Dear TCU Opponent, This Is Where We Say Bye Bye Bye

Our very own “SI’s SI,” Tyler Brown, briefly emerges from hibernation to pen a heartfelt letter to TCU’s latest opponent — the BYE week.

Oct 18, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes on the sidelines during the first half of a game against the Baylor Bears at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Dear BYE,

I’m sure you noticed I have been absent from the discourse this season. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider this a tribute.

Three years in a row I waited for you—in the heat, in the rain, in the cold—and not once could you be bothered to show. Bear in mind the adage about fooling once, twice and the locus of shame—who’s to blame for a third? Me again? Or me, squared? And no the before does it ricochet?

Oct 18, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover (10) throws downfield against the Baylor Bears during the second half of a game at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Well, I learned my lesson from you: and all season I’ve thought it prudent not to show up. Not of course for lack of enthusiasm or concern. More simply I learned from you and have applied your greatest insight: you can’t lose if you don’t show.

Genius: Simple. Indubitable.

It’s like an inversion of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin”—only substitute “stop” with “bother.”

So I learned a lesson from you, however begrudgingly. My absence has spared me more than a few near heart attacks and at least two downright disappointments. I grant that I’ve also missed out on some celebratory moments and a lot of fun, but on the whole I’d say I broke even.

And, for once, I never failed on a score prediction.

Thanks for that too.

Woody Allen famously said: “90 percent of success is showing up.”

It is evident the other 10 is not being bothered.

Thanks for that too.

Somewhat sincerely,

SI

P.S., When you actually do decide to show, our Frogs are gonna kick your arse.