Fact #1 Kyle Field, College Station, TX
One of the finest football facilities in the nation, Kyle Field is the home of the Aggies. It was first built in 1927 and 1929, and was expanded in 1967 to include two decks, and then in 1980 the third decks were finished. The stadium record is 86,128, set on November 26, 1999 against Texas. The Aggies won the game, 20-16. Named after Edwin Jackson Kyle, former dean of agriculture and president of the athletic council, the stadium is currently the largest football venue in the State of Texas.
Fact #2 Gig 'Em, Aggies.
- Back in ol' army days, minor demerits given by sophomores to derelict fish during uniform inspections were called "gigs." Apparently there was one sophomore who was notorious for going overboard while inspecting the fish, giving an excessive number of gigs. His sophomore buddies would get a kick out of watching him go nuts on the fish and would say, "Yeah, gig 'em Pinky!" (the guy's nickname). It stuck from there.
- Another legend tells that "gig 'em" originated in the old Southwest Conference days when the Ags played the TCU Horned Frogs. At a Yell Practice before the 1930 A&M/TCU game when the Horned Frogs were a nationally ranked football program, Pinky Downs ’06, who was then a member of the Board of Regents, shouted out, "What are we going to do to those Horned Frogs? Gig’em, Aggies!" was Pinky's reply, using a frog-hunting term. For greater effect, Pinky gave the first "gig’em sign" (a fist with his thumb extending straight up). This, by the way, was the Southwest Conference’s first hand sign.
- A different story explains that the "thumbs up" hand signal originates from the frequency of burr-headed Aggie cadets attempting to hitch a ride up Highway 6 back to College Station on Sunday afternoons or after vacations.
