Ray Almgren grew up in a burnt orange and white room with a poster of former Texas running back Earl Campbell on the wall. He routinely ushered for section 105 of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as a boy scout and went on to study electrical engineering at UT. Two of his three daughters now attend the University, one of whom is a cheerleader.
Almgren proudly drove to Arlington to watch his daughter Becca cheer for his alma mater at The Big 12 Championship game on Sunday. He said winning the championship felt rewarding for all of Becca’s hard work and struggles.
“I’m a huge fan, but being able to see my daughter down there and celebrate (the win), I was just like ‘Wow, what a great experience for her to be a part of and celebrate with the team,’” Almgren said.
Almgren said he sometimes saw his daughter on the big screen, and everyone around him would cheer. He said once Texas won, the bleachers filled with screams from both sides.
“It’s great to be able to experience both of those emotions through my daughter,” Almgren said. “Being so happy for my daughter, but also being a 50-year fan of UT.”
Alumna Cathlene Schroeder continues her decades-long fanship with her college friends with whom she attended the 2005 championship game.
“A couple of (my friends), I haven’t seen and hardly ever get to see, but we all text all the time during the games,” Schroeder said. “We connect at the beginning of the season and we text during the season and send pictures back and forth.”
The game happened while Schroeder was on a work trip in Buenos Aires, but she could not find a bar that played American football. She said to watch the game, she set up a phone on her work monitor and she and her coworker tried to stay quiet and continue doing — or at least appear like they were doing — their work through each score. When the two inevitably cheered, she said some Argentinians around them would join their exclamations despite not knowing the happenings of the game.
For journalism sophomore and transfer student Conner Carlow, this game marked one of the first times he dove into the Texas football scene.
“The UT football atmosphere is so unbelievably unique,” Carlow said. “I never understood why people would be so upset or get in fights over football, and after the (championship) game, I was like ‘I get it now.’ There were so many emotions, and I get (having) that passion for your team and what they do.”
Carlow grew up in Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State University for one semester, where his dad graduated from and his sister still attends. Still, he wholeheartedly defended Texas in a text battle with his sister during the game. Through the dozens of “really,” or “you’re joking,” texts sent with no context, he said his sister knew Texas would win.
“Worthy just ran the ball 56 yards on the first return play from OSU,” his sister Kat said in a text. “Yeah, y’all are GOOD.”
While the two were separated for the championship game, they watched the Oklahoma State and BYU game, which determined if Oklahoma or Oklahoma State played against Texas, together. Although they knew this game would divide their household, Carlow said his family stood around the TV with their adrenaline keeping them from sitting down. He said once BYU fumbled the ball toward the end, the family yelled and jumped anticipating the championship game.
“Since we’ve both been to college it’s been a while since we both connected with the family, so it was a cool bonding moment to be able to connect over a shared interest we have,” Carlow said. “It was a memory I’ll have for the rest of my life.”
