Its that time of year again...
- Thread starter WayboDawg
- Start date
If it's like my high school....
when (a) the team was first formed or (2) later, when a strong-willed, high-powered coach, principal, booster, or daddy came along... the uniform was basically "chosen" by "a person in charge".
When my high school's first football team was formed, the head coach had a close relative that was coaching at a D1 college. There were two choices, so "the players chose" the mascot of that college rather than the mascot from another high school in the county.
when (a) the team was first formed or (2) later, when a strong-willed, high-powered coach, principal, booster, or daddy came along... the uniform was basically "chosen" by "a person in charge".
When my high school's first football team was formed, the head coach had a close relative that was coaching at a D1 college. There were two choices, so "the players chose" the mascot of that college rather than the mascot from another high school in the county.
Wayne County High School was formed in 1989 when the previous 4 county high schools (Clara HS Whippets, Buckatunna HS Buccaneers, Beat Four HS Tigers, Waynesboro Central HS Panthers) were consolidated into one new high school at the campus of old Waynesboro Central High School. With so much pride and tradition between the once rival schools, a new mascot had to be selected. A poll was conducted amongst the students, and War Eagles was selected as the new mascot. Rumor has it that the first head coach (a strong Auburn supporter) of the Wayne County War Eagles might have had some influence on the decision. The first football uniforms of the newly christened War Eagles (with their plain white helmets, orange jerseys, and navy pants) more closely resembled the Virgina Cavaliers of the early nineties than the Auburn Tigers. In the early 2000's, a uniform change was made...... with an interlocking WC adorning the helmets, and minor upgrades to the jerseys and pants gave the Wayne County football team their now famous "Little Auburn" appearance.
Much as I hate to say it, I think you're right. Just looking at comparative scores, Wayne Co. looks a little bit better. It's hard to say though. The other half of the district (Wingfield, Brookhaven, Natchez and Pearl River Central) is so bad you can't take too much from those scores. And the best non-district wins for each team were Hattiesburg and Harrison Central, both decent but nothing special. We'll find out a lot about both teams Friday.
West Jones usually has a quick/feisty/stingy blue-collar defense, and really good special teams. I believe this year is no different. Haven't heard much talk about their offense, but I haven't been to any of their games in person. When Ben Stevens was as quarterback a few years ago, their offense looked like it had a supercharged V8 under the hood. Maybe a well tuned V6 is enough to get the job done though.
Wayne County's defense has been creating a ton of turnovers for points this year, and has been getting better each game since the beginning of the year. Our special teams are good at times, but I have seen some missed PATs which can hurt you severely in close games at the end of the year. Our offense is strong in both running and passing, which has generated the high scores you see on our win/loss column. Wayne County's two biggest weaknesses are turnovers on offense (which killed us in our opening game loss at Oak Grove) and giving up deep passes (which Gulfport, our other loss, took advantage of).
I hate that the Jones County school district won't allow the West Jones boosters to build a new stadium. Apparently any funds that get donated to the West Jones athletic program get put in the pool and shared between all three Jones County high schools (bullcrap socialism). So once again, the game will be played at tiny Mustang stadium, which only has a tiny seating capacity of approximately 3000. Expect to see an overflow crowd of around 6000 to 7000 people to be there tonight (lots of standing room around the fences if you have good knees). The parking is horrible too, and it took about an hour just to make it back to highway 84 the last time I went to a big game like this in Soso. But if you decide to brave the traffic and the crowds, expect to see one of the most electric high school atmospheres in the state of Mississippi, in a very cozy/intimate setting. Both fan bases are VERY vocal, and VERY sincere in their hatred for each other. I predict a close game for much of the first half, but I say Wayne County pulls it out 24-10. Wouldn't be very surprised if the Mustangs score a home upset though.
Wayne County's defense has been creating a ton of turnovers for points this year, and has been getting better each game since the beginning of the year. Our special teams are good at times, but I have seen some missed PATs which can hurt you severely in close games at the end of the year. Our offense is strong in both running and passing, which has generated the high scores you see on our win/loss column. Wayne County's two biggest weaknesses are turnovers on offense (which killed us in our opening game loss at Oak Grove) and giving up deep passes (which Gulfport, our other loss, took advantage of).
I hate that the Jones County school district won't allow the West Jones boosters to build a new stadium. Apparently any funds that get donated to the West Jones athletic program get put in the pool and shared between all three Jones County high schools (bullcrap socialism). So once again, the game will be played at tiny Mustang stadium, which only has a tiny seating capacity of approximately 3000. Expect to see an overflow crowd of around 6000 to 7000 people to be there tonight (lots of standing room around the fences if you have good knees). The parking is horrible too, and it took about an hour just to make it back to highway 84 the last time I went to a big game like this in Soso. But if you decide to brave the traffic and the crowds, expect to see one of the most electric high school atmospheres in the state of Mississippi, in a very cozy/intimate setting. Both fan bases are VERY vocal, and VERY sincere in their hatred for each other. I predict a close game for much of the first half, but I say Wayne County pulls it out 24-10. Wouldn't be very surprised if the Mustangs score a home upset though.
South Panola was playing a Memphis high school earlier this year on tv that had green and white colors, but used our baseball logo (interlocking MS) on their helmets. Its not that uncommon to see high schools with college lookalike uniforms. Hattiesburg high school used to look just like LSU, only they had HHS instead of LSU above the tiger head on the helmets. I (and a great deal of other people who support Wayne County) have always thought our unis looked good, and in 14 years I haven't seen a major change outside of the occasional orange, instead of blue, jersey for special occasions. When I played freshman football, I can remember Tommy Tubberville would send Coach Boyles practice tapes of Auburn, for tips to use during our own practices. A couple of guys actually went on to play for Tubberville at Auburn from Waynesboro during those years (Michael McGlaughlin and Steve Gandy). Waynesboro is right near the Alabama line (less than 15 minute drive) and a good deal of people you see in Waynesboro on any given day, are most likely from Alabama....so there are a ton of Alabama and Auburn fans in the area.
Many, many, many people that live in that area identify much more closely with Alabama teams than with Mississippi teams. It has to do with both geographic closeness and W/L records. I had to deal with dozens of sidewalk fans with WalMart attire at work in Pascagoula.
Yes. In Southeast Mississippi I'd say the college football fans are: 50% Alabama, 15% USM, 10% MSU, 10% Ole Miss, 10% LSU, and 5% Auburn. Just drive by people's decorated mailboxes, or look at the sticker in the back window of their pickup and you will see that I am not lying.
I doubt that anywhere in Mississippi, including Hattiesburg, are there
more U of SM fans than either State or the Bears. Otherwise, they wouldn't be trying to boycott or shut down any business that has any State or Bear stuff on sale or display. Paranooiiid.
more U of SM fans than either State or the Bears. Otherwise, they wouldn't be trying to boycott or shut down any business that has any State or Bear stuff on sale or display. Paranooiiid.
You would be genuinely supprised how many supporters USM has down this way. Don't let their stadium attendance fool you, there are a ton of folks who only watch their games on tv. Ole miss and State are truley in the minority dwn this way.
I won't lie and say I have any clue about "fanhood" in Wayne County, but your numbers clearly do not represent the Hattiesburg area or the Coast.
I'd say Hattiesburg is this
40% USM
20% State
20% Ole miss
20% Everybody else.
There are lots of UM and State fans here. Aside from a group of redneck's and a few Bama alumni, there are not that many Bama fans here. Maybe Wayne County is too close to the border, or maybe there are too many dumb rednecks, or maybe both but 50% Alabama fans does not represent SE Mississippi as a whole.
Also, I would consider Wayne County In east central Mississippi. Hattiesburg and the coast is just "south" Mississippi.
There are more southern fans in Hattiesburg but not by too much. If you added up UM and State fans they would equal or slightly outnumber Southern fans. Most USM fans also either claim to be an MSU or UM fan so that makes the USM fan base seem even smaller. Hattiesburg is the only city in the state where USM fans outnumber anybody.
Tons...and I mean TONS of Alabama fans in Wayne County. And they are SOOOOOOOO annoying. None of them have any personal ties to the university, and none of them have even been to game in Tuscaloosa. But they have the LOUDEST DUMBEST MOUTHS! 9 out of 10 are bandwagoners, because underneath that big cursive "A" in the back window of that 2003 Chevy Z71, you can still see the outline of the Florida Gator head that used to be there 6 years ago. I just want to puke when I see 17 year old punk after punk walking through Walmart in Waynesboro with a Hollister shirt/puka shell necklace, side cocked bama cap, dip of skoal in their lip, and ripped jeans tucked into their steel toed boots. It's almost like there is a redneck-Bama-fan factory churning out douchebags somewhere between Buccatunna and Quitman.
Actually the school colors were voted on by the students. The other 4 school colors were combinations of maroon, gold, black, royal blue, and kelly green. Wayne Academy's colors were red, white, blue.
The first 12 years, blue was the dominate color. In 2000 when Bobby Hall coached for one season he threw out all the old unis, logos, etc to show a fresh start. WC had nothing but losing seasons after Bubba Davis left in 1994. Hall asked a art teacher to draw up some stuff using the letters and the AU type WC was the most outstanding. From that he patterned the unis after Auburn. Like Auburn or not its a great classic uni look.
Sad thing Hattiesburg did not think so much of theirs. They look like purple topped bananas.......
The first 12 years, blue was the dominate color. In 2000 when Bobby Hall coached for one season he threw out all the old unis, logos, etc to show a fresh start. WC had nothing but losing seasons after Bubba Davis left in 1994. Hall asked a art teacher to draw up some stuff using the letters and the AU type WC was the most outstanding. From that he patterned the unis after Auburn. Like Auburn or not its a great classic uni look.
Sad thing Hattiesburg did not think so much of theirs. They look like purple topped bananas.......
Yeah I liked Hattiesburg's old uniforms way better. They won 4 South State Championships through the years wearing those classic LSU looking unis. The new ones with the Under Armor looking "H" on the helmet look tacky and ghetto. You're correct with your description of purple topped bananas. When change is made for the sake of change in regards to uniforms, you usually get ugly results.
I WOULD be genuinely surprised because I live in Laurel and probably
know all 10 of their fans. No way State and Bears are in minority.
know all 10 of their fans. No way State and Bears are in minority.