Dear College Station Dudes:
This is so cute.
Bless your hearts.
Before you think about having a major hissy fit and threaten to walk away, remember something first.
There’s a reason the SEC doesn’t have an exit fee. It doesn’t need one.
See y’all in 2024.
Sincerely,
SB
Get The Picture 
I was reading an Aggie blog where a couple people suggested they leave for the pac-12 and basically everyone responded with don’t be stupid lol.
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Yeah A&M is going to give up those fat SEC checks to cash those middlin PAC 12 checks? They are worried Texas is going to run the conference. That is not going to happen in the SEC. This was an aggressive move and I don’t think this is the last one by the conference. The conference landscape in five years is not even gonna resemble what we had before.
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If A&M isn’t happy, apparently we’ve got a waiting list…just posted from SI.com
Programs like Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan, and Clemson have been in contact with the SEC, according to reports.
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It would appear that TAMU has outrecruited UT and has been damn near even with them on the facilities race (based on my mostly uninterested observations). They could do an awful lot for themselves by beating UT on the field once they join the conference. Just shut up and work harder and do better than the Horns. That is the solution to their anxieties.
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I have to think behind the scenes TAMU will pay a price for public dissenting and creating drama.
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A&M made it clear in 2012 that they were coming to the SEC because of the way Texas wielded their power in the Big 12. Texas (and Kansas) responded by telling A&M (and Missouri) they wouldn’t play each other any longer.
I don’t blame A&M in the least for resisting this especially with the way it appears to have been done.
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I get that, but the SEC brass won’t like that TAMU leaked the story and then started a public fight.
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a&m are just like the nerds of north ave
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I disagree. If Texas didn’t bully the entire Big 12 to get their way on everything, I don’t think Nebraska, A&M or Missouri ever leave the league. If Texas never goes along with ESPN on the LHN, the Big 12 is still standing as a strong conference.
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You’re correct…Texas created its own tv network without the others at all. They fucked over the whole conference. Now, with this, they’re basically going to end it.
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Sankey: “Objection noted.”
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A&M might give a new meaning to “shit or get off the pot”…
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Does anyone else feel like this was $ankey and his minions in Birmingham doing this without the blessing of those he works for?
If the other 13 schools knew about this and I were in A&M’s position, I would be pissed as well.
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It certainly appears that they had no knowledge. If that’s the case I certainly understand their initial reaction. Think how we would feel if we found out Tech was coming to the conference through a media story.
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And by we, I mean our officials. Of course we fans would find out via the media.
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Now that’s funny, right there now…I don’t care who you are….
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I think he said something like this to the members. “We believe conference expansion is coming and we want to be well positioned when the day comes. I will speak to anyone who calls wanting in and we’ll see what happens. Do I have your blessing?”
Expansion was inevitable. Sanky would have committed malpractice if he didn’t work to improve the conference. Improve is up for discussion, but since it’s about money, FSU, Clemson or VA Tech don’t move the eyeballs=money meter.
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I personally think Oklahoma is in that group as well. The Sooners aren’t accretive to the league from a brand standpoint. The only reason this is happening is Texas, and Oklahoma comes with them.
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You’re kidding yourself.
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Sorry, but Oklahoma isn’t a brand that moves the meter. If they were coming to the SEC by themselves, would they get an invite? No.
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Oklahoma is has a really strong brand, but their fan base isn’t on the same level as Texas. The flip side is it’s been a few years since Texas was good.
Adding Texas and OU is a no brainer if money from TV is the primary concern.
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I understand you are talking about today’s brand metrics of streaming eyeballs, etc, but Oklahoma is one of the most storied programs in CFB history. Off the top of my head I think: USC, Alabama, Nortre Dame, and Oklahoma. Again, this is just my personal opinion from being a CFB fan for a long time.
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No doubt they are a storied program. Being a storied program doesn’t generate eyeballs, clicks or merchandise sales.
Oklahoma is a small to mid-sized state that happens to be next to Texas. It doesn’t even have a New Orleans type of city as a draw. The state of Oklahoma is like Kansas with oil.
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That’s not the relevant math anymore. It’s how you go about increasing your conference’s presence in a 12-team CFP. In that regard, Oklahoma is gold.
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In other words, it’s nothing but pure greed. I frankly don’t want them or Texas in the league.
If we lose the Auburn game as an annual event, I don’t give a damn about the financial benefit of the potential addition of a team or 2 to the playoff. They can all go pound sand for all I care. It will be another contributor that will send me to the golf course on fall Saturdays over spending my time and hard-earned money on college football.
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You act like this is something new. College football has been about the greed for years now.
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Look at my comment from 10 minutes ago. There was real value beyond cash for the previous two rounds of expansion. ‘92 provided a spectacle that I would argue now is as meaningful as the CFP championship game. ‘12 provided all of the schools access to Texas high school talent.
Do you think all of this is worth the risk of losing the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry?
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I almost think it’s the other way around. OU is leaving and UT isn’t staying if they leave.
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If UT can keep the Red River Shootout (remember Texas and Oklahoma weren’t in the same league until 1992 with the combination of the Big 8 and SWC), they would have a Clemson style path to the CFP every year (likely as a top 4 seed) with OU somewhere else. If the LHN was generating the cash it was expected to, would Texas be looking to leave for a situation where they get 1/16 of the money and the influence instead of what they have now?
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There will be no B12 to win soon, under any configuration. College football is planning that funeral as we type.
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aTm knew, they are just putting on a show…
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Texas in a conference did not end well for the Southwest or Big 12 conference.
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Conversing with a Longhorn friend in Ft Worth who seems to be in the loop, not a player but in the loop, made a pro Texas remark. I answered UTx would have the same say and vote as Vandy when they join the SEC. He never replied.
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The SEC knows how the conference will be run after Texas joins, but I’m not so sure Texas understands they’re just one of sixteen members.
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This is exactly why I think this is a terrible move.
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The way this thing seems to be developing, probably will be sooner than ’24.
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I see what you did there.
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??….because I said that I would believe it when I see it, the posturing comment and that Texas has done this before??
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sooner
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Maybe it wasn’t intentional but your use of the word “sooner”
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Yep….not that quick, even on a good day.
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What time is it in Texas?
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10 to 9…..always?
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You’re on the ball this morning ee. I too had no idea what you meant.
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I think it happens it will be in 2022 not 2024.
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If it happens, probably….go ahead and get the “divorce” over. Not good for the conference, teams or football in general to let it linger.
I believe they have a buyout if they leave early.
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I read if 2 other members decide to leave for another conference, the league can dissolve itself with those 4 member votes and most of the financial burden goes away. My guess is they’ll be in the SEC 22 or 23 at the latest.
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Little-brother complexes are so obnoxious.
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Bully complexes are just as obnoxious, and that’s what we’ll be getting from the school in Austin. Of course, $ankey is depending on the fact that there are enough heavyweights in the room to beat Texas down.
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Saying ou and ut are in, just for a moment, A&M says thanks but no thanks to sec and actually departs (there is $ome value to a&m staying) does the sec digit ma$ter$ think having ou/ut is a better deal and having to go dumpster diving for that other (16) member…
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DIW, I would probably assume Oklahoma State would get the first call and would say yes without exchanging pleasantries.
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or Clemson
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I can’t see Clemson coming. Why give up one of the easiest path to the playoffs?
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Money. The ACC’s tv deal is bad and locked in until 2036, so the $ gap will soon make it impossible for them.
I agree if they want to compete for Natties they need to stay in the ACC, but I’d say the same about Texas and Ou need to stay in the Big 12.
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If you’re playing the numbers game in the expansion world, osu doesn’t move those numbers…(for that matter, do they bring more viewership)…besides, there is enough ugly friggin’ urnge in the sec…
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That’s the problem. This whole thing isn’t necessary.
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I detest bully complexes too, but I don’t think Texas will be able to do that in the SEC.
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You don’t think they’ll try? All that’s going to do is lead to conflict. The SEC’s brand was just fine without Texas and Oklahoma. I think of it this way.
1992 – Arkansas and South Carolina allow the league to start a championship game generating significant exposure and money.
2012 – Texas A&M offers an opportunity for the conference to enter Texas with its population and its high school talent. Missouri was along for the ride for balance.
2021 – Texas and Oklahoma enter the conference for nothing but money.
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Give me a break. Those two were admitted so that Slive had a reason to break a shitty TV deal he negotiated.
To quote someone, “in other words, it’s nothing but pure greed.”
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If Texas doesn’t bully the rest of the Big 12 or form the LHN, do you really think A&M was looking to get out?
My point is that yes, there was a benefit financially to the members of the SEC but there were also other benefits.
I wasn’t a fan of the last round of expansion because the admission of Missouri hasn’t proven to be anything of value.
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None of that has anything to do with the SEC’s decision to expand.
The last round of expansion sucked, not because of Mizzou, which, unlike TAMU, at least has a couple of division titles to show for itself, but because it was poorly thought out and made a hash of scheduling. At least this round gives the conference the chance to fix that.
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Sort of like the playoff … expand to fix the problem we created last time.
My only point is that in 2012, Texas A&M made themselves available, and the SEC moved. Missouri (their 2 division titles not withstanding) was a terrible (and panicked) choice to balance especially in the division construct.
I honestly do not care about the money or the expansion to 16. I only care about maintaining our 2 long-standing SEC annual rivalry games. If we lose one of those, we (and Auburn, most likely) are weaker as a result. It will be something else to rip me away from the sport.
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What do you mean no value…while in columbia you can eat bbq and pray you don’t get involved in a violent crime and use the interstate system as a rear view mirror experience, with a bag of bbq…there is value there my friend…
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I think this is a huge win all the way around for the SEC including A&M, TX/OK and the fans assuming we get a 9-10 SEC team schedule. Sankey and ESPN are smart enough to keep UGA-AU, UGA-FL, TX/OK and add TX-TA&M back. That will make sure it gets approved by everyone on top of all the $$$ that will be thrown at them. It would be nice to get Clemson/FSU, but those school are locked up in a shitty TV deal until 2035. Down the road who knows as realignment or the break away republic takes shape. Once they decided to leave the Big12, I’d much rather have them here than anyplace else.
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The more they whine, the sillier they look.
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If A&M leaves maybe Sankey can get New Mexico State to join the SEC. That way, we would still have Aggies. After all it isn’t as if SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE actually means anything anymore. Hell, let’s put Notre Dame in the SEC along with Ohio State and change the name to the Disney Conference, where it just means more money. They could thaw out Walt from his long slumber under the castle in Anaheim to come out and present the first trophy for the new conference winner. That is if he didn’t immediately have a stroke after looking at California Adventure Park.
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That’s funny … Post of the day!
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TAMU 2012: Whew…that was a messy divorce but I’m glad to have a safe home now and no longer be subject to the mental and physical beatings from my ex.
SEC 2021 to TAMU: Ummm…just so you know, your ex and his loser friend are coming to live with us now. Run and grab us a beer now, will ya.
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Texas A&M is legit a cult. That isn’t hyperbole. I mean that in the literal sense of the world. I’m not saying they’re going to take their ball and go home. But anyone who things that’s out of the realm of possibility hasn’t sent any time around those assholes.
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As we like to say, Delta’s ready when you are;-) Seriously, cooler heads will prevail and they’ll realize they’d be cutting off their nose to spite their face if they left the SEC. They talk about UT being a drama queen well pot meet kettle,
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Agreed. But the SEC will come to regret getting in bed with Texas. Guaranteed.
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Can confirm. I work and live amongst many many of them. They will rarely socialize with anyone that doesn’t wear that “Ring”
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I know. They suck.
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We didn’t need TAMU in 2012 and we don’t need them now. I’m skeptical that a 16-team “superconference” can work (ask the WAC how it turned out for them), but if the Aggies decide to run off someplace else there will be literally dozens of schools lining up to take their place.
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I put the odd of Texas joining at around 10 to 9.
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excellent!
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Texas has been the proverbial big fish in swc & b12 but when it walks through the sec doors and whips out its pecker and expects some kind of EF Hutton moment or genuflecting from the other members, they will find that their dick size is only average as grits amongst the blue bloods of our conference. this is why i am not worried about the « texas attitude » messing with the sec mojo. bama, lsu, uga, turds, etc will tell them to sit down and shit the fuck up in a very samuel l. jackson tone when/if they try to pull their « we are texas » bs.
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Hmmm… According to U.S.A Today, in an article ran a year ago – top revenue producers were in this order
1-Texas
2- Texas A&M
3 – OSU
4- Michigan
5- Georgia
6- PSU
7- Bama
8- Oklahoma
9- Florida
10- LSU
By Adding, Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC will own all but two of the richest programs in all of college sports (based on revenue – not net).
Add to it, that ESPN is put in the ‘cat bird’ seat, when it comes to navigating the landscape of college sports. They sweeten the pot and locked down the SEC for at least the state stint now. They show no interest going forward with the Pac 12. The ACC is locked into a lousy deal with them through 2035 and the Big 10 is locked down for what? – 3 more yard or so?
It forces the Big 10 to act. If they have a 1/2 a brain, they go after USC and one other Pac 12 program ( I would grab Stanford, if I could). Why? Same reason they went after Rutgers (TV Market). You know have the #1 (NY), #2 L.A. and # 3 (Chicago) markets within your conference play. That helps off-set the beating you will receive from the SEC owning ESPN and ABC.
The ACC is in a desperate place. They are locked into a 14 year deal – and that sucks… So they need to make a big splash. You chase Penn State and you go get West Virginia. You end up settling for West Virgnia and Central Florida.
The SEC is playing chess boys and girls, while everybody else is playing checkers. They see the future and the future is NIL, and play-off college sports. By locking in all but two of the richest programs in college football and rewriting an already very rich deal with ESPN – the SEC locks down being the biggest and baddest for a long time. Oh, and you can look for them to begin to squeeze the NCAA to seeing things the SEC’s way or they’ll negotiate something with the Big 10 from a position of strength and say adios to the NCAA, which wlll force the ACC to come in from a very weak position themselves.
In short – the opportunity presented itself – they are jumping on int, catching the Big 10 and ACC flat footed.
I’m 62 and grew up in a time where USC, OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska owned college football. Georgia changed all of this, not from the Walker teams, but from a lawsuit that Oklahoma joined them on that they won. It forced the NCAA to allow schools to negotiate their own TV/Radio contracts. That’s right… Georgia is the reason that all these schools are so friction rich right now. But it also (with time), allowed the conferences to recalibrate, this and the SEC getting past it’s racial past, is why the SEC has become so dominate in athletics. So in my life, I have watched my Dawgs pretty much pass or get on an even plain with all those old Blue Bloods and I have to tell ya; it feels damn good. Especially knowing that it was Georgia that drove the whole thing.
I personally hate expanding the conference and I hate expanding the play-offs; but guess what? They are going to do it anyway, so I may as well get behind these moves, knowing that they just suck the oxygen out of the NCAA room.
Go Dawgs!
SEC
SEC
SEC
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well said
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This is the point I’ve been trying to make.
Sankey has been in the forefront of creating a 12-team CFP while at the same time adding two teams that will likely increase the SEC’s number of participants in the playoffs. That’s not just chess, that’s 3D chess. Jim Delany is jealous.
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Let’s not also forget that Sankey is pushing for most of the 12 CFP slots to be based on not whether you win your conference, which opens the door for more SEC schools. I posted on Wednesday when the story broke that it guarantees them worst case 2 teams and possibly as many as 4 teams in the CFP. I think 5 could be a stretch, but not beyond the realm of possibility.
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This is the argument I presume he used in selling UT and Oklahoma on moving.
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Anybody else see where Dabo has chimed in on this?
I think the guy has a complex about being in the ACC and is trying to deflect from the increasing finger pointing to the fact that Clemson is getting a pass.
It’s not their fault. Clemson was in the ACC when it was somewhat respectable. But it’s still what it is.
Clemson could have solicited to change conferences but have they?
IDK..but I think CDS loves the old Bobby Bowden plan.
Dabo joked that Georgia and Auburn will jump to the ACC.
The writer that put this out finished his piece with a jab that pretty much sums up what Clemson’s fate should be…lose to Georgia in the opener and there is no redemption for Clemson on their schedule.
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Somewhat off subject but not too much. The thoughts of a coach whose school should be in the SEC before TX or OK…but hasn’t tried (as far as I know..which isn’t far) to make it happen. He’s mess his pants if TX and OK were moving to the ACC…which would make a lot more sense as far as balancing the conferences and making things interesting.
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I’m not as sure about ATM as you are Senator. ATM left the Big 12 because it got tired of being little brother to Texas. If Texas joins the SEC it could be deja vu all over again. Suppose the Big 12 signs up Houston and ATM moves back to the Big 12. That likely would save the Big 12 and ATM would become lead dog there.
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Upon further review, screw Texas. I don’t want that Austin pathogen in the league.
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