Question for Brookhaven dogs...How do you stand the Ole Brook name?...

[The Usual Suspect]

I noticed this on Lewis' highlights. I get the fact Brookhaven's uniforms look just like OM's, but Ole Brook? If I was a State fan or USM fan (and there used to be a lot of USM fans around there) I would freak out. Does OM alums control the entire Lincoln County system? When I lived around there 35 years ago, I didn't remember that being the case. But I never lived in the city of Brookhaven. I know of a High School in Houston that has uniforms just like Texas, and goes by the Longhorns, but they haven't changed their name to Texas yet.

 

[Nugdawg]

I am 44 years old and grew up in Brookhaven. I don't live there anymore but family still does. I name "Ole Brook" has been around long before I even came along. I'm not sure it's derivation, as it could have been Ole Miss related all the way back to the days of Catfish Smith and some of those old school guys that played at UM back in the day. However, arguably Brookhaven's best old school player didn't play at UM, but instead went to Arkansas and went on to national fame, Lance Alworth of the San Diego Chargers. Back to the point, I know the uniforms have changed to look even more like UM but back in the day I don't recall that being the case. Also, the name "Ole Brook" I think could be more of a name that was just given to the town itself as there were slogans about living in Ole Brook and there was even a Goodyear tire store called Ole Brook Tire's. And the town is not controlled by Ole Miss folks. Yes it has some UM supporters, but the State contingent there is fairly strong having grown a good bit over the last decade or two.

The school that blows my mind is the Wayne County uniforms and their love affair with out of state Auburn!

 

[JungRebel]

I went to Terry, our colors are maron and whit and we are the bulldogs. The school came into being ~1995. No shame in the game of the person who "created" the THS traditions.

 

[The Usual Suspect]

If Terry changed their name to MSU Terry I think you would have.

 

[Requiem For A Dawg]

I'm from Brookhaven. There are more MSU alums than Ole Miss, but OM still has plenty.

Ole Brook has nothing to do with Ole Miss. Ole Brook is just a nickname for the town. There is a big festival every year called the Ole Brook festival and several businesses with Ole Brook in their name and they have no ties to Ole Miss.

I went to Brookhaven Academy and we had Kansas State's logo on our helmet doesn't mean KSU owned Brookhaven.

 

[ronpolk]

My wife grew up in Brookhaven but has not lived there in 10 years. There are several State and ole miss fans but almost as many LSU fans.

 

[Requiem For A Dawg]

You are incorrect, sir. Now this is the case on Mccomb but not in Brookhaven.

 

[The Usual Suspect]

When I lived down there, it seemed like above average USM population.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

The Meridian Wildcats comes from directly from the UK Wildcats

 

[engie]

When I lived down there, it seemed like above average USM population.

That population fluctuates drastically down there depending. Most double as LSU fans when USM is down...

 

[WayboDawg]

The school that blows my mind is the Wayne County uniforms and their love affair with out of state Auburn!

Look good, play good. Don't hate.

 

[patdog]

Terry just kept the nickname and colors of the old Byram high school. Basically, when the time came to build a new school, they just built it further to the south (to keep it out of any potential Jackson annexation), and it didn't make any sense to keep calling it Byram if it was in Terry, so the Byram Bulldogs became the Terry Bulldogs.

 

[BobSacamano]

Graduated from Brookhaven High 1979. Brookhaven was once located a few miles

from its present location. It was moved due to the railroad being built which would bypass the town. The town grew and the old location was called "Old Brook". The Brookhaven High yearbook has been called "Ole Brook" since at least the 30's, maybe predating UM being referred to as Ole Miss. As a kid in the 60's and 70's, I remember Brookhaven as being an Ole Miss town then. Tad Smith was from here also. My babysitter used to yell at me for throwing darts at a picture of Archie Manning. In later years the power balance has swung with the State people. Interestingly, Brookhaven High's colors in the first part of the 20th century were purple and gold, then changed to the present red and blue in I think the 1920's. Probably by the influential Ole Miss people. I believe Judge Brady, the famous segregationalist, was on ole Miss' first football team. Yes, I hate that the current BHS uniforms looked like Ole Miss but I love the nickname Ole Brook.

 

[BobSacamano]

^^^this. Louisiana may as well go ahead and claim McComb.

 

[The Usual Suspect]

Thanks for clarifying the name...

 

[ronpolk]

You are incorrect, sir. Now this is the case on Mccomb but not in Brookhaven.

I could be getting the 2 confused. My father in law lived in McComb. Outside of Starkville and the Jackson area, I know very little about Mississippi. I just remember being surprised at the amount of LSU fans around where her family lived. But they all lived in either Brookhaven or McComb.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

Meridian is a doctor-lawyer town

We used to be called "Ole Merde".

 

[BobSacamano]

You are right... There are lots of LSU fans down here. I don't know of any who actually attended LSU. It is the folks who didn't go to college, have no state pride and that pulling for LSU makes them feel better about themselves because LSU wins all the time. The others are USM grads who call themselves LSU fans(not kidding). To add insult to injury, the Wal-Mart in Brookhaven carries more LSU gear than the MS schools.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

You might as well ask that of Hattiesburg which has the LSU influence.

Laurel is very heavily influenced by Minnesota as well-- same colors, same fight song, and while the mascots are different they are both Golden.

 

[WayboDawg]

You might as well ask that of Hattiesburg which has the LSU influence.

Laurel is very heavily influenced by Minnesota as well-- same colors, same fight song, and while the mascots are different they are both Golden.

Never noticed that.

 

[patdog]

The Laurel-Hattiesburg game is for the Little Brown Jug each year. Named after the real Little Brown Jug game between Minnesota and Michigan. As for Hattiesburg being a knockoff of LSU:

 

[patdog]

Lot of LSU influence in southwest Mississippi. Down there, it's the closest SEC school.

 

[was21]

that is correct about Brookhaven..there are many State fans and alumni there. Probably the same applies to Wayne County as well.

 

[DreadNought.sixpack]

from its present location. It was moved due to the railroad being built which would bypass the town. The town grew and the old location was called "Old Brook". The Brookhaven High yearbook has been called "Ole Brook" since at least the 30's, maybe predating UM being referred to as Ole Miss. As a kid in the 60's and 70's, I remember Brookhaven as being an Ole Miss town then. Tad Smith was from here also. My babysitter used to yell at me for throwing darts at a picture of Archie Manning. In later years the power balance has swung with the State people. Interestingly, Brookhaven High's colors in the first part of the 20th century were purple and gold, then changed to the present red and blue in I think the 1920's. Probably by the influential Ole Miss people. I believe Judge Brady, the famous segregationalist, was on ole Miss' first football team. Yes, I hate that the current BHS uniforms looked like Ole Miss but I love the nickname Ole Brook.

Bob, I am BHS class of '78. Are you still in B'haven?

 

[BobSacamano]

yes. inbox me if you like. I think I know who you are. And I think you know who I am.

 

[WayboDawg]

that is correct about Brookhaven..there are many State fans and alumni there. Probably the same applies to Wayne County as well.

There used to be 4 high schools in Wayne County, and all of them were big football rivals with each other. The powers at be decided to consolidate the four high schools in the late eighties, and new school colors and a new mascot had to be created. Story goes that the head football coach at the new school was a big Auburn fan and recommended Orange/Blue/White for the school colors and War Eagles for the mascot. I believe the students got to vote on the change and made the recommendation official. At first, plain orange and blue uniforms with a plain white helmet were used. Then, in the early 2000's Wayne County started wearing uniforms almost identical to Auburn with a new interlocking WC for its logo. Just like the one Auburn uses.

But no, other than our proximity to the state of Alabama, and a few highly recruited players who played at Auburn during Tubberville's tenure, there aren't many ties to Auburn or Auburn supporters in Wayne County that I know of. I'd say a fair estimate of Wayne County's college football fan base percentages would be: 40% Alabama (80% sidewalk fans with no ties to the school, and 20% USM graduates), 30% MSU (a great deal of them alumni actually), 20% Ole Miss (mostly alumni as well), 10% USM (Mostly ashamed alumni and holdovers from the Reggie Collier era). The Tide fans rule this area no doubt, but MSU and Ole Miss have a good deal of fans as well. There were at least 40 additional people that I knew of from Wayne County that attended MSU while I was a student.

 

[Big Sheep81]

It's hell, ain't it?! And it drives the Bammer sidewalk fans nuts....

 

[Big Sheep81]

Not anymore, now they just look like purple top bananas**

nm

 

[Villagedawg]

Starkville

Pays Georgia Tech $1 a year for the right to use the Yellowjacket. And Columbus often looks like an LSU Junior. I'm sure many many high schools do that.

 

[esplanade91]

I knew the old AD of Gulfport School District and he told me they mirrored GHS as closely to UF as they possibly could. Obviously couldn't have the same football gear for obvious reasons, but they made sure to have the same golf bags and things.

Always though it was crazy that we had UGA's logo, UF's colors and uniforms, and Vandy's mascot.

Meanwhile, HCHS has the Colonel and red uniforms. Done them a lot of good in recruiting there.

 

[NIC.sixpack]

New Albany's colors are also maroon and white, and they're nicknamed the Bulldogs. And New Albany is only about 30 minutes from Oxford.

 

[Hammer Down]

I'd say a fair estimate of Wayne County's college football fan base percentages would be: 40% Alabama (80% sidewalk fans with no ties to the school, and 20% USM graduates), 30% MSU (a great deal of them alumni actually), 20% Ole Miss (mostly alumni as well), 10% USM (Mostly ashamed alumni and holdovers from the Reggie Collier era). The Tide fans rule this area no doubt, but MSU and Ole Miss have a good deal of fans as well. There were at least 40 additional people that I knew of from Wayne County that attended MSU while I was a student.

This is insane to me. I mean, I get it, I know why and all. We're going to have to win big to get the sidewalk fans. And for more than just one year. One of the Mississippi SEC schools is going to have to pull a South Carolina to get them all back on their side. Ole Miss did it in the Vaught years, but that's just too long ago. We almost did it in the late 90s, but let's face it we just didn't win enough at the elite level. 8-4 ain't 10-2. Never brought home a championship, SEC or not.

But bottom line, this needs to be remedied, at least within our own state. I notice that there is no out of state tuition now for those counties directly east of Waynesboro in Alabama, at least for the Meridian campus. We really need to do that for the main campus, and it needs to be all the western Alabama counties.

 

[Hammer Down]

Lot of LSU influence in southwest Mississippi. Down there, it's the closest SEC school.

Geography is the hardest thing to compete with, as far as MSU goes. Still reeling from the Starkville location rather than Meridian. Not sure how we overcome the LSU presence in SW MS, outside of sheer winning. I guess the Alumni Associations can strengthen themselves, but not sure how much they can really do.

 

[WayboDawg]

This is insane to me. I mean, I get it, I know why and all. We're going to have to win big to get the sidewalk fans. And for more than just one year. One of the Mississippi SEC schools is going to have to pull a South Carolina to get them all back on their side. Ole Miss did it in the Vaught years, but that's just too long ago. We almost did it in the late 90s, but let's face it we just didn't win enough at the elite level. 8-4 ain't 10-2. Never brought home a championship, SEC or not.

But bottom line, this needs to be remedied, at least within our own state. I notice that there is no out of state tuition now for those counties directly east of Waynesboro in Alabama, at least for the Meridian campus. We really need to do that for the main campus, and it needs to be all the western Alabama counties.

I wouldn't worry about it. Most of the Bama fans in Wayne County are rednecks who probably have no idea that Alabama is a university and not just a football team. I bet they couldn't find Tuscaloosa on a map to save their lives. A good deal of them were Florida Gator fans 5 years ago, and before that they were LSU fans. Most of them claim to have been Bama fans all their lives, but were probably no where to be seen during the years Tubberville owned them before Saban took over. Kind of like the "loyal" Miami Heat fans who are jumping ship now that Lebron James is gone, they only want to be associated with a winner and will swap allegiance at the first sign of losing.

 

[shoeless joe]

Terry just kept the nickname and colors of the old Byram high school. Basically, when the time came to build a new school, they just built it further to the south (to keep it out of any potential Jackson annexation), and it didn't make any sense to keep calling it Byram if it was in Terry, so the Byram Bulldogs became the Terry Bulldogs.

I was in school there during the change over and we voted on the nickname and bulldogs won out. For one year terry was the middle school and they incorporated teal into the color scheme. Yes, maroon white and teal. Don't know who's idiotic idea that was but it looked ridiculous.

I do remember when we voted one choice was the terry terriers...I kinda liked another choice, terry chargers; but bulldogs stuck. Back then the football unis didn't look anything like state but 2/3 baseball unis were very similar to what state wore.

 

[thekimmer]

Another unfortunate consequence of locating MSU too far north.....

^^^this. Louisiana may as well go ahead and claim McComb.

Creates a void of sorts in south MS especially with USM sucking it up as of late and neither MSU or UM creating enough draw to pull from that far away. Of course when dear old State was founded who would have ever in their wildest dreams envisioned today's scenario with college athletics.

I will always wonder how different it might have been had MSU been placed in a more populous and centrally located area like Meridian or somewhere closer to Jackson.