Texas A&M rally called App State a “hillbilly college.” They should know better.
As you’ve probably heard, Appalachian State University beat Texas A&M University 17-14 this past Saturday. Even if you felt indifferent about App State’s upset, it’s hard not to root for them after watching a video that surfaced from the Aggies’ Midnight Yell the day before.
The footage, which has been shared by Sports Illustrated and some Barstool Sports affiliates, shows one of the student “yell leaders” hyping up the stands by putting down Appalachian’s football team. “They’re located deep, and I mean deep in the backwoods, just like you would think any hillbilly college that names themselves ‘the Mountaineers,” the yell leader tells the crowd.
He continues, saying “I just hope these guys can get here tomorrow alright, because I know for a fact that half of their football team can barely even read the name on their jerseys, let alone, read a map.”
Talking trash is part of any team sport. Every school does it. Sometimes, however, the jokes reflect more on the chanters than their targets. In 2013, Duke’s Cameron Crazies reportedly chanted “How’s your grandma?” at an NC State basketball player whose grandmother had died the week before. In February, fans from my alma mater, UNC, chanted “DUI” at Duke player Paolo Banchero because of an arrest from November 2021.
The yell leader wasn’t speaking to one specific player. Instead, he was speaking to a whole region, perpetuating stereotypes about Appalachia that folks from the region are tired of hearing.
Texans, of all people, should know this. They deal with a constant barrage of jokes about their alleged stupidity and backward thinking. It has gone unchecked for so long that social media users in recent years have chastised the entire state for their lack of preparedness during natural disasters. All the jokes come back to the same idea: if Texas wasn’t full of so many dumb people, or if they were at least smart enough to vote in their interests, then people wouldn’t be freezing to death or otherwise suffering.
It’s just not that funny. It never was, really.
Obviously, it could have been worse, but it feels weird to be grateful that there were no incest jokes made, seeing as those genuinely harm survivors of sexual abuse. But the jokes are corny, overdone and didn’t seem to even rile up the student section. Surely they can come up with something better, or maybe Texas A&M should have better guidelines for yell leaders.
More than anything, this bad attempt at a laugh makes the Mountaineers’ Saturday win feel even sweeter. Even for folks who didn’t grow up in the area or go to school there, seeing those “hillbillies” celebrate a huge win is satisfying
Sara Pequeño is a McClatchy Opinion writer and member of the Editorial Board.
