Austin Texas - Envy and Disgust

[Deleted member 807]

Austin has evolved beyond it's reputation. Enscribed in the doorway over the Main Hall in Austin are the words "Ye Sahll Know the Truth and The Truth Shall Set You Free." So what is the truth about Austin?

The number 1 truth is that hippies are dead and burried and the Austin counterculture is gone. Bumperstickers are a thing of the past. I saw none of these:

I was expecting to see "Kinky Friedman for Governor" or somthing for or gainst Obama or Bush. I didn't even see a single "Keep Austin Weird" sticker. The cars don't even have many window stickers that said "Texas EXs: Life Member" or decals that said "University of Texas"

I asked around at the tailgate, "Why aren't there any bumper stickers on any cars in Austin?" The answer was, "When the lease expires on your Mercedes SL 500 or Infinity QX, you can't return it with bumper stickers. They ruin the value of the car."

Austin Texas is the 15th largest metro area in the US. The population of Greater Austin is larger than the population of the other B12 cities combined. Austin is about sprall, big box deparment stores, traffic congestion and parking lots.

With bumper stickers off the table, Longhorns put their school pride on display in the form of a little chrome covered plastic longhorn auto emblem like this one.

If the University of Texas were paid a dollar for every one of these on the roads of Texas, they could afford to buy out Dan Hawkins contract two times over, and still have enough cash left over to start an NCAA womens cricket team.

That UTerus symbol does indeed resemble the ventral profile of the female reproductive system.

Apparently this iconic chome figure of the feminine form was already taken.

 

[Waldo]

Austin in the 70's was a completely different place than the Austin 2009 version. The remnants of the hippies are not all dead yet, some did survive, I know a few. Saw Willie and Waylon a few times back then and can't say I was bored. Glad those days are long gone:lol:

 

[Deleted member 807]

Austin's hippies are being plowed under by the capitalists, just like in Boulder. But the hippy influence isn't entirely dead when it comes to dining.

Guadalupe Avenue, between 15th and 27th, runs on the west side of campus. This street would be similar to "The Hill", while 6th Street is more like "Pearl Street". The dining options on Guadelupe Ave are not very "Texan". There are no steak houses, althought there are many place on 6th street to eat beef. Aside from El Mercado Restaurant and Cantina - "World Peace through Tex-Mex", the dining options lean more towards the far east when you are next to campus.
- Pho Vietnamese Cuisine
- Coco's Cafe - Pearl Drinks and Taiwanese Food
- Veggie Heaven - Healthy Vegitarian Cuisine
- Bite Me - Vietnamese Sandwitches
- Oishi Japanese Fusion. (Yes, I did see sushi served at a UT tailgate)
- Crave That & Sushi Bar
- The Pita Pit - Fresh Thinking. Healthy Eating
- The Mellow Mushroom (subs and sandwiches)
- Terra Burger - All organic/all natural. (some Big Head Todd and the Monsters song was playing on the sound system inside)
- Madam Momma's fine Thai Cusine

That's a lot of exotic **** from which to choose.

My choice was The Clay Pot - Contemporary Indian Dining. The Chicken Korma, Coconut Shrimp Curry and Saag Palek Paneer was exceptional. If the Clay Pot were in my neighborhood, I'd eat there every week.

 

[MrFrumpylane]

I get all "disgust" feedback, but is the UTerus symbol is your "envy"? Pardon me if am I missing something here?

 

[Deleted member 807]

I envy UT because they hardly ever lose at home. The last time UT lost in Austin was September 29th, 2007 against Kansas State. They are currently riding a 14 game home winning streak, and have a home winning percentage of .936 since 2002. The only B12 north school to win a game in Royal Memorial over the past 8 seasons is Kansas State. The fans are practically guaranteed a win at home against teams from the north.

The stadium itself seats over 100,000, and it's full. With a higher ticket price times a larger number of fans, Texas is the cash cow in the conference. There were 101,125 on hand to watch the 1-3 Buffs. Memorial Texas stadium isn't even a full bowl. With their 5-year expansion plan, UT has the potential of increasing their seating capacity by an other 10-20 thousand. It's almost as if UT has a license to print money. That cash goes towards facilities. One obvious target of that money is the $8 million Godzillatron screen that is a 7,370 square foot video board with a darn good high definition picture.

Considering CU sells out Folsom a few times a season, the Buffs fall behind pretty fast in the money race against the Longhorns. After seeing the video boards in Morgantown and West Virginia first hand, and knowing about Huskervision, I'd say that a new videoboard is high on the list of priorities in Boulder.

As bad as the Buffs record is under Hawkins, it pains me to think about spending money to buy out a coaching contract like Barnetts and possibly Hawkins for $3M a piece knowing that that money might be used to fund a videoboard or other capital improvements to Folsom.

The tailgating festivities are over the top in Austin. Sure CU fans bring out the Buffulance. Sackygate is wonderful. The barbeques are out from Farrand Field to the Business School lawn to the Gold Lot. Gameday in Boulder will always be special for the people, the scenery and the weather.

But for every custom painted CU vehicle in Boulder, there are a dozens of customized vehicles in Austin. School buses, hearses, antique trucks, and all kinds of RVs come out. The custom school bus with the second story balcony attachment was a real attention getter that caught ESPN's eye. The BBQ smokers trailers come out in large numbers, too. The larger models haul half a cord of mesquite wood and the capacity of four 50-gallon oil drums. One smoker was in the shape of a pistol. Each of the lots close into the stadium had several large-scale rigs that were being set up before 9AM in anticipation for the 5PM kickoff.

One tent had a couple of live DJ's spinning house music. Some bands play. It used to be rare to see satellite dishes and 42" flat screens, but they are pretty common in Austin on game day, with TVs in one out of five tents. A lot of people come just to tailgate. Someone has to stay behind to babysit the tailgate tents, TV sets, generators and beer coolers. Those who stay behind get the benefit of drinking beer and petting their dogs, while still soaking up the atmosphere of the game.

A flea-market or The Taste of Colorado is the closest I can come to describing how big and busy the tailgate scene is at Texas.

Chilli and I checked out the area at 18th and San Jacinto, where Ed Hook'em recommended us to visit. We didn't see Ed, but we did run into a into a guy who has been holding on to his reserved spot for 15 years. He did his darnest to make us feel welcome by providing us with food and introducing us to his circle of friends. The beer was flowing, cigars were smoked, names were exchanged, and hospitality was abundant.

As with any booze-fest, the capacity to drink beer is ten times greater than the capacity of the porta-johns. This disparity beween full bladders and long lines turns Waller Creek, which runs through the center of campus, into the largest outdoor urinal I've ever seen.

Mama's, don't let your babies play under the bridges if you ever go to UT!


The Texas tailgate scene is something every CU fan should aspire to witness. If you plan on appearing at the alumni function, don't forget to budget some time to explore the tailgates that take place between 15th and 18th avenues on the south side of campus.

 

[BlackNGold]

Austin Texas is the 15th largest metro area in the US. The population of Greater Austin is larger than the population of the other B12 cities combined. Austin is about sprall, big box deparment stores, traffic congestion and parking lots.

Correction - The Austin MSA ranks 36th in population at about 1.6 million. The Denver MSA(which includes Boulder) ranks 21st at 2.5 million - so I don't know where you are getting your statistics but they are little off. I know many don't want to consider Boulder as part of the Denver Metropolitan Area but the Census bureau does.

 

[Deleted member 807]

Now the Disgust part:

UT fans treat Buff fans like "hired help". Sure they are nice to you, but they are pretty sure to draw the line when it comes to letting you know who owns whom.

It disgusts me that CU fans went into Austin with the attitude that this game was a "no hoper".

It disgusts me that the UT fans incorporate "Beat OU" into their game-day cheers, even though they are playing CU. "Don't worry. We say "Beat OU" no matter who we are playing." That's what the guy behind us said during the game after the 3rd of 4th "Beat OU" cheer.

It disgusts me that UT considers CU, at best, to be a spoiler. But one UT fan said the Big 12 is basically UT and the 11 dwarfs.

It was amazing to see the patronizing smiles turn to loathing after the half, when UT realized that CU wasn't going to roll over. CU was supposed to be some kind of cat-toy that UT was going to play with before sending in the mop-up crew. How dare CU have the audacity to actually have the lead at halftime.

Then the true UT fan game out. The cordial pats on the head turned vindictive at Cody's pick six. When Hansen came in, the fans split, satisfyed in knowing that the special teams and defense could provide the blow-out that their offense was having difficulty generating.

It disgusts me that UT fans start paying more attention to the LSU/Florida score than what is happening on the field before their eyes.

After the game, we walked for hours before a single UT fan said "Good Game" or "I hope you had a good time in Austin." After the game is over, the much more common reaction is to ignore the visiting fan all together.

I am not satified with CU putting up a good game. It disgusts me that CU is 0-2 following the 70-3 blow out, and that the possiblity of CU blowing out UT is a pipe dream, given the relative positions of both programs.

Maybe it's wrong for CU fans to expect to beat UT. But CU has a long way to go before it earns any respect in Austin.

 

[Deleted member 807]

Correction - The Austin MSA ranks 36th in population at about 1.6 million. The Denver MSA(which includes Boulder) ranks 21st at 2.5 million - so I don't know where you are getting your statistics but they are little off. I know many don't want to consider Boulder as part of the Denver Metropolitan Area but the Census bureau does.

Wiki -Big 12.
Wiki - Austin
I did include the poplation of the Austin MSA, but did not factor MSAs for the other B12 schools. The Census bureau does consider Boulder as part of the Denver MSA, but only CU graduate in the Denver area feel at home in Boulder.


Ames, Iowa 51,557
Manhattan, Kansas 51,707
Boulder, Colorado 94,673
Lawrence, Kansas 90,520
Columbia, Missouri 100,733
Lincoln, Nebraska 225,581
Waco, Texas 122,222
Stillwater, Oklahoma 46,976
College Station, Texas 74,125
Lubbock, Texas 212,169
Norman, Oklahoma 102,827
SUBTOTAL1,173,090

Austin, Texas MSA 1,660,000

 

[aik]

Lot of thoughts. Austin proper is getting close to 800k, good for 15th in the country. It had no established metro area until the last half decade so even with rampant suburban development is only a 49 in the Nielsen TV market rankings.

To the other points about what would be expected in the city, the bumper stickers at Wheatsville Co-op several blocks north of campus were in abundance today, just as provided noncompact parking for my borrowed Ford Explorer with Texas A&M plates was absent. Southwest Austin (or, unincorporated Travis County with an Austin zip code) still supplies plenty of Texas Ex stickers on similar late model SUVs. Keep Austin Weird isn't as popular a slogan as it was around and immediately after Y2K but I'd imagine there are still plenty of those stickers on rusted out Toyotas in yard art between Congress and Lamar and south of Barton Springs. The "weird" is now a fringe element embraced by stubborn native traditionalists on the left and the Lexus Liberal who moved here 5-15 years ago.

The UT tailgate is not a scene I can stomach for very long. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if that many people were ecstatic about CU football and within that square mileage of Boulder on gameday. There's just something cultlike about it that doesn't sit well with me, and probably because I can't take the sight of entitled folks in burnt orange. When I see a post that proclaims "I would hate to have gone to a school with a crappy football team. To Texas students and alum [sic] everywhere, be proud," it riles me a bit. But then again that's the way they've always learned to feel about their team, and the system in place rewards the already-rich and success continues to cycle in more resources.

Austin was good to me for nearly a quarter century but had some flaws that didn't look fixable in the near future. Miss it from time to time but glad I got out.

 

[JimmyBuff]

The Texas athletic director( who I believe has been there now for over 20 years) has done one hell of a job turning around that program.. It wasn't that look ago that Texas had a 55000 seat stadium that went 10 years without a home sellout and had a hard time raising money for the program..


In fact I think the 94 CU/Texas game was their first sellout since Bo Jackson's Auburn Tigers in 84..


The Big 12 helped them, but they did a lot of the tough work before then so they could take off once they got a competent coach in there.

 

[PurifydatA$$]

Saturday was my first gameday experience in Austin. (I'd been there before, but never during football season), First and foremost, I was very very happy with how well represented our Buffs were around town and at the game - especially considering the product we've been putting on the field! Props to everyone that made the trip!! :thumbsup:

I noticed that the Texas fans really start crawling out of the woodwork on gameday and pack that city, but for a city/entire region of a state that has no professional sports team and has a college stadium that holds 100k, I was pretty unimpressed.

First, the stadium wasn't nearly as loud as what it should have been for over 101k people being there. Second, Texas fans acted as if Austin was the best city in the world to watch a football game - and while I love the city, I really recommend that Texas fans go somewhere other than Lubbock and College Station before making such a statement.

Plus there was that nasty underlying sense of entitlement from Texas fans and on more than one occasion, Texas fans threw garbage, including beer cans, at my group of Buffs fans, once hitting my buddy's girlfriend. Way to stay classy, Texas.

Perhaps I was unimpressed because I've been putting solid time in with family & friends at Florida games in Gainesville and occasionally Georgia games in Athens, but I gotta say SEC tailgating & gameday atmosphere made what Texas fans had Saturday look like a baby shower.

IF the Shorthorns can manage to win out, I am definitely looking forward to them playing Florida in the BCS title game so they can get a taste of their own medicine.

On the bright side: Awesome bar scene, great food, cheap beer and smokin hot girls everywhere (better than even Miami, imo).

P.S. Why wasn't Ralphie at the game???

 

[dio]

I wasn't there - but I spoke to my former boss (UT grad) this morning. Dude got me going.

Me "So were you worried there for awhile?"

Him "No, I was never worried. I was more worried about winning by a reasonable margin"

Me "Come on, let's get real. Buffs probably win that game with even an average quarterback. Your offense looked poor, and 3 plays changed the course of that game."

Him "No Jeff, it was still a 3 TD victory"

Wish I could convey tone on the interwebs. Very arrogant tone, really pissed me off.

 

[92Buff]

First, the stadium wasn't nearly as loud as what it should have been for over 101k people being there. Second, Texas fans acted as if Austin was the best city in the world to watch a football game - and while I love the city, I really recommend that Texas fans go somewhere other than Lubbock and College Station before making such a statement.

I completely agree about atmosphere. I went the UT game in 2001 and then had the chance to go to Georgia. UT does not even compare in terms of atmosphere. It was nice and I loved the bars, but I really enjoyed the Georgia atmosphere.

I am torn on wanting to see a Big XII team in the BCS Championship game again. It is not god for our conference to continually get blown out but then again I somewhat enjoy knowing the pain that the OU fans have and potentially UT fans this season would get to enjoy.

In terms of entitlement, it was not long ago when we were beating these tools regularly. I believe we nailed them 6 times in a row in recent history.

If anything, they should realize based upon the CU game that they just aren't one of the elite teams this year. They are good, but they have no business pondering thoughts of a MNC.

 

[Chilly]

Lot of thoughts. Austin proper is getting close to 800k, good for 15th in the country. It had no established metro area until the last half decade so even with rampant suburban development is only a 49 in the Nielsen TV market rankings.

To the other points about what would be expected in the city, the bumper stickers at Wheatsville Co-op several blocks north of campus were in abundance today, just as provided noncompact parking for my borrowed Ford Explorer with Texas A&M plates was absent. Southwest Austin (or, unincorporated Travis County with an Austin zip code) still supplies plenty of Texas Ex stickers on similar late model SUVs. Keep Austin Weird isn't as popular a slogan as it was around and immediately after Y2K but I'd imagine there are still plenty of those stickers on rusted out Toyotas in yard art between Congress and Lamar and south of Barton Springs. The "weird" is now a fringe element embraced by stubborn native traditionalists on the left and the Lexus Liberal who moved here 5-15 years ago.

The UT tailgate is not a scene I can stomach for very long. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if that many people were ecstatic about CU football and within that square mileage of Boulder on gameday. There's just something cultlike about it that doesn't sit well with me, and probably because I can't take the sight of entitled folks in burnt orange. When I see a post that proclaims "I would hate to have gone to a school with a crappy football team. To Texas students and alum [sic] everywhere, be proud," it riles me a bit. But then again that's the way they've always learned to feel about their team, and the system in place rewards the already-rich and success continues to cycle in more resources.

Austin was good to me for nearly a quarter century but had some flaws that didn't look fixable in the near future. Miss it from time to time but glad I got out.

Really. I absolutely loved the tailgate scene. I can't say anything bad about my experience pre or post game. Heck, it was even fun peeing in the creek below the bridge.

To me that is what tailgating is all about. Very few schools get tailgating right in my mind UT is one of the schools that does.

 

[66BUFF]

got to agree on the noise...I was down on the field for pre game and the first quarter and that place is not loud for 101K...ran into Mason Crosby on the sideline...nice guy

 

[Buffarino]

Wish I could convey tone on the interwebs. Very arrogant tone, really pissed me off.

Anyone who knows a Whorn fan knows the tone. They're Texas, you know...

 

[PurifydatA$$]

Really. I absolutely loved the tailgate scene. I can't say anything bad about my experience pre or post game. Heck, it was even fun peeing in the creek below the bridge.

To me that is what tailgating is all about. Very few schools get tailgating right in my mind UT is one of the schools that does.

Chilly - too bad we missed each other. I was looking forward to waxing intellectual about the state of the Hawkins regime.

I was peeing in that river too. I Got a good laugh from everyone when I said "No wonder Austin's water tastes like $hit" as at least 10 people were peeing in it at the same time. Were you at the Buffs tailgate near 15th & trinity?

 

[leftybuff]

You know what I enjoy about Austin? Clean bathrooms, those Aggies do a marvelous job there.

 

[OKCBuff]

Anyone who knows a Whorn fan knows the tone. They're Texas, you know...

But of course!

 

[MrFrumpylane]

But of course!

But the question is: For better or for worse..? :huh:

 

[Chilly]

Chilly - too bad we missed each other. I was looking forward to waxing intellectual about the state of the Hawkins regime.

I was peeing in that river too. I Got a good laugh from everyone when I said "No wonder Austin's water tastes like $hit" as at least 10 people were peeing in it at the same time. Were you at the Buffs tailgate near 15th & trinity?

Yes. We hung out there for about an hour. The 2 bottle of pomegranite Vodka came from me. Then we headed over to try and find EdHookems tailgate and stumbled into some other tailgate that was also sponsored by a Vodka company.

Yeah I told Skidmark that my only regret was not getting a chance to hook-up with the Allbuffers. But I wasn't quite sure how to go about finding out who was who at the CU tailgate without sounding like a dweb.

Hello my name is Chilly. Your name wouldn't happen to be PurifydatA$$ would it?

 

[Jens1893]

But of course!

World >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> US >>>> Texas

 

[OKCBuff]

I'd say: US>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Texas>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>World

But that's just me.

 

[Deleted member 807]

I wasn't there - but I spoke to my former boss (UT grad) this morning. Dude got me going.

Me "So were you worried there for awhile?"

Him "No, I was never worried. I was more worried about winning by a reasonable margin"

Me "Come on, let's get real. Buffs probably win that game with even an average quarterback. Your offense looked poor, and 3 plays changed the course of that game."

Him "No Jeff, it was still a 3 TD victory"

Wish I could convey tone on the interwebs. Very arrogant tone, really pissed me off.

If my Aunt has balls....yeah I know. But let's play this out. Big IF. If that punt weren't blocked and returned and if Cody's pick-six inside the red zone was really a Buff TD, then the game would have been closer.

But I guarantee the majority of horn fans would still have maintained UT had better talent, coaching and execution and would find a way to rise to the occation and pull out a victory. The excuses aready exist about UT's lackluster running game...CU was easy to overlook.

Face it. CU was nothing but a cat-toy for the 'horn nation to bat about. The only way CU walks out of DRMS stadium with any respect is by putting a 4-5 TD smackdown on them and dominating them in every phase of the game. Based on the past 3 years, there's no way that happens.

CU is overlooked because CU has not presented a credible threat. UT's scrubs should be able to handle the Buffs. So far as UT is concerned, UT can coast and still win that game. The Longhorns were playing down to CU's level. There was never any point when UT feared losing that game. Texas has pulled off some miraculous comebacks against OSU and would have done something similar if their back were ever against the wall.

UT was 'asleep', but woke up enough to swat the Buffs, and then they coasted their way to the final whistle...another win against an other inferior team from the North.

If CU were OU, then they wouldn't have been overlooked. Blah, Blah, Blah.

I'm telling you. The only way UT respects CU is if the Buffs dominate them for the next three games. No little margin of victory, because those can be explained away with excuses.

Short of that, UT fans will not change their thinking about a team they have owned for most of the decade.

I'm not holding my breath.