Nov. 30 is an important date in the Lone Star State and apparently, the Atlanta Braves clubhouse.
Texas and Texas A&M will share a football field for the first time since 2011, renewing the rivalry at Kyle Field. Families will be divided, as will the Braves pitching staff. Bryce Elder and A.J. Minter are pretty into the rivalry after their college days. Elder, a Longhorn, and Minter, an Aggie, love to trash-talk each other on the topic.
If you ask Elder, there might not be a bigger fan of Texas football than Minter despite his college allegiance.
“Half the time, I think he’s more worried about UT Football than I am,” Elder said. “That seems to be how most Aggies are.”
In what has been a back-and-forth since the football rivalry died over a decade ago, Texas and Texas A&M fans have acted like they do not care about each other. To an extent, the matchup has been carried over into the recruiting world but mainly, both fanbases have been watching each other from afar.
Now, everyone across the country is excited for Texas to move from the SEC. Not only will the football rivalry get some juice added to it but so will baseball. Elder believes both Longhorns programs are in good hands after moving on from the Big 12.
“I’m excited for it,” Elder said. “I’m hoping that it’s going to be a smooth year. Might be a rough one, I don’t know. I always like to think the Big 12 was the best conference but everybody knows it’s not. So, I’m looking forward to it. I think it will be good even if the first year is rough. Long term, I think it will be a good move.”
Minter made his thoughts on Texas joining the SEC pretty clear.
“All I got to say is Horns Down,” Minter said. “That’s it. If you don’t like it, get used to it. Becasue it’s coming.”
Elder sees a world where the Braves win the World Series and Minter is out there on the mound to close out the game. His first move might be throwing the Horns Down before hugging the catcher behind home plate and celebrating with his Atlanta teammates.
“That’s just their sign,” Elder said. “They don’t have a sign. I think that guy could get the last out of the World Series and throw the Horns Down still. You never know about that guy.”
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