Issue date: 11/28/05 Section: News

Evan O'Connell -The Battalion. Joseph and Jenny Ainsworth stand outside of Kyle Field after the football game Friday.

An age-old rivalry has intensified for the Ainsworth family in recent years.

"There is more of a sibling rivalry now (than there was when we were younger)," Jenny Ainsworth said.

Jenny Ainsworth, a senior at the University of Texas (UT), is a member of the colorguard in the Longhorn Band. Freshman Joseph Ainsworth, her younger brother, plays the trumpet in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. The Ainsworths say dichotomy is nothing new to the family, because its roots are deep in the history of both universities.

Jenny Ainsworth and Joseph Ainsworth are the children of Mark Ainsworth, Class of 1981, and Linda Ainsworth, UT Class of 1981. Mark and Linda, who dated while in college, are schoolteachers in Luling. They are season ticket holders for both schools' football teams.

"On the A&M side, it starts with Joseph and Jenny's great, great uncle, Maj. General H. Miller Ainsworth, who graduated in 1919," Mark Ainsworth said. "Their uncle, Peter Keating, is currently a professor of engineering here at A&M."

The family's history with UT goes back even farther, Linda Ainsworth said.

"Joseph and Jenny's great, great, great grandfather, Alsey Sylvanus Miller, served under George Littlefield as a member of Terry's Texas Rangers in the Confederate Army," she said. "George Littlefield gave the first 40 acres for the UT campus. Their great, great, great uncle, George Garrison, was a professor of history at UT, and there is a history building on campus named after him. Their great grandfather and great grandmother, A.G. and Alice Ainsworth, attended UT, as did both of their grandfathers."

Mark and Linda Ainsworth said their children possess personality differences that make each child fit the university they chose.

"Both kids are very bright," Mark Ainsworth said. "Joseph is just very conservative in his views, and Jenny is a little bit more liberal."

Joseph Ainsworth said he decided to attend A&M because of several factors and that he always wanted to be in the Aggie Band.

"I chose A&M mainly because my dad went here," he said. "We've always come to the football games. The first game that I really remember is the game versus OU in '02."

Though the family rivalry has been strengthened since they have gone to college, Joseph Ainsworth and Jenny Ainsworth said that they hold each other's band in high regard, but that the sibling rivalry comes back during football season.

Joseph Ainsworth said he was proud of the Aggies' performance at Friday's football game.

"The way I see it, they were favored by 27, and they only won by 11," Joseph Ainsworth said. "That means we won by 16."

Jenny Ainsworth said all she would say about Friday's game was that it was the "longest game" she's ever been to.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools