The Ubiquity of the Civil War

It never ceases to amaze me the places that references to the Civil War turn up. I suppose that speaks volumes to how much that conflict transformed America...and continues to transform our lives today. From a episode involving Civil War reenactments on Everybody Loves Raymond to the General Lee on the Dukes of Hazard, the Civil War is part of our cultural fabric. Now, whether that is always good is another topic for another post.

One place I never thought I would see a reference to the war was reading college football message boards and blogs. I am a passionate Oklahoma Sooners fan. I am almost as obsessed with Boomer Sooner as I am history...almost. I try to keep up on everything that happens with the team, and not just during the season. In order to do that I have to skim through lots of other non-Sooners information. But, the other day I ran across a post on the ESPN Big 12 Conference blog that caught my eye.

Every so often the ESPN blog lets readers write in and have the expert answer questions or comment on certain points that readers make. The Civil War references in this one made me chuckle.

Stephen in San Antonio, Texas asks: Can you call Bill Byrne and ask him to send us to the SEC? Maybe he will listen to an outsider, because he for sure doesn't listen to A&M Alums.

DU: Sure thing. I'll get to it right after I convince him to let loose a pack of wolves in his living room and build a fire pit underneath his bed. Nebraska to the Big Ten? Great move for the program. Colorado to the Pac-12? Another really good move. Texas A&M to the SEC? Program-killing move.

And for the record, overambitious Aggies fans, now that realignment has died down a bit, the SEC is pretty happy standing pat with 12 teams. That offer likely isn't still standing.

After all, SECeding worked so well for the South back in the mid-19th century. Dumb. Better hope Dan Beebe [Big 12 Commissioner] is as generous as Abe Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant, right? Nobody wants to see Reconstruction 2.0.

Ha! SECeding!