So, as I made mention of in my SEC Picks last week, I made the trip down to Knoxville this past weekend to take in the sights and sounds surrounding the Ole Miss-Tennessee game. I didn’t tell many people that I was going (including, apparently, some of the people that I was meeting), but I decided to at the last minute, because I’d never been to Knoxville before, and after hearing so many things about the game day atmosphere I was fairly excited about seeing it for myself. Since returning, I’ve decided to grade the town and the school based on my weekend experience. I also realized that, despite my love for all things SEC football, I really haven’t been to all that many SEC stadiums (about half) so hopefully as I visit more I’ll be able to grade them as well, and I’ll get a better idea of how they all stack up. Let’s start from the beginning.

Proximity to D.C.

Part of what made this trip so attractive to me was the distance from my home. For sure, Knoxville is not just a hop, skip and jump from our nation’s capital, but considering that I have to fly to most all games that I go to, being able to drive was something that I thought would be a nice change of pace, and a bit of a money saver. However, a six and a half to seven hour drive, while definitely doable, is not really optimal out of Friday evening D.C. traffic and some of the most redneck, hillbilly highways and interstates this side of the movie Deliverance. It took me an hour and a half to drive the first 20 miles on Friday night, and at one point I was afraid to stop for gas for fear of having to interact with the locals. Just to put that in perspective, I’ve stopped at gas stations in southeast D.C. well after midnight without thinking twice. At least when I go to Oxford, or Baton Rouge, or wherever else, I know I’ll have to fly. Knoxville just teases you with it’s drivability, and then smacks you in the face if you actually try it.

Proximity to D.C. grade - D

Tailgating

I was shocked on Saturday morning as we walked around, and tailgating was virtually non-existent, and those that were tailgating, were doing it poorly, in parking garages, or, horror of horrors, on their tailgates. Tailgating doesn’t have to have happen in big grassy areas like the grove, or with chandeliers and fine china, like so many people seem to think happens with regularity at Ole Miss, but some effort has to be put in. I think the layout of the campus around the stadium has something to do with it, but no grills, no central congregation of people, and effort at all gets no passing grade for Vol tailgating.

Tailgating grade - F

Atmosphere

The atmosphere before the game, even with the lack of tailgating, wasn’t terrible. There were quite a few people up early and milling around outside the stadium. We made our way to the Volunteer Grill, which sits behind Neyland on the river. I was once again shocked that the Vol Navy, which I had heard so much about, consisted of about seven or eight boats, with only one or two containing any visible signs of life, in the form of orange clad tailgaters. The Vol Grill though, was quite nice, with a towering view of the stadium, and an outside bar packed with at least as many Ole Miss fans as Volunteers.

Atmosphere grade - C-

Fans

Are there sororities at the University of Tennessee? Or salads? Because if the answer to either of those questions is yes, then you could have fooled me. I see as many beautiful women walking from my car to the Grove at Ole Miss as I saw the whole day in Knoxville. And I’ve never seen so few good looking lady folks and so many bald, fat sleeveless T-shirt wearing old men in all my life. With that said, there weren’t all that many rude Vol fans, even though the ones that were tring to be ‘nice’ did so in such a way as to come off as condescending. Note to Vol fan: We don’t care what you think about David Cutcliffe, and we’re tired of explaining why he was fired. So shut up.

Fans grade - C-

Stadium

When people told me that Neyland Stadium held 105,000+, I thought that they meant that there were 105,000+ seats, not that there were 75,000 seats that they fit 105,000+ people into. However, other than my knees bumping into the person in front of me, and someone else’s knees bumping into my back for three hours, the stadium was pretty cool. The sound system was good, and the people that run the video showed a pretty impressive series of clips with Reggie White, who was being honored, and of highlights of the Vols previous weeks game against the Tigahs.

Stadium grade - C+

Band

Best part of the day in my opinion. Watching the team run out through the big T was pretty cool, and Tennessee’s band is absolutely enormous. They also played ‘Forward Rebels’ before the game, which wasn’t really suprising, as I knew that they played the opponents’ fight song before every game, but it was cool nonetheless. Also, in the second half, the band moved from section to section in the upper deck, playing right in front of the fans, which was very cool. The only gripe? They apparently didn’t have enough time to learn a second song. Either that, or they just knew that the UT fans weren’t smart enough to learn the words to a second song.

Band grade - B

Nightlife

Not bad. The bars aren’t as good as Oxford, but there are a lot more of them. One question though, for not one, but TWO of the bars on the strip. If you’re going to open a drinking establishment on the most popular strip in Knoxville, what makes you think that make it a cash only bar, and serving only beer, and in one case, only three types of beer, is a good idea?

Nightlife grade - B

Overall

Overall, not a bad weekend. But some publication ranked SEC roadtrips a few weeks back, and put Tennessee, at the top of the list, and I’m just not seeing it. There are, at minimum, three places I can think of that I’d rather go, and remember, I’ve only been to half of the SEC venues.

Overall grade - C-

Oh yeah, pictures can be found right here.

I’ll wake up this morning, and like most people, I’ll go to work, like it was any other day of the year. Brad Gaines’ day will be a little bit different though. Brad won’t be going in to work today. No, he’ll still be up with the sun though, packing his pickup truck with cleaning supplies and starting off on a trip that’s he’s made so often before. It’s not something that he has to do, but rather something that he does out of desire. The trip is a long and lonely one, but he knows that he has a kindred spirit waiting at the end of the line.

Fourteen years ago today, Chucky Mullins passed away in a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He died of complications from the paralysis that occured on October 28, 1989, in a game against Vanderbilt University. On the fateful play that would end his college football career, and eventually his life, he fell to the ground after making a crushing hit on Gaines. Mullins became a rallying point for his Rebel teammates and the Ole Miss fans for the remainder of the season, inspiring the battle cry ‘It’s Time’, and visiting an emotional Rebel locker room before the team’s Liberty Bowl victory over Air Force to end the 1989 season.

The trip to Russelville, Alabama takes Brad Gaines about three hours. When he gets to the small cemetary, he walks to the back, along the brush line, looking ahead until he’s standing in front of the granite stone that he’s visited three times a year, every year, for fourteen years. On the anniversary of the Ole Miss - Vanderbilt game, on Christmas, and on this day, the anniversary of Chucky’s death, Brad visits and cleans Chucky’s stone, in order to continue a connection and a friendship borne out of tragedy.

I’ve had to pause three times while writing this; once while watching the SportsCenter piece that inspired it, and twice while doing research; to compose myself. I don’t think that any Ole Miss fan can truly express what it means to remember Chucky, but I’ll try. To see someone come from so little and to make so much of their life and the opportunities that they were given, as well as to show such strength and inner peace in the face of such a life altering tragedy inspires me, and I’m sure many others, to strive for the same traits in our own lives. And to see the Ole Miss family rally around one of their own in their time of ultimate need makes me proud to be associated with The University of Mississippi, and all of the history, good and bad, that comes with it.

I’m not an overly religious person, but if you’re reading this, and if you think about Brad Gaines today, say a little prayer for him, as he goes to rekindle a special relationship with an old friend. And if you want, say a little prayer for Chucky, too. A prayer for his life, a prayer for his peace in death, and a prayer for the inspiration that he still brings to so many people, so many years later.

Just a couple of notes for those reading the pages over the holidays. I had meant to get to all of this much, much sooner, but with a pretty hectic schedule, and all of my free time going to following the Ole Miss coaching search, most of this stuff had been put on hold. Until now.

I don’t have a lot of time to be on the computer, spending the holidays in Jackson and Oxford, because there are a lot of places to go, and people to see and things to do (and when I do have a chance to get online, it’s probably on my mom’s slow ass dial-up, which isn’t worth trying for the time it takes to do anything). I do however, have these three nuggets of info that I’m passing along.

First off, the picture above is something that I have been working on for a little while now. Quite a while back, very early in the season, I gave my mother some pictures of Rebel players to be autographed. The thinking was to take those pictures, along with the pictures from football game weekends of our burgeoning little Rebel Club, and to create one large collage of pictures to be framed, as kind of a gift to myself for putting up with all of you people. Just kidding. Anyhow, I had so many pictures that turned out well, that to put them all into a collage individually would have taken a picture frame so large that it would have covered an entire wall. So I created the poster above, and personally, I think it came out wonderfully. So well in fact, that if there is any interest among friends and/or family, that I will be thinking about printing out posterized copies for all involved/interested. The original image is 12.5 inches by 12.5 inches, and if you would like one, you should let me know.

Also, I’ve created a Ole Miss Football highlight video for the year, just like I did last year. I had originally decided to do this and then stopped because I was having such a hard time coming up with material, and because of the disinterest that I had based on the results of the season. However, I got back at it a few days ago, and finished it up, and I think it turned out alright. It’s a little different this year, in that I was able to put in a few more video clips, and I added some personal pictures of a few of us tailgating, but overall, I like, so that’s all that really matters to me. You can find it here, or you can right click on the picture above, and save the link to your computer. You may have some problems streaming it, so you may HAVE TO right click and save it to your hard drive, I’m not sure. And it’s a rather large file, but I feel like it’s worth it.

So, in summary, enjoy the video, and if you want a copy of the picture, let me know. Oh, and have a good holiday season, whatever holiday you’re celebrating.

Every once in a while a figure comes along that is the epitome of what it means to be an Ole Miss Rebel. Some are athletes, some are academics, some are faculty or staff, while yet others are band members, or cheerleaders, or simply average joe’s giving their time or money to the school they love. They are leaders, promoting and defending the University of Mississippi to all that will listen, and they are what makes Ole Miss what it is. They are people like Marcus Guinn.

Marcus is the lead bass drummer for the Ole Miss marching band, the “Pride of the South”. Marcus is a senior this year and he just recently played at his last Ole Miss football game, against the Bulldogs in the Egg Bowl. He will be sorely missed, but it will be a long time before he is forgotten. A telling story about what Marcus is made of came from the trip to Auburn for last year’s football game between the Rebels and the Tigers.

The band was warming up and playing outside of the Jordan-Hare Stadium. Prior to the football season the adminstration at Ole Miss had taken Colonel Rebel off of the sidelines at Rebel football games while searching for a new mascot. A few Auburn fans had begun gathering around the band as they played, and a few began heckling the members of the band about the lack of the Colonel Rebel mascot, and about the situation surrounding the choosing of a new mascot in general. As the band wound down on what must have been a stirring rendition of “Dixie” or “I Saw the Light”, and as the Auburn fans continued to heckle the members of the Pride of the South, Marcus stepped to the forefront and made his feelings known to the obnoxious Tiger fans. “I’m the mascot!”, shouted Marcus, “Anybody got a problem with it?” The Auburn fans quickly shut their mouths and the band continued their pregame warmups without any other incidents, as Marcus proudly beamed his trademark smile for all to see.

Frank Everett once said, in what has become quite a famous quote in Ole Miss history,

“There is a valid distinction between The University and Ole Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven. The University is buildings, trees and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible and the other intangible. The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss.”

Here’s to hoping that even though Marcus Guinn is terminating his tenure at the University of Mississippi shortly, that he never graduates from Ole Miss, and continues to be the epitome of everything an Ole Miss Rebel should be. I for one, wish him the best.

That’s right folks, it’s that time of year again. OM-LSU game week. The week when the rivalry intensifies to epic proportions, and the Ole Miss faithful, upon coming into contact will LSU’s best and brightest, whether it be in Oxford or Baton Rouge, suddenly have an enormous craving for a deep fried combination of cornmeal and manufactured meat product on a stick.

That’s right. Corn Dogs.

In one of the oldest and most perplexing twists of fate on this, God’s green Earth, It has been noted that LSU’s fans consistently smell of the golden fried treat. Yes, all of them. Some people believe that the LSU fanbase is the worst in the SEC, and possibly in nation, in terms of the way they treat opposing fans who travel to Red Stick to watch their alma maters go toe to toe with the Tigahs. I’ve heard everything from bourbon bottles being thrown at the visitors section, to grandmothers in purple and gold giving the bird and spitting on opposing fans. Me? I don’t buy it. Quite the opposite.

I think that LSU fans are some of the best in the SEC, if not the entire landscape of college football. Everytime that I’ve been down to Baton Rouge for a football game, I’ve been treated nicely, and wished a good time, and a good game. I’ve had food shared with me, drink shared with me, and good times and good conversations with an overwhelming majority of the purple and gold clad fanbase. And there simply is no better place to watch a football game. Anywhere.

That’s why when I travel down to Baton Rouge this weekend to attend what I’m sure will be another great clash between the Rebels and the Tigahs, I’ll be going with a secondary mission. In my attempt to dispell the myth of an ugly, mean, and unruly LSU fanbase, I’ll be talking with and taking pictures with as many LSU fans as possible, and when I get back from the trip I’ll be posting on it. I’m really hoping that I can open some eyes with this one, because many people won’t even go to Baton Rouge to watch a game because of what they’ve heard about the fans, and it’s really causing a lot of people to miss out on a must-see college football atmosphere.

And the whole corndog thing? I think it’s a plus. There are definitely worse things to smell like.