My dog Conrad, the NMSU Aggie football fan

Me and Conrad

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. My dog Conrad, like me, is a New Mexico State University Aggie. Naturally over the years we have attended many NMSU Aggie football games. Best I can tell he has been satisfied going to the games as long as I get him a double order of wieners.
     Conrad fits right in around the NMSU campus because most people just treat him like a graduate student. Being an Aggie, he enjoys football. He does bark disgustedly at “Bonehead” plays and certainly displays same-species aggressiveness toward referees.
     Mostly he is happy with an outing. He has a tail-wagging good time to the beat of the Aggie Pride Band. He woofs the Aggie fight song with the best of them, “Aggies, oh Aggies, we’ll win this game or know the reason why.”
     Conrad knows why the Aggies do not win consistently in football. In fact, most Aggies know why. There is a big difference between knowing why our team does not win often and accepting it.
     You should have seen how worked up he got when earlier that week a newspaper columnist suggested the Aggies should shut down the program and concentrate on their Cow Chip Throwing Team. Conrad made a sound like he was coughing up a hair ball. Then he sulked for the rest of the day. He does not a bite, but that columnist would have gotten a piece of his mind if Conrad had email.
     So he was quite tail-wagging happy when the Aggies broke their losing streak at Homecoming. He even smiled at the cat a few times out of pure Aggie happiness.
     Conrad is looking forward to the game with Boston College this Saturday. He read up on their mascot, Baldwin, the Eagle. Conrad wondered why they did not alliterate a Bulldog from Boston. I told him Georgia already had the Bulldog. He shrugged and continued wagging the Aggie Fight Song.
     I was curious about what Conrad thought about the Football Team so I sat him down for an interview: “What about all of the people wanting NMSU to drop football?” I waited, but Conrad would not say anything.
     I guess if Conrad was Francis, the Talking Mule or Mr. Ed, I might have something to report, but Conrad is not talking. He is just going to the Aggie football games and enjoying himself.
     What a good idea for us all. Come enjoy the food, football and of course Striking, the Also Wonder Dog. Read full column.

My dog Conrad, the NMSU Aggie football fan