I always thought it great when our rival hates us. Does it speak better for us when we're envied by our rival?
I think their hate would benefit us more. If they come to actually envy us, they might be motivated to change and actually improve themselves. But I digress. Here's the post. Stay tuned for this week's 2nd directionally-challenged comment.
http://www.thedmonline.com/blog/ole-miss-fans-need-attitude-adjustment
"We might not win em all, but we’ve never lost a party.”
Following the loss to Jacksonville State I was presented with
that statement as a friend helped himself to another drink. To be honest
I wanted a drink or two myself, primarily to forget the sting of a loss
to a non-Division I team. But that exclamation really stuck with me
because it echoed an attitude that has been present in the Ole Miss
fanbase since possibly the end of the John Vaught era.</p>
As Ole Miss fans we all like to proclaim ourselves the classiest,
the best dressed and the fanciest tailgaters. Sure, all of those things
are true but not a single one of them contributes towards what I
believe to be the most important thing in all of sports: supporting the
team.</p>
Ole Miss fans are the most fair-weather group I’ve ever seen, and
its pathetic. I sat in a game Saturday where half of the student
section wandered out of the stadium at half-time because the score
seemed to indicate we couldn’t lose and partying was more important. I
watched the remaining students sit down and proceed to text, talk, and
make plans for what to do after the game for the duration of the third
quarter.</p>
Even as things started to spiral out of control the stadium was
half-hearted and the JSU band was louder than tens of thousands of Ole
Miss fans. Pathetic.</p>
However, once things started looking really bad people began to
stand up and cheer. Not so surprisingly, the team started playing with a
little more spunk in their step. Sure, they still failed to pull up a
win and made some (or a lot of) mistakes along the way, but motivation
and support can do a lot for the energy and focus of a team. The 2009
LSU game is a prime example of how a fired up crowd can keep a team in a
game until the final second(s).</p>
I promise you that the players don’t walk out on the field, or
court, and pump their arms in the air because they feel like it. They do
it because they need the support, and because noise is horribly
distracting.</p>
Why do you think playing LSU in Death Valley, or paying a visit
to The Swamp in Gainesville is intimidating? It’s more than the boys
wearing the jerseys and tossing a football. The fan bases eat, sleep and
breath their respective team and they let that team know it with each
snap of the ball. They don’t give in, they don’t go quiet and they don’t
go back to the Grove to drink because their team is too far ahead to be
beaten or too far behind to catch up.</p>
Saturday night<span style="font-weight: bold;"> our enemies to the east</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">[Flab: technically we are East of Oxford, but South would clearly be a lot more descriptive]</span> trounced Memphis by 49
points. Davis Wade Stadium looked as if it had been painted white, and
the sound of ringing cowbells and cheering filled every possible second.
It’s true that Memphis isn’t a very good team this year, but no one
thought Jacksonville State would be a challenge either. And don’t think
for a second the Bulldogs have more talent on their team that we do.
Right now they are all bark and no bite.</p>
You can say what you will about that “other” university (I know
that my day isn’t complete without a State joke), but they have their
priorities in the right place.</p>
It’s not about who has the fanciest tent in the Grove, it’s not
about who is wearing what and it’s not even about drinking. It’s about
football, supporting the team, and having spirit.</p>
We have bunch of people drinking themselves into a stupor and leaving at halftime.</p>
Forgive me Rebels, but I’d rather have the State fans - minus the cowbells.</p>
I think their hate would benefit us more. If they come to actually envy us, they might be motivated to change and actually improve themselves. But I digress. Here's the post. Stay tuned for this week's 2nd directionally-challenged comment.
http://www.thedmonline.com/blog/ole-miss-fans-need-attitude-adjustment
"We might not win em all, but we’ve never lost a party.”
Following the loss to Jacksonville State I was presented with
that statement as a friend helped himself to another drink. To be honest
I wanted a drink or two myself, primarily to forget the sting of a loss
to a non-Division I team. But that exclamation really stuck with me
because it echoed an attitude that has been present in the Ole Miss
fanbase since possibly the end of the John Vaught era.</p>
As Ole Miss fans we all like to proclaim ourselves the classiest,
the best dressed and the fanciest tailgaters. Sure, all of those things
are true but not a single one of them contributes towards what I
believe to be the most important thing in all of sports: supporting the
team.</p>
Ole Miss fans are the most fair-weather group I’ve ever seen, and
its pathetic. I sat in a game Saturday where half of the student
section wandered out of the stadium at half-time because the score
seemed to indicate we couldn’t lose and partying was more important. I
watched the remaining students sit down and proceed to text, talk, and
make plans for what to do after the game for the duration of the third
quarter.</p>
Even as things started to spiral out of control the stadium was
half-hearted and the JSU band was louder than tens of thousands of Ole
Miss fans. Pathetic.</p>
However, once things started looking really bad people began to
stand up and cheer. Not so surprisingly, the team started playing with a
little more spunk in their step. Sure, they still failed to pull up a
win and made some (or a lot of) mistakes along the way, but motivation
and support can do a lot for the energy and focus of a team. The 2009
LSU game is a prime example of how a fired up crowd can keep a team in a
game until the final second(s).</p>
I promise you that the players don’t walk out on the field, or
court, and pump their arms in the air because they feel like it. They do
it because they need the support, and because noise is horribly
distracting.</p>
Why do you think playing LSU in Death Valley, or paying a visit
to The Swamp in Gainesville is intimidating? It’s more than the boys
wearing the jerseys and tossing a football. The fan bases eat, sleep and
breath their respective team and they let that team know it with each
snap of the ball. They don’t give in, they don’t go quiet and they don’t
go back to the Grove to drink because their team is too far ahead to be
beaten or too far behind to catch up.</p>
Saturday night<span style="font-weight: bold;"> our enemies to the east</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">[Flab: technically we are East of Oxford, but South would clearly be a lot more descriptive]</span> trounced Memphis by 49
points. Davis Wade Stadium looked as if it had been painted white, and
the sound of ringing cowbells and cheering filled every possible second.
It’s true that Memphis isn’t a very good team this year, but no one
thought Jacksonville State would be a challenge either. And don’t think
for a second the Bulldogs have more talent on their team that we do.
Right now they are all bark and no bite.</p>
You can say what you will about that “other” university (I know
that my day isn’t complete without a State joke), but they have their
priorities in the right place.</p>
It’s not about who has the fanciest tent in the Grove, it’s not
about who is wearing what and it’s not even about drinking. It’s about
football, supporting the team, and having spirit.</p>
We have bunch of people drinking themselves into a stupor and leaving at halftime.</p>
Forgive me Rebels, but I’d rather have the State fans - minus the cowbells.</p>
