I live in Indiana. Many people I know here have no idea what Ole Miss is. All they see is our dismal football record and tend to just dismiss us. When I try to explain how and why we are so strangely passionate, all I get are confused looks, and then I'm redirected to our football record.
And then it hit me.
This confused sports fan *often* goes where the wins are—regardless of the school—just to be proud to stand behind something he probably doesn't even understand.
Ole Miss fans tend to encompass everything. Ask an Ole Miss fan their favorite thing about their beloved school, and you'll get answers ranging from "the grove" to "the people," "Oxford," and "we know how to have a good time." We don't just love a single sport; we know better than to hinge all of our happiness on one aspect of the university.
We love everything. Consider a typical game day. We're in the grove all day, regardless of when the game is. We enjoy each other's company. Yes, even if you're from LSU. Just don't overstay your welcome. Oh, what about Mississippi State, you ask? No, we don't talk about them.
We'll then file into the stadium, probably drunk, but nonetheless overjoyed to see our team take the field, hear the band play the well-known anthems of football season, watch the expertly crafted promo videos that put fire in our eyes, and jeer at the infinitely-less-classy-in-our-minds visiting fans—all in good fun, mind you, as we go back to our friendly selves after the 4th quarter (or whenever we have decided to leave the stadium).
Game day is all about pure enjoyment. Some leave the game early under the pretense of preparing for after-dark activities. We're ecstatic when we realize that even though it's Saturday, the bars have elected to remain open an hour later. Visitors decry our establishments closing so "early," but it's just right for us. We'll find other ways, without fail, to enjoy ourselves after 1:30am.
Our campus is beautiful. Don't try to tell us otherwise, or you'll get an earful about careful groundskeeping. See any cigarette butts on our campus? Never. How about you?
Our past, present, and future students are, overall, the nicest people you'll ever meet. Don't believe me? Come to Oxford and I'll put money on the fact that someone will make you feel right at home. Not even on game days, either, where you'll outright feel like family.
But I have to resign myself to realize the fact that it just doesn't make sense to some.
My favorite thing is just sharing experiences, like watching the clearly-jaded Oxford police department deal with college student antics. A girl had fallen on her face one night in a bar. The cops detained her outside. Between her face streaming blood, and her drunken sobbing about God-knows-what, the officers threatened to cart her off to jail just because she was just aggravating them. Oh, and the officers had to deal with other bar-goers trying to take pictures with their camera phones.
Non-sequitur aside, we love everything about our school. Good, bad, and ugly. If it looks like their's nothing to love about Ole Miss, you're not even looking at Ole Miss.
0 comments:
Post a Comment