Arrogance or fear?

Arrogance is born from success; fear, from failure.

Accordingly, please consider the University of Texas in general, and University of Texas football in particular.

The contrast of arrogance and fear was recently broached on the Inside Texas message boards, where fans and non-fans of the burnt orange contemplated the state of UT football by asking a simple question: is the current Bevo mindset more arrogance or fear? Does one trump (no pun intended) the other?

The answers to those questions are, like most things, more gray than black and white.

A few years ago, my Aggie family members – and there are a lot of them – were basking in the Johnny Football glow despite just recently having lost to the second-best quarterback in the McCoy family in the final game (for now) between Texas and Texas A&M. Johnny F. was beating Alabama, whipping his team up and down the field and rubbing his fingers together, and Aggies loudly claimed that they wanted to unleash their pride and joy QB on the Longhorns.

My personal response? Arrogance, of course.

“You had your chance,” I told them, asking them how they felt watching Case McCoy slice through their defense in the middle of their beloved Kyle Field while digesting their giblet gravy on Thanksgiving. I would send them the glorious audio replay of Dave South calling the final play of the rivalry, the disgust in his voice sounding like sweet music from the Met to UT fans.

Sometimes, when the Aggies were feeling especially frisky, I would send them the video of Justin Tucker’s final kick, followed by the glorious celebration in front of the A&M bench and fans. When I felt less cruel – arrogant? – I would simply send them the final score: 27-25.

Arrogance? Absolutely. But what makes arrogant Texas fans so hard to stomach is that the Longhorn faithful has managed to hold on to the arrogance without what most believe is a prerequisite for that arrogance: success. And more than a few folks think Texas’ arrogance simply hides the fear that truly resides in Bevo’s heart: the fear of another losing season, the fear of the Aggies being more successful, the fear of continuing a years-long stretch of mediocrity.

This tug-of-war between arrogance and fear was brought back to light recently when the SEC bullhorn, Paul Finebaum, said the Longhorns believed themselves to be too good for the SEC, even as their football team has struggled mightily for years. He added that he believed that the Longhorns think college football revolves about the Longhorns.

In other words, arrogance.

Well, Paul…duh.

Admittedly, there is an underlying fear beneath the surface of UT arrogance. Did Texas fans want to face Johnny, after watching the QB torch Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl? Ummm, no. Did we want to watch Mike Evans light up the hapless UT secondary that no longer even bothers calling itself “DBU”? Not so much. Did we want to see Myles Garrett terrorizing the Texas quarterback, leaving mediocre UT offensive lines in shambles? Good lord, no.

So we leaned on arrogance. Aggies, you say you would “love” to have played Texas last year? Well, why don’t you finish higher than fourth in your division, and then we’ll talk about that. You say you’ve got a Swag Copter? Well, do your highly-recruited quarterbacks arrive AND leave on that whirleybird?

Truth is, Finebaum is right (oh, how I hate typing those words). For too many years, Texas has used empty arrogance to fend off all the barking Aggies who are all too willing to accept their yearly LSU beat-down and fourth place finish because they are in the SE by Gawd C.

Hopefully soon the Longhorns will be able to send their Aggie family and friends video highlights from the previous Saturday’s football game, rather than one from Thanksgiving, 2011. Arrogance, after all, is easier to accept as the earned result of success. Absent of that success, the UT arrogance will continue to be a weak shield against the type of Finebaum and A&M annoyance that has grown more hard to accept with each disappointing Texas season.

Until that success on the field comes again, thank God for November 25, 2011.