Lookin' for some Ole Miss Recruiting News?

You could try your usual sources of Yancy, Neal, or Chase/Ty, but why not try something new? Yes, now you can get your recruiting news from Cletus, Jedidiah, or even Stupid McJackass.

Those are three completely different Razorback message boards containing multiple threads about the Ole Miss program. These threads were not hard to find as all of them were literally on each website's respective first page of listed threads. These postsers are especially focused on our recruiting and recruiting rankings because, if you can't beat 'em on the field, you might as well try to "beat" 'em on the first Wednesday in February.

It seems that the Arkansas Razorbacks have begun to pay more attention to the Ole Miss football program than most Ole Miss fans. When you consider the facts that

A) Most Ole Miss fans really don't follow the program at all
B) Moonshine makes folks angry, bitter, and agressive
C) Methamphetamines cause days-long stints of insomnia

it really isn't too terribly surprising. Ole Miss fans are far too carefree while Arkansas fans are far too obsessive. One group of fans fancy this as some kind of social event, the other equates it to a bloodsport.

The only thing these two groups have in common is that both of them are trying to prove a point. The Arkansas fans are (maybe) trying to prove to everyone outside of NWA that they're not the ones being stupid and that Houston Nutt really is as awful as they say. We Rebels are still trying to prove to everyone in NWA that we don't give a shit about their opinions.

Nope. Not even one shit. Hell, we don't even give a half of a shit.

I guess my biggest beef with all of these message board users is that they're all so self-congratulatory. They're mostly comprised of a bunch of people who are bored at work and, as haters of their own lives, would simply like someone to validate their opinions every half-hour or so.

Talk around the "water cooler" in Little Rock

Will this EVER end?

OhMyGodMakeItStop

Seriously, Spirit posters? Really?

* redclayreb
* [Scout Subscriber]
* Ole Miss Legend
* 810 posts this site

Posted: Yesterday 11:46 PM

Re: Clayton Moore coming to Ole Miss

Heard the same thing about an unknown redhead in 1968 from Drew,Ms. He would never play a down of QB in front of Bob White and Brent Chumbler. White never played. "Shug" was a good QB. The redhead became a legend. Never say never someone once said.

And later, when someone pointed out the absurdity of THAT comparison:

* redclayreb
* [Scout Subscriber]
* Ole Miss Legend
* 810 posts this site

Posted: Today 12:23 AM

Re: Clayton Moore coming to Ole Miss

Nobody equals Archie Manning. Clayton reminds me more of Bret Favre.

Oh God. A Bret (sic) Favre and Archie Manning comparison applied to the same 6'1" QB who got kicked off of his high school football team a few weeks ago. I think something snapped in my brain when I read this. It has to stop. Stop begging for stars for players already committed/likely to commit. Quit acting like every two star will follow in Patrick Willis' footsteps. Stop adding and subtracting stars from Ole Miss players who busted/panned out to make a point. Just. Fucking. Stop it.

There are two camps that have been at it lately on these message boards, both equally stupid:

First, the Playstation Camp. Football is a giant video game to these guys, and boy, do they like to recruit. If Demond Washington remained at 3 or 4 stars, he'd have been an uninspiring pickup for Ole Miss, but that 5th star will give him 96 speed, 85 awareness, and 80 hands, and he'll be the best cornerback we've ever had, especially given our historic luck with highly regarded JUCO prospects! This type of fan can get pretty annoying. Playstation guys are already drawing up depth charts for the next six years at Ole Miss, and stacking them against the schedules for those years and our respective historic records against those opponents, and yadda yadda bullshit. Here's the deal guys: life is not predictable and manipulable like a video game or a math equation. Shit happens. Personalities, attitudes, injuries, motivation, officiating, weather, and a billion other factors all go into this random system of events that encompass the success or failure of a sports program. Stop trying to figure it out in your head. But hey, your annoyances are at least founded in logic and information, albeit largely qualitative. At least you aren't:

The 'Little Giants Guy.' Or the 'Rudy Guy,' or whatever your favorite 'ragtag bunch of misfits' sports movie may be. Look here, Little Giants Guy: had Archie Manning played high school ball in 2008, it is much more likely, even in his small town, that his talents would have been recognized. Recruiting was a shotgun blast in those days. You signed a bazillion kids and figured out who would be decent. The rest could change position or just go fuck themselves. Now, we have a pretty invasive media machine that does a decent job of evaluating talent. Clayton Moore is not Archie Manning or Brett Favre. Most two star linebackers aren't Patrick Willis. It just doesn't happen much anymore, as recruiting experts find that there is more and more money in this game, and the bulk of it goes to whomever can find the best information the fastest. So stop acting like every Ole Miss two star is a diamond in the rough. If you haven't noticed, we have our fair share of backup players on the team who will never play a significant down. We'll have some of those guys in this class and every class from here on. There are only 22 starters, and only a handful of star players amongst them. Prospects are all, to some degree, limited by physical potential, so quit getting excited over 6 foot quarterbacks that aren't fast, doughy looking, 6'3" offensive tackles, and cornerbacks with offers from Ole Miss and Idaho. Those guys aren't going to be good, almost certainly.

Sorry for the rant, but I sometimes can't help wandering away from Nafoom because I want to read about football instead of grills, divorces, shitty movies, etc. Then I see that shit on the Spirit, pop an aspirin, and take a nap, like I'm about to do right now. Have a good day, everyone. Except for you, RedClayReb. You get off the computer, go to WalMart, and buy a damn clue. That is all.

Ole Miss - 31, National champs - 30.... You honestly think this is cool?

"Oh my God, we just beat Florida!"

These are the words of a one Juco All-American, a rogue bloggeur with a love and knowledge of Ole Miss unlike most. At the time of this utterance, the Ole Miss Rebels had pulled off what then seemed to be the most unlikely of upsets. It was a damn, damn good feeling which proved to be the first in a long string of good feelings. This season was incredibly memorable and absolutely thrilling to watch (and subsequently blog). During the points-orgy that was the 2nd half of our season, our middle fingers flew high, bourbon flowed like the Mississippi, and every Hotty was Toddied.

Yet, now, after all of those successes, folks are still stuck on beating Florida. They want to sell you ugly t-shirts and bumper stickers and whatnot because "DAMMIT WE BEAT FLORIDA WHOOO!" You would think that after having defeated the Gators during three of our last four meetings that we'd be used to it by now (ooooh, burn) but this is still some incredible novelty to many of us. Yes, it's a memorable game, and one of the single greatest games in the history of all of Ole Miss football, but to make that the focus of our very successful 2008-9 season is pretty durned foolish.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've seen we Rebels fail to see the forest for the trees. In the original Abner's on the corner of University and South Lamar, there hangs a copy of the 1977 Notre Dame football schedule. The Irish were crowned the national champions of that season despite having one blemish on their record: a 20-13 loss to Ole Miss in Jackson. At that game, Joe Montana sat on the bench as the backup quarterback for the Irish as he watched the domers shock the country by falling to the Ole Miss Rebels.

Yet, this example is different from its modern counterpart because, for those times, such celebration of a single game was necessary. This is because the 1977 Ole Miss season was pretty forgettable otherwise. The Rebs finished that season without a bowl appearance, having lost to Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State, LSU and *gulp* Southern Miss (the State game was later forfeited, but still).

Why do this? Do you think this hurts the feelings of Florida fans or something? Well, it doesn't. After watching the BCS title game at a bar armed to the teeth with Florida fans, an Ole Miss cohort of mine began shouting "we beat the national champions!" The Florida fans effected enough to respond generally said things along the lines of "WHOOOOOOOO FUCK YES MOTHERFUCK YEAH BCS CHAMPS MOTHERFUCKERS!"

A few of them even thanked us for "lighting a fire under their asses" and took the time to congratulate us on our win over Texas Tech.

"The SEC owns the Big XII, broseph!" Yeah, I got that and, while incredibly douchey in that uniquely Florida way, it goes to show that our win over them isn't so much a blip on their radar screen. Hell, most Florida fans are glad they lost to us early in the season as opposed to shitting the bed against someone else (Florida State, Bama) with bigger BCS implications later on.

We became a nail in Tommy Tuberville's pine box, royally embarrassed LSU in Tiger Stadium, and stunned 90-something-percent of Americans after smacking around the Texas Tech Red Raiders of the "mighty" Big XII South. Yet, all some of us seem to give a rat's ass about was beating Florida in the Swamp.

We're the shin snappin', fin slangin', Jevan Snead and Dexter McCluster havin' Cotton Bowl Champions. We're not some bullshit, vicarious National Champions. Let's quit dwelling on that game and focus on our successful season at large.

Of course, it's more than alright to have cheered for the Gators in the BCS Championship Game. The Sooners are a dastardly, bastardly group and, as a fan of an SEC school (that isn't Georgia), you're expected to pull for the Gators in such a situation. But you should pull for them for the sake of the conference as a whole; not just for the benefit of Ole Miss. Their defeat of Oklahoma marked the third consecutive year in which the crystal football was hoisted high by SEC hands which makes, not just one, but five of our victories that much more impressive. The SEC IS the best conference out there and we no longer need to waste our time trying to prove that.



P.S. - Alright, I will admit that making Tim Tebow cry still reminds me of all of the good things in life (Sex, pie, the 2nd Amendment, et cetera)

P.P.S. - Oh, and to whoever my temporary "broseph" may have been that evening: the SEC does, in fact, own the Big XII. Suck it, SEC haters.

Message Board Idiots - MSU STYLE!

I admittedly spend more time looking on sports message boards than I should. Every now and then, when I find something enjoyable or, in this case, straight-up dumb, I' like to share them with the Blogosphere. In this edition of Message Board Idiots, I'd like to direct your attention to a response to a recent post by an Ole Miss fan by Steve Robertson (MSU's Yancy Porter). He didn't take terribly kindly to the Rebel's post and demostrated such thusly:

Please remember you are a guest here. You don't have any expectations. If you don't like what is being posted here, then don't read it. If you choose to respond to a post, be courteous after all you are a guest here. Don't post inflammatory comments about or directed towards the subscribers here after all you are a guest here.

Steve Robertson
SRobertson@scout.com

I promise. I did not add anything to that post. Don't believe me? Click here. So wait. Is he a guest there? Honestly, what kind of site requires people to be ALLOWED to post on their free board? Genespage is a joke. Much like OMSpirit, it thrives on convincing its constituency that its school's teams are better than they actually are or that recruiting is going better than it actually is.

Then there's this...
Yes. Chris Relf is a lot like Tim Tebow. That's why he was third string for you this year. Yes, Tyson Lee and Wesley Carroll started above him, but I'm sure that he's going to come out of his shell this year and thrive behind your offensive line. Also, the Tyson Lee/Chris Leak comparison is spot on. I remember when Chris Leak averaged 3.8 yards per pass attempt against VANDERBILT.

This "Landshark" Gimmick isn't at all Overdone

Guest contributor: really anybody from the Spirit or Rivals free boards


ARE?! YOU!? READDYYYY!?!!

I know I am. I'm headed to DALLAS soon to watch Jevan Sneed, Gerald Poe, and the rest of our REBS beat the tar outta those Texas Tech DEAD Raiders! Teh Big 12 sucks and cant play DEFENSE like the SEC! I konw we're going to beat Texas Tech because we've got something which they have never seen... THE LANDSHARKS!



LMAO @ TYSON LEE!!! YEAH!!! HOTTY TODDY GO REBELS GO!!!

I don't give a hoot whether or not they've got some OVERRATED quarterback and wide reciever because they're probably going to have to change their pants (after they doodoo in them) after seeing this video!!


If they don't know anything about the landsharks, perhaps they should ask those LEGHUMPIN' BULLFRAUDS!!! And those bayou kitties! WATCH THE VIDEO AGAIN!

I've been watching Jaws while drinking LANDSHARK beer to get pumped up for this one. WHOO! I love Jimmy BUffett!

You've got LANDSHARKS to your Left! LANDSHARKS to your right! And you're the only Dead GAYder in town!!!1

Catchy, huh? I only wish the Techies were the Blue Raiders so I could wear my RED sharkfin hat! Guns up, whatever more like FINS UP!!

LANDSHARK!

Post Of the Month on Rivals

The whole landshark debate got a bit out of control, but this last post borders on the lines of insanity and retardation.

olemissrebels73 Two-Star Prospect Post #268 Rankin County, MS. I support Coach " K" 100 % this is a lame attempt.... Reply of a witch hunt against a successful white man who happen's to be a coach at Ole Miss. Just another liberal democratic political correctness attack against a white man from a radical minority and radical minority supporters.

I have no words...

Winston Commits to Arkansas, Blogger Rants on Recruiting Hype

Darius Winston, the most recent in a long string of recruiting cock teases (see: Kieland Williams, Joe McKnight, Frank Gore, et al), committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks today at noon.

Who else isn't surprised by this?

When I tell people that I quit giving a hell about recrootin' and they subsequently ask me why, I just point to these incidents. Honestly, they all follow a pretty straight-up forumla:

• 5 star, 4 star, or highly touted 3 star athlete
• Not from Mississippi
• Mentions the Rebels often but never in a glaringly positive light, until...
• They rant and rave about the Grove, IPF, etc
• "I really love/have a great relationship with/just got $100 from coach [coach's surname]"
• Yancy Porter and the like swear up and down the kid's a Rebel before saying "oh, well maybe" a day before he commits elsewhere

If you still get your hopes up over these kids or, even worse, hold it against them (as if you somehow know them) personally then you're persistently delusional and likely stupid. I can remember the Rivals board after Drew Allen committed to Oklahoma. I was dumbfounded. People were attacking the kid for committing to Oklahoma (one of college footballs best programs, ever) after talking highly of Oxford, Kent Austin, et al. Ok, so he likes the town and the coach, that's cool, whatever, but he's from San Antonio. We don't recruit San Antonio. We hardly recruit Texas. Yet somehow people acted as if this Allen character had placed a voodoo curse on our houses.

Everybody, tone down the recruiting babble for now. So we didn't get Winston. I personally thought we never had a shot in the first place but, remember, these are 17-and-18-year-olds who have no real clue as to what they're doing and oftentimes change their minds anyway. They're not deliberately stringing anybody along. Hell, they're confused, if anything! They've got a bunch of old white guys calling them constantly and even coming to their houses to promise them cars, money, sex, and glory an opportunity to earn a wonderful education while successfully playing a sport which they enjoy! So they may say some misleading stuff and like the things being promised to them by a myriad of different schools. Why is this such a problem?

Ok, sorry for getting carried away there. I needed to vent that out.

For RLZ?

The other day, I asked who was drinking the most Kool-Aid. Well, there must be more of it going around than I thought because as of 4:00-ish on Friday, August 8, 2008, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2250 think Ole Miss is going to Atlanta.

Please, somebody, show me where this poll was linked on the Spirit message boards, so that I can know that this is an orchestrated effort by some Rebel fans to make ourselves feel better about ourselves in some e-poll vote orgy thing, rather than there actually being this many crazy people on the internet.

That is some serious Kool-Aid.

Crazy 'Tippi Tate poster

Posted by: leeinator
Posted on: Gene's page free board
Posted: 8/5/2008 12:17 AM
Posted in response to an OM fan saying that starting bulldog QB Wesley Carroll would be running for his life in the egg bowl

"With 4.5 speed, I don't think I....would want to flush Wesley Carroll out of the pocket. And I doubt very seriously any of the Rebel lineman are fast enough to catch him. Of course, they're saying Powe can outrun anybody on their defense including the cornerbacks....Go figure! "

Really? Are we seriously going to do this? 4.5 speed? You know who runs slower than a 4.5? Chad Bumphis, Dennis Thames, and a million other "fast" wide receivers.

If Wesley Carroll runs a 4.5, Sylvester Croom is an idiot for not encouraging him to run more often. Last season, he had 47 attempts for 67 yards. Maybe that's why Croom didn't encourage him to run. Maybe it's because he's slow...

I guess Wesley Carroll is faster than this guy, this guy, this guy and THIS GUY.

I guess we'll just have to see whether Ole Miss has a defensive line that is as fast as a slow white guy a quarterback with insanely deceptive speed.

Honestly, if Wesley Carroll has 4.5 speed, then Viciente DeLoach must run a 4.4 or 4.3, because he sacked Carroll in the first quarter of the egg bowl for a loss of ten yards. If it had been two or three yards, that wouldn't prove anything, but ten yards means that Carroll was running away from DeLoach and just couldn't get away.

P.S. I hear that Jevan Snead runs a 4.2. I mean, some wesbite printed it, so it HAS to be true.

P.P.S. Hunter Miller, the 6'2 QB that we offered to gray shirt ran a 4.3 or 4.4 according to Yancy. Because we offered to gray shirt him and because very few people are that fast, I find myself in doubt of that number...

Post Post Post Scriptum from Ivory Tower: Wesley Carroll is apparently not quite adequate/deceptively speedy enough to avoid the Schaeffer-esque fate of being seriously challenged by a walk-on.

Hey Kool-Aid ... OH YEAH!

Between Jevan Snead, Houston Nutt, the 2008 Liberty Bowl, Derek Pegues, Jerrell Powe, and
some greased-up, slimmed-down Norm Chow wanna-be that Southern Miss hired, the optimism about football in Mississippi is reaching just absurd levels.

Let's call it the Kool-Aid quotient. Last weekend, my cousin pointed out to me (mind you, he's twelve) that some guy in the Mobile Press-Register called Mississippi State the dark horse favorite to win the SEC. The outstanding character and discipline in Starkville notwithstanding, this is clearly something one might dream up only under the influence of some new brand of psychodelic mushroom-swirl gouda they've cooked up down at the 'Tippi 'Tate dairy farm.

Meanwhile, this story was recounted to me by someone who covers Ole Miss football:

"Ole Miss has some talent, but I've heard several people in the past few days say that 8 or 9 wins is realistic and that Powe will win 2 games by himself. That's kinda ridiculous. I'm not sure any d-lineman in the country is worth a 2-game swing. It's amazing how high the expectations are for Powe. Amazing. I saw some guy post on a message board that 'Now I can get on with my life' after Powe was cleared."

And please don't get me started on the flagship school of the state. Here, as a reminder, is how Fedora tactfully handled the nagging fact that is AD is certifiable:

And of course, Coach Jeff Bower. You can never replace a Jeff Bower. He is a living legend, who will always be remembered for his contributions to the Southern Miss program and to the university. Coach Bower built a foundation and established a legacy that we will embrace and build upon to bring this program back to a championship level.

Let's see grape is purple, fruit punch is red, orange is, well, orange ... but I forgot, what color is hubris again?

All three teams have some monstrous strengths (the defensive line in Oxford, the secondary in Starkville, the conference affiliation in Hattiesburg), but they also have noticeable deficiencies (Cornerbacks? What are cornerbacks?). Also, did Larry Fedora forget to mention to you Golden Eagle fans that a high-flying offense requires something along the lines of a quarterback? Your returning leader in passing is Martevious Young, who probably won't be your starter on day 1 because he's thrown for TWO YARDS IN HIS CAREER!

The long and short is that we have a lot of football fans living in dreamworld right now - of course, most southeastern football fans decided long ago to set up permanent residency there. So, grip 'n' sip and let us know who is drank the most Kool-Aid in '08.

My vote is for Southern Miss. It might seem that the Rebs and Bulldogs are mighty uppity, but the vocal minority in Hattiesburg have this sense of entitlement about them that is ... nauseating.

They have the internets in... Mississippi?

I haven't been able to follow up on the article I wrote a few weeks months ago. I just hadn't encountered anything I felt was worth posting as far as message board idiots are concerned (other than arky boards). That was... until now.

Posted from the OMSpirit Message Board:

"roadking2000
Posted: Thursday 8:21 PM
Subject: Croom & staff are liars
Earlier to day i listened to Tupelo High School FOOTBALL COACH SPEAK AT CIVITAN LUNCHEON. hE IS FROM lOUSIANA NOT LSU GOD FORBID. hE HAS BEEN HERE A COUPLE OF YEARS. hE STATED HE SENT A LETTER TO LSU FOR 1 OF HIS PLAYERS TO RECIEVE A SPECIAL WALK ON DESIGNATION. aLSO A QB AT TUPELO JUST COMMITTED TO LSU. HUMMMMMMMMMMMM COACH TOLD ME AFTERWARD REBS DID NOT RECRUITE MCCH LESS OFFER QB. NOT WITHSTANDING QB'S DAD IS N. MS PRES OR WHAT OF MUUUUUUU ALLUMIN MILKERS. NOW 2 POINT COACH SAID MSU OFFERED QB ( GARRET) & SAID THEY WOULD NOT OFFER ANOTHER QB IN THIS CLASS; HE WAS TO BE THE CORNERSTONE OF CLASS. WELL GUESS WHAT THEY OFFERED ANOTHER QB. THUS HE FELT AS THS COACH STATED HE WAS LIED TO HE COMMITTED 2 MSU ON THAT BASIS; THEY LIED TO HIM."

I'll wait until you can all compose yourselves.

Ok. So, roadking2000 = amazing. Obviously, he heard some information that he felt it necessary to share, and he didn't know how to go about it other than exposing himself as an idiot. First, I'm going to re-write what he said in order to try to understand.

Earlier today, I listened to a Tupelo High School football coach who spoke at a Civitan Luncheon. He is from Louisiana, but he is not an LSU fan, heaven forbid. He has been at Tupelo High School for a couple of years. He stated that he sent a letter to LSU asking them to allow one of his players to receive a preferred walk on designation. Also, a QB from Tupelo High School just committed to LSU. Brief Humming Break. The coach told me after his speech that the rebs did not recruit, much less offer the quarterback. Totally unrelated, the QB's dad is the North Mississippi President OR WHAT OF MUUUUUUU ALLUMIN MILKERS (I can't correct this because I have absolutely no clue what it means). Now to the point of this senseless rant, the coach said that MSU offered the QB (Chris Garrett) and said they would not offer another QB in this class. Garrett was to be the cornerstone of the class. Well, guess what. They offered another QB. Garrett felt, as the coach explained to me, that he was lied to. He committed to MSU on that basis. MSU lied to him.

Looks like "The King" could use some English classes taught in the fine building of Farley Hume The Lyceum every damn building on campus.

The best part about this post, and the only real part that bears mention is that he switched to all caps early in his post, didn't realize it, and went on to post the entirety of his "magnificent" story. Early on, you see that he was trying. The beginning of each sentence is lower-cased signaling to those of us with half a brain that he was intending to capitalize those while not capitalizing the rest of each sentence. Eventually, it's all caps, so he just gave up.

Yes, another T-Shirt post

No ma'am, I don't. And neither will you for much longer I imagine. You coach is an asshole. Before all of this Houston Nutt/Bobby Petrino drama occurred, I really had no major qualms with Arkansas. Of coruse, they're an SEC Western Division foe and they've come out on top more often than not lately (the last 4 straight, to be precise) but I never really got riled up about them like I would for LSU or State. Now, Arky has shot up that list simply because of their horrible, horrible, horrible fans. You've likely seen these idiots on our message boards bashing Houston Nutt like some sort of recently divorced 40-something while clamoring on and on about the merits of Bobby Petrino.

Residents of Fayetteville, get this through you head: Bobby Petrino is a fraud, a coward, and a whore. We all know that Houston Nutt has his occassional bouts with the crazies but I'd take crazy-stupid-wacky over callously greedy any day.

Ok, rant's over. I don't know why, but that t-shirt really set me off big time.

Internets Available in Arkansas; Accessed by Hog Fans

Lanny Beavers, owner of a very unfortunate name, as well as, on a more relevant note, the popular Arkansas athletics site Hogville, sat down with some no-shoed cave-dweller from Arkansas Democrat Gazette for an interview (conducted at Lanny's house which he, reportedly, calls "The Beaver Trap") published today.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette asked Beavers if he would rather that his Razorbacks beat Ole Miss or Texas in the 2008 season, and he responded, after realizing that the reporter was there for an interview and not a scandalous Cinemax-style sexual encounter and pushing the button that hid his fully-stocked bar and heart-shaped velvet bed behind a false wall, that he would rather beat Ole Miss in the 2008 season.

That's an easy one for me - Ole Miss. I never really liked Ole Miss, anyway, and now that "The Coach That Was Fired"is there, I want them so much that I bought a boatload of tickets for that game from Ole Miss, and am going to give them away on our sites. I wish the game was tomorrow.

Though I really appreciate the legitimate hate - I'm honored really - Lanny must be a sexual deviant AND a complete moron. For a football program with a historic rival that will no doubt be ranked in or near the Top 10 in virtually every pre-season poll to direct its primary hate-beams at Ole Miss is, really, very flattering.

It's either flattering or thirteen tons of Petrino-grade crazy.

Don't blame Larry Templeton

Many posters on scout and rivals blame Larry Templeton for our regional draw. As you already know, we are going to face off against Missouri on Friday. If we win, we will play the winner of Miami and Bethune Cookman. Yes, this has to be the toughest regional in the country, but Larry Templeton (chair of selection committee and former AD at Mittittippi Tate) is not to blame.

For example, some posters on OMSPIRIT are upset:


Rebelinsured
"Screw dhed Templeton as there is NO doubt
his influence on our position this year and years past but this is the IDIOT'S last year and what better way than to stick it up his by winning the regional. Templeton hates Ole Miss and our AD has his head worried about pennies so that is why we continue to get screwed in the baseball seedings.......... Win the regional and tell Larry to &^%# %^$ as he is gone............ JMO ps---msuX screwed up by firing him........oajmho"

PositiveReb
Re: Screw dhed Templeton as there is NO doubt
"Remember, Pat Murphy also has a vote. So he and LT are probably in cahoots."

Instead of blaming the coach of this years team for our poor play and horrid performance at times, some Rebel fans want to lash out at selection committee members and coaches of other programs. Want to hold someone accountable, let it be Mike Bianco.

SEC Record over past 5 seasons:
2005: 18-12
2006: 17-13
2007: 16-14
2008: 15-15

We are getting worse every year!

Mike, you mean to tell me that your most talented team ever was a .500 team in the SEC?

So, if you are upset about our regional draw, get over yourself. If we wanted a regional, we should have played better and hosted our own.

Shame on you, Mike Bianco.

Message Board Idiots

I think this is something we're going to start doing pretty regularly. Because I troll tons of message boards, I encounter stupid posters very regularly. I'll be bolding mistakes in grammar and some other things of interest. Here are a few posts:

Posted by: spbone
Posted on: Mississippi Sports Talk
Posted: 5/16/2008 8:30 AM

SP NATION TAKE NOTICE!!!

---

Hate to say I told you so, so I wont! I'll just keep banging my head against the wall!!! Chris Strong whom I care alot about, wouldnt listen! He like many others has belived the lies spilled to him bout Ole Miss, went over there then when they didnt need him we will see you later. He is headed to NW then hopefully to somewhere where they develop boys to men! Whatever you do Chris dont let being pushed away get you down!!

END POST

I'm sure you have all seen posts similar to this. It's just a brilliant post. I think my favorite sentence is:

"He like many others has believed the lies spilled to him bout Ole Miss, went over there when they didn't need him we will see you later."

This is, I think, what he was going for:
"He, like many others before him, believed the lies that were spilled about Ole Miss, so he chose to attend school there. When Ole Miss no longer needed Chris, they told him that they couldn't attend classes for him or take his tests."

The icing on the cake is that he uses "whom" the sentence before. He uses it correctly, but still... to use the little-used "whom" and then follow with a sentence like the one in question is sheer magnificence.

Does spbone (a great name btw) think that Chris Strong was done a disservice by Ole Miss? Should they have somehow forced the teachers to give him passing grades? I think that only happens at South Panola (and many other high schools I'm sure). I would be remiss not to mention the three heads banging against walls. That smiley just plain sucks. The fact that "The Bone" feels the need to explain the smiley makes this post even better.

Need I even mention that all but one sentence ends with at least one exclamation point?

NEXT

Posted by: o2b4um
Posted on: OMSB
Posted: Yesterday 12:25 AM

who said this team has no heart... (3 votes)

---

...not a word mentioned after the big win. a team with no heart doesn't show up

today and win this game. great job rebels, lets win some games at hoover.

END POST

I don't know what's worse, the fact that this poster made this post or that he has an average rating on this post of 3.5 stars. I wonder why anyone would think that our baseball team has no heart. Maybe it's because we were #2 in the nation at one point and limped our way into the SEC tournament. It could also be because we:
1. Lost a series to TCU
2. Split with Western Kentucky (29-24, 16-14 Sun Belt)
3. Lost to Central Arkansas - I think that this can best be summed up with this sentence from their official athletics site, "The victory gave the Bears a .500 record (27-27-1, 13-16-1) in their second season at the NCAA Division I level."
4. Lost a home series to Alabama
5. Split with the worst MSU team ever to play baseball
6. Lost a home series to Arkansas (who didn't make the SEC tournament)

I don't know why anyone would say the team had no heart. Especially with our starting pitching doing so well recently (see: all three starters being pulled in the fourth this weekend).

I would also like to point out what I said after we beat Kentucky. I believe it was, "Dangit. Now I have to get my hopes up again only to have them come crashing back down." So yes. "Naysayers" did say a word after the "big" win.

And lastly:

Posted by: DiamondReb1083
Posted on: OMSB
Posted: Today 3:24 PM
In reference to: Eniel Polynice's role and Terrico White

Re: "09 Basketball team and Terrico White

At the same time it wasn't his job to shoot. He was the driver of the group and one of the fast break leaders. David was supposed to be the shooter. Granted he came on at the end of the year in a big way but was woeful throughout the year. Eneil was also our best defensive player. He and White will make a great tandum. Seriously when have we had more talent than this team for next year. The answer is quickly never.

1. Chris Warren
2. David Huertas
3. Polynice/White
4. The new JUCO guy/Holloway/kid from LA
5. Malcom White/Cantinol

That team is loaded. Our guard play should be as good as anyone's.

END POST

First of all, there is no u in tandem. Secondly, it WAS Polynice's job to shoot. He's a guard. Most important about this post though are the bolded sentences. The answer is actually quickly "When our team went to the Sweet 16". Lockhart and Reed made it fantastic. Add in Jason Harrison. That team had proven talent. Here's how I see our depth chart for next season:

PG: Chris Warren	Will Bogan
SG: David Huertas	Terrico White	Trevor Gaskins
SF: Eniel Polyneice	Zach Graham	Brandon Wilson
PF: DeAundre Cranston	Terrance Henry	Murphy Holloway
C: Malcolm White	Kevin Cantinol

Of note:
1. "kid from LA" is Terrance Henry. "The new JUCO guy" is Deaundre Cranston. It's interesting that you're sure they're talented but don't know their names.
2. 3 of our 13 players headed into next season (Warren, Huertas, and Polynice) have proven they can be relied upon. I guess maybe you could count Zach Graham as well, but it would be a big stretch.
3. We have one big man returning who played in a 4-year college game last year.
4. I have never seen 7 of the 13 players play. I don't know whether or not they're talented.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not always negative. I agree that we have a ton of potential for next season. I'm very excited, but to say that we've never had more talent is just ridiculous when more than half of the players on roster have never played a game for us.

I just hope that DeAundre Cranston wasn't a Juco All-American.

Say it ain't so, Perrillouxzzr!

The AJC reports that the "greatest quarterback ever to sign with LSU" was just kicked off the team by head coach Les Miles due to not fulfilling his "obligation as an LSU student-athlete".

I'm sure that the classes he missed, tests he skipped, or whatever it is that wasn't scholarly about him is much worse than what he did the other 70 times he was "indefinitely" suspended for a 4 or 5 days.

When it comes down to it, Perrilloux is probably failing out of school, the only thing that could have kept him from starting as the Tiger quarterback next season. I have to hand it to LSU though. I seriously thought that their school was corrupt enough to give players good grades. It still may be, but they're willing to lose their starting quarterback.

Anyway, the good news for everyone else in the SEC is that Perriloux's departure leaves this guy as LSU's starting quarterback entering next season. Granted, Lee was highly regarded coming out of high school, but he's only a redshirt freshman. Can they really get a quality SEC quarterback out of that? I mean, I know that we couldn't... Of course, we're Ole Miss... and they're LSU. Their luck gets them things like this.

Ours gets us things like this.

Inevitably, a message board poster will start talking about how his aunt's brother-in-law's sister's hairdresser heard from a client whose dogsitter also dogsits for the Perriloux household that Ryan is planning to transfer to Ole Miss and compete with the illustrious second best quarterback ever to play at Ole Miss (who has never thrown a pass in a game). I've heard the same thing from my parakeet. It tells the future.

Here's to hoping that Jarrett Lee sucks and LSU goes 7-6... although that's absolutely impossible.

Jordan...HEEEENNNNRRRYYYY! (Logan Williams too)

Alrighty boys... The Rebels won their game against Arkansas State last night. Thank goodness. That brings the Rebs to 2-0 on the week and 27-15 overall.

Quick Recap:
It was a back and forth battle for the Rebels, but they pulled out the win when Logan Williams hit a two-run shot in the eighth followed by a bases clearing single (kind of a double) from Jordan Henry. The final score was 9-4.

Brett Bukvich got the start, but it was Rory McKean who got the win after 1.0 inning of work. Scott Bittle finished the game out by pitching 1.1 innings and striking out three while not allowing a hit. "The Bittler" does it again.

I apologize if I spend too little time recapping game action for you. I think it more important to offer you my analysis of where we stand before each series and what our strengths and weaknesses may be.

Looking to the Future:
Many talk about wanting to host a regional, and I just do not see that happening. Our RPI is around 44th right now. We're 27-15 (10-8 SEC). Here is my formula for hosting a regional:
Win two remaining midweek games Memphis (RPI 160) and Jackson State (RPI 206). Then, we would have to sweep Arkansas (RPI 34) and Auburn (RPI 45). I do not know that incredibly much about how RPI works, but we need to sweep those home series to make sure we get our RPI into the low thirties.
Here comes the hard part. We absolutely have to take 4 of 6 on the road against Georgia (RPI 13) and Kentucky (RPI 41). If you have already done the math, you realize that would make us the two seed (barring a Georgia meltdown) in Hoover with a 20-10 SEC record and 39-16 record. I believe this would pull our RPI near about twenty. With a fat check to the NCAA, luck, and other teams having end-of-the-season disasters, we could host. Also, I realize that winning streak would make us the absolutely hottest team in the United States. However, this should also show you how absolutely implausible it is for us to host.

Here is what really happens:
This weekend, we take two of three from Arkansas. Then, we win both midweek games the following week. The following weekend, we win one at Georgia. We come home to sweep Auburn the next weekend. The final weekend of SEC play, we win two at Kentucky. That's 36-20 (18-10 SEC), and I would guess our RPI would finish about 25th. I'm sorry Rebel faithful, that is not enough to host a regional. "Wait a minute," you may say. "What if we have a good showing in Hoover?" Ok, so you want to do well in Hoover. I say that we make it to the championship game of the SEC tourney, we might host (keep in mind that the host sites are announced before the SEC tourney championship is actually played, so winning or losing it does not affect host status).

Ok, so back to reality. Realistically, a 17 or 18 win record in SEC play combined with our horrible RPI puts us as a 2 seed (I can't make myself believe we'd ever be a 3 seed) in some other team's regional. It is very possible to win on the road and get us to Omaha (i.e. Miami 2006).


What I am liking:

Pitching: Lynn is good at home. Pomeranz is ridiculously good. Buk and McKean are my two candidates to fill in the Sunday role. Obviously, Bittle is my boy at closer.

Hitting: If Jordan Henry's and Logan Williams' bats heat up and Guerrero and Overbeck get back from injury, book your hotel rooms in Omaha (also book them at wherever we play our regional and super regional).

We are...

Spring is in the air! The girls have traded in Uggs for Rainbows, Spirit posters are arguing about mascots and establishing all-girl cheer squads, baseball team is underachieving way ahead of schedule, and vast hordes of unwashed hippies lie waiting in the hills of Lafayette county to descend upon Double Decker... So now is as good a time as any to look back and reflect on the ten events that most aptly defined the University this year.

10. On the way out the door, Hugh Freeze, Brent Schaeffer, and the spread option leave Ole Miss fans bitterly aware of the fact that Ed Orgeron delegates and manages talent as well as Helen Keller could snow ski. Freeze draws comparisons to Vince Lombardi, Stephen Hawking, and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, before being snubbed by HDN and returning to the high school ranks.

9. The quest for a receiver for Ole Miss fans to erroneously compare to Randy Moss continues... A.J. Jackson, 6-6 receiver from College of Sequoias (with an offer from USC) elects to pursue a career in cannabis consumption rather than endure the potential stress of a stint in the National Football League. A few months later, Deandre Brown, a top 10 national prospect from Ocean Springs, standing 6-6 and drawing comparisons to Calvin Johnson, spurns the advances of LSU and Ole Miss (after being rumored as a lock for each school at different times) chooses to further his academic pursuits at the University of Southern Mississippi. HDN counters by signing a 6-7 fellow from Georgia named Melvin who, despite an Auburn offer and favorable comparisons to Marcus Monk, probably has to avoid walking around in a stiff breeze for fear of breaking in half.

8. At the end of a thrilling back and forth match between a highly ranked Tennessee basketball squad, Dwayne Curtis, an 80% free throw shooter, gets the ball under the basket with a chance to put the game away. Much like determining the world record for the fastest banjo picker, the use of a slow motion camera is necessary to determine exactly how many times Curtis was fouled during his two attempts under the bucket. Suffice it to say, none of these roughly 83 fouls were called, but when Kenny Williams (a sub-par shooter) rebounds and puts up another shot, a (non-shooting) foul is whistled. Williams misses the front end of a 1-1, and the rest is history.

7. Ole Miss athletics continues its use of NERF (or Meridian-based NERF knockoff) weaponry in the SEC facilities arms race. Baseball expansions are scaled down and futzed-with, basketball teams are forced to practice with buckets on the floor while funding for the BPF flounders, and plans for painting all four sides of the football stadium the SAME DAMN COLOR are nonexistent.

6. Staring a likely blowout in the face, a spunky Rebel football team has the ball at the Georgia Bulldog's 1 yard line in Athens, about to go up 14-0 against a young and run-heavy SEC opponent. Senior center/foul generator Corey Actis has been benched, bringing in senior center Thomas Eckers, who, despite not being the most physical player, has generally been consistent and fundamentally sound. I can barely even finish this entry. Jesus. Eckers botches the snap, and earns the #6 spot on this list of microcosmic Ole Miss sports moments. Also, JUCO All-American loses a bet that forces him to buy One Man to Beat a catfish dinner.

I'll finished the list tomorrow. The memories are too fresh and vivid. My head hurts.

Concession Concerns...

I love message boards. I recently read a post on the OMSB (Ole Miss Spirit Message Board) that I thought was especially representative of the types of posts that I like to read. Here it is in its entirety.

Is it time for Ole Miss to upgrade concession at sporting events

---

I don't know who is responsible for concessions at Sporting events but I think it is time for an evaluation and changes to be made. I thought the concessions were decent at the baseball park...They had decent hamburgers and chicken tender basket with French Fries.......They service was ok. Chips would be nice to go along with the hamburgers but weren't available.
Football concessions? What a mess. They need to upgrade the facilities. OM should take a lesson in concessions from Auburn. They seem to get it right in terms of appearance, selection, service and quality of food. I wish someone could enlighten us as to how the concession contract is given. Surely, the University can require standards in terms of quality and selection of food offered. At the prices they charge, they can afford decent quality and selection. And one more thing, the University needs to upgrade the appearance and food safety of concession areas. I have been to high school football games who have better concession areas than Ole Miss.

Now back to RSC....

I mean honestly... whoever it is that handles concessions at Ole Miss should be ashamed. Corky's? Hot dogs? FRENCH FRIES? NO CHIPS?!

How about some sort of chicken and pasta option? Also, there should be a wine tasting station. I don't think that's too much to ask at a baseball game. I think LSU has those things.

And you're right. Next on the list of athletic facilities to upgrade should be the Minute Maid frozen lemonade stand. That thing is downright embarrassing. We could at least brick or marble the front and make the pole that holds the umbrella into a column.

So in the end, it's a concession stand at a baseball or football game. I think I might like it less if the area was more aesthetically appealing. When I go to a game, I'm not going to the theatre. I'm going to watch someone hit someone or something... very hard. The aesthetics of a concession stand just really don't matter at all.