Austin resident and Texas A&M graduate Alan Peters is reminded every day that he lives in enemy territory.

The University of Texas takes up a big chunk of downtown. Cars across the city have Longhorn stickers. The school flags are everywhere. When he turns on sports talk radio, all he hears is people praising the Longhorns and railing on the Aggies.

The worst feeling, he said, is when he wants to purchase Aggie merchandise.

"The one thing you see is the orange shirts everywhere you go when you go shopping," he said. "That's all they sell is Longhorn gear. You don't even notice it until you go to San Antonio and places like that and the store has just as much A&M gear."

These are among the many common annoyances for Aggies living in what Peters describes as "behind the orange curtain."

As the Aggies prepare to take on the Longhorns in a nationally televised Thanksgiving night football game, Peters isn't the only one feeling isolated.

The Texas A&M Association of Former Students estimates that 15,000 Aggie graduates live in Austin. The Capital City A&M Club has about 2,000 dues-paying members and about 5,000 people on its e-mail list, according to Doug Keegan, the organization's president, who graduated from A&M in 1999.

"Probably the worst component are the so-called T-shirt fans that maybe don't have a degree from UT and still feel the need to get in your face and share their thoughts," Keegan said, adding that most Longhorn alumni are friendly.

Life has become particularly tough on Austin Aggies in recent years as the A&M football team has struggled and the Longhorns have thrived. Texas is a 35-point favorite for this year's game and still has hopes for a national championship. A&M is 4-7 and has rebuilding in mind.

In a particularly hurtful dig, the Austin American-Statesman published a column on the front page of its sports section Tuesday with a headline that gave this description of the Aggie football team: "The new Baylor."

Some may suggest that such taunts are the result of a selective memory. After all, A&M has defeated Texas two years in a row.

"It makes me feel better," Peters said of the victories. "Has it made t.u. fans any quieter? No. It is almost like they have to be reminded that they lost two years in a row."

Win or lose, Aggies do have some bragging rights to claim in Austin.

A&M graduates have infiltrated the "orange curtain" in a few vital positions. Gov. Rick Perry is a 1972 graduate of A&M. Perry occasionally attends Capital City A&M Club functions, such as the annual Aggie Muster held in the House chambers of the state Capitol.

"With an Aggie in the governor's mansion, we have a few perks," Keegan said.

And Austin Mayor Will Wynn is a 1984 A&M graduate.

How does an Aggie get elected mayor of Austin?

"I lied a lot during the campaign," Wynn joked in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Wynn said that in some places in Austin, residents are constituents of an Aggie governor, mayor, state representative and state senator.

"We happen to be the best candidates in the field each time there is an election and, all joking aside, I think it does suggest that folks living in Austin are quite tolerant and try to elect the best leaders they can," Wynn said. "I would put Austin up against any city in the country with comparable demographics. We are doing very, very well, and I would like to think that Aggie leadership has something to do with that."

Wynn said he's known for strategically wearing maroon at various functions around the city. He said he would be at the game Thursday wearing his school colors and sitting in the same seat where he watched A&M's 2006 victory.

"Every year, I predict that A&M is going to win 24-14 because that was the score of my first year at A&M," Wynn said.

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Posted by: On: 11/29/2008

Comment Title: sports merchandise
Try being a Horn or Sooner in BCS. It's just as bad in Aggieland. aTm and GiG'em is everywhere... So bad, you'd think you had a bank machine and Whoop shouting frog on every corner...

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