Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

[MSUCE99]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

The more I think about this cowbell brouhaha, the more pissed off I get. It's a damn good thing I'm not going to be in Starkville this weekend, because I don't think I could keep from ringing my cowbell at inappropriate times just out of spite. It pisses me off to no end to think other people, with no interest in MSU, are working to dictate what we can and can't do in our own stadium, despite the long-held tradition of the cowbells at MSU and the fact that other SEC venues routinely pack twice as many fans in their stadiums as we do.

However, I realize that my natural instinct isn't the best way to bring about change, so I have elected to start a guerilla war against the SEC office. I'm looking for quotes from coaches, players, and other influential sports people in support of the tradition of cowbells at MSU, and the fact that they don't influence the game. I'm enlisting anyone interested to help document quotes.

As a side note, any quotes by limp-wristed lilly-livered chicken s**t fruity-types who are intimidated by cowbells are welcome too. Let's publicly humiliate them. I only ask that if you add quotes to this thread, please provide a link. No secondhand "I heard Meyer said this" kind of thing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE (APPARENT) GOOD GUYS:

Kentucky Head Coach Joker Phillips: “That’s a tradition of theirs and I don’t have any take on it,” he said. “<span style="text-decoration:underline">It’s never affected any game that I’ve been in. We just don’t hear it.</span> You’ve got to tune it out if you’re a player.”
Click here

Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt: said he didn't have "a big opinion on it, one way or another" and added that <span style="text-decoration:underline">using non-verbal signals for communicating plays is commonplace</span> in road environments.
Click here

"<span style="text-decoration:underline">Almost every place we play gets loud enough to where you can't operate</span> unless you're using hand signals and using silent snap counts," Richt said. "It doesn't matter if it's super loud or loud, we've got to make adjustments for noise just about everywhere you play."
Click here

Georgia starting quarterback Aaron Murray: "If I was a fan, I'd be ringing the bell the whole game, too," Murray said. <span style="text-decoration:underline">"It's fun. It's what college football is about."</span>Click here

ESPNU college football announcer Herm Edwards: "I said that the first time I was there, I said, ‘You know what, come on. Come on. Let it go. Are you kidding me?’ That’s what the homefield advantage is about. It’s not like they play every game at home. They’ve got to go on the road, too. You go on the road, you know what? The other people give you the business; that’s part of it.“<span style="text-decoration:underline">I love when they ring the cowbells.</span> I was on the field last week before the pregame, and I went to the end zone section over there, they’ve got the end zone camera. I turned the camera on the end zone student body over there, and I was revving them up. I said, ‘Ring them bells! Come on, let’s get them bells going!’
Click here

ESPN.com's Bottom 10: voted "threat of cowbell bans" on the Waiting List for the Bottom 10 dated 10/27/2010.
Click here

And finally, Les Miles was quoted as saying this before Destin, although much like everything else he says, I can't figure out what the hell it means: "There's no penalty associated with it. I don't know exactly what will come from these meet­ings, but it could be a seri­ous issue with noisemakers. Me personally, I don't want to see them. <span style="text-decoration:underline">I want to make sure those stay on the side­line</span>." <===??? talking about cowbells or on-field penalties, or what?
Click here

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THE PANTY-WAIST SISSIES:
University of Florida President Bernie Machen: was quoted as referring to MSU's tradition as <span style="text-decoration:underline">“that stupid cowbell”</span>. Cowbells not welcome at UF stadium.
Click here


more to come as I have time...

 

[Topgundawg]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

Not exactly what your looking for but feeds into what your after.....
</p>

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State now knows what violations of June’s cowbell compromise will cost.</p><div id="attachment_3608" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px;"> <p class="wp-caption-text">Bring it and ring it, but be careful</p></div>

Meeting today in Orlando, Southeastern Conference athletic directors
finalized a fine structure: $5,000 for the first offense, $25,000 for
the second and $50,000 for the third. That’s according to MSU athletic
director Scott Stricklin.</p>

The fines will be per game where a violation or violations were
deemed to occur, not per violation. The fine structure will be capped at
$50,000, and it’ll reset itself if a school goes three years without
violating it. (Though artificial noisemakers are of paramount interest
to MSU fans, the fine structure is in place for schools that violate
when sound can be played through speakers, too.)</p>

At the SEC meetings in June, a compromise legalize cowbells
at Mississippi State home games for the first time in 36 years, so long
as its fans abide by the regulations on when they can be used.</p>

“It just reinforces that we’ve got two excellent reasons to make sure
that we’re going to abide by the plan,” Stricklin said, noting the
one-year trial on the compromise and the financial penalties in place if
the school is determined to have broken the rule.</p>

Stricklin said he expects the league to determine if a violation took
place by using the league representative assigned to each game and
feedback from opposing schools.</p>

 

[GloryDawg]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

bd

 

[Mutt the Hoople.buhoops]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

Cowbells are the one SEC tradition that boosters can use on recruits without regard to race, creed, or color. It's rumored that cowbells were used by the Underground Railroad to warn runaway slaves against Bounty Hunters. Also, there's an internet story that if American GI's heard cowbells, they knew the Nazis didn't mine a field because of the cows there.

True, cowbells were "illegal" for 35 years- but so was educating slaves before the Civil War. So was hiding Jews from the Nazis during WW II. So was smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain and Communist Asia during the Cold War. Cowbells are more than a tradition to The Mississippi State University, they're the sound of FREEDOM.

If you want to side with the Nazis, Communists, the KKK, Satan, and Slaveholders, be my guest. However, as for me and my house, we side with God, America, and the Cowbell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wt4XlXUrc

 

[jzahner1]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">That’s disappointing to University of Florida senior Reece Parker who says he "loves" the cowbells. "It's part of Mississippi State tradition,” he said.<br style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">As for UF junior Joe Precht, "I've been to one Mississippi State game, and don't plan on repeating the experience for the simple reason that I can't stand cowbells.”</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">http://blogs.abcnews.com/campuschatter/2010/06/cowbells-the-us-version-of-the-vuvuzela.html</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</p>

 

[3000lbchicken]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

AU idiots: "YEAH GO AHEAD. RING THOSE 17'ING COWBELLS. WE DON'T CARE. WE JUST BEAT THE **** OUT OF YOU AND YOUR COWBELLS!!!"

me: "really - 3 points?"

tailgate friend and borderline gay: "Why don't you come over here and suck my cock"

another tailgate buddy: "Come over here and I'll shove this cowbell up your ***"

me: "did ya'll just say that?"

Aburn fans: "WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH. WOOOOOOOH. WOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!"

my slightly discrazed tailgate friend: "you ss-sss-sss sound like a big choo choo train."

there's your quotes

 

[cowbell88]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

I say if cowbells leave our stadium by the evil powers that be, then MSU needs to press the alcohol issue at these other universities. Take the liquor bottles away from the idiots at LSU, !%!$, and elsewhere then the bells suddenly arent that bad.

 

[BehrDawg]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

Last game I went to at LSU, I was nailed in the middle of the back by an empty fifth of whiskey.

It was very painful...

edited to add:
I was arrested that night too because I picked up the same bottle and hit the guy across his back. Nevermind him throwing it at me first....

 

[CagerMania]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

2 presuppositions here: 1. The 'compromise' is/will be a failure. Even if we comply this season, this will continually come up as fans get lax. We're essentially facing a ban (unaffordable fines) this (or some future) summer in Destin. 2. We need to move beyond the compromise and 'sell' to the voters why the should just make an exception to the rule once and for all. It's a long shot to succeed, but the alternative is certain failure (ban of the bell).

Which brings me to the nerdy part. This is based on my working knowledge of sales psychology.

First of all, we keep thinking of this as trying to change the committee's mind. But what we really need to do is change the minds of 6 individuals. I believe that we need to approach this on an interpersonal basis and lobby the sh*t out the other ADs one-on-one.
Second, it is known that people make decisions emotionally and justify them logically. Studies also show that the most basic motivator of change is the desire to relieve or avoid some kind of pain. Knowing these things, I suggest we change our approach in order to give us the best chance at a favorable outcome.

How? First of all, we need to identify the reasons why the other ADs want to get rid of the cowbells. Why are they so adamant about us not ringing the them? My guesses are as follows:

1. REASON: It’s a rule. Period. Some folks are just sticklers and figure if the rule's on the books then it should be enforced.
RESPONSE: The truth is, this reason probably isn’t a big deal going forward. If we’re asking for a new rule that exempts cowbells at State only, we’d be following the new rule to the letter.

2. REASON: If we (the SEC) allow State to do it, then UT fans will start bringing 105k bells to their games.
RESPONSE: We are not asking the SEC to abolish the artificial noisemaker rule. We are asking for an exemption based on an 80 year old tradition. The argument that Alabama could then ask for an exemption to bring air horns to games next season simply doesn’t hold water. It is not that hard to distinguish between something that is an established tradition, and something that is new and unacceptable. As an example, look at Florida State. The NCAA would NEVER allow a new team to name themselves after an Indian tribe, but fully acknowledges the legitimate exception that FSU claims based on tradition.

3. REASON: Allowing cowbells creates an competitive advantage for State.
RESPONSE: This is probably their biggest perceived pain and our biggest issue in trying to change their minds. I differ with most State fans on how to handle this one. I think most people point to the fact that, even with cowbells, we’re not as loud as Tiger Stadium. While that’s true, I do not think it’s a good argument. LSU would probably tell us to get more fans and not expect the rest of the SEC to level the playing field. And I’d agree with that. I think our best shot here is to present more data (which I know SS has already started to compile). Rather than comparing the decibel levels of Scott Field to Neyland Stadium, why not compare Scott Field (with cowbells) to similar-sized stadiums that don’t use them. My guess is that when Ole Miss is defending a 3rd and long against Bama that Vaught Hemingway is every bit as loud as Scott Field. I may be wrong, but I think that we can provide factual data to show that the cowbells simply don’t make Scott Field that much louder on the field than other 55k seat stadiums. Furthermore, even if Scott Field is louder, there’s not necessarily a direct correlation to competitive advantage. Our W/L record in SEC games since the 30s proves that, I think.

4. REASON: If I vote for the cowbells, my constituency (my coach and the fans of my university) will be upset.
RESPONSE: Come to think of it, this may be even bigger than the competitive advantage notion. The ADs may be getting pressure from their coaches to limit our noise. However, this doesn’t seem to be a big issue for many coaches (see Joker Phillips, Mark Richt) AND we only have to change the minds of 6 of them. Probably more so, the ADs would be worried about what their fans would think/say if they voted for a cowbell exception. The truth is that most fans probably understand (even if they don’t like it) our tradition and there are at least 6 schools whose fans don’t care enough about it for it to matter to their AD (I'm thinking the 6 East schools). We need to find those 6 schools and focus there.

The only way to get at the root of these perceived pains (and others that we might not know about) is to discuss them with the other ADs. This can’t happen in the SEC meetings – it needs to be done one-on-one. We need to ask them why they voted no. We need to understand their true motivation before we have any shot at changing them. We need to help them understand that while they may have a slight pain, our pain is infinitely greater if they ban cowbells for good. We need to appeal to their sense of empathy and help them to feel what we’re feeling. If our AD is willing to fly to 11 different schools in the next 3 months to discuss/defend our position, would that not make an impression on them as to the relative importance of this to us?

The second thing we need to do is make them think about what pain the alternative (banning cowbells for good) will cause them. Here, we have to be a bit creative. We need to create a dynamic where it is MORE painful for the stakeholders to ban the bells than to keep them. Here’s how we do it:

1. We need Slive on our side. My impression is that Commissioner Slive carries a great deal of weight and influence in the SEC. If he sides with us (and my impression is that he’s at least sympathetic to our cause) and recommends an exception, going against him will create perceived pain for the ADs. For Slive, having this thing settled once and for all will take a great deal of pain off of his plate (for reasons discussed next). He should understand that another ban (and fines) will only result in this issue coming up every year at the SEC meetings.

2. Create media pressure. I firmly believe that the majority of the college football media would side with us on this issue. The ADs (and especially Commissioner Slive) do not want negative publicity about picking on one of their ‘little brothers’. If the court of public opinion is in our favor and is loud enough, I believe we can swing Commissioner Slive and ultimately some ADs’ votes. To that end, we could proactively start building a public case and getting the message out. We need to focus on the tradition (and getting the SEC to make a firm exception), not the compromise. We need to get the message out that this is about to be stamped out by the SEC, which would be unthinkable if we were a larger university (you don’t hear the Big XII trying to keep the Aggies or Cowpokes from ringing their bells – heck, I’ve even seen them at Kansas State games). We do this in at least 3 ways:

· I’m pretty sure that the Media Relations dept meets with the TV announcers before our games. Is there a chance to have a dialogue with them to help them understand that we are about to lose an important tradition that is 80 years old? I hear the announcers talk about the compromise, but this isn’t about our fans’ inability to comply with the compromise. This is about the SEC taking away something that is dear to us and unique to college football. Encourage them to defend the tradition in the booth, if they are so inclined, and to ‘call out’ our SEC brethren and Commission Slive to make an exception for us.

· Does the media relations department have a way to directly call attention to the issue. This seems like a PERFECT topic for Rick Reilly or another sports columnist to write about. Why wouldn’t the Gameday or Outside The Lines guys want to discuss this or do a small feature on it? I think they’d love to put pressure on the SEC to keep something link this alive. What about a SportsCenter commercial or espn.com spoof. If they’ll do Admiral Akbar, why not this? “It’s not crazy, it’s sports” – is there anything that typifies that slogan more than this issue? Hell, it’s got me writing a 1,000 word post about a friggin’ bell!!!

· Short of contacting ESPN directly about some of the ideas in the last bullet, what can we do to indirectly bring attention to the issue as a last gasp effort? Viral marketing? YouTube videos. ‘Ring ins’ (think of a ‘sit in’ at the SEC offices). Petitions. We should pull out all the stops one last time before we lose it forever.

3. Make them feel our pain. I hate the idea of this alternative, but if we’re going to be fined for using artificial noisemakers, EVERYONE should be fined for the same. This means that we need to record and submit every instance we see/hear of an air horn, a cock crow, a vuvuzela, a whistle, a band playing at an inappropriate time, fans rattling their keys at the end of a blowout, etc. at any SEC game. We need to ensure that they understand that if we’re going to be held to a subjective standard, they should be as well. We need to generally make ourselves a pain in the neck for the SEC office for the rest of the season. I know for a fact that USC should be fined for that cock crow already – you can send in the ESPN telecasts of their games to prove it.

I think any and all of these measures would make SS persona non grata at the SEC offices for a while (the one thing Larry was never willing to do). BUT, that's a risk we have to be willing to take if this is important. We are beyond compromises. We need to start NOW while we have TV attention and a ranking and do everything possible to get the the SEC portrayed as a bunch of dolts to the general population. If we fail, we're no worse off and SS can start building back his relationships after the summer. If we win, the issue is over and we move on.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

The hypocrisy of these bastards is incredible. Crowd noise may actually change the outcome of a game once every couple of years but the SEC`s bogus assed refs typically determine who will win(even with replay) several games a year. Where the hell is the focus on that?

 

[8dog]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

k

 

[MSUCE99]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

2. Create media pressure. I firmly believe that the majority of the college football media would side with us on this issue. The ADs (and especially Commissioner Slive) do not want negative publicity about picking on one of their ‘little brothers’. If the court of public opinion is in our favor and is loud enough, I believe we can swing Commissioner Slive and ultimately some ADs’ votes. To that end, we could proactively start building a public case and getting the message out. We need to focus on the tradition (and getting the SEC to make a firm exception), not the compromise. We need to get the message out that this is about to be stamped out by the SEC, which would be unthinkable if we were a larger university (you don’t hear the Big XII trying to keep the Aggies or Cowpokes from ringing their bells – heck, I’ve even seen them at Kansas State games). We do this in at least 3 ways:

· I’m pretty sure that the Media Relations dept meets with the TV announcers before our games. Is there a chance to have a dialogue with them to help them understand that we are about to lose an important tradition that is 80 years old? I hear the announcers talk about the compromise, but this isn’t about our fans’ inability to comply with the compromise. This is about the SEC taking away something that is dear to us and unique to college football. Encourage them to defend the tradition in the booth, if they are so inclined, and to ‘call out’ our SEC brethren and Commission Slive to make an exception for us.

· Does the media relations department have a way to directly call attention to the issue. This seems like a PERFECT topic for Rick Reilly or another sports columnist to write about. Why wouldn’t the Gameday or Outside The Lines guys want to discuss this or do a small feature on it? I think they’d love to put pressure on the SEC to keep something ]

That section right there was what I was attempting to get started. Start building support publicly, recording what other coaches have said about the cowbell, and getting ESPN, CBS, etc. to start publicizing our fight for LIBERTY!! TIME TO THROW OFF THE SHACKLES OF OPPRESSION!!!

FREEDOM!!!!! (queue the Braveheart w/ cowbell pic)

 

[MSUCE99]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

I think a retaliatory push for banning live non-domesticated animals inside the stadium might be better. Think about the poor tigers, (war) eagles, etc. that we would be rescuing from that oh-so-unbearable crowd noise. We could probably recruit PETA to campaign against LSU, Auburn, etc as well, not that anyone takes them seriously.

There is no legitimate reason to have a live tiger or bird of prey inside a football stadium. Or to keep them captive at all as a live school mascot, really. And since we have established that the SEC Athletic Directors don't give a tinker's damn about school traditions, I would expect them to see the logic of this and all vote to protect the animals (and the fans) from the inevitable episode of When Animals Attack: SEC edition.

 

[MrHooch]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

ring them until the offense breaks the huddle/approaches the line of scrimmage. Follow the exact same rules as the band/cheerleaders/microphones/megaphones. Hell why not get the band to participate to let people know when to stop ringing. There's no reason we can't ring them after a play when we don't score, either. Handsignals = 99% of offense communication... reading lips is the rest. The crowd can be loud enough without cowbells at other stadiums for players to have difficulty hearing, so it's not unheard of.

 

[Topgundawg]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

The chances are slim, but it sure would be nice to not get fined today. That would leave us 2 - 1 and only being fined 30k going into the Ark game. I'm not sure if the limit is 80K or if we get hit another 50K if we get fined for the ARK game.

The other schools AD are not going to vote for anything for us because their fans would chew them up for voting in favor of a rival school. We need SEC officials to give us a way out. The only way I see it is we need to get threw a game without a fine.

If we can get threw a game you will probably get all the quotes you need from ESPN, etc. We need ESPN to bring it home tonight. Somebody must have a friend, who's sisters boyfriend knows one of these guys to help us along......

 

[TDAWG.sixpack]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

We changed a rule to allow Alabama to not play more than three teams off a bye week, so how about throw somebody else in the conference a freaking bone?

If Boise state were in the SEC would you make them paint their field green? Maybe we should do something wild with our field as well. Traditions must start sometime, why not now.

Should Mike "the tiger" be moved away from the visiting locker room because, it could be risky if someone has a heart attack after seeing him?

What about Georgia having half of their team arrested? Is that not a black eye on the conference?

Unfortunately, I believe we have a commissioner that wants one of 5 teams to be SEC and NC champs every year. Bama, Auburn, Lsu, Florida, Georgia. The rest of us seven are screwed!

 

[DawgPoundRock09]

Comments on MSU's cowbell tradition - post 'em if you got em. Ammunition for Destin 2010.

Why the hell do all the schools from the East except for Kentucky care so damn much about it anyway? Besides UK, we play each one of them at home every 6 years. It's not like they have to put up with it every other year like the West schools and UK.