UD finds moving the efforts of this recent University of Texas graduate to consider some very basic and at the same time complicated truths.

His writing is rather awkward, but UD doesn’t mind, because the awkwardness reflects a deepening understanding of things. You can see the writer grappling, even as he writes, with changes in his way of regarding the world. Bravo.

… Based on its decisions in the Realignment Madness and its recent paranoia related to football practices (even the two “open” practices), UT is starting to feel less like a college team — and more like a pro team — than any other school in the country. In fact, some actions from pro teams could even be viewed as being more accessible and fan-friendly than some of the recent decrees coming from Belmont. As a whole, these decisions are not necessarily a bad thing, but they take away from what has been traditionally identified as the typical relationship between a college program and its most dedicated fans. And it is these type of bonds that are supposed to transcend the experience of fans of a professional franchise.

Going even deeper, I’m still trying to fully understand why athletics even matters. … [I]t’s hard for me to grasp how winning or losing football games really affects the academic stature of the University of Texas, yet those games are something I spend hours upon hours obsessing about…

… [T]he current hyper-monetization and professionalization of college athletics has made rooting for the Texas Longhorns feel more like rooting for a professional franchise than it ever has in the past. And that undercuts the nature of the warm and fuzzy feelings over school and state pride. It’s different (and easier) to root for the University of Texas than to root for Texas, Inc.

The University of Texas represents the dream come true of all big time university sports programs. It’s a staggeringly superior champ, ultra buffed and studly.

This fan registers the irony of his disengagement from the team just at its greatest moment of dominance. He notes that along with annihilating the competition, it has annihilated the university.