A&M Demonstrates Different Level In Win at LSU
Texas A&M show they aren't too worried about the past in rare demolition at Death Valley.
Amazingly, one of my takeaways from this win in Baton Rouge will be this: South Brunswick High School’s starting point guard in the fall of 1994 was Mike Elko. For it was this time capsule that his team was able to consume on Friday before trying to break a streak of bad visits to Death Valley that dated back that far. He was the point guard for his high school the last time the Aggies had won at LSU.
Now, perhaps you can envision Elko as a quick and dangerous ball-handler on the hardwood three decades ago, but I admit that he feels like he might be more of a nose tackle (he was also the starting QB for the football team!).
Nevertheless, it has been a long while since A&M has done this.
In fact, many of you might be saying, it has been a while since A&M has done a lot of things on the football field. And that is probably the point of considering what Mike Elko is doing around this program in word and deed.
He has continually talked about this and now his team is clearly doing it. It’s changing the culture and we could argue it was the most important thing that this program could do as they looked for a new leader less than two years ago. You see, some programs don’t need this sort of exercise in letting the past be the past, but instead going to write a new present tense, but A&M could use it more than just about anyone.
This culture – and the portrayal of the culture by rivals – is all about what hasn’t been happening. And Elko has made that his mission to change it. Heck, here it was again last night. He has little interest in entertaining any Battered Aggie Syndrome about how this “always happens to us” that keeps belief from existing that they do belong up top. Just look at how his mood swings about 35 seconds into this.