station cult. football season in my parent’s house is really chaotic (we’re all rabid football fans with split allegiances).

from the first day i set foot on campus, i knew i had finally found a place to belong…being a theatre major AND football fan was really confusing to my friends, but tough! i even worked in the sports information department my first semester in raiderland. coolest. job. ever. (except not being able to cheer in the frakkin’ press box, that is!) my job was to call the wire services every time the score changed (yeah, pre-internet dinosaur here). although we weren’t anywhere close to where we are as a team NOW, it was fun watching billy joe tolliver run the offense.

that was 25 years ago and i’m a more rabid raider NOW than ever.

Grew up in the Florida Keys and graduated from and played football for Key West High. Went to Georgia Military Junior College in order to qualify for a Navy flying program that was phased out. Enrolled in Texas Tech in 1968 on the advice of my Uncle and spent 3 semesters before recieving my draft notice. Joined the Air Force who sent me back to Tech at my urging where I recieved my Civil Engineering Degree in 1975. The Air Force later sent me back at my urging to get my MS degree in Industrial Engineering. Thank God Tech has a strong relationship with the Military. Retired from the Air Force in 1993 and now work for York County in Virginia. Married to a lovely lady from Virginia (which is why I am here) with 4 children.

Have been a fan of TTU since my early 20’s and support has only increased over the years, particularly the Leach decade.

Love Red Raiders, West Texas and particularly the folks in Lubbock. Best I’ve seen.

with a clear goal of going to college…no one in my family, extended family, had graduated college to my awareness.

I looked through college and university handbook after handbook…the school in collie station was all boys—that sounded weird to me, the one in Austin was too large…the private schools were too expensive—I was footing the bill.

Lubbock was a good distance from Waco, that was a plus, and I liked what I could find to read about Texas Technological College…I went sight unseen…as soon as I got on campus I was hooked.

When I was in Junior High, I was a sports fan of West Junior HIgh teams and programs, same when I went to high school…where I have been is part of me…I support however I can because it is me…when I was in Europe, it was all about being a Texan…same deal that is what/who I am.

I am proud to say that I joined the Navy while I was in college, I goofed up my grades and was about to be drafted to carry out a role in the Army during Vietnam, that was not for me. After the Navy, the G.I. Bill and I became great friends, my goal was to use every dollar available getting something worthwhile accomplished at TTU.

The BSME lead to a great career duing maintenance for DuPont and my current happy state of retirement.

I consider myself Blessed and happy to have been part of the places and people that have influenced me…and an honor to reflect Blessing and joy in my actions. I am thankful.

I found it that I had two choices, A&M or Book’em U. Coming from a family of, literally, hundreds, but ZERO college degrees. So, I had no pressure in choosing a school, or even if i wanted to go to school. I could fit right in to the Coca-Cola plant where half my family works and be just fine.
When I was in high school, I was determined to follow a dream I had when I was 6 and play college baseball at rosenblatt, so instead of early allgeinces to any school in Texas, I was fans of the regular schools in Omaha. I was especially found of the SEC schools.
While playing in high school, I was a 4 year starter on a struggling team, but my senior year we went deep enough in the playoffs, this 5’6 120 pound 2nd baseman started picking up offers. University of Arkansas, University of Tennessee, Tulane, OU, OSU, and Texas Tech. No one from UT or A&M ever called my house.
When it came time to sign, i signed with the University of Tennessee, I moved 11 hours from home. Stayed 3 weeks, Said the mental “F*** this”, and left in the middle of the night because I wasnt going to get a chance to start for 3 years.
Came home, played ball at a community college, and lived with my folks. When all my friends came home, my best friends went to Tech, the persuaded me (with a couple of thirty packs on my back porch) to come to Tech. I said i would visit, but I was not interested in playing baseball anymore.
One visit. I was hooked.
I loved it. from the Dust storms and the beautiful campus. I fell in love. From then on, I couldnt get to Texas Tech faster. I moved 8 hours from home, getting a degree in Agricutural Economics. And regret everyday that I didnt start my education there and played baseball under Larry Hays/Dan Spencer.
But proud to say, I will be the First Lucas ever to graduate from a University.

That is how it all started for me. Growing up in and around Lawrence, KS. KU was burned on my brain ever since I remember. The summer before my junior year in high school my family my to Arlington. My desire was to return to KS. and graduate from KU, but something happened. I liked Texas. As I looked at my options A&M was immediately out … too cultish. UT was out … too big. Many of the people I respected keep telling me to check out Tech. Where’s that? Lubbock. Really? Where’s that? West Texas. Seriously? Yep. So I began to check out Tech and the more I looked into it, the more I liked it.

It had an Architecture school, tons of hot chicks, and I had many friends going with me. I never visited Tech, I just showed up with my parents to help me move into Weymouth the summer of ’85. As we drove into Lubbock on 114, I thought that I lost my mind. A pit formed in my stomach and thought oh my, what have I done?

However, the minute I set foot on the campus, I loved it and felt immediately at home. I suffered through the North Texas beat downs and other random losses to schools we should have beat. Loved watching Tyrone Thurman and the other Smurfs, Billy Joe, and Brad Hastings.

I continue to enjoy watching Tech after graduating through the ’90’s with Spike at the helm though many of the losses were very difficult to stomach. Losing to OU in 92 or 93 was particularly tough.

But my passion for Tech football really took off with the hiring of Leach and have been a rabid fan ever since.

Now if we can just get the basketball program off the ground!

never had much of a care for college sports. took advantage of a free week to come visit the campus the summer before my senior year of high school. after a couple days of college life i never looked back. could have gone almost anywhere, but only applied to Tech, and never wanted another option.

My story was pretty simple as I had a brother who decided on Tech and I would go out and visit him periodically while I was at Lewisville High School. We lived in FM where you had basically had one store which was a beer store so I was used to country living and Lubbock just accentuated that for me. I loved Lubbock right away and the school defined a spirit that went hand and hand with the community. Besides myself I had a 3rd brother who was at SFA who transferred to Tech when I started as a freshman. It was a family affair and we all still share those fond memories of Tech. The architecture school was a huge draw for me as well. Not many schools offered the 5 year program. I honestly feel like I reinvented myself at Tech. I was a much better person after spending 5 years in Lubbock and I still refer to it as god’s country. Some think it’s a desert but for those of us who built our futures there it is so much more. I have 2 little girls now who sport the Red Raider gear at our home in Plano and and we are not shy about our patronage. My beautiful wife is a Baylor grad who was a cheerleader for the Bears so I tend to pull for Baylor when they’re not playing Tech. She actually has a great time supporting Tech and enjoys the tailgating and folks of west Texas. Lastly, I want to say that I have truely enjoyed the people I have met here on the DTN. I really think Seth has done a great job managing this site and I look forward to getting to know all of you at some games this coming season. Red Raiders are very unique and special people.

My maternal great-grandfather graduated from Tech in the 20’s and my father in the 70’s. I remember going to occasional games throughout my childhood and remember watching Baylor’s cubs have a grand time with their victory bell in the early 80’s. When it came time for college, I was eager to escape West Texas and went to tamu for a couple of years. I bought into the cult mentality, had no problems in the classroom, and even worked in the exercise physiciology lab in the aggie weight room . . . but I missed a girlfriend, had an injury that screwed up plans for a 12th-man try-out and my degree plan (kinesiology with med school thoughts), and wanted to see my sister’s senior year activities. So, I said “screw it” and transferred to Tech just 12 hours shy of “dunking my ring” at the Dixie Chicken. I was, admittedly, a transplanted aggie with the normal cocky aggie attitude during my first year on campus, which undoubtedly caused me to miss many great things. The first big crack in that mindset occurred courtesy of Zach Thomas in The Jones on a sunny Saturday afternoon. My love for Texas Tech begin to seep out of that crack and blossom into true fandom. I would still root for tamu when they weren’t playing Tech, but I began to grow tired of the aggie attitude amongst extended family members. Once I graduated and was thrown back into the pool with a bunch of aggie, I immediately recognized the cocky, cult mentality that I had once possessed and developed an enormous disdain for that institution. You will see me bash aggie in my assorted posts, and I do so based upon first-hand knowledge and absolute hatred. My kids (11 and 6) know the limits on their higher education: I will pay for them to go anywhere but the Land o’ Lassie.

I have read about those that followed. While I grew up already devoted to Lubbock & Texas Tech, many of you came to love the university upon setting foot on campus the first time. The feling one gets just being in Lubbock or on the Tech campus is something no one else can understand. It is a pleasure for me to be a part of this blog and to call you all RED RAIDERS. If the coaches at Tech can get a prospect onto the campus for a few hours, the talent level at Tech will skyrocket upward. There is just no turning away once that feeling grabs a person. WRECK ’EM, TECH!

I didnt really know what texas tech was until bobby knight was hired. Graduated hs in 2002 and applied to tech. Got in and loved every second of it. I worked at red raider club as a student assistant 3 yrs of my undergrad, thats when I really got into football and athletics. All red raider club employees automatically get sideline passes to all of the football games! So I am proud to say I had free sideline passes and probably the only one that got to watch our ala mater and drink a whiskey and coke on the sidelines! No one even thought in a million years that someone would be brave enough to bring alcohol with them down on the field. So I would watch the games next to sheriffs, not 21 mind you, enjoy a cuba libre or whiskey and let the mad scientist work his magic. One of my first football games was when we beat texas at home in 2002, one of my last games I went to as a student was my last semester of grad school in 2008 when we beat texas. For me, mike leach was apart of texas tech, since he was the only coach since I started college, it was the only thing i knew. You can imagine the devastation I went throw this past winter, as all of us did, but thats life. Guns up!

I became a Tech fan when my oldest brother signed LOI with Tech in ‘82. Grew up in Abilene and didn’t even know what/where Tech was when we moved there from Houston in ‘81.
Became a life-long fan in Fall of ’83 when we attended our first game in the Jones. Loved EVERYTHING about it.
What followed were lots of great times from ’83 – ’87 when my brother was on scholarship. Visited every SWC campus and never considered going anywhere but Tech. The 1985-87 teams were probably my favorites since I got to know the majority of the players. My brother was on O-line so I favored that group.
Both my brothers and I graduated from Tech (’94 for me) and I have tons of great memories. Still consider West Texas home and always will. And as you can see from my alias, I still miss it.

Seth – Really love the site and appreciate all the work you put in to it. Thanks for what you do…

First my brother and cousin were red raiders. I wanted to be a Aggie. I was skiping school my senior year at brownwood High and I was watching TV. Actually I was watching Geraldo Rivera. On this this show he was doing an episode of Girls who party too much. If I’m lying may I be struck down. The first 6 girls were from Texas Tech University. That when I decided to be a Red Raider and been one Since 1994.

    I moved to Lubbock in 95 (age 21), when I moved I had no intention of returning to college, I had enrolled quite a few times at the local JC in Big Spring. I had experience in the booze business and moved to Lubbokc to work at the strip. After a few days I decided that was a bad deal, I got a job working overnights at Sam’s Club and to regroup. After a few months in Lubbock I met a girl who convinced me that I could get in. I was raised blue collar and college wasnt really ever on my radar before. She led me through the process and told me what buildings to go to ask for what kinds of help. I worked through financial aid and received dependancy override, my mother had passed my Sr yr in HS and I had made my own way since I was 18 so it made no sense to fill out the forms in the traditional manner and include my parents. Once I started I went year around working full time overnights for the first year and a half. I graduated in December of 99 and was part of the first group to receive the reinstated official class ring and the first class to graduate at the United Spirit Arena. The accomplishment of doing something I never thought or imagined gave me great confidence that I still carry today.
  There just isnt many “major” universities that could have been possible. I had quite a few JC hours but the “admisssion” process at that time allowed me the chance. The further I get from the exprience the more that Texas Tech and the West Texas attitude defines me. I love pointing out to people when TTU makes the stage for harsh words from Mike Leach or the hiring of fiesty basketball coach (or the recent Tuberville comments) that the West Texans are less offended and more than likley proud of their coaches telling it like it is.

I was born in Lubbock. My mother and her entire family went to Tech. My wife and her sister went to Tech along with both her parents. I was always a Red Raider Fan. We always had Tech stuff in the house. I lived in Aggie and Texas Country for a long time, but still managed to be faithful to my favorite school. With the arrival of Leach about the time I left high school, I was even more of a fan.

 Now, here is the funny part, as mentioned in Seth’s write up. I never attended Tech. I received my degree somewhere else. But, starting this fall, I will be workin towards my bachelors in general business.

I grew up just outside of DFW in Midlothian, TX, but my family originates from Chicago, so during the 80’s and 90’s, I was always a Notre Dame fan (went to ND basketball camp, two years in a row). Also, my dad played football at the University of Wyoming, so we’d go to Wyoming games if they ever played SMU, TCU or North Texas.

From my perspective, there were only two teams that kids in elementary/junior High rooted for: Texas or A&M.

Being a Notre Dame fan, I couldn’t understand anyone cheering for either of the two teams. A&M seemed like a bunch of retards and Texas, well they just weren’t in the conversation… (at the time, it was all Miami, ND, FSU, Colorado, Nebraska).

Anyways, when it came to choosing a college, I knew I had to go to an in-state school, so I applied and was accepted to the big three: UT, A&M and Tech. A&M wasn’t an option because, well, I didn’t think I’d “fit their culture.” I think I avoided Austin because of its rumored “culture” as well…

So it was Tech, by default.

I definitely didn’t fall in love with the school at first sight, but during the time I went there, it seemed like the place just exploded: Leach was hired, Bob Knight came along, we owned A&M, the basketball team was always in the tourney… It was awesome! At the same time, I became more and more invested in the University: I became an RA in Weymouth, picked up a second Major, and became the President of the Tech Rugby Team.

But I don’t think it was until I moved to Chicago, that my love of the Red Raiders truly came to fruition. There’s nothing like being in a crowded sports bar filled with a bunch of pompous big 10 fans, and watching them jump on the Red Raider bandwagon because you’re scoring 50+ points, and they just suffered through a penn State/Iowa sleeper that consisted of six field goals and tons of punting.

Maybe the sweetest part about it is that my fiance, and her entire family, are die-hard Nebraska fans. All day, every day, it’s Go Big Red, blablabla… until I walk in the room and say, “70-10.”

Those of you who are married, there’s nothing like owning the in-laws… especially when it comes to college football…

So from indifference to fandom, that’s how it happened… Guns Up!

at Jones Stadium while at Alderson Jr High. Many thanks to Bill Mcginnis now of Clovis, and Graham Warwick now an almost famous blues picker in the Fredericksburg area, who got me involved. Though we all could use the money, I quickly got hooked on the whole game experience. It wasn’t long before seeing the band trot onto the field and the Masked Rider lead the team in was much more rewarding than the 1960’s bucks i was earning there.

My folks and grandfolks had ingrained in me that finishing college was expected, and there was never any thought about going anywhere else. That also has helped lead to degrees for brother Rick, wife Earlene, daughter Jenny, and several Bustillos and Ramirez cousins. Daughter Amy will graduate from HSC next May.

My favorite teams had been from 1972-76 or so teams because they were successful, and had my former schoolmates Wallace, Moseley and Isaac. That being said, the last 10 years under Leach have been a lot of fun!

I grew up the only only son in a family of 5 children, so I absorbed the love of my Dad’s school, Notre Dame. Terry Hanretty & Joe Theisman were my childhood college football heroes. An older sister has attended Tech for a year when I was in 6th grade, but that’s all I knew of it. Senior year they had College Day at my high school in Richardson, TX. Of our cicrcle of friends, all but 2 or 3 were going to Texas Tech. So that’s where I applied. I saw West Texas for the 1st time the day my Mom drove me to Lubbock for orientation in the summer of 1977. I bought the sports ticket package & tranferred all my college loyalties from Notre Dame to Texas Tech. It took a few decades, but lately it’s looking like that wasn’t a bad move.

It seems from reading these posts that my journey to Tech was shorter than most. I grew up in New Deal and could see the stadium lights from our house just off of north University. When I was eight I played in a YFL “Super Bowl” on the hard Jones’ turf. I spent Saturdays in the fall in the $5 grass seats and spent my summers attending Gerald’s basketball camps (ironic, I know). My mom worked in the administration building (yes, even more ironic) so as kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time at the UC playing ping pong and video games.

My high school graduation was held on campus in the Allen theater and I started classes at Tech a few months later. I don’t think I ever considered going anywhere else. I take it for granted at times, but Texas Tech has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I guess I’ve always been a fan.

Jamie Gill’s TD pass to Travis Price on 3rd & 26 to beat A&M in 1989. Good times.

When i was little,dont recall my age, i went to go see us play UT at the jones. i remember it was our ricky williams against theirs. We lost that game but i remember ALL the tortillas flying EVERYWHERE! it was awesome. I started to really follow the team in 2006. Then that magical 2008 season happened. Despite those 2 loses, it was great. I was born and raised in the LBK. I used to have a dirk west poster of raider red in my room. Everyone in my family loves tech except my mom and my lil sisters. There Ut fans UGH. But i love me some red raiders. WRECK’EM!

Compared to my hometown of el paso. I dated an older girl who went to tech and fell in love with the campus and peeps. We broke up, but my time at tech is never far from what I’m doing.

My dad was born in Ft. Stockton, raised in Lubbock, went to Wolforth HS then Tech. Joined the USAF during Vietnam and planted the seed, which was me, and I was born @ Reese AFB. After many AF transfers, we ended up in Fort West. After HS @ AHHS (Arlington Heights, FW), I decided to take a crack at Tech. Not only because my dad went there, uncles, aunts, cousins, god parents and friends, but because I was not drinking the Orange Crush or maroon Kool-Aide like many of my other friends and followers.
Although I didn’t finish @ TT (only lasted a semester; victim of the living away from home for first time; never seen so many hot girls in one place; friends pledging fraterninties and all the blinding neon on The Strip forcing me to endulge in some wonderful libations), I was told to come home. Ended up taking core classes @ TCJC (TCC now and also know as “Harvard on the Hill”), and finished at good’ol UTA whose football program had been terminated. I have since stayed in good’ol FW, married a TCU Horny Frog, and we have a beautiful 5/mo old daughter who will have a hard time deciding between the Purple Frogs and Red Raiders. Meanwhile, she will wear her split onesie with pride.

I grew up in Copperas Cove. My mom and dad did not go to college. My stepdad played running back for Wisconsin-Whitewater. I was the youngest person in my grade. Until the 8th grade I was the smallest person in my class. I played sports my whole life and was decent for a small guy. I was also in all advanced classes with all the well-off kids, but I was poor. So I always felt like sort of an outcast, and got picked on quite a bit. All of the “popular” kids wore ut and a&m gear. I knew that I didnt want to be anything like them. Then I saw Tech run all over Duke in the 1989 All American Bowl. I grew and kept playing sports. The one thing in the world I wanted to do was wear the Scarlet and Black. The only school I applied to was Tech. I was accepted within the first six weeks of my senior year. I came to Tech on a recruiting trip my senior year the last home game of the season against Houston. It was supposed to be 40 degrees and cloudy. It turned out to be the most snow I had ever seen in real life. After seeing the difference between me, 5’11" 185 white guy and LLoyd Hill, I, my coach, and my parents, came to the conclusion that maybe my football playing days were over. Biggest regret of my life! Two of the hottest chicks I had ever seen were my Raider Recruiters. That sealed the deal. I started in 1993 and graduated in 1998. I live and teach in Austin. I have tried to go back for at least one game each year, but have not always made it due to coaching duties. I quit coaching three years ago when kids came along and made it to three games last year. I DVR every game and watch them at least twice usually three times. I am still sore about the Leach ordeal. Not sure how this season will be for me.

I’m from the Dallas area and like most Longhorn fans, had no real connection with the university whatsoever. No body in my family attended UT, in fact my mother went to the other UT, University of Tennessee, and most of teh rest of my family either attended Ole Miss or LSU. I guess the closest thing I have to a connection with UT is that my parents lived there for a while and its where my brother was born. They moved to Dallas a year later and I was born in Baylor UMC hospital downtown. Anyways, I guess I just hung out with children on UT alums and I just latched on. Anyways, when it came time to be looking at colleges, I never really thought of UT as an option and was looking at UNT and Sam Houston State (“recruited” to both for music). My violin teacher told me that she had been contacted by a new violin professor at Texas Tech and that I would have a lesson with her. From that afternoon on, I was a Red Raider. I had only seen a few games, mostly when they played UT. I decided on Tech after the 2006 football season had already ended so my first real Tech football experience came when I watched us take apart SMU in Dallas. I had just moved to Lubbock and was upset that I didnt wait another couple of days to see this game in person. I remember being really impressed that Tech had more fans and support at that game than SMU. I attended my first game when we played UTEP, which was closer than I would have expected from what I had heard regarding these two teams. Either way, I am in the same line of thinking as Seth when he says that his fandom lies where he attends. I am currently working on my degree in mass communications and cannot wait for this upcoming season!!

I have been reading the information on this site for quite some time now and finally decided to take the plunge and start adding my own two cents…probably not worth half of that…

From the time I was very young i was surrounded by Red Raider family members. Past AD and Head Football Coach JT KIng was a 4th cousin and retired to my tiny hometown in the Texas Hill Country. I had 68 members of my family who had previously attended Texas Tech and another cousin who was a professor in the Range and Wildlife department.

On the other hand, my sister who is 13 years older than me, graduated from Pharmacy school and bled an awful color of orange….so I have to admit it: for a few of my formative years I was very misguided and wanted to attend that college in Austin….

However, in high school, i became very interested in Agriculture…and since the orangebloods don’t believe in agriculture…that school quickly became a thing of the past….then i was faced with a new dilemma. I was being recruited hard by the pansies in college station (my sister was dying inside a little so that was sort of fun)…but after my campus visit there I became increasingly aware that I did not want to be a part of a Cult…

So it was off to visit TTU. Oddly enough, I had never visited the campus even with so many family members attending the university. I was very interested in TTU because I am a HUGE basketball fan and I was in High School from 1993-1997 so those were the glory years.

I remember the moment I knew Lubbock was the perfect place for me. I had already decided that I loved Tech, but I took a year off between high school and college to travel the state and give motivational speeches to students and civic organizations. One night that year I was in Lubbock for a conference and had to drive to the airport to pick up a friend who was presenting with me. It was April 19, 1998. As we left the airport, we had the windows down, it was a perfect 65 degrees, and pat green was playing on the radio….it was then that I knew it couldn’t get much better than that….

I graduated in December of 2002, stayed in Lubbock for 5 more years as a teacher. Married my wife from the panhandle and now we live in a small town northwest of Fort Worth and we still try to send as many students to Lubbock as possible!

Great site, thanks for always giving GREAT information!

Thank you to those who joined DTN and are new. Welcome!

I became a Tech fan because I needed to transfer out of Bayor for financial reasons and state school tuition at the time was $4.00 per semester hour. (Baylor was $60.00) I had friends at atm and ut as well as Tech, and visited all three campuses on roadtrips during my freshman year. I based my decision on the quality and quantity of my Tech friends, many of whom I am still in close contact with today. It was hard being a fan during those years(1979-83). I think we won something like 16 football games during that time. Those were the “Jerry’s Kids” years, where for whatever reason Jerry Moore just could not win. It was a thrill to watch Gabe Rivera dominate, even in losing efforts, and I was at Jones Stadium to witness the heart rendering loss to then #1 ranked SMU in the lasts seconds of the game. The last 25 years have been much more enjoyable.

I grew up on a farm just outside of Muleshoe and I remember driving into to Lubbock and getting to see the campus and that “huge” stadium. (It was large to me back then!) I listened to every Red Raider game I could get on my old Case tractor as we cut grain or stripped cotton, or just simply plowed fields during those fall and winter days. I knew growing up that I would attend that school, and while my road has been a little more difficult and longer than I expected it would be, I managed to get that done.

That school and those teams, be it football or soccer, represent, to me, the essence of what it means to live out on the South Plains and to be involved in farming. We do the very best with what we have and we find ways to overcome every obstacle, whether that obstacle is severe drought or hailstones the size of softballs, or the “Haves” from down south in our state, we buckle our chinstraps and go to work. I fell in love with watching our "West Texas Boys’ overcome all odds and send the UT’s and Aggies of this world back home with their tails between their legs. I was crushed by the masses that erupted when Zach took that interception back for the game winning touchdown against those old Ags. I cried , like many of us did, when Crabtree pulled in that catch and put us on the verge of accomplishing every dream I ever had for Texas Tech Football as a kid growing up imitating all of the Red Raiders that came before. I am choking up a little just writing this now….

I cant wait for the day that both of my little girls walk down that aisle to receive their Texas Tech diplomas and maybe I’ll even get to see a grandchild or two do the same…. GO TECH!

I cant wait for the 2010 season, time to put everything behind us and lets all play our part in helping our boys win every came they can!!!

I was born in Lubbock and became a Marine Corps brat before I started school. Lived all over SEC and ACC country growing up so I wound up going to Auburn on an NROTC scholly. (the 2 best NROTC prgrams were Auburn and aTm, and being from Lubbock that was not an option!) Dad retired and headed back to Lubbock where we still had family and my little brother and sister wound up at Tech. I left the Navy after the 1st Desert Storm (compliments of a Clinton military budget cut) and came back to West Texas in ‘93. Was already a rabid college football fan so I took up the mantle of Texas Tech providing they weren’t playing Auburn! And it has come close to happening in a couple of Cotton Bowls! Talk about nervous!
  The Leach years solidified my secondary allegience with an exciting brand of football that made every game a joy because we always had a chance as long as there was time on the clock!
  I remember receiving a call from my ex-wife this past December. She told me that my 11 year old son was worried about me because he was sure I was hoppin’ mad about what happened to Leach (and he was right!) The next day a buddy told me about DTN and I have been here religiously every since.
   
Seth, I must say, again, that you run the very best site for information and conversation about my second favorite college team in the country! Thanks for all you do.

  As heart-broken and angry as I was over Leach I became excited and overjoyed that CTT was on his way and he wanted to keep the Air Raid. Because I have watched many, Many Auburn defenses and this is gonna be FUN!!!!