The Softness of Texas Rises Again

After causing singer, former Aggie, to lose gig at CWS over 'Horns Down,' Longhorns in for brutal experience

Kent Smith | Jun 15, 2022

OMAHA, Neb. – Oh, Texas. Why can't you get a thicker skin and stop making yourself a target?

The Longhorns previously guaranteed an escalation of that silly "Horns Down" hand gesture when they whined to the Big 12 enough to actually get it banned. Now they have gotten a national singer banned from the College World Series.

Nik Bonitto (11) gives the Horns Down gesture after OU's 55-48 win against Texas on Oct. 9 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Zach Collier, a middle school history teacher at Red Oak Middle School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was slated to perform the ceremonial duties in Omaha, but a minor incident following the singing of the national anthem at the Womens' College World Series semifinal game between Texas and Oklahoma State got him immediately canceled.

In a video that we can't include because of the unrelated cursing near the end, Collier is seen finishing the song, then turning to a group of Cowboys' fans and quickly flashing the "Horns Down" gesture before walking away. According to Collier, he received an e-mail letting him know he was disinvited to perform at the College World Series.

Being a Texas A&M Aggie, it was hard for Collier to resist throwing the Horns down. After all, pointing two fingers at the ground in the SEC footprint isn't going to raise even the tip of the slightest hair on an eyebrow, much less a full eyebrow.

However, it just wasn't the time and the place. The national anthem singer is there to sing on behalf of both teams in a neutral site setting such as the Women's College World Series, and having the singer turn around and throw the "Horns Down" right in front of the young ladies from Texas was a bit distasteful.

Had Collier waited until he was in the stands he would have been fine. He could have still sang the anthem at the College World Series and climbed into the stands with Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M fans and thrown the "Horns Down" until his fingers fell off.

Texas infielder Mitchell Daly (19) puts on a Texas football helmet to celebrate a home run against Kansas at Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas on May 21.

That being said, if Collier's account of the NCAA referring to the "Horns Down" as an offensive gesture is true, the powers that be in Indianapolis need to suck it up and tell everyone associated with the Longhorns to grow a thicker skin. It's not an offensive gesture.

It's genuinely kid stuff. Fans are literally using the Texas gesture for Longhorns and turning it upside down to physically signal "Down with the Longhorns."

Young fans, Emersyn Edge, Parker Reimer and Emersyn Hensley wait to enter the stadium before the championship series softball game of the Women's College World Series between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Texas Longhorns at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, June 8.

Imagine how embarrassing it would be to the Arkansas program if opposing fans started wearing hats with the Hog turned upside down and the university tried to get it banned and turn it into a penalty because it didn't believe its players were tough enough to handle it.

Even if it were taken it up a notch and the hog was skewered for roasting, which would be way worse than anything being done to Texas, it still wouldn't be worth a thought. At worst, it might get a crooked grin in reaction.

Texas has to get over this because that weak, whiny attitude is going to get them laughed right back to the Big 12 if they act like that in the SEC.

Having the "Horns Down" cost a singer his gig is going to guarantee that not only will Texas see that gesture thrown down en masse, but it's going to be emphatic and constant.

And if that is offensive, let's hope they can't read because some of the shirts Arkansas fans will wear if the two teams go head-to-head is going to make their heads explode.

It's going to be a rough experience in Omaha for the Longhorns. But, then again, they brought it on themselves.

HOGS FEED:

KJ JEFFERSON NOT WHO SHOULD CONCERN HOG FANS

FORMER HOG TOSSED FROM PRACTICE IN DALLAS

ARKANSAS CONTINUES TO CEMENT COLLEGE BASEBALL BLUE BLOOD STATUS

ANOTHER NOTCH IN DAVE VAN HORNS IMPRESSIVE LEGACY

HOW THE HOGS MANAGED TO DOWN NORTH CAROLINA TO RETURN TO OMAHA

DAVE NOT HANDING OUT ANY CLUES ON SUNDAY STARTER

YOU CAN USUALLY TELL BY CONNOR NOLAND'S SMILE HOW THINGS ARE GOING

LIVE BLOG: HOGS OPEN WITH STRONG OUTING AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA IN SUPER REGIONAL

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Published Jun 15, 2022

KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.