Texas A&M "Aggies" Football Game

I finally experienced American culture that seemed missing from my U.S. experience so far. The miles and miles of freeways and strip malls in Houston leave little room for a sense of community. However, yesterday I attended a college football game with some friends from work and was blown away by how big a deal these sporting events are in the U.S. We made the trip up to Texas A&M University to watch the Aggies take on the LA Tech Bulldogs. As we neared the stadium we were engulfed in a sea of maroon (school colors). I quickly realized that this simple non-conference college game was going to be much larger than any grey cup final in Canada. On the way to our seats we were treated to enthusiastic (meaningful-to-someone) chants at the mascot graveyard and a thundering fly-over by 3 F-18 hornets that flew so low the ground seemed to shake. As we arrived at our seats the stadium was ordered empty due to a thunderstorm that blew in. We waited it out for a 2 hour delay of game in the concession area and were treated to a steady shower of guano from the bats that were also seeking refuge above. Finally the game started and all throughout, they really put on a show. The student’s side of the stadium led the loudest chants I've heard in a stadium and everyone seemed so into it. The lightning continued during the game for a real show as well. Notice the picture below where the lightning is arching right towards the end-zone stands where we sat. The picture at the top is taken from my seat during the game. Football seems so tied to their heritage, with the announcer and big screen recognizing all the former Aggie players of note that were in attendance, and even the most devoted fan, (who was a 3rd generation A&M alumi that has had seasons tickets for 30+ years). The marching band was interesting at half time, doing all kinds of cool formations shaped in Texas-specific symbols. We left for Houston (1.5 hour drive) at the end of 3rd Quarter because the Aggies were slaughtering the Bulldogs (the final score was 45-14). The stadium was almost full and capacity is 82,600. So, college football is a very big deal here. I doubt I'll go back but it was an interesting experience.